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Acura Integra GSR Customizing and Modifying
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Comments
As far as brake pads. The Hawk HP+ are WAY better than the Axxis Ultimates. I just put Ultimates on my '01 Civic with new Brembo rotors and they don't compare to the HP+ I had on before. The HP+ lasted almost 90k mi. on Brembo blanks! They got a very good initial bite and never faded on the highway.
I had Ultimates on my GSR 3yrs ago and only kept them for like 1 auto-x season. They were mediocre to me and felt the same as the Metal Masters I had on before that. I 've been on the same HP+ pads since June '03 in my GSR and they 're still performing well after a lot of racing. I will probably try Cobalt's GT Sport next to see what they 're like. I 've spoken to the owner Andy several times in the past 3yrs and he said the HP+ are very comparable to his own brand the Sport GT. He always tries to push his pads whenever I talk to him but they cost more than the Hawks. I was surprised to find out this year that most of the PROs and the fast auto-xers use the Hawk HP+. I had never thought asking them before all these year but this summer I 've been asking many of the fastest drivers and over 90% of them said they use HP+. The Cobalts might a little better for the track but not sure. I say this because Andy used to road race so I wouldn't be surprised if they had a little less fade at higher speeds than the HP+ but the HP+ are an excellent auto-x pad, and even great for the street. I don't see any issues with driving daily on them. I did it for 2.5-3yrs with my Civic.
The Ultimates are fine too for every day as long as you change the fluid every year and get some SS braided brake lines. I use mostly Honda brake fluid but always change it every year. It makes a difference every time I change the fluid. It's time after 5yrs to replace my Goodridge SS lines too. Their performnce level has droppped and I read that they should be changed every 3-4yrs or so if the car is raced. Oh well nothing lasts forever. BTW, someone had a brake fluid leak at the last auto-x event and he had just installed the SS lines he bought from Cobalt. I forget which brand they carry but it's not Goodridge, it's Gtech or something like that. They probably didn't install them right. Again Cobalt's SS lines are more expensive than Goodridge which can be had for $100-110. I had paid $90 for mine back then plus $8 shipping. Those days are gone. Inflation is definitely upon us just like high gas prices. Not a good time to drive a GSR that runs on super.
BTW my next mods: JDM 4-1 Type-R header, 2.5" test pipe, and Type One Racing (TR1) 2.5" exhaust! I 've seen dynos were GSRs gained 14-16whp with this combo and Type-Rs gained 16-18. Not bad. Anyone want to buy a DC Sports 4-2-1 header? Got 5.5whp from that alone
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I know that miatas aren't hondas, but I keep going back to hondatech, just to read up on the suspension forums, and a lot of them have tried both the basics as well as koni's with OTS springs, and the koni setup is much better. Apparently, to really have a quality piece of suspension from Tein, you need to get at least the Flex's. So I guess I'll keep the konis on the car and get the FM springs. They're progressive, so the should offer a nice ride on the street and good performance on the track or at the auto-x.
However, that'll have to wait until next semester, as I just dumped almost 1000 bucks on school books :surprise: I really wasn't expecting that kind of hit to my bank account. I'm glad I didn't impulsively buy the teins
Oh, completely off the subject of cars or racing, I've been trying some really ... physically challenging things lately. None of y'all know me, so here's a quick bio. 6'5", ~250 lbs, and I can almost do a backflip and land it on the ground! I started working them about 2 weeks ago, but only recently did I start landing them on the floor, off of a small cushion (about 3" of help). I'm really excited
You've got steel braided lines? Is'nt the response too stiff? If anything I was thinking I might replace my lines with OEM rubber ones but not steel!! Which brings me to my next question: what components contribute to "unsprung weight" (besides the wheels)? The reason I've been thinking about it is because I picked up my new rotors and they're actually kindof heavy! I was thinking maybe I shouldn't upgrade the rear rotors depending on the weight diff. I'll feel when I swap these front ones out.
I dunno if I'll return the pads... I got them for like $56, how much are the Hawk HP+??? :mad:
As far as unsprung weight, I would like to say that it includes:
1) wheels
2) control arms; upper and lower
3) shocks and springs
4) brake components; caliper, rotor, pads
5) hub and components
6) lug nuts :P
I'm sure Harry will get in on this and add/subtract from this list. As far as how much a rotor will change your unsprung weight, I wouldn't worry about it. The effects of unsprung weight is much more noticable when you go with heavy wheels.
The price of the hp+'s vary, so I'm not sure. When I got a set for my old integra, they were right about 150 for the set, front and back. For the miata, they're about the same, so I'd guess that for a g2 integra, they'd be about that much. You can get fronts, backs, or both. I'd recommend getting the fronts and rears so the car is more balanced.
Harry, here's a question for you. I'm still a little boggled by it, but maybe you can shed some light on it. The miata guys were talking about completely taking off the swaybars, front and rear, and just going with heavier springs, like 450 front and 250-300 in back (stock is like 120 front and 80 back). They report that the car handles very well, but also that the car will ride very well, as the car now has "true independent suspension." They went into suspension geometry and something about roll centers vs center of gravity. The main discussion focused on getting the front wheels to do ~60% of the gripping (stock is 61%), and with those spring rates and no sway bars, they can get very close and handling from stock is virtually unchanged.
Pads: My girlfriend has tried many diff. pads in her teenage years and so I won't feel too bad burning through these ultimates before I get the Hawk HP+'s... I can already stop really quickly so i'm interested to see what more those pads could possibly do for me! BTW: I ordered my brake stuff from BuyBrakes.com and they were delivered within 3days.
Finally, someone mentioned matching spring & shock compression rates a few threads back. If I were to leave my red Tokico springs on and get some better shox how would I find out info about the matching spring rates?
No significant modifications have been done to this car yet except an intimidator short ram intake that was already on it and a skunk2 shift knob that i bought. I am looking for some advice on aftermarket parts, and beings how every time i come to this site i leave with a headache from all the information i have to cram in, i figured i'd ask you guys. I just ordered an AEM cold air intake, thanks to reading all the wonderful posts form you guys. The next question i have is on exhaust. I've heard so many people telling me 'dude get greddy' or 'no dude get dc' and even the occasional 'exhaust is exhaust'. I know that in the end its my decision, my car, but i dont want to make an uninformed decision when i have you guys to help me out. I was looking for something in the 500 dollar range (and that includes shipping if off the internet) not something too loud for when i dont want the attention, but i like to hear my engine when i get on the throttle. I was looking at skunk2 exhaust and the EVO2 but the evo is a little pricey. so any imput would be helpful.
I'd probly also help to let you know my goals for my car. I'm not really into the whole track racing like you guys are, but i'm also not an illegal street racer that races any import with an exhaust system on the road. I want to occasionally take my car out to the track. In the future i plan to get some lowering springs/coilovers (havent decided yet) itr header, and then some astetic work like a lip or rims, no body kits. Anyway thats my story. Thanks for any feedback.
Anyways, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I'm the resident engine/power guy, Harry is the suspension/racing guru, and 90gs is our other new guy that asks a lot of interesting/thought provoking questions.
What about Flowmaster or Magna flow... they make really good sounding/ non-rice rokety noises. Just do an engine search. I didn't know about the mandrel bent, until now.
Trying to figure out how to fit the 14" Hx rims on my car.... I know you have to do something to compress or relieve the brake caliper because of the clearance issues.... any help?
As far as the hx wheels are concerned, you'll need to shave down the front face of the caliper bracket. You sholdn't need to touch the actual caliper. Anyways, to really see what needs to be tweaked, if you bolt the wheel on lightly (don't torque it down) and spin the wheel, you'll see what needs to be shaved down. I used a large, flat metal file and elbow grease to fit my crx wheels on my integra, so it isn't too bad.
Please help, it is very annoying and i dont want to be driving this car and be making things worse if it's a serious problem. It has 77k miles on it and i think i recall that 78 was when most of the major maintenance is scheduled, but then again i could be wrong. I did have the heat sheild problem with my catylitic converter but fixed that thanks to some previous posts on this forum so i'm hoping you guys could help me out again.
-Mike
1) check your oil
2) when was the last time the spark plugs were replaced? If you don't know or more than a few thousand miles ago, get some cheapy copper plugs (I like them because they work well and they're cheap).
3) If you have a volt-o-meter or an ohm meter, check the resistance of the sparkplug wires
4) (this will sound wierd) make sure the clips are on the injectors. Just push them down and make sure they're seated properly.
5) If you want to, pull the cover off of the distributor and see what the contacts look like. They should be silver, so if they're black, clean them off a little with a wire brush.
6) check the throttle cable tension (probably won't do anything, but it's nice to have throttle respone)
7) it eludes me right now, but there's a sensor that gets its readings from some passage somewhere in the throttle body that needs to be cleaned out occasionally. I'll look into that more and let you know.
That's about all I can think of. Also, when you have your sparkplugs out, remember what color they are, if they're white, brown, black, broken, etc. and let me know.
Good luck,
Phoy
Installation was pretty straight forward, the only wierd things was getting the rear calipers pushed in. If you use the c-clamp method, you'd have to buy new calipers. Underneath a 14mm bolt is a 4mm allan wrench screw with a gear on the end. This is what backs the piston into the caliper.
After the breakin of the pads and rotors via cobalts directions and a fluid flush with valvoline synpower, I went for a test drive. Oh my God, what a difference! The vagueness is gone, and very little pressure is required to get the brakes to work. I'd say that 30-40% pedal pressure is the same as mashing the pedal to the floor with the old pads. It's also very linear as constant pressure will give constant deceleration. I also went on a quick mountain run to test them, and they passed with flying colors. No hint of fade, great inital bite, good modulation, and very little squealing.
I'm very impressed with the setup, but I'd still like a little quicker response in the pedal. Right now, it's about an inch, then the pedal is stiff and the brakes engage. When I was bleeding the brakes, I noticed that the firewall was moving about a half an inch or so, so I'll see what it takes to fab up a brace for the master cylinder. I'll report later and update on how the brakes feel in a week or so.
Does anyone know when the major service is on integras, someone told me 78k but i've herd other things too. Also, is there a good engine polish that can clean up the hard water/unknown brown spots (does'nt look like rust) on my engine and header heat shield. It's not that really big of a deal to me but its kind of an eyesore when i open the hood. Thirdly, any tips on installing a AEM cold air intake would be greatly appreciated.
As far as the rusty lookin things, try a wire brush? I'm not too sure what you're talking about, but there are some really good products out there that'll clean up your engine nicely. I believe there is a spray called "Purple Power" that works well. If there's funk on the heat shield, perhaps some high-temperature spray pain is in order. Black looks good on the heat shield.
For the coldair, you're going to have to remove the extraneous intake parts like the resonator and taking off the wheel well plastic. When all that jazz is out of the way, I was able to snake the intake in through the top, but I needed to take off the upper strut tower brace so that I could swing it down to the throttle body. Other than that, it's pretty easy to do.
Welcome Jebbidiah (can I call you Kansas? its easier, hehe)!!
PS. GSR seats cost a few bucks which is why they took those first but at least they 're not leather so you should be able to find some (used) on the classified section of true Honda forums for a reasonable price. Many people install aftermarket (race-like) seats in the front, so I always see Integra seats 4sale.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anyway i was just wondering if any of you are ever bored if you wouldn't mind giving me a crash course in adjustable cam gears. I have a basic concept of what it does, i just dont know exactly how you tune your engine with them if you know what i mean. I'm not getting cams anytime soon, but i do plan to go N/A with my car so it might come up in the future and it'd be helpful to having some extra knowledge on the subject. By the way gas in Wichita, KS just hit $3.00 a gallon today.
I was going to respond to a few things but I have to hit the bed because I 'm tired and have to get up early tomorrow for a meeting. I will however try to summarize:
90GS - Turbo is also a good option as long as you don't experiment with higher boost which can and will damage your mostly stock motor unless you decide to build it up. Phoy also gave you good advice on the BOV. I think he 's come a long way and has demonstrated excellent skills providing good solid advice and with the proper demeanor and would perfect to take my place when I finally retire from this forum in the near future. I 'll be turning 40 the end of this year (I can't believe I 'll be middle-aged!) and I think my passion for Integras and modding Hondas is not what it used to be especially when I look around and see most people driving Integras are 15-20yrs younger than me. I feel like I should be driving a Bimmer or an S2000 in my age but it's easier said than done. But I 'll still grab a Type-R if I can get it for a good price
Garados aka Phoy: I do NOT recommend removing the sway bars from your Miata. That would be a big mistake in my opinion, not because all the SCCA Pro's I know racing a Miata have them on, but because sway bars = spring rate. If you think you got too much spring rate you get different springs, you don't remove your sway bars. It's the wrong approach. I know a few CRX auto-xers and road racers that removed the front sway bar and said their cars handled a little better (most of them put it back on after a short while). Well that's because they had 600-800lb springs in the front which wasn't helping their FWD car rotate properly and induced understeer. By removing the front sway bar they reduced the spring rate when in fact all the had to do is get softer springs for the front. This guy I know for years and race with often, finally figured it out and put his front sway bar back on his CRX, and went down to 400lbs in the front (he has 650 in the rear) and his car is faster than ever in CSP. He likes it a lot. I 've seen many people go into it in depth trying to determine the roll center or roll rate, etc. but they 're not suspension geometry experts and don't realize the importance of sway bars. Sway bars are built to absorb forces that springs can't. Springs and sway bars although have a common purpose they serve different ones too. One major difference is that that the sway bar depends on the subframe as well as both control arms and ties both ends of the car together to absorb a variety of forces put on them (lateral movement, vertical, etc.) and reduce chassis flexing in a way springs can't. I think a good anology an automotive engineer made (I think he worked for an experimental Saturn race team) a few years ago on his web site was that in order to replace a typical 14-16mm factory sway bar, you would have to install ~400-500lb springs respectively and most aftermarket 22-25mm sways with 800-1,000lb springs to have a similar effect on the chassis and handling characteristic but even then he said it wouldn't be a complete replacement.. So much for summarizing. I would see what the Miata National champs have out there and go with a similar setup. Some of them are secretive about their suspension setup but you will find that they usually don't have an unusual one. Dave Fauth took DS at the Nationals 2 yrs in a row with regular Koni Yellows and nothing else. His alignment settings were very typical too unlike others that went to 1/2" of Toe out and tried all kinds of wacky stuff. Sportscar Magazine (SCCA's magazine) had a good article on that about a year ago saying that most National champs in many classes used off the shelf Konis or slightly stiffer custom valved Konis and beat others that had double adjustable or $4K race shocks on their cars. It comes down to the driver, ie: skill and how well you know your car. Like I said before I can move the knob on my Konis 1-2mm and I can feel the difference it makes.
BTW, I PAXed 3d overall a couple of weeks at a local SCCA event on my new 615 Falkens! I was in STX class
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I am so happy with this suspension setup. I know I could stand to lose a little more weight in front and maybe get some better shocks but two days ago, right after I changed my oil I was heading home by myself (empty car) and I kept getting taunted by this hot shot in a Mercedes S350 (2005 or 2006 - not sure but when I looked it up later on the internet these body styles matched the one Im talking about). He kept mashing at every green light (which I was already doing). I couldn't come close to keeping up with him but the lights were timed so he got stuck at each subsequent red light (idiot gas waster!) Anyway, we finally approached my fav. turns that I drive on at least twice a day and I figured what the hell, I don't have a chance but I'll put some pressure on him. I kept it in third and actually took him on the third turn!!!! I saw he had his GF or wife in the car too so he must have felt thououghly humiliated by a 15yr old car (stock motor) that cost almost $50,000 less than his big timer Benz!!! Ha!!!! :P I can't wait to see what I can do with my turbo set-up. Some of the guys on Honda-Tech, Honda-Swap claim to have pushed out 200-250 WHP and 190-220 ft/lbs torque with my LS turbo set-up. If I can smoke a mercedez with a 15yr old 130hp motor..... well, I think you can see the potential for drag style racing approaching. All for the third of the cost of a new car. Ha!!!!! :shades:
BOV's
You'll have to navigate around, but just keep looking for sounds and videos and click the links. You'll find it.
I went to discount tire to get some other azenis on 2 of my regular wheels, just because I didn't want to pay for new tires quite yet. Anyways, I go inside and talk to the salesman and I said I had a nail in my tire and I didn't know if it was fixable, if not, put the azenis on the back, yady yady yada. So we start walking out to the car and I squat down next to the miata. I look back at the guy and he has the most dumbfounded look on his face. He said, "This is your car? How do you fit?" I told him I had a custom seat and that I almost sit on the floor, so he looked inside and say the racing seat and said, "Oh man, that seat is awesome!" .... "Is that a roll bar?!?!! Hey, do you race this thing?!" I said yes, and asked him to check out this nail.
So everything got taken care of, 2 azenis mounted and balanced, the old tires put on the front of the car. They drive my car out of the bay, and I look at everything to make sure it's kosher. I head around to my door and I see a business card underneath the windshield wiper. It was a "Farmers Insurance" card, so I kinda freaked out because of what was written on the back. "I would like to talk to you about miata racing. Please give me a call." Well, I called the number and talked to him, and he was pretty enthusiastic about miatas and he really wanted to auto-x his 94.
On the drive home, I decided that having just 2 azenis on the car wasn't good enough. I put on 2 more, so I have 93 miata wheels on the driver side and 95 wheels on the passenger. It's subtle, but it's definitely noticable. Alright, so here's the point of this post. The car is absolutely amazing to drive now! With the extra grip of the tires, the car can lean more so the alignment is actually doing its job. I mean, driving the car is just perfect now. Front end goes where it's supposed to go, back end doesn't come out, no sliding, and no more vibration from unbalanced wheels
Mike
What type of camber kit should I get??? Tuners Choice makes several diff. kinds of Kits w/ ones that adjust the knuckes, ones for the LCA's, UCA, one for non-slotted struts,and onesto adjust toe in&out. Where do I start? Can't I just get any kit? And Harry, didn't you say you had some alignment specifications for me?!?!?! I would rather lean a little on the side of performance than long lasting tires unless they're not really interchangable. I dunno... I can't keep burning through tires like this though.
Thanks for the BOV link, it seems like theres almost no escaping the alleviating whine from any BOV. They didn't have a link for a turbo LS motor but I assume it's something like the other 4cyl engines that were on the site.
Improving plan: It seems like the best way for me to carry out my plan will be to completely rebuild the B18b to just surpass it's stock profile and than break it in and run it for a good 2-3k miles. Than take it off, inspect it and throw the turbo on!
Ok I 'm not sure 90GS which suspension you have. I remember you installed the sway bars but now you said your car is lowered 1". Did you get sports springs or a coilover kit (and good shocks I hope)? The reason I 'm asking is because what I 'm about to tell you, not too many people have realized and still give out wrong info about alignment settings on H-T and other forums. Not all alignment settings work the same for all Integras.
This is from my experience with my DC2 (3d gen) but should apply to your Teg and most Hondas and FWD cars. The spring rates and shock valving DICTATE the best alignment settings for your car. What I have found is that my car doesn't handle as well with a 1/6-1/4" toe-out and slight toe-out in the rear with my 600F/750R lb springs, but they worked great with my 400/475lb setup or 276/220lb H&R springs I used to have. I have come to realize that the higher I go with the spring rates the less toe-out I have to go with all around and (even less camber!), but since you don't compete with your car and you want your tires to last a little longer than a typical auto-xer's, then you don't want to overdo it.
Just set the rear toe to 0 (each side should be 0.00") inches and the front with slight toe out like -0.03 to -0.05" each side for a total of up to -0.10" which is 1/10th of toe out, and nothing more otherwise your tires will start wearing fast. So the range you want is 1/16th to 1/10th. I would recommend or -0.08 total toe in the front which is 1/12th of an inch toe out.
As far as camber goes you shouldn't have too much camber with a 1" drop but I have come to realize that more camber does accelerate wear & tear unlike many people say. You 'll hear that toe wears out tires prematurely, not camber. That is also bull. Excess camber will mess up your tires, especially if you have considerable toe out. It will accelerate the wear. If you have 0 toe and a little high camber, it won't be as bad. Both high toe out and much negative camber = 2-3mos tire life only. Anyway, you want anywhere between -1 and -1.5 deg. of negative camber in the front. You won't need a camber kit for the rear because I doubt your rear is much over 1 deg. but if you decide to get camber kits, I found the Ingalls rear camber kit a very nice piece. Very easy to install and it comes with your choice of rubber or poly bushings. For the front the Skunk2 upper arms is what I have and most auto-xers and road racers. The new version of the Skunk 2 UCAs is very good and easy to adjust but I wouldn't run out and purchase these unless you put it on the alignment rack and see what your current settings are.
I 'm pretty certain that your extra wear on the tires is because your Toe settings are out of wack and why your car handles so good. A lot of toe out in the front is great for handling (bad for tires). I 'm also sure your toe settings are not the same all around either. This past spring when I switched from the Advance Design coilover (threaded) shocks back to the Konis with the GC coilover kit, my car wasn't pulling at all and felt great on the street without getting the car corner weighted, aligned or anything. A couple of weeks later I put it on the alignment rack and my toe settings were as follows: -0.12 LeftFront, +0.09 RF, +0.07 LeftRear and -0.05 RR. The height was all messed up (which I knew) because the spring perches of my GC kit were stuck and the screws had ceased so I couldn't adjust anything. The car would drive perfectly straight without pulling so it seems they all cancelled each other out.
So I 'm only saying if I were you, before I spend $350 on front & rear camber kits, and I didn't race the car, I would just get an alignnment and adjust the toe because I don't think you have more than -1.5" camber which shouldn't hurt your tires that fast. I have mine set for -2.5"F and -1.5R for a couple of months now and I haven't seen any tire wear yet. My Toe is -0.14 total toe-out in the front and some toe-in the back. My toe out in the front is considered above normal and a little excessive (used to have -0.20 and -0.25 1-2 years ago!). So if you 're seeing premature tire wear I suspect your toe is way out of wack with probably too much toe out. If you have -2 deg. of camber than you might consider getting a camber kit. It's possible you have too much camber because of your old bushings.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
You don't need a camber kit. Only cars that are lowered 2-3" may need a camber kit to reduce camber. I doubt you have much more than -1.5 deg. of camber. I know many on H-T buy a camber kit but most of their cars are slammed to the ground. Many of them however don't even need it because a little camber doesn't hurt the tires. Your car is only lowered 1". After I switched back to the Konis I had to raise the car so now it's lowered only 1.25". My camber was (without the kit) only -1.4 deg. front and -1.0 deg. rear. That's not a lot of camber. I suspect you 'll have similar or slightly higher because of your old worn out bushings (I have new stiff poly ones).
Before you go out and spend good $$ on camber kits go get an alignment and straighten out your toe Excessive toe-out is most likely wearing out your tires. Do you have uneven tire wear? Excessive toe-out (negative toe) will wear out the inside of your tires first. Camber will only start hurting your tires if it's more than -2.0 deg. When you go to get a wheel alignment ask the mechanic to show you the "before printout" which is your current settings. The printout will show the toe and camber for each corner. Then hand them a piece of paper with the toe settings I provided in my other post. Save the before & after printouts they 'll give you, and come back and tell us what your settings were.
I bet you don't need a camber kit. You want some negative camber for handling. If you get a camber kit and take out some camber, you 'll notice the difference in handling right away. Your tires will start squealing more, your car will understeer more, and you will be rolling over the tires.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Installation of the AEM V2 CAI is not such a breeze. I installed it a couple of mos ago. You have to remove the lower tranny mount and replace it with one of theirs. It took much longer. I didn't feel any difference in acceleration (I didn't expect that anyway) but it sounds much better than ver.1. Not as whiny as the old CAI but a more deep sound and a little louder. I like the V2.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Mike - as far as exhausts go, as long as the flanges are the same, they'll bolt up with no problem. When you start getting into which headers fit with my cat/cat back combo, things start getting a little tricky. First off, if you get things that are made for your year of car, then you won't have any problems. Let's say you want to get the JDM ITR header (2.5" collector, h-t raves about them ... I don't see the point), you're going to have to get a new catalytic convertor because it's physically not big enough to accept the header. Also, the length of the header plays a part here. I don't quite remember which years have the short catalytic convertor and which ones have the long, but the information is out there. last thing, 60 mm is great for a naturally aspirated car that's not revving past stock redline.
Your friend is right. You can adjust the camber in the rear with a bunch of washers that you can put on the rear upper control arms. The old terminology for those which is still used today is "shims".
Exhaust/header/Cat: I don't know if I mentioned this but I have bought the T1R 2.5" exhaust (63mm all the way through) and the JDM Type-R 4-1 race header (DC Sports - I went cheap). They 've been sitting in my garage for about a week. I 'm just waiting for the T1R 2.5" resonated Test Pipe (which replaces the CAT). It's back ordered but they tell me I should have it sometime before the month is up. As Phoy said the JDM header has a 2.5" collector so they sold me an S2000 donut so it will connect to the 2.5" test pipe I 'm getting. With these 3 pieces there are no bottlenecks and you get 2.5" piping all the way through.
The T1R test pipe is resonated so it keeps the noise down which is typical of regular non-resonated test pipes. There are very few companies that make 2.5" exhausts and the TypeOne R (T1R) is an excellent all stainless steel exhaust and one of the best for sound and power gains if you have a B-series motor. Most of the dynos I 've seen of GSRs and Type-Rs with these 3 mods that I 'll be installing on my car, show 14-18whp gains. My goal is to be at least in the mid-160's at the wheels (same as a stock Type-R). I 'm hoping I 'll hit high 160's because I 'm already at 158whp with only a regular DC Sports 4-2-1 header (and the AEM CAI) with the timing at 19deg. I 'm still on the stock CAT and exhaust. T1R advertises that this exhaust (called the Power exhaust) gives 7-11whp gains, and their test pipe another 4-5whp. Even if I use the lower 2 #s that's 11whp. Plus another ~2whp from the 4-1 JDM race header (from the regular 4-2-1 header I have now), and that's at least 13whp. Theoretically that will bring me up to over 170whp but I 'm skeptical about that, although I have seen dynos of a couple of GSRs and they 're pretty close. Stock Type-Rs get 180whp from these 3 mods (without a CAI)! It's an awesome exhaust and you can't dispute the power gains of a Test Pipe vs. stock CAT. I 'll be happy with mid-high 160's and a few more ft-lbs of torque. Oh I guess my 8.9lb flywheel probably freed up 1-2whp too, maybe that's why my car is in the high 150's with only a CAI and average header. BTW, the DC Sports 4-1 JDM header I got has a label on it that says: "race header, not for street use"!!
The only thing that concerns me is that there is talk that next year or the year after, my county will have emissions inspection so I 'll probably have to remove the test pipe and go with a free-flow CAT or sell the car by then. Good thing my inspection is coming up now so I 'm good till next Fall.
Oh, I raced an '05 S2000 while instructing a guy and it's an amazing car! Of course I had no doubts about that because I 've been looking at used S2000's for the last month but I 'll wait till next year. It was white with 300mi. on it and I told the guy he 's crazy for racing it but he is so hooked he couldn't stay away. The brakes are awesome too. This S2000 was all stock with the stock Bridgestone RE-something tires. I almost got the same time with the S2000 as I did with my modded GSR! I think I would 've been faster if it wasn't for hitting the rev-limiter in 2nd gear all the time because it's 6-sp. The course was actually very fast though and this wasn't an SCCA club but still the S2000 is a great handling car right out of the box even with the stock tires. I never hit redline with my car at that event. I think if it had Falkens or Kumho MX, I might have gotten better times than my GSR which was on race tires that day. Or if I drove the S2K a couple more timed than just once, and got used to it more, I 'm pretty sure I would have gotten much better times and possibly better than my GSR.
Some lady is selling her '98 Type-R near Philladelphia, PA but she 's asking too much. This is a National Champion Type-R ('99 I think). Only 19k mi. on it because the lady only uses it to auto-x. She bought it in '01. I was going to give her a call when one of my racing friends told me that he 's seen the car. She has put graphics and crap on it with like pink lines, stripes, etc. so I had to go puke and couldn't get to the phone. Women.. :mad: they told me the whole car would have to get painted to get rid of the stuff she 's done to it.. Oh well, she was asking too much for it anyway. 8yr old ITR for $16K? Hmm, naah. An '00 or '01, yes, but not a '98.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
For the first time in many years a Type-R didn't take D Stock this year.
My buddy GJ Dixon took D Stock yesterday with his friend's BMW 330i (yes a 4dr!). I 'm happy for him but sad at the same time that the time of the Type-R is really up.. It had a glorious 7yrs at the Solo National Champtionships. The Type-R actually exceeded the 5yrs that most models reign at the Nationals. Something newer or better always creeps up to beat the defending champion cars every few years. I had a feeling the Type-Rs couldn't fight off the powerful 330 Bimmers this year after I saw that 2 or 3 BMW 330's were in the top 5 last year. Also this guy GJ is a sick driver. One of the best I 've seen. I think if he drove a Type-R yesterday he might have won 1st place in that too. He used to have a D Prepared (DP) 320 Bimmer (but heavy as hek for this class) and many times he 'd get FTD (Fastest Time of Day) or close to it. I 've also seen him drive others' completely stock cars and getting phenomenal times.
A Type-R only managed to win 5th place out of 34 cars. Also 7th through 10th place were Type-Rs. Only 10 cars trophied so 1/2 of them were ITRs. 2nd place was a new comer: An '04 Golf R32! 3d & 4th were 330ci Bimmers (2-dr). That Golf must of surprised everyone. I think the R32 is the rugular GTI V6 isn't it? If it is, it has about the same power to weight distribution as the heavier 330ci and almost the same torque #s (195!). If the Type-R had another 30 or so more ft-lbs of torque than its measly 130, it would remain unbeatable for a very long time.
The S2000's couldn't compete very well in their new class (they bumped them up this year), A Stock. The older more power Corvettes (C4) with their V8's including ZR1's (!!) seem to dominate this class although for the first time in a very long time, a '97 Porsche 993 won the class. It's usually a Vette that takes 1st in AS. However, Jason Saini managed to come in 3d with his '01 S2K!! That is a great accomplishment. S2000's also came in 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th, 11th and 12th which means they kicked butt and gave them a run for their money. Only the top 12 cars out 45 trophies in this class, half of which were '89-96 Corvettes including the mighty limited production ZR1's. Well 7 out of those 12 trophies went to S2K which means that in general Honda kicked Corvette and Porsche butt, overall. Highly commendable of the little 2.0L underpowered Honda Sportsters (only one '04 S2K trophied which has a 2.2L but same HP and slightly more torque).
http://www.scca.org/Event/Event.asp#
Also the first time in 5yrs an S2000 did not win a National Championship but they did pretty well considering they got bumped up to a faster class full of V8's and high horsepower sports cars like Porsche 911's. S2K's took B Stock 5yrs in a row since its first year in production in '00! Their main competition in that class was the Porsche Boxter and older (240hp) M3's.
I think for next year Honda better import the new torquier 225hp (2.0L) Type-R to the US, otherwise the Bimmers (& possibly the 200+hp VW's) will remain unchallenged in DS for a while. The Type-R has lost its edge. Without the abundant torque found in these other cars, the Type-R's weight, nimbleness, LSD, and 8500 RPM line are no longer enough to impose fear on its opponents. I remember during the last few years BMW, Audi and VW auto-xers would say: "oh shoot there 's a Type-R in our class, or "a Type-R just drove into the pit area" Now Type-R racers say: "shoot there 's a 330 in my class". Oh well, our time will come again. It was nice beating all those 328's and 325's the past 7yrs though
What I 'd like to see next year is a Type-R win the D Street Prepared (DSP) class now that they 've been bumped down to this slower class from CSP. I think it can take the 325's that dominate DSP. It's lighter and with an extra 25-30whp that it can gain from bolt-ons (and ECU), plus a good coilover suspension, should make it a serious threat to the Bimmers that have reigned in DSP the last couple of years. The problem is, most Type-R owners don't modify their cars according to the Street Prepared SCCA rules. They will either do very mild mods, and a few bolt-ons trying to keep their car mostly stock, or they 'll go all out and work the motor or head which is not allowed in DSP.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
As far as the 205/60's go I'm looking at the following street tires: Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus ($60), BFGoodrich Traction T/A H ($65), Falken [whatever I can get in this size] ($50-70). Whic one would you choose?
I really like the way the 205/50-15 handles w/ these sticky tires, I want to compare it to a good 14" version though. These 14's are an estimates 3.2lbs lighter than the 15's I'm wearing now, that's quite a bit of unsprung weight right? Aren't you supposed to multiply it by 8 and than by 4 (4 tires)... thats almost 100lbs lost!
for the 15's, the 205/50/15 falken azenis are nice tires. They're actually really nice. They're wide enough for integras and have a short enough sidewall to be really stable. I had 195/60/14's on my integra, and they were good, but turnin was kinda sloppy because of the flex in the sidewall. With the 205/50/15's, the car was much sharper in the turns and was quite stable all the time.
Use your 14x5.5" during the winter with all season or winter tires if you get snow, sleet, or freezing rain in your area. The narrower the rim and tire the better for winter conditions.
I 've been using the Rota Attack 15x6.5" for 3yrs now on my '01 Civic coupe but with 195-60-15 tires for better gas mileage since I have a very long commute. They are only 12.85lbs and they were $425 shipped when I got them. I think the factory steel 15x6" rims were 17lbs. Rota makes like 2 dozen different style alloy wheels so there gotta have something that appeals to you. Their most popular style is the sub-zero which I find very plain looking so that might work out for you. It's a very noticeable difference when you pick up a Rota off the floor and then pick up the Civic 15" steel rim. Most 15" Rotas average 13lbs. 13.2 at the most. They 're pretty strong for every day driving but if you hit a big pothole they 'll get dented. They 're not as strong as an OEM Honda 15x6" alloy wheel that weighs 15-16lbs. You get what you pay for. Honda wheels are very well built with excellent craftsmanship (you can see imperfections on most Rotas). They are built to last and withstand bad city roads.
Anyway the extra 1/2" of the Rota's width also helps with handling and provides better sidewall support for a 205-50-15 tire under hard cornering. Or keep the 15x6 OEM wheels. I 'm just trying to point out that the wider the wheel the better as long as the weight is reasonable. You don't want to be going narrower and hope you car will handle the same as before.
The biggest difference with a lighter rim is in the steering and overall response and off course in traction if it's wide enough to support the tire well. Theoretically you also get better gas mileage with them but if you use wider tires than stock, you probably won't see any savings. I didn't because I went up from 185-65-15 to 195-60-15 when I started using the Rotas.
I 've used the Dunlop D60 A2 (Sport A2 Plus replaced it) with the Rotas, a great HR all season tire. Great performance for the $$. Not so great in light snow but great in the rain and dry. I 've used them twice before in my '97 Civic and liked them a lot.
They last about 35-40k mi. which was the reason I didn't get the Falken Azenis that last 15k. 40k mi. is 1yr for me or actually 1.5yrs since I use different tires for the NY winters.
I 've also used my Rotas with Bridgestone RE-950. It's another excellent High Performance All Season tire but costs about $20 more each than the Dunlop. The Bridgeston is better than the D60 A2 in dry and wet traction. Actually my Civic's stock suspension couldn't challenge the RE-950s so I never used them to their full potential. I could never get them to squeal or slide on the street just like the Falkens.
The new Dunlop Sport A2 which replaced the D60 A2, I believe is almost as good as the RE-950, but when I bought the Bridgestones (in '02), the Dunlop Sport A2 wasn't out then. It came out in '03. I use the steelies for winter and I have found a pretty decent inexpensive all season tire that does well in the snow and is excellent in the rain. The Bridgestone BT-70. Lots of tread for rain and snow but pretty average dry traction. I try not to drive too agressively with these tires. They squeal and will roll over when taking turns or exit ramps fast but they get great gas mileage and are a little less noisy than the other 2. They 're ok in the dry so I don't have to drive like grandma or anything. I still do some spirited driving, I just don't push it as much as I did with the D60 A2's and RE-950's.
Bottom line you made the right decision keeping the 15x6 but since you mentioned it, getting some 15x6.5" Rotas is probably a better idea to maximize grip. Their 40mm offset is just right too.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Due to high milage and now longer covered under the extended warranty, I am trying to trade my car in for something.
So for all the Integra loyalist, what do you or what would you get to continue to enjoy the performance and handling in a car? (WRX? RX-8? 3-series? G35? IS300? Civic Si?)
Or is RSX the only choice? (I read somewhere that for RSX, in order to save space in front, the engine is mounted reversely and more towards the bumper, causing weight shifting towards front of the front axles and causing more under-steering.) On and the double-wishbone suspensions in Integra and not on RSX.
Thanks.
If I were you and check out the rant and rave about the new civic Si, I think theres a read up here on Edmunds about it... something about 0-60 in 6.7sec. First I would decide what you really like out of the integra. Because if it's the weight and the quick acceleration maybe check out the new 6spd Miata that I think pushes out 200+ horsies. :shades:
Anyway... I just found out yesterday that my motor guy has a friend thats been designing a wheel for Rota that he finally got into production. I guess it cost him $12,000 but now he'll get a % of every sale. I had the privledge of seeing the black version and it is so utterly beautiful. Heres the deal... it's 17x7.5 four lug and feels amazingly light weight. Approx. 14-16lbs. It's black with a huge polished lip that is deeper than the width of a dollar bill!! The offset is specifically designed for our tegs so no scraping or modifications are needed. Now obviously 7.5 is an extremely better width than my puny 5.5" or 6" OEM wheels and the weight isn't really an issue because I can feel that it weighs less (without a tire) than my 15x6 (w/ a tire) so my question is... are there any other problems with bigger wheels besides the weight? I should also mention that they posses the structural integrity and non-bendability of OEM wheels so I'm learing really hard towards getting them at some point in the near future ($500 for 4) but I'm just weary of the size issue.
RWD cars handle better than FWD cars in general and the IS300 (as well as the Bimmers) is also worth looking into. They 're very agile too. The WRX is plain ugly although there are a lot of aftermarket parts for it out there already that can make it faster and handle better. The stock suspension however sucks and doesn't compare the BMW or Lexus. The WRX's sway bars are small and it also sits pretty high. You 'd have to get aftermarket shocks and lowering springs or coilovers to get it to handle as well as a Bimmer or IS300 which handle well right out of the box.
The G35 is a fast car of course (it has the 350Z ~280hp motor) but I 've seen it auto-x and it looked heavy (it is bigger than 325 and IS300), had a lot of body roll and didn't do so well even on DOT race tires when a PRO auto-xer was racing it. So since handling and agility are important to you I would not consider the G35 although it's not a bad car at all don't get me wrong. The BMW & Lexus are a step above in the handling, agility and fun factor departments.
The Mazda Miata is a totally different animal. It's in a different class. It's a 2-seater, much smaller, lighter, and is basically a sportster. No doubt it has the highest fun factor and gets the best handling scores out of the other two but it's not in the same class as the others. You may need a 2nd car if the winters get tough where you live.
The Civic Si would cost you the least and it sounds like it's a hit this time but it's still a FWD car (and it's still a Civic). Since you mentioned RWD cars, the best choice for me would be one of those but I woudn't consider the RX-8 (kind of slow for its looks - but looks good, reviews were mixed), G35 (is bigger/heavier but probably the faster of the bunch), nor the WRX. I 'd get the '06 Si before I considered a WRX or G35. I think the new Civic Si will provide Type-R performance or better.
Since you pointed out $30K cars, have you considered an S2000? If you ever thought about a Miata, take a look at the S2K which would most likely beat a Miata in every category and only costs a couple of thousand $$ more. Miatas are not cheap. Never have been. The S2K would actually be my first choice but that's because I need a car that wins races if and when I sell my Integra. S2K's now are 2.2L and have more torque down low (lower RPM's). The red line is no longer at 9K but it's been lowered to 8K (like GSR). No need to wind it up to get power.. The power comes on early on compared to older S2K models. I auto-xed one and it was awesome! I fell in love with it. They can be had for $3-4K under sticker. There was a guy at the last racing event who said he got his '05 S2K for $28.9K (+tax). Sticker is $33.8K I believe. He got it for $4,900 under sticker which is probably $2K under dealer invoice.
Good luck with your choice.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
1 most catbacks i have been looking at are all suggested to fit the 5 speed manual can i put it on my automatic??
and 2 are there any sites that anyone here suggests for good prices on cold air intakes and exhaust systems??? thanx for the help im a new import owner
And I would stay far away from the temptation of the IS300, despite the fact the make manual tranny versions. They're still new and overpriced not to mention also very slow. I've seen them get torn to pieces by moderately modded civics (w/full interiors) - and for me, any car that has trouble hanging with a car worth less than half of it.....well, ya know.
I'd stick with Harry's s2k idea because those things really rock and they look a lot meaner than any miata. And like Harry seemed to be implying, go with the much newer one because of the reasons he mentioned and the fact that the car looks a lot more aggressive too.
Another possibilty thats very commonly over looked and is in the same price range is the Dodge SRT-4. It's around $20,000 brand new and can take EVO's and WRX's on the straight away (stock vs. stock) w/ a good driver. They don't have too much for handling but Mopar makes three "stage kits" for it that beef up the turbo, injectors, etc. It's the only car I would buy brand new at this point and in my opinion: THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK EVER!!!! My friends got a black one and even though he has no clue what to do with it (mods-wise) it's really fun to drive and the Viper seats are so so comfertable!
Harry, what about my wheel question!?!? if you take two integras (exactly the same) and you have a set of 17x7.5 wheels on one and a set of 15x6 wheels on the other and lets just say (theoretically) that the tires are exactly the same (I know not possible) and the weight of the 17s is the same as the 15s..... what, if any would be drawbacks in performance given this scenario???
And what happened to Garados? did he just drop off the radar screen?
Hmm, as far as the 17 vs 15" wheel thing, even if they weigh the same, the 17 will be "heavier." What I mean by that is that the bulk of the mass is farther out. If I recall correctly, it's called the moment of inertia. Anyways, an easy way to think about it is that since the weight is out farther, it'll be harder for the engine to get them spinning, therefore, they'll have to be much lighter than the 15's to offer the same ease of rotation.
Now, going with the 7.5 vs 6" debate, the 7.5" width will obviously win out. What is that, a 215 or 225 or even shoving a 235/45 on there ... that'd be cool. Anyways, I had 215/40/16's on my integra, and I didn't have any problems with rubbing, even with a 3" drop (I was a ricer once ....) but what I'm trying to say is that I got lucky. A lot of people have had rubbing issues with 215's. I'm sure it's possible to run a 225+, but it won't be easy finding a wheel with the correct offset.
For the battle of new cars and their handling and acceleration, I have no comment, for I'm in the same boat in the upcoming years. I'm really looking at the Golf GTI vr6 or the wrx. The 2006 wrx is now coming with the 2.5 liter turbo motor, so the low-rpm lag is basically gone now, so I'm quite excited about that fact. I guess it's time for me to ... grow up? I want a car that can get out of its own way (i.e. faster than the miata) while still looking good and having a nice interior. I don't want it to start looking like a theft recovery like my integra did or have massive body damage like the miata. So other than that, I'm not too picky about the new car =P However, I'm not sure about insurance and the sort or if that applies to many people but me =P
I 've bought a lot of stuff from coximports.com (now they 'll tell me I 'm soliciting and erase this post as they 've done several times this year - this sensoring is getting worse. Forum sensoring was the reason Prodigy lost 2Mil. users to AOL and finally closed its doors - I worked for P* for 9yrs, I know..).
This company includes shipping in their pricing on everything over $100 (or $150). Exhausts are heavy in general and the boxes are large so that's what you want. They have decent prices and ship very very fast. I 've been buying stuff from them since '00. I 've bought brake pads from them, AEM intake, and a couple of headers and some other stuff. Always get my stuff in 3 days after I order because they usually have everything they advertise in stock (make sure you ask them). They also have in stock everything AEM makes (they don't make exhausts). They 're a very large AEM distributor. I usually get a new AEM filter for my intake from them every couple of years.
An exhaust won't do anything for your car because everything else is stock on it. It will only make it louder. You might notice a slight difference at high speed, or very high RPM's (like near redline, if you can hit redline with your auto..).
If your car is not lowered you might want to consider a Cold Air Intake from AEM or Injen. You should be able to feel a little bit of added power even with your auto tranny.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Yes, it takes more force to get a 17" wheel moving than a 15" of equal weight. The car with 17" wheels will always be slower than the same car with 15". You will also notice a little worse gas mileage with 17".
The moment of intertia, as Phoy mentioned, is higher for a 17" wheel. A 15" wheel has a lower moment of inertia and that's what you want in a wheel if you are serious about this stuff or you race like we do, where every milisecond counts. I sometimes win by 2 or 3/100ths or a few 1/1000ths of a sec. (1/1000 = 1ms).
The moment of inertia is basically the measure of how hard it is to get a body of mass to rotate about an axis. The problem for you is, that inside the equation to figure out the moment of intertia, there is an R to the 2nd power. Well that little (or capital I should say) R is the radius of your wheel and it's squared in the equation! I can't remember the entire equatoin but I remember the R square. The resulting # is not good for larger radius wheels vs. those with a smaller (R) radius.
Quick question for you 90gs: What is the radius in relation to the diameter in a 17" wheel?
If you decide to go with 16" or 17" wheels, you also want to make sure the circumference of the new tires is not larger than that of a 205-50-15", otherwise you 'll be changing the gearing (to taller gears) adding to the slowness of your car.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
So now (as if the horse wasnt already dead :sick: ), let me verify this last idea of wheel width. So lets take the Hx Rims (14x5.5) and put them up against the GSR Rims (15x6).... again negating the weight issue as much as possible.... I'm I correct in thinking that the greater the width, the more traction and so the 15x6 would be better at drag racing than 14x5.5 (assuming that greater width adversly affects handling... I dunno though). Actually, ya know what. You've already talked me out of the 17x7.5 Rotas.... so lets deal with the Hx and GSR's as-is....
Hx - 14x5.5, weight = 11.75lbs, mass concentrated slightly closer to center
GSR - 15x6, weight = 15lbs, mass concentrated slightly further from center
Considering these three underlying factors, which should I be most concerned about and which has a greater overall effect on performance, what is that effect and which wheel is the overall winner in this competition??