What Car Deserves This Honda Civic Type R Crate Engine Swap?

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Honda will now sell you a full crate engine from its performance division, Honda Performance Development, and it comes with a wiring harness, an ECU and even a pedal.

Honda is calling it the Controls Package, and it will cost $9,000, Autoblog reports. The crate engine “will come with an engine long block, alternator, turbocharger and starter motor,” per Honda. The motor will produce 306 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque.

My favorite bit is its “H” logo, because it’s the little things that count. But the announcement made me wonder which car deserves this swap. Honda says it will sell a limited number of these packages starting May 1.

I suppose there are lots of cars I would engine-swap using this, from a lowly CR-X HF for the ultimate sleeper to the venerable RSX Type-S, which has the looks to match the performance of the K20C1.

The RSX Type-S was outfitted with its own K-series engine, so a modern version would keep that lineage with the K20C1. But I want something more distinctive than the Acura.

No, not a Del Sol, even if that lightweight chassis would rip with the K20C1’s output.

It would be the seventh-generation Civic Si, one of the coolest hatchbacks Honda ever made. And with the decades-long streak of cool hatches Honda has going, saying the EP3 is one of the coolest is saying a lot. But it’s true.

Just look at it:

And it gets better. When Honda debuted that Civic Si Concept, it took the car to SEMA. It recruited King Motorsports and Mugen to bring out the production Si’s good side, and they delivered this:

As much as I am a fan of the Civic Type-R, I think that an engine like the K20C1 deserves an equally impressive car. And literally edgy design does not make for an impressive car.

I don’t know what happened to the Civic, but all those jagged lines and geometric breaks make it look like a Decepticon from a Michael Bay sequel — after the conceit of Transformers has worn off and you’re just left with a robot dinosaur and swords.

In comparison with the Type-R, the clean lines from the seventh Civic Si are refreshing. I can overlook a stray line in the bumper here and there. Especially for the Mugen’s gold wheels.

That’s my vote, but what about you, readers? Which car do you think deserves this engine swap?