The 1995 Honda del Sol VTEC — My Gen X Honda Origin Story Episode 04

Описание: 1995 Honda del Sol DOHC VTEC | Gen-X Honda Origin Story

The 1995 Honda del Sol DOHC VTEC is one of the most underrated Hondas ever built — and this episode explains why.

This was the third of the 20 Hondas I’ve owned over 35 years, and it marked a turning point not just for me, but for Honda performance in the United States.

After trading in my 1993 del Sol Si after only one year, I bought the 1995 del Sol VTEC brand new. Honda had just released something special — the DOHC VTEC B16A engine, producing 160 horsepower from only 1.6 liters, revving to 8,000 RPM, and becoming the first production engine to achieve 100 horsepower per liter.

That engine didn’t just sound good on paper.
The del Sol VTEC ran 0–60 in 6.4 seconds, covered the quarter mile in 15.1 seconds at 96 mph, and pulled 0.89 lateral g’s on stock tires — numbers that put it right alongside the Acura Integra GS-R and even matched the straight-line performance of a 5.0 Mustang GT, while being nearly 800 pounds lighter.

Honda also quietly transformed the chassis. The suspension had already been stiffened over the previous two years, and the VTEC model received what would today be considered a Type-R-level upgrade. With better tires and wheels, the del Sol became a true go-kart, a trait that defined Honda handling for decades.

Despite this, the del Sol developed a love-hate reputation — even among Honda fans. Much of that criticism was based on the softer early models, not the VTEC car. And yes… even in 1995–1997, the internet was already toxic.

Only about 6,000 del Sol VTEC models were produced, making it rare even when new.

This episode also tells the story of Club Sol, the Honda del Sol enthusiast club I founded in 1995, right as the internet transitioned from Gopher to HTML-based web pages. Within three years, Club Sol grew to over 1,000 paying members and supported more than 25,000 del Sol owners worldwide, during the very early days of dial-up internet.

The del Sol community was passionate, dedicated, and deeply connected to Honda’s golden era — something revisionist history often overlooks.

This car represents my golden age of driving. It was my late-college car, the Honda I lived with, modified the most, and drove hard for years — banging off the 8,000 RPM redline without a single failure.

This is real Honda history — told by someone who lived it.