On the way to the SEMA Show 2018, Bisi Ezerioha, the Californian turbo god of Bisimoto Engineering, gave us the tip that he was exhibiting a little surprise in the form of a Honda Civic. Now we are not talking about a current Type R, but Bisi has dug up an old Honda Civic shuttle. Not a week before the premiere in Las Vegas, the EE2 was still a freshly painted bodyshell!

The EE2 is a revival of the old 724 hp, Bisimoto Engineering WagonVan project, that was on every Hardcore-JDM-Fans lips in 2010. For the last SEMA Show, Bisimoto completely redesigned the “Bisi Express”.

The two rear mud flaps with the 4WD lettering reveal it at first glance; the Civic has all-wheel drive. In North America, at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Civic was not offered as four-wheel drive as it has been in Germany. Bisimoto adapted the four-wheel-drive from the first generation of the ancestors from all compact SUVs, the Honda CR-V, to the former front-wheel drive. As the four-wheel drive of the CR-V was based on the technology from the Honda Civic EE4 Shuttle, it was easy for Americans to get old CR-V parts. Even the adapted rear apron came from the Honda SUV.

For a long time, no D15B2-8V motor with 90 HP sat in the engine compartment under the bonnet, but a reworked four-cylinder-16V by Bisimoto. Like many, Honda fans in the early nineties tuned their D15 engines with a cylinder head from a more powerful D-Series engine. Bisi crowned the retrofitted K24Z3 engine block from the Honda Accord LX-S with the cylinder head from the Honda Civic Si (K24Z7).

A Turbonetics turbocharger was put on the “Bisi-K24” and Bisi is still in the middle of the development phase. His goal is to eclipse his old 1029 hp Honda Odyssey with the Honda Civic Shuttle.

“I still have a little score to settle,” smiles the likable Californian, whom we like to visit again and again in Ontario. Open bill? Bisi and his Odyssey took part in the Netflix show ‘Fastest Car’ and just couldn’t get all the horsepower on the road because of the lack of traction. With the little Civic, this should not happen to him anymore.

That’s probably the reason for the conversion to the “CR-V-Allrad”. During the adaptation work, Bisi’s team also replaced the complete axles, retrofitted a Quaife five-speed manual transmission and the van now also has wheel hubs with a five-hole connection. Since Bisi will, of course, also continue to turn the power curve of the turbo engine powerfully, he has already made provision for the chassis. By the independently in the compression and rebound forces adjustable KW Coilover suspension, which was built by our our special construction department, the mounted 205/40 Toyo Proxes R888R Semislicks have a monstrous grip.

Fifteen52 integral rims in 17 x 7.5 inch and a Buddyclub brake kit behind the classic multi-spoke design sits out all around. The small van with its welded-in roll bar is, of course, a “Bisimoto typical” lightning bolt on wheels.

And that this inconspicuous, yasmarina blue, colored JDM van will show his tail to many performance cars as certain as Bisimoto will continue to release powerful turbo bullets onto the road …

Some months ago, Bisi and his Civic met with our Hoonigans buddies. There, Bisi presented the “Civic Wagon” in his sympathetic way.

Photo Automotiv (Eddy Paesschezoone), KW / Words C. Schmidt