SG Archives: Honda Civic SiR (EK4) saloon

December 4, 2025 8 Min Read

A true survivor among the final few Honda Civic SiR sedans in Singapore.

We went to view this car at the start of the year, around February 23 if memory serves me right.

Super, super good one. This car is a one owner (LTA listed) car that is almost fully stock safe for a Invidia muffler and one or two things. Otherwise basically box standard.

I believe this car has the Clover Green Pearl paintwork, a rare color for the EK Civic.

The interior were largely standard, but seats and doorcards were reupholstered to leather. AFAIK, Civic EK4s never had a leather option for the seats – reupholstering to leather is also common locally.

Extremely interesting is the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) tag. This is a good example to document how Kah Motor’s change in VIN type for the EK generation.

I may use UKDM and EUDM (United Kingdom and European) markets interchangeably – both markets are generally indifferent (as they can be generalized as “export market”). These export cars normally have an “export” style VIN tag located on the firewall, as is for the EF and EG generations.

Kah Motor’s naming scheme follows the UKDM style, leading to some confusion on trim names.

The VTi in UKDM and subsequently SGDM was the B16A2-powered model for for the EG. The SiR was the Japanese-market exclusive nameplate for the similar B16A-powered variant.

The EF generation (export markets stamped as ED) used VTi as the semi-performance trim, equivalent to a JDM EF3 Si in paper specs. The EF9 SiR was a parallel imported(?) model, the exclusive nameplate and variant with the B16A.

For the EK Civic, the VTi remained as the B-series trim, whilst Kah Motor rebadged the equivalent locally as the SiR.

The EK Civic has a VIN plate sized and located where the Japanese VINs would go, but the number format is still a UKDM / export type.

Singapore is one of a tiny handful (for the EK-series at least) of markets that use this format. Civics sold in Sri Lanka also use a similar format for its VIN plate (although so far unconfirmed for EK). Confusingly, our EG Civics still use the firewall-mounted VIN plates.

The trim “SiR” for the saloon is not JDM. The SiR for EK existed only for the hatchback. B-series EK saloons do exist, called “Si” and “Si-II” depending on grade in Japan.

To summarize the trim naming scheme for the EK, the SiR is the performance hatchback and Si is the performance sedan.

The Philippines had their own regional special SiR sedan, so Singapore is strictly not the only market with this rebranded trim.

Interestingly too is the plate frames for the Civic. The EK Civic came from factory a Japanese-sized two-row format for the trunk and a UKDM-format single-row front plate. The pre-facelift (this car is a facelift) also has this plate-frame combination.

Incidentally, this is one of at least four EK4 SiR saloons that are largely unmodified. It is rare as there are no performance variant of EF, EG and EK hatch in Singapore that is left unmodified.

The SiR is the only trim available from Kah Motor with the Honda B-series (discounting Type R).

The B-series, or to narrow down more, the B16A4 in the EK, was a more powerful affair compared to lower trims that use the D-series engines which made less power.

Where the D-series would make 100-120 horsepower out of the common 1.5 or 1.6-litre capacity, the B16 series were outputting around 170 horsepower quoted. Both series of engines were popular for their aftermarket support and reliability, a trait that keeps its popularity more than twenty years on (although superseded by the K-series).

Initial viewing and current ownership

I accompanied a friend of mine to this viewing to note some possible issues (oil leak, prior minor accident damage) but did not secure it in the end.

It eventually found its way to its current owner, @jz.chinn. I was super stoked to see the car during the last few days that Lim Chu Kang road was still operational, and more so to have chatted for a while about the car and parked for an impromptu photoshoot with his car.

Whenever part two of closure of Lim Chu Kang road will be published, I will include more photos of the very last day of the road being open.

Having spoken to him a few times over the year, I’m also happy to mention that the car won’t undergo substantial modifications apart from restore work or inevitable quality-of-life improvements for occupant use. In within a year’s span, he’s already had the following done to the car:

Full set engine mount replacement
Repaired radiator
Water pump replacement
Timing belt + Tensioner replacement
Distributor o-ring replacement
Valve cover gasket + Plug seal replacement
Spark plug & cable replacement
Intake manifold cleaning
Shift linkage bushing & Oil seal replacement
Brake lines flush + fluid replacement
Brake master cylinder replacement
Bumper repair + fix bumper panel gaps

Some QoL improvements include:

Clutch biting point adjustment
Make accelerator pedal smoother
Remove that gold thing from my engine bay

A lot within a year I must admit, but lots more done than I did with Elanmi and Feriko in my first year of owning both respectively. Given these cars are also old and previous owners did not religiously take care of them, these big laundry lists of replacement parts are nothing more than a guaranteed.

For more photos and more, please check his profile!