Car Observation Essay, Research Paper

Observation

I am choosing to observe my car. I drive a 1993 Honda Civic Ex. I have made many modifications to my car to make it look as different from any other red Honda Civic out there. I m what you might call an import enthusiast. Import cars like mine are a new dimension of automobiles now. Before it was the original V8 engine mustangs and muscle cars but now cause of gas prices and other changes in the world we have evolved to more domestic 4 cylinders and our own way s of making them just as fast but more fuel and budget efficient.

Taking a look around the outside of my car the first thing you will notice is the big 17-inch Millie Miglia five star wheels. I have also tinted all of the windows with 5% black window tint, as well as a strip across the top of the windshield. The outside of my car is also dressed up with performance brand stickers placed around in strategic places, two on each door, two on each rear side window and one on each the front and back windows. I also replaced the yellow corner lenses on the front of the car (the turn signals) with clear lenses to at a different look. You might also notice that the car sits a couple inches lower than any other civic out there because of racing coil over spring replacements. And I have brightened up my view at night with a set of Blazer driving lights that are mounted in the front grill.

Besides just the look of my car I have also changed the way it sounds and performs. The main attraction to my car is the loud roaring exhaust system. I replaced the factor pipes and muffler with a Thermal Cat Back Exhaust system. To set it off at the end is a big 4 inch chrome muffler tip and punched out my catalytic converter. My entire exhaust is almost all straight piping with nothing to hold back the air from getting out of the engine. Under the hood you will see my AEM cold air intake replacing my factory intake and baffle. This modification lets my engine get only the coldest air it can and a lot of it so my engine runs colder and performs more efficient. Also you will see a factory Civic SI strut bar that I took out of my friends Civic SI when he sold it. I painted it red to match my car and it fit just perfect.

The interior of my car is just as modified as the rest of it, if not more. My car is painted red and there was no red at all inside my car. I changed that; I ripped my entire dash apart and painted my door handles and power window control cover along with my heating vents on the dash and the console around all of my gauges red to match my car. I replaced my original shifter with a red and carbon fiber colored shift-knob and leather red boot. I have XR racing red and black floor mats. And AR racing red and black pedals.

The stereo that came in the car was not as loud as I wanted it so I replaced my front speakers with a set of Alpine 4-inch competition subs and tweeters including a crossover. I replaced the rear deck lid speakers with 6-inch Pioneer speakers. In the trunk I have a set of Rockford Fosgate HX2 12 inch subwoofers. To power all of this stuff I have a crossfire 1000D amplifier to bump the subs, and a smaller Alpine amp to power the others. There is an Optimus crossover controlling the frequencies of all the amps and the entire system is controlled by an Alpine Phantom face CD player head deck.

The feature about my car that I like the best is the sound that my exhaust and intake gives my engine. Another thing that I enjoy about my car is the stereo, when I play it loud all of my mirrors shake and if its summer time and the windows are down you can feel it in other cars and I watch there windows shake as well. The car is a lot faster now and handles much better than it did before. Driving is a wonderful experience for me now that my car handles like a race car and is somewhat of a getaway for me to release all of my tension and anger.