Dr. Charles Madrid has landed in Area 51. Now there's a statement that makes some sense. If anyone belongs at the great "Alien Rest Area," it's Dr. Charles. The good doctor, a mad scientist at his core, has been power-tuning Hondas since day one of the import scene. He has really found a home at Area 51 Fabrications, where his insightful ideas can be transformed into marketable products.
His latest creation is this 1997 Civic Hatchback that flexes JDM K20 Type-R power. Dr. Charles' shoehorning efforts have resulted in a K20 swap kit that can bring the K20 Type-R to homes of visionary enthusiasts for under $600.
The basic kit consists of driver, passenger and rear body engine mounts, a front crossmember and the proper radiator hoses. For around $1,100, the kit is upgraded with a custom header that hooks up to the stock Civic exhaust system. A harness conversion is also available.
On Area 51's Clayton chassis dynamometer, the K20 belted out 194.9 hp in stock trim. This is a pure 66-whp jump from a stock EK's 128.7 output as tested at Area 51.
Dr. Charles took the EK to the strip and breezed to a 13.2-second e.t . on his first and only pass of the day. Dr. Charles could not make any other passes because he forgot his helmet. With a bit more familiarization, Dr. Charles believes 13.0s are possible. This is a moot point, however, because before we had these pictures developed, Dr. Charles was grafting a turbo kit to the K20. We look forward to seeing how that does on the rollers and at the strip.