May152016May 15, 2016December 15, 20221 Commentby Brian DeFrees

Grocery Getter of the Year! (The Little Civic that Could)

Posted in Blog

A look back at what’s happened with my Honda Civic Si since I bought it brand new in 2009. Checkout the story on imgur here.

This Civic has been to the top of Pikes Peak (Elevation: 14,114′).

…and to the bottom of Death Valley.

My car has driven a road in all 48 continental US states.

It’s driven Route 66 from Chicago to LA.

It’s slain the dragon…twice.

It’s raced up the esses at Watkins Glen, dropped through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca and had parts fly off of it on the back straight at COTA.

It’s won Rallycrosses, National Challenges, State and National Championships

Every race was driven to and back from (trailers are for wussies).

Featured in the February 2015 issue of Grassroots Motorsports

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Jan 4, 2015 at 9:53am PST

Featured in the RallyCross National Championship section of this months Sports Car magazine

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Nov 20, 2014 at 5:03pm PST

1st place: SCCA RallyCross National Champion!

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Oct 5, 2014 at 3:43pm PDT

2014 Lone Star Rallycross P2 champ!

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Dec 21, 2014 at 3:32pm PST

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Oct 13, 2014 at 4:09pm PDT

Its 2-month journey across the US caught the eyes of YouTubers and news outlets across the world, gaining over a million views.

It even had a brief stint as an uber rideshare vehicle.

It’s still my daily driver and only car I own.

It’s only had some minor exterior modifications and simple performance modifications.

Besides routine maintenance, tires and brakes, the car has never needed any significant repairs or service. Almost unbelievable considering the hell I’ve put it through over the past 9 years. But then again…it is a Honda.

I remember when I first got it, washing and waxing it every day and not letting people in the car if they had food or muddy shoes. Then came the day when my dad offered me his spot at a Watkins Glen HPDE when his RX-7 couldn’t be ready in time. After its first track day, it took its first trip across the country and then started to get dirty rallying not long after.

To celebrate its 100,000th mile, I drove it from Austin, Texas all the way to Laguna Seca to check off my number one bucket list racetrack. A combination of road trip and track day was the ideal way to celebrate a huge milestone for this car.

A photo posted by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 23, 2016 at 9:17am PST

So… “what’s next?” you ask?

We’ll see what’s in store for the next 100,000 miles…maybe caging it and making it a dedicated Rally Car…maybe supercharging it and making it a dedicated track car. Perhaps driving it in the One Lap of America.
For now, it will continue to be my daily driver, road trip vehicle, rally car and race car: The Grocery Getter of all Grocery Getters!