The car is still pulling strong as ever. I haven’t spent a single dime on repairs since the build (except for the broken glass – damn you thief!). The CRX has proven again and again to be light years more reliable than my 2005, 60k miles, Subaru Outback. This car has left me speechless in amazement. Now with no radio, speakers or amplifiers and virtually no electronics running in the car, it now gets 40 mpg easy!

My only gripe is the car has developed series of nasty rust spots. First, by the left rear wheel well, now on the A-pillar and all over the damn sunroof…

So, some low-life bastard broke the window of my CRX to steal a 10-year old CD player…! Maybe someone needed a radio that only plays CDs really bad….

A note to the thief: Thief, if you needed a plain ‘ol CD player, good for you. Otherwise, good luck selling it. That thing is worth less than the bunch of quarters in the coin tray that you forgot to take. Not to mention there was an iPod in the glove compartment that you also forgot to take. Was it too dark to see? Forgot the flashlight? Were in a hurry? Of course you were.

Anyway, thanks for taking the cheapest possible item in the whole car. Btw, there was a slim credit card Kenwood remote on the passenger seat that you also forgot to take. Oh, I understand. You couldn’t see it because it was buried under all those pieces of glass you broke. What a shame! You could have made about $12 on eBay with that remote which is about more than twice what the radio is worth.

Oh, there also was a Rockford Fosgate amp in the back. I guess you missed that, too. Also, thanks for kindly unplugging my Kenwood-to-iPod connector instead of cutting it like the rest of the wires including the RCAs. You know, the RCA cables do come off really easily. And lastly, thanks for making my car lighter. It’s faster now!

(p.s. Rockford Fosgate? it’s no longer there. I decided to make my car even lighter while I’m at it.)

One Saturday morning around 5 AM I was on my way to meet up some guys for biking. Loaded up my bike in the trunk of my CRX and I hit the expressway. At 5 in the morning, there were hardly any cars. Suddenly, a GTI zoomed past me from nowhere (I was cruising at 90mph myself) followed by some non-descriptive car (possibly a Pontiac GTO) trying to catch up to it. Yes! with them in front of me, it was now safe to speed. Then I floored it to see just how fast this 23 year old would go.

The needle quickly hit 120 mph but wouldn’t move any further because at the bottom of the speedometer, there is a knob that resets the trip counter. The needle kept bobbing up and down resting on this knob. So I really don’t know how fast my CRX was doing beyond 120 mph.
Surprisingly, it was very stable and controllable even at that speed. There were no unwanted vibrations or twitching of any kind. It felt very well planted. Fyi, I have all-season tires, and stock suspension set-up. Only thing non-stock is the Energy Suspension Polyurethane bushing set.

I remember I wasn’t as comfortable even in my S2000 doing about 130 mph. Largely because the noise from the roof was unbearably loud. The roof on the S2000 starts to flap uncontrollably at about 120 mph. The noise and the vibration in the cabin is enough to make your head hurt after few minutes. Anyway, man, this little CRX is such a joy to drive. I couldn’t ask for anything more from this car.

I seriously think that the body on my CRX will disintegrate far before the powertrain gives. The motor, trans and brakes are as strong as ever but the body rust is getting worse every week. The a-pillar rust on the driver’s side is growing faster than ever.
Just over 2 years in Chicago and the rust is popping up faster than a teenager’s zit. Damn! I love this car but I don’t know if I will be able to commit to the whole body overhaul…