Even at the briefest of glances, it’s clear this lemon-yellow Honda Civic (a 2005 ES-generation example) isn’t your average Jap car. In addition to the expertly applied paint scheme with some interior panels coloured in a matching hue, it’s packing some rather spicy mods. Its “stance” is supported by a set of BC Racing V1 coilovers, and complemented by a set of sinister-looking Rays Engineering 16-inch wheels. Adding even more of a racy feel are a pair of carbon fibre wing mirrors made by legendary Honda tuner, Spoon Sports.
And let’s not forget about its “voice” – those gruff, bassy tones are bestowed upon this Civic by a Supersprint muffler. However, all those mods, its exhaust note included, is (almost) overshadowed by its other “voice”, in the form of an audio system from Pioneer Car Entertainment.
You see, this Civic is Pioneer Singapore’s show car, and as such, is crammed to bursting with a host of top-drawer audio components from the Japanese manufacturer. The brain of the system is a AVH-X8650BT head unit, and as expected from a flagship product, it’s got just about every bell and whistle you could possibly want.
In addition to its 7-inch touchscreen display (that’s also capable of full-HD video playback), it also boasts USB connectivity and Bluetooth functionality, the last one allowing you to either stream music or receive/make calls from your smartphone. And it’s a smart cookie to boot – the head unit “talks” to the speakers, to let them know precisely how much delay each should have to allow the sound to reach the listener in perfect sync.
However, its crowning glory is Pioneer’s AppRadio mode, allowing Pioneer-approved apps on your smartphone to be “mirrored” on the head unit, which will make looking down to twiddle with your phone while driving a thing of the past.
All that, though, would be meaningless without a strong “heart”, which is where Pioneer’s Champion Series FD amplifiers come into the picture. Housed in a custom enclosure in the boot (that has changeable LED mood lighting), these top-notch amps are small in stature, but big where it really counts. Sound reproduction is crystal clear, and there’s enough power to satisfy even the most power-mad ICE freaks.
As for this Civic’s “vocal chords”, if you guessed it’s got a set of hugely impressive ones, you’d be right. At the front are a set of D-Series speakers and tweeters in custom door-panel mounts, the rear speakers are A-Series units, and located in the boot (in the aforementioned enclosure shared with the amplifiers) is a TS-WX1041 10-inch subwoofer.
So, just how do all those “bling” components put together sound? In a word: amazing. To elaborate, there’s an incredibly vivid sound stage, making the music seem like it’s coming from everywhere at once, along with the crisp highs, vibrant mids and punchy lows. Even with the volume cranked up, there’s no sign of distortion or the sound “breaking up” – there’s just those lush tones wherever you care to look (or listen). Of course, had the system not been installed and tuned by King’s Way Sound Garage, it might not sound half as good.
And just to drive home the fact this is Pioneer’s “party machine”, the Civic also comes outfitted with a DJ console (from Pioneer as well, naturally), which, when paired with the excellent sound system on offer, really allows you to “drop the bass” with like-minded individuals.
Yes, this ICE-ed Civic is far from ordinary, but given how it’s a moving showcase (and what a showcase it is) for Pioneer’s car audio products, it’ll have to be.
THE LIST
HEAD UNIT
PIONEER AVH-X8650BT
PROCESSOR
PIONEER AVH-X8650BT
SPEAKERS
PIONEER TS-D1720C (front)
PIONEER TS-A16755 (rear)
SUBWOOFER
PIONEER TS-WX1041 shallow-mount
AMPLIFIERS
PIONEER GM-D8604
