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Acura Integra GSR Customizing and Modifying
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'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anyway, if you live in the south or where you don't get snow, you should get some good ZR rubber. If you get a normal winter with snow and stuff then All Season tires are a must. I keep 2 sets of wheels and tires. One for summer and one for winter. If you can afford it, buy some average winter tires for now (Dunlop/Bridgestone), and then in the Spring get some good ZR tires like the new inexpensive Falken Azenis ($68 for 205-50-15"), Kumho Ecsta (also cheap), etc. These tires make a huge difference in handling. Make sure for your spring/summer tires you get wider 205-50 tires not the stock 195-55 size.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Brakes are one of the things I want to upgrade. I've seen slotted rotors and cross drilled rotors blah blah blah. Which kind will stop my car the fastest? Of those kind(s), who make a direct replacement for a 95 gsr sedan? Of those, which have the ability of using the stock calipers? Okay last question for the post, which rotors should I upgrade first, front, back, or both. I lied, this is the last question. The AEM Big Brake Kit, does it work well?
Thanks.
My car was stolen couple of months back and the whole interior was gone(leather seats, door panels etc). After buying it back from insurance company since they decided to total the car I bought the seats, panels etc from ebay and the car is back on road. You guys will not beleive the price of the new seats if you are buying new from the dealership. It is around $11000....yes Eleven thousand for the front and back seats together. That is why my insurance decided to total the car.
Now its time to change the tires. I will most probably go with RE730's. Any other suggestions?
Since I live in Phoenix, snow/wet tracton is not very important.Thinking about ITR sway bar/BSQ kit also.
Later guys
As for rotors, save your $$ and buy just your basic solid slotted rotor OEM replacement kind, like Brembo rotors. Slotted and/or drilled rotors do not give you any better braking performance on a GSR, they cost a good bit more, and they're more prone to warping than the solid rotors. Colletti Motorsports has the best prices; you can find them by doing a search on the Net. Don't know much about the big brake kit from AEM. Maybe someone else does... But if it were me, I wouldn't bother. That's an expensive upgrade and then your stuck having to buy their pads for the rest of the time...
2. Pads - get Porterfield, Hawk or AXXIS (MM) pads. I listed them in order of $$ with Porterfields being the most expensive. I found that the AXXIS Metal Master pads are really good for the money (about 1/2 the price of the others) and was pleasantly surprised. These all dust. These all come in 3 types: street, street-racing+auto-x, and all out racing. Don't get the 3nd kind. If you want good stopping power, you have to deal with brake dust on your wheels. AEM pads dust a little bit less but I 've heard the "bite" is not all there and are not very noticeably better than OEM pads. With the other 3, the improvement is unquestionable and VERY noticeable.
3. RE730 tires - excellent choice
4. 22mm rear sway bar, any kind - excellent choice.
5. ITR motor vs. GSR - There are many more differences than what Casey listed. I 'll try and list the URL of a web site that lists most differences. I should 've bookmarked it. It was very informative and left me very surprised. Without going into details, most of the ITR parts in the motor are LIGHTER, hand picked and of stronger material than GSR's. The whole ITR motor is hand built. ITRs also have an oil cooler. The header is also better, exhaust is bigger (USDM exhaust is 2" where GSR is 1.8"), etc. etc.
6. Bemathew - Welcome back! Glad to hear you got the car on the road. So how much did you end up spending on the seats?
7. Kumho V700 R tire vs. Bridgestone RE730
Yes, I 'd say the RE730 has at least 70% the grip of the Kumho. Probably a lot more like 80-90%. I 'm saying this because my times didn't improve by 20 or even 10% after the switch. When I went from RE730 to the Kumho R tires, my times dropped by about 1sec. on a 35sec. course and at least 1.5sec on a 45-50sec course. So that's not even a 4% improvement. So it's hard to really judge, percentage wise.. The Kumhos could indeed be 30% better and it's my suspension that's not up to speed to take advantage of that 30%. Not sure, it's hard to tell.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Tegguy, I would seriously save my cash and really think about the mods that you have planned. I have found that anything I bought impulsively turned out to be either overpriced or something I wished I never spent my money on. Good luck with whatever you choose.
As for me, I haven't had time yet for putting in the rear sway but finally got all the parts (including some high-temp grease and loctite). Will put it in soon but am debating about my braking and suspension situations.
For braking, I am considering to either go with GS-R discs all around or Si discs in the back and Fastbrakes (Wilwood) brakes in the front. From what I understand, having rear discs lessens the fade and makes it easier to modulate at the limit of adhesion between stopping fast and simply skidding out of control. Would like to know what you think about what I should do.
For suspension, I am wondering if I should just wear out the Tokicos struts and springs and then go with Konis and GCs (revalved) or to go ahead and pick up some GCs and then wear out the struts I already have. I will probably just wear out what I have now and then get the good stuff.
Oh yeah, here is one pic of my hatch and a link to more under it:
sorry the pics are kinda bad but they are scanned paper photos
I see you have a front underspoiler too, right? What kind is that? How much were the Sparco seats? Car looks nice and clean.
Why wear out the Tokikos? Are they the blue or Illuminas? Illuminas are decent. If you have the Tokiko Blue, I 'd say sell them/get rid of them and get some Konis or Illuminas. Why the sudden change in suspension? You just got the springs/shocks a couple of months ago, right? Put the sway bar on and then see.. the car will handle much better.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Was thinking about swapping my driver's seat for some heated Recaro's ('bout $1200) but after hearing how they cost 11 grand, am thinking twice now.....
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Had a '93 RX7 before this Teg and it's made me forget about my RX7 already.
I too don't drive the GSR much in the winter time. Can't risk sucking in snow or water with the Cold Air Intake. Plus I have summer ZR tires on and they 're not all season. They 're great in the rain but it has to be 40+ deg. out.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Yep, that was the 3rd gen RX with 255hp (with the help of Twin Turbos of course). Had the R1 version on top of that. Aside from too much "babysitting" mentioned earlier, I also didn't think that rotaries would stay with me forever, much more with track time mixed in with the daily commute. Also, I have switched to spending my free time from a auto-x track to a superbike track (got a gixer 750 for that).
Don't they have a "safety bypass valve" for CAI's to prevent H20 from coming in now? Yep, know how you feel 'bout GSR's (and my GSXR bike) having to hibernate now. If things go as planned, may try to grab a vacation home by Key Largo/Miami area and have the Teg stay there too. Roads are not that exciting down there though.
1) OE Honda front spoiler (right from the dealership) less than $100
2) The seats are Sparco Speeds and cost $500 shipped with sliders plus $120 for seat base mounts shipped (which the vendor ended up paying b/c I argued with him about not telling me that they were necessary in order to put the seats in). They are a nice, snug fit on my 6'2" 175 lb frame.
3) Yep, those are 16x7.5 Kosei K1s.
4) Yep, I have the Tokico Illumina Suspension Kit which comes with the 5 way adjustable Illuminas and Tokico springs with Prokit spring rates.
Next on the list is to go with probably an Si front sway and rear camber fix (washer method) after the ITR rear sway is in. After that, it will be 11" discs all around compliments of Fastbrakes (this will include a GS-R rear disc conversion first). Then, I will need to find a front camber kit to put in. This summer, an full engine swap is in the works (if I find a good job soon). Did I mention some weight reduction (i.e. sound deadening tar and rear seats out? Let me know what you guys think and I will keep you posted.
What kind of motor are planning to put in it? I like the idea of the '99-00 Si front sway. A lot of people do that with g6 Civics. What 's the diameter on that? 20 or 22mm?
Your car is pretty light to begin with. My '97 DX HB was exactly 2300lbs with A/C (2258 without, or so did my registration say..). It's nice to reduce the weight, but if you get a DOHC B16 or B18 motor reducing the weight should not be a major concern. If you stay with SOHC motor you have now, then yes by all means take some weight off. The best thing you can do when auto-xing is to get there with a 1/4 tank. That saves you 40-50lbs of weight. If you go roadracing, you pretty much need a full tank because you 'll go through it quickly.
It seems like you 're preparing the car to be an all out track car with the seats out and stuff. Might as well install a roll cage. The only other thing you might want to consider is to get some coilovers but I wouldn't get rid of the Illuminas right away, unless you can find someone to buy the whole kit, with the springs. Illuminas are not bad though. You 'll find that your car will handle much better with the Tokiko kit you have now, once you put the ITR 22mm rear sway on.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
What's the engine code of the RSX and will that engine fit in a 95 integra gsr?
Well, now that I look back at some earlier posts, Harry said "maybe" but you might have to lose the A/C. You and Chem seem to have the "motor swap" urge! I can understand Chem's desire to get something with a few more ponies, but I can't understand yours. The GSR motor is a great one -- good power from 1.8 liters, reliable, and it'll rev forever. And more than enough power to get in trouble with. Yet, I understand everyone wants his car to be "just so" - so to each his own. Going to an H22 seems like a big headache to me. If I ever have to replace to engine on my car, I MIGHT swap to a B18C5. But since I've only got 57k miles on my car (it's a '97) I don't see that happening for a very, very long time
h-t.com has so much info that you need to spend a few good months to absorb a lot of it, plus you get hooked to the idea of doing all those mods everyone is talking about.
In case you 're still here garados the best thing for a GSR is to mod it. An H22 motor is pretty heavy and comes with tons of headackes as far as custom fitment, motor mounts, etc. If you do some headwork in the GSR, ie: cams (ITR, Toda), cam gears (Skunk2, Jun), valve springs/retainers, port & polish the head, Cold Air Intake, Header & exhaust, your GSR will be faster than having an H22 motor. Properly tuned with a VAFC it 'll be putting down around 175hp at the wheels. That's over 10whp more than a stock Type-R. Another inexpensive way to get 40-50whp is to go with a 6-8psi supercharger for about $2400.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Also, I would never leave you guys. All of you have given me such inspiration and happiness. You all were the first to help me with my questions. honda-tech.com scares me. So much stuff.
The shop I stopped going to because they broke my Master Cylinder, is really good at modding Honda engines and installing Turbos. While I was there (shouldn't 've been there for a brake job, that was my fault) getting my aftermarket rotors/pads & SS lines installed, they were working on this guy's GSR (I think it's God or Evil on h-t.com) motor that now puts down 180 to 190hp at the wheels (that's about 220-230hp at the flywheel)and runs low 13's in the 1/4! That's pretty amazing for not having forced induction but there are many nauturally aspirated GSRs out there pulling 13's and even high 12's!
I remember they were installing forged pistons I think in it when I was there, plus a box full of new parts that the guy had bought himself and brought in to have the shop install them. They were also cleaning the valves and polishing the head unitl it was shinning like a knight's armor from the round table! I was drewling all over it btw
So put your fears away and go register at H-T.com. Do your homework, take your time and save up money in the meantime
As far as tranny goes.. your clutch will probably go first. It's hard to kill a GSR or ITR tranny. Get an ITR, ACT or other heavy duty clutch with ITR or other aftermarket light flywheel, and you 'll notice a difference when it's time for a new one. The tranny should not brake or be replaced for a VERY long time, unless you 're really hard on it and mis-shift all the time or "force" the gears in a lot. Drag racing at the light a lot will result in premature tranny/clutch failure but a GSR tranny can take a lot of abuse. ITR tranny even more.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
It will probably never happen because I 'm not having good luck selling the GSR. I 've had it up for sale on H-T.com & H-A.net for 6 days now and I have only gotten 2 inquiries which were not that serious. I 'm asking $15.9K. '99 with 27k mi. Kelley blue book private sale is $16.6k and dealer trade-in is $14.7K (retail is like $18K!) A neighbor offered me $15K for it and I said no. I then called him back yesterday because this Type-R is slipping from my hands and he said they had put a deposit down on a new '02 Civic EX for the same price. This is for his son. The kid saw my '01 Civic in my driveway and told his dad he liked that car too if the GSR deal fell through so the dad decided to buy him a new slower car thinking his son would be safer in the Civic or would drive slower. The truth is, the GSR is probably about 3 times safer as far as braking in general, emergency braking/control, handling, lane changes, etc. BUT the GSR is not a winter car they way it is now so they probably made the right choice.
The ITR belongs to a friend of mine that I auto-x with. I have never been able to beat this ITR's times and its owner is one of the best auto-x drivers in the state. He was rated the #2 driver in NY SCCA in '00.
It has 14k mi. and he was willing to give it to me for $19.5K (he was asking $21K). He just picked up a new M3 and needs to get rid of this ITR quickly. I don't think I have time to sell my GSR especially with this economy. It 'll take a while. It's discouraging seeing people buying new Civics for $15.9K instead of a beautiful 185hp GSR in excellent condition with $1600 of mods.
Anyway, I can't wait to see him auto-x the new M3. I think it's in SuperStock because of its new 330hp motor. We 've had a couple of guys with new M3s this year, but they were novices or not good drivers and were like in the bottom 20-30%. I want to see the M3 in the hands of an experienced driver. I was never serious about buying an ITR but when I realized he was willing to sell it to me at a lot less than he advertised it, I became serious about it. 19.5 sounds a whole lot better than $21K and I think that 's a really fair price. Then the way I looked at it, is that I only have to pay an extra $4-5K for it if I can get at least $15K for my GSR. That's not bad considering it's a newer car than mine with less mileage and it's a Type-R no less. It's probably all for the best that I don't buy this car. My car will be paid off in another year and there 's much fun into modding it.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
$19.5k is a decent price for an ITR, especially if it's been well care for. What you're asking for your GSR is reasonable, too. Yep, your buddy with the new M3 will be in SS this year, especially if it's got that damn big motor. Most other M3s are in AS, which is one of the classes I like to watch the most. ITRs got moved from GS to DS this year, and I can't really think of the other cars which do well in DS at the moment. So, I don't know what kind of competition there is there. In SP class, the ITR will still be in CSP, so it'll have to compete with a bunch of mad-fast cars there (Datsun 2000 roadsters and the like). Most modded ITRs I know in Atlanta compete in SM, and that's one hellacious collection of semi-modified cars. A modded M3 won nationals last year in SM! Well anyways, if you get it, I know you'll have a rip-roaring good time driving it at Solo II events this year. Good luck.
I'm putting in the rear sway and rear camber kit tomorrow and I think I will probably try to fix the play in my clutch and gas pedals (is this fixable?) and take off the power steering belt to see how it feels. Looking forward to the first time I forget to keep the gas on in a fast corner and slide the rear out...it's gonna be crazy
As for the rear sway bar, have fun and get a friend or two to help. If the sway bar doesn't fit just right, it's not fun to put on.
The power steering belt thing is not a good idea, well atleast in my opinion. My friend took his off just to see and he noticed about half a horsepower that was freed up. That's just my experience with the power steering.
When the back end breaks loose, don't forget to steer into the drift and keep on the gas. I speak from experience. To make a short story long, I was going on a makeshift freeway entrance at about 40 mph and the recommended speed is 15mph. Anyway, everything was going well until I spazzed out and let off the gas suddenly and the back slipped out. It was bad. Fortunately, my mad gran turismo 3 drifting skillz came into play and I saved the car from plummetting over the edge. It was kinda fun, but my parents and sister were kinda freaked out. I was proud, i did my first drift. |:P
Oh btw, I 'm attending an Awards Dinner tomorrow that's sponsored by the NY SCCA & my club which is an SCCA chapter. I don't know how I scored but supposedly someone told me that usually only 1st place people of each class are invited but sometimes 2nd place too, so we 'll see..
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Those parts you mentioned are probably $6-7K or more with labor & tuning. A Quaife LSD is $740-800 plus minimum of $450 labor. I called around and most shops want $500+. A P&P job is not cheap either. You also forgot a good intake manifold (Skunk2 & Stage2 I believe are the most popular for our cars).
Like Casey said, thank god for SCCA auto-x rules, otherwise I 'd be putting a big hole in my bank account
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Got the rear sway in...WOW! Totally changed the handling characteristics of my car. Didn't exactly go in in <1 hr., though. Had to fabricate front mount plates, find some M10 1.25 nuts for the Si endlinks, cut and rethread some screws, etc. Easy, but annoying. The camber kit also helped the rear wheels sit more flush...need to get an alignment to fix my toe.
Also rode in this guys 99 GS-R which was by far the sweetest car I have ever ridden in. Really sweet, custom-vavlved Bilsteins, Ground Controls, ITR rear sway, bushings, Toyo T1S tires, etc. The guy has owned an S4 and Boxster S (put $4K into suspension) and still thinks the GS-R kicks all of their asses. He was talking me into going to this track event in a couple of weeks (he is a "red" level driver, almost "white" which is instructor level). The whole weekend costs $300 which includes garage, instructor for however long you want, etc. Unfortunately, this would be taking money out of my "rear disc conversion fund" and as I am not "Powered by Parents," I don't think I will be able to make it. He didn't seem to like autox as much because of the short track time equaling less learning. I don't know.
Quick question about going into a turn correctly: When you are braking hard going into the turn, when do you downshift? At the beginning of the braking, middle, or end? I am just worried about unsettling the car when in the turn if I downshift too late and throwing too much weight to the front or downshifting too early. Do I need to rev-match when performing the downshift? I'm doing good with the turn itself (one degree in, smooth turn-turn in, ride friction circle past apex while turning back out and easing on throttle) but need to work on my approach into a turn. Thanks for the help guys!
I downshift (if I have to) right before I turn the wheels, because I want to have both hands on the wheel throughout the turn.
Got a nice jacket today at the trophy ceremony(dinner) with my name and it says "'01 class champion DSP". Bruce Bellom, Ken Fry & Pat Salerno (all national or ex-national champs) were giving out the trophies.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
So it must be a geographic/demographic thing..
We do use all the classes though. There's usually 1 Viper (SS), 1 Z06, 1-2 C5s, 2-3 Camaro Z28s (FS), 1-2 FS Firebird/Transams, and 1-2 Porsche 911 or Turbo but that's about it. We 're talking about 10 cars per event at the most. We do have a good amount of AS cars though with several M3's, RX7's & 1-2 Boxters. They 're a blast to watch. Those older 240hp M3s are just awesome. RX7s disappointed me a little this year, because once I got my R tires I was able to match them (we usually have at least 2-3 of them) or beat some of them. Of course they 're pretty stock but last year when I was on street tires and a little less experienced, I was like WOW they look great out there, I wish I can get those times. Still one of my favorite sports cars though.. But no, not too many V8s. Now when I go the NASA or M-Club events there 's a lot more Porsches & M3s, Vettes and generally many Bimmers, even an M5! This is because their courses are faster where power counts a lot, so they attract faster cars. Every time I go there I almost always hit the REV limiter in 2nd gear. So in this area here (NY/NJ/CT), imports dominate the auto-x scene by about 90-95%.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
It'll take you a few days to get used to driving it again. You might have to bring down the dampness in your Illuminas if the tail comes around easily or if you 're not comfortable with the way it feels now. So you should experiment with the shocks. They may need to be adjusted to accomodate the rear sway.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
As far as the next suspension mods, I am debating getting those Z10 radius arms, suspension bushings, Si front sway or ST front sway, and the Skunk2 front camber kit. I would like to hear everyone's opinion on these to put me in the right direction. Thanks guys!