Mimms Honda Day @ Three Sisters Circuit [2022]

Yet another Mimms?! I know it might seem as if this is the only carboy gathering I attend, especially with my most recent blog posts being Mimms @ Pod, but there’s good reason for it. Firstly, it’s worth noting this Mimms event @ Three Sisters Circuit was put on earlier than it normally has been in the past, meaning there was only a couple of months between the two shows. Another reason is I’ve been to many run-of-the-mill, generic car shows in the past, and whilst there’s a wide variety of stuff to look out, it can usually be a mish-mash of sorts. This is why I’m only making efforts to check out shows that will bring out cars that interest me, instead of trying to hit up every car show on the calendar.

Anyway, hopefully you enjoy the read and something piques your interest.

The Civik is back on duty for the “summer” season. Ride height isn’t to my liking, but that’s partially down to my own fault in fitting 225-section tyres on all four corners. The rear arches are a proper rubba-dub-fest when hard cornering, but I’d like to avoid rolling the arches if I can. A set of wheels are on their way, which should mitigate that with increased offset, but we’ll see. I ought to fit narrower rear tyres, which should also help the car rotate.

On with the show!

Me and the old man arrived at the track a little later than everyone else, but it turned out for the best as we dodged the rainy morning.

A red panda EF Civic caught my eye so I went in for a closer look.

Nothing crazy going on within the cabin of the old hatchback, just a Nardi Classic wheel to help quicken up the car’s ability to change direction. I’d assumed there’d be a full-cage, gutted interior, and fuel cell setup lurking inside from seeing how low the car sat, hence why I was surprised to see an auto shift lever in the centre console.

The owner’s other car must have a 2-way LSD or a close ratio gear set, because I don’t think KAAZ do anything for the 4-speed automatic found here.

I’m always skeptical of NGR merch outside of Japan. Maybe one of you can confirm whether this is courtesy of Alibaba or not.

I’d only snapped one decent shot of this CH9 Accord SiR Wagon because I spent most of the time looking at it and scratching my head. I can’t imagine there being many in Japan, let alone here in the UK. Apparently the only 2.3 litre H-series – H23A – was used to propel this big landboat with enough room for a family and their picnic inside. I like how utilitarian it manages to look on its Blitz Type 01 wheels.

Moving on from the niche market automobiles, here’s a couple of EK9 Civic Type R I took fancy to. This very OEM+ Type Rx belonging to Danny, was immaculate, right down to its yellow-zinc plated calipers behind stock 15″ EK9 wheels.

Spy the CD player delete plate, along with the Type-Rx-exclusive carbon centre console and aluminium pedal set.

It’s funny to see how the EK9 chassis is treated differently outside of Japan. Because of them being so popular and commonplace in their homeland, they tend to play the role of track tool more often than not.

Over here though (and in the USA/Canada I’m assuming) the hero FF hatchback – generally speaking – is a coveted, prizewinning Honda from the golden old days, and whenever I see one out at a show or wherever, they’re always well kept and not smothered in molten rubber.

I appreciate how the owner hasn’t gone crazy with changing too much surrounding the B16B. Lightweight Odyssey battery in it’s bespoke aluminium battery tray sits adjacent to yet more carbon-fibre cladding the fusebox and scuttle.

I’ve seen loads of EK9 Civics with these Integra Type R seat covers now, did Honda not produce any Civic branded covers or what?

Another facelift EK9 a couple spots down from Danny’s, although this owner appears to have an affinity for Spoon Sports by the looks of it. The 15″ SW388 wheels, carbon bonnet and wing mirrors, as well as the blue wheel nuts, all come out of Spoon Sports’ catalogue. Nice amount of low, too.

It’s not all Jap, Jap, Jap, however, thanks to a bit of USDM flavour in the form of a Hybrid Racing V2 shifter with their Maxim shift knob screwed to the top of it. And from Italia, a Nardi Personal Neo Grinta in leather ready to be put to work on a B-road.

A rear profile shot of the EK9 with its rear end tucking that 205/50 Falken tyre.

Ichishima-san would approve.

Tatsuru Ichishima is the President of Spoon Sports. ‘Tsuru’ means crane in Japanese.

Interestingly, the owner opted to use a J’s Racing 60RS muffler, maybe for that slight weight saving with this semi-titanium exhaust item.

Jassi, a fellow Singh, had his stall set-up for car nerds to go crazy over all the cool scale models he had on offer. He hooked me up with this Tomytec 1:64 of a zenki EK9 Civic Type R in Flamenco Black – exactly how I would have specced if I were a Japanese salaryman in 1997.

One of the first cars that caught my attention under the brief window of sunshine that day was this DC5 Integra Type R on Advan Racing RZ-II in Racing Indigo Blue.

Here’s that EK I first spotted at Three Sisters Circuit last year. I’m assuming it retains the K20 under the bonnet, as for new additions, the owner has switched the other Buddyclubs he had for some OG P1s in the classic white coating.

A peek into the interior reveals a few more updates like the leather (previously suede) Nardi Personal wheel with a shift light visible through the top half of it. The K-Tuned shifter has been ditched too, with a Hybrid Racing V3 taking it’s place. A well put together EK, shame I didn’t see it make moves out on track that day 😦

The man who shall not be named (he wishes for it not to be public) nearly made me trip over my own feet and give me whiplash as I turned to the right and saw him pull up with in his NA1 NSX.

You’ll remember this masterpiece of Japanese exotica from last years event here, but notice how the Desmond Regamasters are now out of sight.

Advan RG-III sized 17″ & 18″ (front and rear respectively) in Racing Gold Metallic now help support the aluminium chassis and look magnificento against the Berlina Black paint.

I didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked, mainly due to the fact I could barely move around the car without getting in someone’s shot or somebody getting in the way of mine. As people horded around the car and interrogated the owner on how much it’s “kicking” out, I stayed around long enough to notice some cool and rare Border Racing bits under the engine cover, and new seats (not photo’d – woops).

There were a bunch of S2000s attending the event, the majority of them posted up on the ‘9K Everyday’ club stand. But it happened to be this Monza Red Pearl AP2 parked between an EP3 and CR-V that had me rapid-firing the shutter.

I don’t recall ever coming across one of these in this colour, which is a shame because it suits it so well. Mods aren’t OTT either, with a CR front lip, and sideskirts & rear diffuser by JDP Engineering. Subtle touches like the colour-matched cold-air intake pipe and valve cover compliment the mostly-standard engine bay.

Can’t confirm whether the steering wheel is a genuine Mugen part, as I’m pretty sure the real-deal doesn’t feature cross-stitching.

The overall presence this S2000 had was sick though, so props to the owner.

I rarely give EP3 Civic Type Rs a second look, but this replica caught me by surprise.

Very raw styling, reminiscent of JDM one-make racecars, just without a livery.

J’s Racing strut tower bar keeping the front end rigid, whilst a Tegiwa ‘Gruppe-M style’ airbox draws cool air into the K20.

This EP2 was hunkering down hard on its TE37 in Hyper Blue finish.

Three Sisters Circuit is short and slow enough for anyone to enjoy and get to grips with their car on.

Watching everybody else squeal their tyres around the “big” hairpin got me amped to take the Civik out.

Towards the end of the day, I saw this rarity on the track session after I finished mine.

A Mazda 323/Familia GT-Ae! The first and last time I saw one of these was in Germany at the Frey Automobile Museum.

A proper under-rated early 90’s hatchback with turbo power and 4WD.

I think I missed Dav announce the winners of ‘Show and Shine’, because I don’t remember anybody going up to the table to collect their prize.

Saw this 190E earlier on in the day and it was still there towards closing time, so I made sure to take a snoop around the compact saloon.

This W201 series was a bog standard 1.8, meaning no Cosworth-built engine or aggressive aero kit.

Nevertheless, this rare four-door is a nice glimpse into the past.

Wheels are a bit mad, but the classic two-tone grey-on-beige body made up for it. I’m certain the beige on this particular car was the same as those raced by the world-class F1 roster back when this car was launched in the early 80’s. And here’s the Honda link: Senna won that race.

Forget the cool helmet visor, check the checquer printed seat fabric!

Shelf speakers for listening to a NOW CD on the journey home.

Good times were had, even for those who maybe weren’t happy about binning their EJ9 Civic. Mark Daly, who was whipping his B-swap hatch at this very track last year, unfortunately lost his car that got beat in a fight with a fence.

I think he plans on keeping the powertrain and buying another EK hatch to plant it in. On the bright side, he still has his DC2 Integra Type R with the proper front end still intact.