Acura Integra GSR Customizing and Modifying

only1harry · April 2004

hehe, I 'm way into my 5th year of auto-xing and I 'm still addicted!
Nice 3-wheeling pic! Good, now I 'm not the only one posting my auto-x and 3-wheeling (which btw I can't do anymore since I went with 650/750lb springs) pics.

You MUST get the Konis (or Tokikos, but for $50 more go for the Konis!!). The shocks are what give you the nice ride, not the springs. The shocks are also what helps your car handle better, more so than the springs.

I drove on H&R OE Sports springs (.75" drop, 1" after everything settles) for 3yrs, and they 're more than fine for street use. The Eibach Prokit Springs are nice too for everyday driving but they drop your car 1.5" which is not bad but it could be a bit low for every day driving depending on the road conditions in your area, etc. I wouldn't get the regular H&R Sports. They drop your car 2" after they (and the shocks) settle and that's too much for a 70 mi. daily driver (you 'll have trouble with driveways, speed bumps, etc.).

Do NOT install aftermarket springs on your stock shocks. The shocks are more important for auto-x than springs, especially for a daily driver. The Konis are extremely flexible and can make your car very comfortable on the street especially with many of the popular Sports springs or the standard GC coilover kit. If you go with aftermarket springs and leave the stock shocks on, your shocks will quickly deteriorate and will break or not perform properly. I did that when I started out - learn from my mistakes! My front shocks went 6k mi. after I put the H&R OEs on. During that 6k mi. I had about 6-7 auto-x events on them. Do it all together so you don't have to take them off the car twice or pay someone twice (like me) to do it. Besides, you will be thanking me after you 'll put the Konis on, and offering me to buy me lunch next time you 're in NY or NJ :-) You will ask yourself about 100 times "why didn't I do this sooner?"

The reason we told you to go with the GC coilover kit is because you can change the springs (get different rates, different height springs, etc.) anytime you want, when you decide to get more serious with auto-x, or when you want to start winning more often. They provide more flexibility especially with the ride height, plus they outperform all standard sports springs.

When you get out of the novice class next year, you 'll be in STS which is a very competitive class because there 's a wide range of cars that can race in STS. Many of them hundreds of pounds lighter than your car. You can't compete with lighter cars, even if you have 50 or 150hp more than them, remember that..except if your mods are far superior than their and you are a better driver.
But being that these are regional events, you should be able to win some races now and then with a milder street setup, especially if you get enough seat time (try and go to as many auto-x events as you can) and become good at it. I won many races with my H&R OE Sports (spring rates: 276F/220R, close to Type-R which are 246F/246R) and even regional championships in DSP. I did have a hard time beating GSRs with GC coilovers or 13x8" wheels though and sometimes I 'd be slower than them.

Since you really care about your daily comfort and concentrating on learning how to drive (auto-x) for now which is what you want to do, I 'd then suggest you go with the following since coilovers can be a pain balancing the car and setting the height equally on all 4 corners (have to get the car corner weighted, may have to raise it in the winter..) etc. This is the order of preference with your long commute and ride quality in mind:

1. H&R OE Sports (1" drop) with Koni Yellows
2. Eibach Prokit with Koni Yellows (1.5" drop)
3. Tokiko spring/Illumina kit (1.5" drop).

The Tokiko kit many say use the Eibach Prokit springs (although that has not been confirmed) and of course the popular Tokiko Illumina shocks which are 4-way adjustable. As far as I know the Illuminas cannot be rebuilt or revalved. Konis can.

Any of those spring/shock combos will give a very close to stock ride feel but a lot more confident & controlled ride, with more responsive steering and less body roll, thus better handling. The Konis come with a round knob that goes around about 2 full turns (mine went around 1 3/4 turns). The knob has 8 red lines on it each representing 1/8 of a turn. Every time you turn that knob 1/8th of a turn it makes a difference on how your car handles and feels, so in essence you have about 16 adjustments! Well worth the $500. Best bang for the buck. Konis are truly the best street/auto-x shocks out there and very reliable. I had them for 4yrs but they didn't start going till I put 475lb/in. ERS springs on them. Still have them in my garage and plan on sending them to Koni for a rebuild & revalve job and sell the pricey Advance Design race shocks I 'm using.

The shocks & springs are not hard to remove and install but it does help if you have a second person. You will also have to rent a presser because unless you buy a custom GC kit with 8" springs, you 'll have to compress the H&R or Eibach springs to install them. They 're usually 10" or more. From what I remember the hole of the top spring hat has be enlarged so you 'd have to drill that out a little for the shock's shaft to fit through. Tokiko and Konis have a little wider/thicker shaft (which is good).

Hope all this info helps you make the right decision.
I have one last thing to say: Your car will handle better with the standard GC coilover kit and Konis, than any other "street" spring set you get. The only thing is that it comes with the Eibach Race Springs (ERS) which are not progressive like the standard Sports springs, so the ride will be a little more "rough" but still not bad because it has slightly higher spring rates than the Eibach Prokit. Remember, with adjustable shocks you can soften the ride and tune it to your liking. Let us know what you decide to do.

garados · April 2004

Yer dern right it's a four door ^_^ It really surprises people.

Haha, the wheels weight around 15 lbs a piece + tires. They're not bad at all for the price ... I got them for 80 bucks off a friend. They were really ragged and multi colored, so I cleaned them up and sprayed them black, then white. Haha, it's not a rice car =P It's a race car ^_^ I just need my sponsor stickers and I'll be set ... I just need sponsors =\ Oh well. I'm just trying to compete with these guys

Bemathew, I'm running the illuminas with off the shelf (OTS) ground control coilovers and the ride is firm, not stiff. On 1 (full soft), the car rides beautifully and traction is great. Then, on 5 (full hard), it's stiff but still forgiving. It's not like Harry's hit-a-pebble-knock-out-your-fillings 800# springs and AD shocks =P I'd recommend the koni's because they can handle a higher spring rate, but I don't like the "vague" stiffness adjuster.

Although, there are two miatas running Tein coilovers and they're really fast. Again, I don't like their vague adjusters and they're still stiff on full soft =\ So it's a preference thing. I like the OTS GC's with Illuminas or Koni Yellows for the great ride and awesome performance.

Oh yeah, it's a piece of cake to install springs/shocks. Just make sure to take your time and use lots of PB Blaster on all of the bolts. Breaking them sucks. But yeah, PB Blaster, a breaker bar, a friend, and some music will make the install go much smoother. Good luck ^_^

Mr_Shiftright · April 2004

How'd you knock that cone down without even being there yet?

bemathew · April 2004

Shifty, you must be kidding...uh? For those newbies like me who are not familar with parking lot grand prixe's...thoses are the pointer cones which tells
you the direction in an Auto-x.......

Harry, gardos, thaks for the suggestions...I have pretty much decided on the Koni yellows but still debating whether to go with GC
coilovers or H&R OE Sports, Eibach etc..

I need a decent set of tires+rims also...may be I should put myself for adoption???

garados · April 2004

I'd get some sort of 14" wheel with a set of 205/55/14 victoracers, if you can find them. The 14" wheels off of previous hondas as well as 4-lug bmw's and miatas will fit the integra. The miata wheels, however, need to have their centers bored out to fit the honda hub. For other honda wheels, the front of the caliper needs to be shaved to clear the wheels. I'm going to get those victoracers for my 14's when the azenis are gone.

only1harry · May 2004

If you at some of the STS National Champs' web sites, you 'll see that they recommend 15x7" wheels especially for the Falken tires. The recommended tire size for STS is 205-50-15" (Hondas/Acuras). The Falken is a very wide tire and needs a wide rim. A 205-50-15" Falken Azenis is between a 215 and 225-50-15 (or 225-45) in most other brands, including Hoosiers and R compound Kumho Victoracer and Ecsta tires. This is partially why it's a good auto-x tire. I have the 205-50-15" Falken Azenis on my stock GSR 15x6" rims and they don't look too good. In addition, I auto-xed 1.5 events with them and I was rolling over them badly because they stick out of the rims too much. They don't have the support a 15x7" rim would give them.

Besides Bemathew has new Bridgestone Potenza RE730s if I recall. Not a bad auto-x tire, but the last couple of years better tires have come out (including the Kumho MX). The truth is, an STS car will never be compatible with 6" rims. But he 's having fun for now and learning how to stay on course :-) so tires, rims and all that don't count in your novice year because I don't care if you have $10K worth of mods in the car, you just can't drive that well the first 1-2yrs. It takes at least 2 seasons to become an average driver in auto-x and it all depends how much you do it. The guy that does 10-15 auto-xes a year will get better faster than the one that does 6-8.

Bemathew: If you live near a big city, there should be a Porsche club and a BMWCCA club near you. Go the PCA and BMWCCA websites and check to see if they have regional clubs near you. They hold a few auto-x events a year as well. Anyone can go. Try and attend a few of them. Also an Evolution School does wonders to most drivers. They come back and I immediately see the difference at how much faster they are.

bemathew · May 2004

here was "weigh day" last saturday. A local Auto-x guy was doing it at his house (with 5 garages with !!!) last saturday.

May car without me inside weighs 2721 lbs (with 7 gallons of gas which could be around 45 lbs). Not bad for a 4-door sedan??
If I pull out all the dynamat padding and floor mats etc another 50lbs should be gone!!!!
As per him, Cross weight figure for my car (with driver) is not bad ..1471 on the driver side and 1451 on the passenger side. Anything less than 30 should be OK. There was a RX-8 right from the factory with a cross weight figure of 5.
As you would have figured out, I quite didn't understand what exactly the cross weight figures or the whole process. I need to do some research on the internet.

Talking about the weights, do you all auto-x with a full tank of gas? I read some place that some weight in the back is good to "balance" or "rotate" a front engine, FWD car?

Harry, I have the RE730's. Not yet decided about the tirews and rims yet. I am all exited for this week end. Will keep you all posted.

nerd · May 2004

I installed the Comptech anti-sway bar on my wife's car this week. I am impressed with the quality of the whole kit; everything fit perfectly. The only problem I encountered was re-aligning the control arm with the mounting hole; but, a little tugging solved the problem. Per Comptech's recommendation, I used the medium setting.

I am quite pleased with the improvement in handling. Body lean is significantly less, and the understeer is noticeably reduced. I especially notice the improvement when making quick lane changes.

Bemathew, I look forward to reading your report of your upcoming weekend.

only1harry · May 2004

Yes most sway bars need to be "pre-loaded" when you install them. Most shops (if they know what they 're doing or anything about supsension, some don't!), jack up both (wheel) hubs in the rear, and then install the sway bar. This brings the control arms up to the point where they 're pretty much parallel with the ground. Then you begin mounting the sway bar. This should be the 1st mod on an Integra (after tires). It actually gives the car descent handling even with mediocre tires.

only1harry · May 2004

Glad to see you're in the ~200lb club like Garados and I! :=)

The cross weight is just the sum of 2 diagonal corners. Add up the front driver's side (left)with the rear right side (corner) and that's one cross weight. The other is the front passenger side (right) + the rear left side.

How much gas one races with varies all the time.

It's the not the same for everyone. It entirely depends on what kind of suspension you have and how the car behaves on the course with 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of a tank. If it fishtails a lot or oversteers then some people will run out between heats and put more gas in the car to add some weight to the back (I 've done it too). Sometimes that DOESN'T help at all and it's caused by how much the car was lowered in the back, or due to the car not being corner-weighted (balanced), old bushings (or way too stiff bushings like polyrethane ones) shocks, etc. To say that FWD cars need more gas in the rear I think is wrong to say. Mine doesn't.

In general we do NOT to put too much gas in the car. Especially in your case where you have a 2700+lb Integra (compared to my 2595lb GSR coupe). That is considered VERY heavy in STS. 4-door Sentra Sedans still weigh less than that and have good torque. '88-91 Civics weigh 2100-2200lbs and fly through the turns and slaloms. You want the car as light as possible. Lighter means better acceleration, quicker in the turns, and less strain on the tires.

Auto-x with a 1/4 of a tank like the rest of us. I sometimes do it on 1/8th of a tank but I make sure there 's a gas station near by :-) The low-fuel indicator will come on by the end of the event depending on the length of the course, and it tends to make people nervous.
The biggest & easiest weight reduction you can do and are allowed to do in STS is to remove the spare and jack. Those 2 are good for about 30lbs. Try to race with only 3-4 gallons of fuel so that should be another 20-25lbs you 're shaving. Your car down to about 2670 with just these changes that I mentoined. The STS class is meant for street cars with full interior and all that, so I don't know if the dynamat padding removal is allowed. If it's not mentioned in the rule book, it's not allowed. Floor mat removal is fine but can't rip out all the floor carpeting in the car or the trunk. They want the cars' appearance in STS to be as close to stock/factory as possible. You could probably remove the wooden floor board in the trunk and I 'm sure noone would say anything about it. Most STS Integra guys do that here so they get more room for their wheels, tires and tools. Yes some STS cars have dedicated 15x7" wheels with Falken Azenis on them. They swap them out at every event. The Azenis tire lasts about 10k miles. More importantly they start losing their excellent grip when they go over 5-6k mi., or after about 17-20 dedicated auto-x events (no street driving). You can still race or drive on them, it's just that grip diminishes. They 're not like R tires where they 'll be corded after 15 auto-x events or become dangerous..

ok that's enough advice for 1 day.
How was your auto-x event? Did you have fun? Did you come in last? :=) How many times off course? :=) We 've been there.. It only gets better. 2 words: "Seat time"!

I won my class by 1/2 tenth of a second or 55/100's of a sec. This was a non-SCCA club where they only have 7 car classes. I like going there because they have the biggest parking lot and I get to reach speeds of 70mph

So my 2 main competitors yesterday were a CSP Miata(!) with coilovers and Hoosiers (remember I 'm in DSP in SCCA), and a 1974 RACE prepped Porsche 914, which had flames coming out of the exhaust, and 275-45-16" R Hoosiers! Those are twice as wide as my 205-50-15 Kumho R tires. They were both beating me but I wasn't sure of their times. I had 1 run left and the day was coming to a close. I walk up to the Miata guy and asked him what his time was. He says 49.555. I asked the Porsche guy. He says 49.6x. My best was 49.721 at the time. I told them to hold their breath because I 'm was going to drive the hell out of the car. I drove it like a maniac but tried not to overdrive it or slide (you lose precious time) or push - that's very hard to do

I flew into the finish and went through it almost sideways! (the finish curved, it wasn't a straight line). Almost took out a cone after the timing lights which count too.. but I straighten the car out just in time. I finally ABS'd to a stop and look at the big digital display: 49.500!! That's what I call close competition.

I may dispute that Porsche in my class in the future though. That car belongs 1 or 2 classes higher. Its owner coudn't even keep the car running at idle. It kept stalling unless he had his foot on the gas all the time in neutral and there were flames coming out of it if he gave it too much throttle (doesn't Nitrus do that?).

Those classes are so messed up there, but so far I 've been able to beat everything they 've thrown at me. The 2 owners of the club have suspension modified M3s and one of them is in class D and the other in C. I 'm in class E. When they see a car with lots of mods that they 're not sure where it belongs (they have a list on the web site, but if a car is heavily modded it moves up 1 or 2 classes), they throw it in E because they don't want it in their class beating them. Sometimes the car has mods but they won't bump it up because they don't want it in their class. I really think that's what they do. So is the case of the '74 Porsche 914. They bumped me up because of my coilovers but they wouldn't bump up the Porsche that has like a race motor in it because they said he only has sports springs & shocks.. Yeah he also massaged/extended the fenders so the can fit huge wheels & tires to it.
I 've been watching them do this for the last 3-4yrs. They put the new WRX STi and Lancer EVO in class B! when the new M3 with more HP (333hp) is in C! They 're afraid of any new Japanese cars coming out so they misclass them just to keep them out of their class. Why is the 333hp M3 in class C and the 285hp EVO in class B? or the 300hp STi in B when it weighs about the same as the E46 333hp M3 and acceleration is the same? It's because the president of the club doesn't want them in his class. He owns an E46 M3, that's why.
Anyway, it could be that they 're tired of me winning every year too so now they 're putting non-street legal race prepped Porsches in my class weighing 1900lbs! That car/thing should 've been in at least in D (with WRXs, S2000s, E36 M3s, etc.) or C. But that's ok I showed them who is king. Bring 'em on! :=)

bemathew · May 2004

Harry, looks like you are all charged up after your win against the "Goliaths". Congratulations to you for beating the big boys!!!!!!

I didn't do very well in the last auto-x....I took a colleague of mine to the auto-x thinking that he will also become interested in the stuff. I did all my runs with him as a passenger....talk about an additional 200 pounds!!!! Evnthough I didn't hit any cones, I think I was driving over aggressive and was pushing the car over the limits. Anyway, our spring series is over and I have finished third in the Novice-3 class!!!!! Not sure whether there were more than 3 people....he he he.

I was pretty much decided to go with Koni yellows + GC coilovers...Now, one of the local auto-x guys (he is an active and popular guy in the local circuit) is selling a 92 Miata with some goodies ( koni yellows, BBS wheels Falken Azenis, front stru bar, air intake, exhaust, CD, spoiler, good interior and exterior condition). He has got couple of other toys RX-7, Sentra SE-R etc and need some money for his next project. Car has 110,000 miles and is in very good condition for its age. I took it for a test drive and was impressed with the way it ran ( took some sharp turns, touching almost 100 on the freeway).
Now I am in a dilemma whether to start modding the 99 GSR that has 60K miles ( at least $1000 for Koni , GC setup + another $1000 for a decent set of rims + tires) or have this decent miata for $3400? I don't want to sell the GSR ....but thinking about having a dedicated car like Miata for Auto-x..If it doesn't work out then I will sell the Miata??? Apart from insurance, registration etc, is there anything I need to be concerned with?

Let me know what you think

only1harry · May 2004

It's always great to have a dedicated auto-x car or an older car (like a CRX, older Civic, etc.) that you don't care much if something happens to it.
This is a good move IMO. The only thing that bothered me is that you said he has an intake. This would put the car in CSP and that's one TOUGH class, although the Miata should be able to hold its own in that class. Here are my thoughts:
The front sway bar, exhaust & Konis should keep it in C Stock, BUT if the BBS wheels are not stock size or stock width (I believe stock was 14x5.5 and I doubt BBS makes that size), then the car is definitely in CSP. If you 're going to buy such a car, you should either turn it back to stock and race it in CS, or you will spend almost as much money making it a decent Street Prepared car. My suspicion is that this is a CSP car unless it has the Mazda "R" package which was available in a later year model, which I think you 're allowed to do with the Miatas.

If it is in CSP, then it sounds like the car is lightly modded for its class. If he doesn't have aftermarket springs or coilovers, LSD, etc. the car won't be competitive in CSP.
Even if it's CS, if you don't race with R tires you 'll be dead no matter what (same thing for CSP). Another problem is that it's pretty hard to fit another set of wheels in the Miata, assuming you plan on being competitive in a year or two.
So you have a bit of a dilemma. Stay in STS with your GSR where you know you can only race with street tires (that last longer) and spend about $1700-2K, or get this Miata which we hope is a C Stock car, and buy at least 1 set of R tires every year.
The 2nd is probably the most logical one but you if you want to be competitive, which sounds like you do otherwise you wouldn't mod your GSR further, you need R compound tires. The Miatas and most 2-seaters are not allowed to race in STS so the Falkens won't be any good to you in CS or CSP.

Is it possible this guy might have a set of 13x8s or 13x9s wheels that he used to race with and he 's trying to sell them seperately? These would make the Miata very competitive in CSP, assuming he has semi-high spring rates to keep the tires from rubbing on the fenders. Determine what class the car is in and if it's really legal if it's in CS (BBS wheels & intake are not legal in Stock). If the car is CSP, I can see you throwing 3 grand $$ in it easily down the road because there 's a LOT you can do in SP (STS too for that matter).

Anyway, $3400 is also a considerable amount for a 12yr old car but not bad either. Find out how old the Konis are. They need to be rebuilt every 4yrs or so. You can also expect to do some repairs to this car within a year or two. I 've seen Miatas that are auto-xed frequently or for many years, blow a head gasket in the middle of the course, others lose compression (motor going) and their owners complaining about power loss, burn a lot of oil, etc. with only 130-140k mi. But there are a couple in a club I run at that have 170k and are still going, but they 're not winning too many trophies either. Don't forget that this car has probably been raced for some time. The 110k mi. it has on it, is probably equivelant to 140k mi. of a non-raced Miata. The more I look at it the more I realize it's not an easy decision, especially because you 're not talking about an STS car anymore.

The GSR is a great STS car with Konis, GC coilover kit, 22mm sway and Falken tires on 15x7" rims. The Miata will need R tires for sure. BTW, in case you 're considering modding the GSR. The Konis are $499 shipped nowadays. GC coilover kit with custom rate springs are $339 directly from Ground Control. A set of Kosei K1 15x7" are about $560 with shipping and the Falkens are ~$280. That's $1680. If you have the shocks & springs installed by a shop + mounting the tires and balance, yes you 're pretty close to $2K, but those mods will transform your car.

BTW, I installed a DC header 4-2-1 over the weekend and had the car dynoed on the latest Dynapack machine which is what Nascar uses and many other car & aftermarket manufacturers (costs over $100K). Gained 5.3hp at the wheels but not much torque. Then again, my last dyno runs were back in '00 on a different dyno machine (dynojet) and the car only had 15k mi. on it then. The owner of the dynapack said that the older dynojets estimated the power because they strapped the car down and there was a lot tire slippage and friction, etc. The dynapack is supposed to be the most accurate one. Here's a pic of the shop I went to with the dyno my car was on. They take the rims off and attach those 900lb things on your hubs and then redline 4th gear..

Anyway I 'm content with the 157.3whp. The guy said (btw he 's the '02 STS National Champ and came in 2nd last year) that on the dynojet it would read close to 160whp and my torque #s would be a little higher too. I 'm sure my lighter flywheel freed up at least 1whp or more but he said sometimes you lose 1 ft-lb of torque more more with the flywheel which explains why my torque #s actually went down just a bit from '00 but on the dynoject they would 've been higher, so it's all good. Also the Quaife LSD I installed robs 1-2 ft-lbs of torque too but I wouldn't trade it back for a couple of measly foot-pounds

I compared the torque curve with the one from '00 and I 'm making more torque AND reaching peak torque much earlier now which is what I want for auto-x. My peak torque is at 5500-5600RPM now when before it was 6200. I 'm also making more torque between 4500 and 5500 than before when I just had the AEM CAI (in '00). With the CAI only in '00, most of the torque gains were between 5700 and 6200 RPM. Now I 'm making more earlier on. Advancing the timing to 18 deg. also helped a little :-)
Have fun and good luck with your decision!

only1harry · May 2004

it was 87 deg. when my car was on the dyno. Had it been 72 deg. like the last time I had it dynoed, I 'm sure the #s would be a little higher :-)
Come to think of it, Casey's GSR had the same 157.x #s with a JDM 4-1 header, free flow CAT (2.5" because of the JDM header) and custom exhaust. I still have the stock CAT and exhaust

If I put those 2 on, even the 2.25" ones, I 'd be well into Type-R territory! I didn't go with the JDM 4-1 because the header's pipe that connects to the CAT (forget the word) is 2.5" and would have require a new 2.5" CAT. A 2.25" Carsound CAT is on my list.. and probably a thermal exhaust or Apexi N1 exhaust. I think 2.5" piping is a bit much for simple bolt-on mods like ours, and would be surprised if that prevented Casey from getting more power.

bemathew · May 2004

Thanks Harry. I am just cut pasting the reply from one person who used to own this car previously...again he is also a local auto-x guy and an enthusiast

" That car also has (in addition to the Konis) new AC compressor/dryer, many new hoses, bushings, belts, K&N, Ansa muffler....everything that I found that it needed. I'm told this would be one of "The Cars" for the new STS2 class; it has the increasingly rare factory viscous posi (allowed in STS2).....and it still works!"

I am not too sure about the STS2 class.... btw what is this viscous posi? some kind of LSD

only1harry · May 2004

It's a posse rear, aka LSD in the rear end because it's RWD. I didn't know Miatas came with that! Like the guy said, it is rare.. Get the car! :-) that helps with handling a lot.

Yes I forgot about the brand new STS2 class. I believe it's only for 2 seaters, like the SM2 class, but with limited HP. For ex. the BMW M-Coupe (300+hp) would not be in this class, nor the S2000. The Miata should be competitive in STS2 with Falkens. The MR2 Spyder will probably be your main competition. There are a lot of nice aftermarket suspensions for it now, plus TRD (Toyota Racing Development) makes some nice stuff for it. You 're allowed to do a lot of mods in STS, just like DSP except you have to use street tires. These mods are: Suspension, sway bars front & rear, any intake, big brake kits, includes cross drilled rotors (not allowed in my class), header, exhaust, free flow CAT, polyurethane bushings, camber kits, and a few others. But I 'd keep the car as is for now and learn how to race it and get the technique down and the experience.

One other thing about the posse (I don't think it's spelled posi like he wrote), a Mustang GT has it that races in ESP. The guy and I are usually neck to neck (I 'm in DSP which is a little slower class, ie better PAX) and our times are very similar. One day last year I noticed he was more than 1 sec. slower. I asked him what happened and he said his posse broke and he was having a hard time with turns and accelerating through them without pushing or fish tailing. This guy is a pro and an instructor so he knows what he 's talking about. Since this Miata has an LSD then that 'll make up for the lack of other mods that it doesn't have (for STS2).

only1harry · May 2004

I read your last couple of posts more carefully. Noone does well in their first season so don't get discouraged. Sometimes another person sitting next to you on every run is distracting. I know I don't do well with someone else in the passenger seat. Not because of the extra weight, although that does make the car slower and hurts your times, but mainly because the other person tends to talk or react to the car's transitions or bump into me on a .95-1g+ turn. I do much better alone because I need to concentrate and give my driving and reflexes 100%.

Think of it as being handed a Nascar stock car and they tell you to get on the track with Rusty Wallace and Earnhardt Jr. and 20 others. How would you fare? You would definitely come in last and spend most of your time getting out of their way, right? Same concept with auto-x. It's all about seat time, getting used to doing it over & over and learning your car very well and how it behaves. Asking questions and taking an instructor or experienced auto-xer with you to tell you what you are doing wrong is a must. I didn't do it till like the end of my 2nd season and realized little things I was doing wrong or not doing.. I thought I was good enough because I started winning trophies but I was disillusioned. I found out that I was just mediocre when I started venturing a little further and vising other clubs where I met people better than me in my class.

It also helps tremendously if they let you ride with an experienced auto-xer in their car (some clubs don't allow it). Usually you have to become friendly with that person and that takes some time. That person also must have some "say" or contacts with the club's hierarchy. I was allowed to do it once. I went along with an Evolution School instructor which is a member of my local club. I then realized I was braking at the wrong time, taking the wrong line, overdriving at certain spots, etc. I went back to my car and was 3/4 sec. faster in the next run.

First and foremost you need to learn your car really well and how it behaves under certain conditions. If they offer an Evolution school in your area sign up for it. It sounds like a lot of money (usually $225) but you get personal instruction and you get to take 30 runs or more. That right there is 3/4 of a season (at 1 club) and you get invaluable advice and experience that could propel you from a novice to an average driver. Not only that, they usually have 3-4 timers throughout the course so you can see where you 've picked up speed or are slowing down.. I see many people getting faster all of a sudden and when I approach them and ask them if they did any new mods to their car, they simply say they attended the Evolution school. I haven't done it yet but I should. As good as I may be or sound, I 'm still considering it because I 'm sure there 's more to learn and to improve on. They say it's never too late for an Evolution school. I 'm in my 5th season but I think I get something out of it. Plus they have 3 different stages. Evoluton I, II & III. Even the PROs go take the 2nd or 3d one (most SCCA clubs have a PRO class where the cars all indexed/paxed). Some people use it for test & tune to get used to their Konis or other adjustable shocks. It took me about 5 events before I got the Konis down and set them where it would make me the fastest. Took me almost a whole season to realize and learn to adjust them according to how the course was designed! So if you take an Evolution class, you can use it as "test & tune" and learn how to adjust your suspension along with improving your driving skills.

I hope the novice class you 're in is indexed and doesn't go by raw time. You have a very good PAX# in STS, very low, because of the street tires, so this is to your advantage. Unfortunately the GSR is not a good STS car unless your upgrade the suspension. The 22mm rear sway alone is just not good enough for auto-x. It may make a big difference on the street, but when racing and going all out, you need more..

bemathew · June 2004

By the time, I negotiated the deal internally and decided to buy the car (I mean with my wife) the car was SOLD to somebody else.

See the link below, looks like they just started this.we already have two indoor kart places here. Looks like this is much more fun and faster than the regular ones$50 for 3 races is not too bad. Planning to check this out this weekend. http://www.bondurantsuperkarts.com/SuperKartTrackOpening.html

only1harry · June 2004

I would do it.

BTW, this past weekend with 2 busted Advance Design shocks I came in 10th (raw, out of 111 cars) and PAXed 7th overall. The softer these shocks got, the better the car handled. Go wonder.. I did call Ground Control when I first got the shocks and complained that they were valved too stiff. I was right. Looks like all I need is some softer valving to get a little bit of body roll through some corners. I 'll probably drop the spring rates up front by 50lbs or so too. The bad shocks are making horrible noises now. Gotta send them back to be rebuilt and revalved..

ebbgreatdane · June 2004

So I said I'd post when I found the problem so here it is. Since I believe many folks have had the issue already I'll keep it short. ; )

'98 GS-R
Buzzing @ 3500 RPM
Well, it wasn't a broken or cracked heat shield as I suspected. The interior wall of the exhaust header A pipe was causing the issue (as suggested by others). Replaced with a Comptech 4:2:1 tig welded header.

It's been a good run with this car since I bought it new. But, with a new baby here, and more on the way, it's time to start looking at a TL. That is, once they iron out the new model bugs.

Cyas,

jp

nerd · June 2004

I would appreciate hearing your opinion of the Comptech header. Are you satisfied with its quality? Can you tell whether or not it helped engine performance?

I hear you regarding small cars and babies. Our twins' arrival in '74 led to the end of Sunday afternoon drives in our '72 Spitfire. Just couldn't justify keeping it. But, as soon as they had flown the nest, we reverted back to fun-to-drive cars.

only1harry · June 2004

most of the "name brand" headers out there provide decent hp gains for our GSRs. 2 weeks ago I installed a DC Sports (inexpensive - $270 shipped) 4-2-1 ceramic header (1 piece) and we dynoed the car before & after. Gained 6hp at the wheels and 3.8ft-lbs of torque. Not bad. I can tell the difference in acceleration btw. It was about 10 degrees warmer when we dynoed the car with the header, so if the temps were the same as in the morning, I would 've seen higher gains. It was a hot 87 degrees when we did the after dyno.

The DC Sports 4-1 header makes a little more hp. I 've read that GSRs usualy gain 8whp, but it's all in the mid-high RPM range like 5500-8K. I wanted a low-mid range header for auto-x which is why I chose the 4-2-1. All the torque gains were from 3k-5700 RPM but the hp gains were pretty much throughout the entire RPM range. I was happy with that. Also before the header, my peak torque was at 6200 (like it's supposed to be from the factory), now it 's at 5700 which is what I wanted. My peak power is also reached about 100-150 RPMs earlier after the header (I think it was around ~7400-7500).
With the 4-1 header you 'll see it all in the high range though, but I 'm not in VTEC as much in 2nd gear when auto-xing, so I chose the 4-2-1 for better mid-range.
The Comptech has similar gains but I believe it's stainless-steel which is why it costs more. Ceramic headers dissipate heat faster than steel, which is what I want when I 'm in between runs. I want it to cool off in the ~15min. between runs. DC Sports also makes SS headers. They 're in the mid 300's.

The best header out there for our cars is the Spoon Sports header. It usually makes 10whp (mucho $$, about twice as much as a Comptech). You pay for the name though too.. The 2nd best is the DC Sports JDM 4-1 header but it has a 2.5" collector which means you 'll have to get a 2.5" Catalytic converter which is not bad, because there are a few free flow aftermarket CATs out there that provide extra HP gains. Again these headers provide most of the extra power in the upper range, not low or mid (mid range being 4-6K).

only1harry · June 2004

Thanks for the info. I had a similar buzzing sound which is now gone with the DC Sports header. I knew the header would fix that noise..

The beauty of these headers (I 'm sure this goes for the Comptech too) is that they 're about 1/2 the weight of the factory cast iron header or less! My DC Sports header I was told is 14lbs lighter than stock. It felt a lot lighter than that though.. When I picked up the old header off the floor at the shop to put it in the hatch, it felt like a ton of bricks (A plus B pipe together, GSRs have a 2 piece header). I was walking around with the DC Sports header in my hand at the shop for at least 5min. while they were taking the old one down, and it didn't even tire me. It was extremely light. I don't think I could 've held the stock header in one hand for more than a minute.

bemathew · June 2004

it was lots of fun. This 1 mile (approx) road course is used by law enforcement for defensive driving, chasing etc. There were one or two gates set up so slow down the speed but I think top speed should have been around 50 to 55 mph. I didn't do anything stupid as rules were really strict and at least 1 or 2 people were asked to pack up and leave after drifting too much into the dirt. I started of with 68.9xx and ended the 4th run with 67.032 ....no way near the top runners but should be in the first 3 in the Novice-3 class.
I toyed with the idea of buying a modified Miata, by the time I took a decision, the Miata was gone. I looked at an MR2 (stock 91). Without any mods, I think my GSR handles better than a stock 91 non turbo MR2 (this one was on some lousy Dunlops tires). There was an 87 RX-7 some local auto-x guy was selling. After test driving it/based on owners input I realized that it needs some clutch repair and these old rx-7' are not very competitive in the class. After all these, finally I am coming to the conclusion that I should stick with my GSR and go ahead with the modifications...

only1harry · June 2004

Welcome to the club! :-)

only1harry · June 2004

Actually a '90-93 MR2 with Konis and a better front sway bar does really well in ES. They 're RWD and they do handle pretty well with Konis and bigger front sway bar. Better than a GSR would with just those mods.

In '00 or '01 I auto-xed one when my local club had all the class champions after the event, drive the same car to see who is the best driver. 2 runs only. Came in 4th out of like 12 people or so but I had never raced a RWD car before (plus it was only the end of my 2nd season I think).
Anyway I thought the MR2 handled well. I was amazed how nicely it rotated, even on street tires. It was a slow and tight course though and speeds never got more than 35-40mph. I thought RWD made it easier to drive the car. Hardly any pushing/understeer at all, like my GSR had with its setup (H&R Sports, Konis & 19mm sway) at the time. I liked it a lot. All it had was just the Konis and a more solid bigger sway bar up front which is allowed in any class, even stock. Front sway bar replacement makes a huge difference in RWD cars, like a 22mm rear sway does for our FWD Integras. If I could find a cheap '90-93 (or is it '91-94?) MR2 for a dedicated auto-x car, I 'd do it.

garados · June 2004

just wanted to say "hi" and give an update on what's new with me. Since the last time I posted, I've installed some new parts and I'll give my impressions.

98 spec ITR cams: Install was pretty easy, just take the old cams out, drop the new ones in with plenty of assembly lube, then let it idle for like 20 minutes, then you're good to go.

Anyways, right off the bat, I noticed an increase in low end torque. I also got into a race and the car felt soooo much better, more power everywhere in teh rev range. I did, however, have to fiddle around with the vtec engagement, because if it's at 4400 rpm (stock gsr) then there's a huge dip in power. I now have it at 5300 rpm and it sounds good, but it needs to be lower to smooth the power out. It surges at vtec engagement, and it surprises people, but it'll be better to be smooth.

OBX header and test pipe: Install was easy, but the modifications to the exhaust required to make everything fit sucked. I got the obx header for a type r (hoping it would be "better") so I had to cut out about 4" out of the exhaust to make it fit. Oh, the header is a 4-2-1, stainless steel unit.

The car seems to breathe a lot better up high, but the low end is still there, so I think it's a good upgrade. The VTEC surge became much more noticable and the power just doesn't fall off on the top end, so I'm very happy with the results.

Yeah, that's about all for now.

Bemathew, I'm glad that you're having a good time at the auto-x's. Stick with the gsr and represent the honda's =P Although, the mr2's are nice cars and yes, they rotate really well, but once you figure out how to drive it, it'll be great in ES.

bemathew1 · June 2004

After all, Honda is making a decent come back in Formula-1...he he..just kidding

For some reason, I cannot have my original Id bemathewI had to create bemathew1..

I bought a used set of wheels (looks like Rota "Cobra" wheels..15x6.5around 13 lbs)
Its from local Auto-x guy

Now the question. I can either go for a set of brand new tires (Azenis or Kumho Mxs) or I can mount my used Bridgestone RE730s on these rims and go for Koni + GC coil over set up.
Because of limited funds, I cannot have all( new tires and Koni + Coilovers) at the same time. Which option is more better?

I remember Harry telling about using RE730s for 1 season or so. Currently I have another set of new RE730s which I use for my daily commute + Auto-x and I am not too impressed with them on my stock suspension set up.

thanks

bemathew1 · June 2004

question...if I deceide to go with GC coilovers, what is the spring rate? 400 front and 380 rear?

garados · June 2004

If you are going to use the car as a daily driver, I would recommend a spring rate no higher than 400 lbs/in. I have 350 in front and 280 out back, tokiko illuminas, suspension techniques sway bars, and 195.60.14 azenis, and it's pretty good. It doesn't feel too soft, but on long trips, it actually feels a little stiff. But, 400/380 sounds good.

As for tires vs. suspension, I would go with the suspension first, just to get it out of the way. Also, the car will be much more fun to drive. However, the gains from teh suspension will be equal to if not less than the gains from new tires, depending on what tires you get. I would just keep the tires you have for right now, get the suspension, and get new tires when you need them. Good luck with your decision ^_^

only1harry · June 2004

I agree. Get the Konis at least and the GC coilover kit if you can. They 'll make a huge difference, definitely more than just buying the Falkens. The handling overall will get better even on the RE730s. If you 're using the old RE730s for auto-x then you probably won't be as fast. Try using the new set of RE730s you got.

As for spring rates, go with 350/400 or 400/400 since it's a daily driver. Casey (who we haven't seen on the board in almost a year) has 400F/450R and does really well in auto-x. I used to have 475/400 which I rotated to 400/475 and liked it better. You can always switch the springs from the front to back and vise versa. 450 is a little high for daily driving but not bad at all (for me anyway). With new shocks 400-450lb/in. is fine for 2-3yrs. As the shocks and the bushings wear out, the ride starts getting rough. Again that's only if your shocks are old or have been through a lot of abuse, and/or your bushings are old or close to their way out.

Anyway 400 is fine for daily driving because the Konis are awesome and do a great damping job. If you 're not comfortable with having higher rates in the back (don't worry the car won't fishtail on the street or oversteer), go with 400F/350R. Can't go wrong with any of these. The secret to a great ride is not to lower your car too much. If you lower too much, even 300 will feel "bad" on the street. Keep the drop around 1.5" and you 'll have a comfortable ride. The off-the-shelf (OTS) Konis operate best at 0-1.5" drop. The need the shaft extended for proper operation. You lower more, and you 'll be reducing the shock's life and may even bottom out the shocks/ride on your bumpstops, because the springs rates you choose are not high enough to keep the car from compressing much..
I raised my car up all the way 1 day as an experiment. Wouldn't you know it, the car handled GREAT and the ride was almost like stock with my 400/475 (and Konis) GC setup! I went autox-xing the next day like that. I came in 8th overall (120+ drivers) and PAXed 11th! That was in '02. I didn't like the way the car looked sitting that high looking like stock (!), so I lowered it again, and the more I lowered it, the worse the ride got. It's because everything gets twisted (bushings mainly), there 's not much shock/shaft travel, and our suspension components (& cars) were not meant to sit that low at those angles..

So upgrade the suspension if you have the money. Then later throw a set of 205-50 Falkens on those 15x6.5 Rotas and you 'll be fine. Too bad you couldn't get 15x7". It makes a difference.

bemathew1 · July 2004

Finally decided to go with the Azenis as I was getting a somewhat good deal and I was worried about my daily commute with tires I race on week ends. Ordered the 205 50 15 Azenis balanced & mounted for $320. I will be mounting them on a set of used Rota wheels (13 lbs each).So next time, I will also be going to the events with water spray bottles to cool down the Azenis in between the runs!!!!

Harry or Gardos any of you have the LSD on your cars? Which class you get bumped upto with LSD? It doesnt seem to be a popular choice among the auto-x crowd?

Anyone used this Torso harness? I normally slide around a lot on the GSR leather seats.
For $15, I guess you cant go wrong???
http://www.racerwholesale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&a- mp;Store_Code=RW&Product_Code=MAT4290&Category_Code=Restr- aints

Harry or Gardos any of you have the LSD on your cars? Which class you get bumped upto with LSD? It doesnt seem to be a popular choice among the auto-x crowd?

only1harry · July 2004

Torso harness! I 'm getting one. Believe it or not I don't have a harness either. I was just looking at some Sparco $80-90 3-4pt ones.. But for $15 I 'll give this a try.

Let me get this straight. You 're considering an LSD over Konis and coilovers? Haven't you absorbed anything we 've told you? Com'on I know you 're smarter than that. Maybe others are misleading you..

Anyway if you put an LSD in your tranny you get bumped up to DSP (my class) where others will be on R tires. I wouldn't do it since you just got new Azenis and you need to learn how to drive first. These mods won't help you the first 2-3yrs if you don't have the driving skills and seat time.

The LSD is popular in the Street Prepared and Street Mod classes. I 'd say probably 1/2 of the people in those classes have it. Some don't have them because they 're simply expensive and it's labor intensive. You 're talking $850-1K just for the part, and $400-600 labor depending on where you live and where you go. Most shops won't even do it, and if they attempt to do it, or never done it before, there are many things that they can do wrong.
Labor is minimum 5hrs if the tech works fast by nature, and has done many LSD installs before. Usually takes 6hrs, if the shop knows what they 're doing and are working at normal speed. Some shops and even dealers will charge for 7-8hrs to install an LSD in the tranny. The tranny has to be taking almost completely apart (I think mine was in about 100 different pieces). The factory diff. has to be taken out and the new one put in which is in the heart of the tranny. All the gears have to come off first, bearings, etc. It also takes time to take the tranny off the car and put it back up (and 2 people), along with the axles.
$1300 is a lot of money to spend on a single mod, especially when you 're taking a chance with your transmission. If they forget to put back a small nut or bolt in your tranny (and believe me there 's tons of those and one could fall on the floor..), or didn't tighten something well, or didn't align something properly, you 'll have problems with the tranny down the road. Unless it's a major screw up, it won't happen for a while so you can't go back for warranty repair.. I 've read some horror stories on Honda forums about melted bearings, completely broken gears and synchros, etc. 6mos or a year after an LSD install. Reading those got me scared that something might happen to my tranny since the guy didn't torque a single bolt and just tightened everything by hand..

Usually when the tranny is off the car, you want to do at least install a lighter flywheel (which I did) and maybe another clutch, if you have at least 50k mi. on the old one, otherwise you 'll have to pay to get the tranny down again in the future to install a new clutch. So now you 're talking close to $2,000 all in 1 day.
I was lucky and went to a shop in Pennsylvania where labor is a little cheaper and it only took them about 5.5hrs to do it, but they quoted me 5hrs on the phone so I only paid $275 (at $55/hr). That included the Quaife LSD, new ACT clutch and 8.9lb Prolite Flywheel. Around here where I live I only found 1 tranny shop that was willing to do it and they wanted $600 for the labor. The Acura service manager wouldn't touch it and got me off the phone in under 30 secs.

If I had to do it all over again, I 'd get a Type-R clutch (my clutch was fine btw, only 37k mi. on the car at the time). The ACT street clutch is too heavy duty and the pedal got much too hard to push, not 25% firmer like they advertise, but about twice as firm. It also grabs really hard, so I 'm going to need tranny and engine mounts soon. Come to think of it, I should 've left the car alone and saved my self $5-6K over the last 4-5yrs. Now it rides like a MAC truck and gets me $2 trophies :-)

My advice to you is get some Koni shocks first chance you get. That was one of the few mods I enjoyed the most. Much better than an LSD. LSD is not very noticeable, only when you really push the car, and won't give you nearly the gains the Konis will. The LSD will give you a few tenths of a second at the most on a 50 sec. course. The Konis will give you 1-2 secs.

bemathew1 · July 2004

No...No...NO....Koni + Gc Colovers are on top of my "to do" list. Infact I got a quote from a local racing shop (rated very good by the local Aut-x crowd) to install Konis + Gc coilovers for $120.

I went with a new set of Azenis tires before Konis, as I was a bit concerned with my daily commute with the tires I race on the weekends.

only1harry · July 2004

Now you 're talking :-)

BTW, don't get the 6" ERS springs. Tell Ground Control, when you 're ready to get them, you want 7 or 8" (2.5" in diameter) long springs. Sometimes they like to send you 6" or whatever they have most of in stock to get rid of them.. I have 6" in the back because I have 750lb springs and my shocks are pretty short, but with the spring perch all the way to the top, I can only fit my pinkie between the fender and the top of the tire.. too low for you or for a daily driver. 7" should be fine in the rear though and you should get 8" for the front (yes, you can have different length springs front & rear, the stock springs are different length too). I had 8" in the front & 7" in the rear with my Konis & GC coilover kit (400/475) and it worked out very well. You could go with 7" all around too. In the front if you had the 7" raised all the way up, you 'd only have about a 1/2" drop which is not bad for the Winter or whatever in case you want to raise it back up..

garados · July 2004

so, I'm coming up to the end of my summer semester to conclude my freshmen year in college, and I have some money to spend ^_^ This is the plan ...

Get a new seat from Ultrashield called the "rally sport road race seat," a 5pt harness, fix my oil leak (more on this later), and get new tires.

The seat is very very supportive, but it's also pretty easy to get into, relatively speaking. They have low-cut supports for the hips and good support for the torso and shoulders. The good thing is that it comes in my size, since I'm 6'4" and ~270 lbs. http://www.ultrashieldrace.com/cat_2002/page2_bg.jpg

For the harness, I'm going to be getting a 5 point so that the harness doesn't slip up and go around my stomach instead of down by my hips. It'll be interesting to see how the installers mount everything.

For tires, I found a pretty good deal for some 14" azenis. $80 for two tires with three auto-x events on them, so I'm going to check it out and if they're not too bad, I'm going to get them.

This freaking oil leak that I have is really getting on my nerves. First off, I need to find out exactly where all of the leaks are, so I can fix them. However, there is one major leak, which is around the oil pan. But, it's the strangest thing. I'll clean the mating surfaces, replace the seal, torque it to spec, and within a week, the pan is covered in oil again. Another thing that's odd is that sometimes I'll leave a little puddle of oil when I park, and other times, it'll be dry. My oil level hasn't gone down too much either since I replaced the seal for the second time, which was last weekend ... or 2 weekends ago, I don't remember.

Anyways, onto other things. Is there anything else to do to the integra to make it handle better? I know I have to learn how to drive it and get more seat time, but I've been racking my brain on what to add when the time comes to upgrade. Of course, there's better shocks and springs or even a complete coilover setup, but is there anything else? I've done a front and rear swaybar upgrade already, shocks (tokiko illumina), springs (GC's), and the sway bars (suspension techniques).

Thanks everybody.

only1harry · July 2004

what's up Garados?
Sorry to hear about your oil leak. Are you sure it's not the rear main seal or something serious like that? I 'm sure you know what you 're doing. Is it possible the bottom of the oil pan was hit with the car bottoming out of something?

As far as getting the car to handle better, a custom wheel alignment will help, polyurethane bushings for your LCAs and shocks, as well as replacing the trailing arm bushings. What spring rates do you have? Is it the standard GC kit? you need to go with higher rates if you want to be faster in auto-x. Also try and make all the events. Practice makes perfect. LSD helps a little too :-) Corner weighting, customer valved shocks etc.
Coincidently I just sent out my old Konis to have them rebuilt and revalved. My ADs are all shot! I can't drive on them. Even if I get them fixed they 'll break with 8-9mos again, so I 'm selling them. I already got offers for $1100 but I want to get $1200. For $200 GC will rebuild all 4. That's a good deal, and if the buyer trailer his/her car then they 're all set. The problem is driving on the street with these shocks. They were not meant for NYC streets full of pot holes and bumps

Glad to see you 're finally getting some Azenis!!

garados · July 2004

yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not the rear main because the flywheel isn't all oily. I'm not sure about the front main, though ... I need to check that out. Whatever it is, it's annoying, and the only things I think and hope it could be are the cam seals (from the ITR cam swap) or the oil pan (again, replacing it helps for a week).

For the spring rate, I think it's 350 lb/in front and 280 rear, so I think bumping the front up to 400 and moving the front spring to the rear will be beneficial, as well as new bushings all around ... since they are probably 10 years old now =P I already have the cornerweighting and alignment done, so that's taken care of.

Are the AD shocks just that crazy and hardcore that they just break that easily? or is it because you try to daily drive with them and your 1000 lb/in springs? hehe, just kidding =P

Anyways, I'll check everything out next week and order those bushings and put them in during my "break" of 3 weeks before going back for the fall semester.

only1harry · August 2004

Yeah, the ADs are true race shocks and GC warns you about driving on them. They like nice smooth tracks I guess. I don't "daily" drive on them. I only drive to the auto-x events but since I put them on the end of last July, I 've put about 3k mi. on them just driving to the events, some of which are 80mi. away, 160mi. round trip. Most of the sites are 50-60mi. (but there are 4-5 of them!) away except for my local SCCA club which is 9 mi. each way.
My bushings are all shot and I 'm getting them all done this Thursday at this Porsche race/repair shop that's been near my house for the last 7-8yrs (just never went there before) to have them replaced with ES polyurethane ones. Mainly all the LCA ones including the lower shock bushings. I already have poly bushings for the top shock mounts since I got the GC mount kits. They came with ES poly bushings. The owner of this shop is an ex-road racer himself and seemed very knowledgeable on the phone about suspension setup, etc. He also does custom wheel alignments and preps race Porsches and some Bimmers. I told him that my FWD Integra is different that the RWD cars he 's used to but he said he 's worked on some Preludes and a Type-R and that the concepts are all the same.. Hek, he 's only doing bolt-on stuff so I don't think they can screw up bushings. I also went and got some LCA bolts from the dealer. They 're expensive! I should 've gone to a fastener shop that 's in a neighboring town instead. I hear he has everything and is cheap. I messed up.. Oh well next time.
Guess what? I sent my Konis in 3 weeks ago and I gave them a call to see what the status is. They told me it'll be another 6 weeks!! 9 weeks total. I went off on them. So they shipped them to Truechoice which is the only authorized Koni shop for rebuilds and revalves and their turn-around time is 2-3 weeks so they said I 'll have them by the end of this month. I can't drive the car on these ADs anymore. One shock is totally gone and I can't adjust it anymore. The knobs got loose and they just go around with a clunking noise

If the Konis are almost as good or close to the ADs, I 'm definitly getting rid of the ADs. I also ordered a little softer springs from GC. 600/700, vs the current 650/750s. Not much of a difference but you never know. Those 750s in the back are unbearable. The car comes off the ground when you go over a bump on the road or highway. Especially now that they 're busted. It's scary.. Oh I also have a broken motor mount and I think the wheel bearings are making noise on the front driver's side. Everything is going all at once. I was suprised that after 5yrs of a lot of racing, things didn't break sooner. This stuff is know to break sooner under hard driving conditions, but under racing conditions I think I consider my self lucky considering I do 25-30 auto-x events/yr. Other guys with their Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes, Subarus, have all kinds of problems after 2-3yrs of auto-xing, with only 10-15 auto-x events per year, like broken sway bar end links, wheel bearings, torn shock mounts/bolts, broken rear diffs(!), broken/torn rear subframe(!!), and blown motors(!!!).
Good luck with your oil leak!
PS. Leave the 350 springs in the front and get 400-450 for the rear (7-8" 2.5ID).

garados · August 2004

oh man, that sucks. 9 weeks? they must be crazy or something =\ Yeah, I need stiffer rear springs =P

As for your torn motor mount, just get some inserts. I believe you can find them at autozone. Thing is, the rear mount is a PITA to get to, but it's possible ... maybe. I did mine with the motor out, so it wasn't bad at all =P

Yup, I found the oil leak. When I redid the cam seals, I messed up the installation of the valve cover gasket o_O Needless to say, the gasket doesn't do its job if it's cut in half. Anyways, a new gasket and little dobs of Honda bond, and I was good to go. No more oil leaks, just oil burning/blow by from my excessive ring gap for endurance racing and forced induction ... both of which won't happen for a while.

Haha, new problems now =P I was driving down the freeway, and it was pretty hot, so I turned on the a/c and BAM! and I smell freon and it's blowing hot air. Great, just what I need. Anyways, I get home and the compressor wheel is cocked off a little bit and the belt was torn in half and flipped over =\ So, because I don't want to fugg around with it, I just removed the system. Saved a lot of weight in the front. I also got rid of the power steering using a kit from a guy on honda-tech. So yeah, I think the broken a/c belt hit the lower timing belt cover and broke it, so the plastic was rubbing against the crank pulley, but not the alternator belt, so that's good. Timing belt looks fine, but there's a lot of chewed up plastic in the covers. That's another project.

Last problem was running lean. The plugs were white and were showing signs of major fuel starvation. I did a lot of crap to fix this, but it was the last thing I thought of, and one of the first recommendations from people on h-t. Anyways, I would add fuel via the vafc2, retard the timing, sea foam, fuel system cleaner, praying, etc. Still running lean and hot. New radiator, thermostat, water wetter, removed the a.c. radiator and the p.s. thingy, installed a water mister, and some more praying. Anyways, I ask my friend if I can use his stock injectors for a little bit because he didn't need them. Well, obd2 injectors don't fit into obd1 plugs, so some filing and clipping later, and they fit =P Start the car up and it's gagging on too much fuel, so I leaned it out and it's running really well. Temps are down, plugs are brown, engine is running smoothly. Life is good ^_^

So yeah, once my paycheck comes in, I'll be getting new tires, rear springs, alignment, and cornerweighting it again. I don't know if you remember, but my corner weights up front had something rediculous like a 70 lb split. Hopefully by removing the a/c and p/s, the corner weights will be closer. Well, so much to do, so little time and money, eh? Haha, take care guys.

japperific · August 2004

Hi everyone,

I usually read posts rather than write them, but here goes...I'm getting my first car ever and I'm having a difficult time trying to decide which car I wanna get. My top two choices are either the Teg or the Lude, but I've considered the other two. I just wanted some advice as to which car I should get/avoid. Thanks a lot

garados · August 2004

that depends on what you want to do. IMO (in my opinion) the teg is great for a "racer" car, meaning that there are upgrades for it that'll allow it to run quick quarter miles, handle really well, stop quickly, etc. The integra and the civic are two of the best cars to get aftermarket support for.

The prelude is a nice comfy car. Unlike the integra, though, the aftermarket isn't as plentiful. Also, the prelude is heavier than the integra, so it won't be as fast or as nimble, but it can be done.

Depending on the eclipse you get, I'd say either get a gen 2 gsx or gst (the body style of the one in the fast and the furious), although the gsx would be ideal, the gst can be pretty quick. The gsx is the awd (all wheel drive) turbo model that takes very well to basic modifications. The gst is a fwd (front wheel drive) platform that is also turbocharged from the factory, but having a heavy fwd car with a lot of power is that you'll never get traction. Problem I have with these cars is that they're extremely heavy and bulky, and the interior space isn't as plentiful as the prelude or integra.

Finally the celica. This car is probably the best handling car out of the factory. My pick would be the gt4 celica, made in the early to mid 90's, I believe. It's also awd, and turbo'd, I think. I'm not too sure, but yeah, they're extremely hard to find. Anyways, the newer celicas are good handler's from the factory, and with some basic upgrades to the springs and shocks, they'll wreak havoc in the twisties. Another thing is the engine. the gts is good for drag racing and road racing, where high end power is necessary. the gt is good for auto-x, where low end grunt is a neccesity.

So yeah, tell us what you want to do with the car, and you'll get a better or more consise answer. Whatever car you choose, good luck with it.

Oh, this is how I'd pick the cars, in most liked, to least liked.

Integra (this is an integra thread, is it not?)
Prelude (honda and torque = nice daily driver)
Celica (good handling, like a honda, it'll last forever if you take care of it)
Eclipse (probably the easiest to make fast, but read up on crankwalk and other plagues of the eclipse)

japperific · August 2004

thanx for all the info garados! it helps a lot. i do wanna put some stuff on my car like cai, exhaust system, springs, etc on my car eventually, so i would think that the teg would be nice. but the teg i'm looking at has some god-awful chrome 15s so i've gotta get rid of that...:) i just hope i can get it with my dad being against it....thanks again

garados · August 2004

haha, nothing wrong with a little crome =P Besides, if you don't like it, go buy some hi-temp spray paint and paint those suckers, hehe. Anyways, if you do get the integra, I'd highly recommend that you upgrade the suspension and brakes first. Harry (Only1Harry) should chime in on this as well, but I'll give you the quick rundown...

1) new brake pads, something not too aggressive, but nothing that can't take a little heat and have good initial/cold bite. I personally like Hawk's HP+ brake pads. I never once faded them, and I like to go fast on the downhill mountain roads and on the road course.

2) another thing that'll help is to get a good, high temperature brake fluid. I'd recommend Valvoline synpower dot 3/4 fluid. Again, I haven't been able to boil the stuff, so it must work well ... or I'm not driving hard enough =P

3) shocks are a good suspension upgrade, but then again, it depends on what you want to do with the car. Harry has Koni Yellow shocks, while I have Tokiko Illumina's. Both are adjustable, and both are pretty high quality. However, my shocks cannot handle a high spring rate or too much of a drop. Mine are "limited" to 400 lbs/in and 3" of a drop. Even then, bottoming out is quite common. The koni's should be able to handle up to 450 lbs/in and about the same drop. Both shocks are adjustable, but mine are easier. Only 5 choices. The koni's, however, are vague. You have 1.75 turns to get the desired stiffness, so it won't be exact when you get down to the nitty gritty unless you are really precise.

4) springs. Harry and I both use Eibach springs on top of height adjustable perches made by Ground Control. He, however, runs incredible spring rates, where as I have springs that won't play bongo drums with your kidneys. Anyways, any spring made by Eibach, Neuspeed, or H&R should be good. Remember, with suspension, you get what you pay for.

5) sway bars. I have Suspension Techniques front and rear sway bars, and they work well for the price. Of course, there's the integra type r rear sway bar upgrade that works really well. It needs a reinforcement kit, though, so you might do a little research on that. I beleive Harry has a Comptech rear sway bar/tie bar combo that he enjoys, but I think my setup is better =P

6a) Engine work: N/A (naturally aspirated) Cams work wonders. Of course, to get the most out of them, you'll need the basic bolt ons, intake, header, exhaust, and some not-so-basic bolt ons, such as a larger throttle body and intake manifold, like the Skunk2 or AEBS units. Anyways, if you do get cams, you'll definitely need to tune them. The basic tuning system would be a VAFC or SAFC and adjustable cam gears. Anyways, cams would be the best thing because you CAN run them with stock stuff, and you'll get better bang-for-the-buck for those and you'll be faster than other integras with bolt ons.

6b) Forced induction: Turbo, supercharger, nitrous. Of the three, turbocharging a car will be the most upgradable and most efficient. A nitrous setup will run out on you at the worst moment, and if you half-[non-permissible content removed] it, it'll blow up the engine. Well, that applies to anything you do to the engine. Just don't take short cuts, and you'll be fine. Anyways, superchargers. Jackson racing makes good units, but compressor efficiency issues don't allow the production of good power. The good part is instant boost and linear power delivery, like you have a larger engine in your car. A turbo is efficient and allows the production of more power at the same boost levels compared to a supercharger. Just don't get boost happy without building the engine.

So yeah, anyways, suspension upgrades are great and will make the car MUCH more fun to drive. For more power, go with a turbo or supercharger. They'll give you the most power for the money you put down on it. However, it's a big amount at one time. If you're on the "I can't afford that now" payment plan, then N/A bolt ons will be good for you. Just remember that you get what you pay for, and don't take short cuts because it'll come back and bite you in the butt.

Again, good luck with your car decision ^_^

integramba · August 2004

Hi. Did not know where else to post this mssg...Everything with the car seems fine , BUT at times (like today) the engine just won't start; battery and all electrical stuff are fine, checked a month ago. I started it after "clutching" a couple of times with no problems...any insights?
My guess is , since it rained very hard last night & humidity went from 35% (rare here) to 90%+.., that the safety system that prevents you from starting the car without the clutch pressed down, gets stuck and after some "pumping", it releases....anyone else has had this problem?
BTW I used to love Integras until I spent $1,000 on a dead valve/cylinder last year, days after I'd had an inspection at the dealer (McDavid), who said everything was perfect and that I could drive this car until 200K".
My girlfriend drives it now and it's my first and last Honda/Acura. I think it's a fine car BUT that Honda/Acura reliability is way overrated..look at the recent transmission problems with the CLs, TLs and Oddyseys and how Honda downplayed the whole thing....and also the RSXs problems...sorry had to vent some anger..thnks for any feedback

garados · August 2004

speaking of clutch and starting issues, my friend has the same kind of problem, but I believe the switch is just failing. He actually clutches a lot while driving. As for the dead cylinder after getting it checked: that's a bunch of crap and McDavid seems kinda shady for saying that the car will run perfectly. Usually, cars don't just fail like that, and there are indicators to a failing valve or cylinder.

integramba · August 2004

Ok. I'll check the switch thanks. Hope it's not pricey...
About the indicators, you are right.. I remember seeing a spark plug, every time I changed them, that was "more burned", with some oil leaking, and the valve that died was exactly in that same cylinder.

garados · September 2004

just a little update, but my rear azenis are wearing faster than the fronts =O It's kinda wierd =P

bemathew1 · September 2004

Things have been very quite here for some time???

My Koni yellows and GC are on the way( With custom spring rates 400 Front, 8" Front spring lengh , 450 Rear, 7" Rear spring lengh). Will be installing them soon replacing the stock ones.

What are the other stuff that can be done/replaced while doing this installation? I mean like any bushings etc ? Other mod I have is the Type-R 21 mm rear sway bar.
Btw I finished 3rd in the Novice class for Fall series. WRX, G35 Coupe took the first and second positions. Needless to say I am no where near the timings posted by the tops dogs out here

garados · September 2004

I think it was Harry that said that I should also replace the lower control arm bushings, but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet ... but yeah, you should do that =P check out post 1252 by Harry

maloski1 · September 2004

I just got a new header installed today on my 99 Integra GSR. After taking it for it's first drive after the installation, I noticed a burnt smell inside the car -- especially when stopped. I'm not positive, but I would think that with the new stainless steel exhaust parts, maybe some of the "new" is burning off... not exactly sure what it is - anybody experienced this? Does it go away?

Acura Integra GSR Customizing and Modifying

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