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Acura Integra - (All years/styles)
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Don't get your oil change at Jiffy Lube. Their oil filters suck. Buy some Honda filters at www.hparts.com (look at the specials) and bring in your own oil filter to where you have it changed. Honda oil filters were rated the best by an independent study and proved to clean the oil the best. Don't trust Jiffy Lube's $1 filters to protect your engine!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
My girlfriend has a '90 Integra that has lately developed a problem - whenever the engine is idle the temperature (according to the gauge) goes up. It actually gets fairly close to the red line. Then whenever the car is driven again the temperature drops back to normal. Also, even if the car is not driven - as long as you rev the engine the temp goes down.
What is surprising to me is that this happens very quickly - the temperature goes up only in a few seconds, and then when driven (or when revving up the engine) it goes down again in a couple of seconds. I wonder what that may be. Also, and again surprisingly, the fan blows cold air when the temperature goes up...
If anyone can shed any light on this I will greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!
Only1harry: Does SCCA allow plus-zero (slightly lower/wider) tires of same OEM diameter for STOCK class cone bashers?
fjm1: In the stock classes, you 're allowed to go with any size tire you want as long as you keep the original rim size and diameter. You can have aftermarket rims (lighter ones) but they have to be 15x6" or whatever the factory dimensions were. As far as tires you can put wider and lower profile street tires if you wish or race tires which are called R compound tires and are also street legal but you only get 4-5K mi. out of them. These are usually Kumho (V700), Hoosier, BF Goodridge (G-Force) or Goodyear in order of popularity.
So yes, you can go to any tire you want as long as you keep the factory wheel diameter. For example most g3 Integras come with 195-55-15". You can put 205-50-15s or 215-50-15's or 225-50s or even 195-50. As long as they 're 15" tires, they 're allowed in the GStock class. The other thing you can change and still stay in stock class is shocks believe it or not. Most of the National champs have custom valved Koni shocks (big bucks) or you can go with any aftermarket shocks like Bilstein, Koni, Tokiko & KYB. You can also change the air filter with another performance drop-in filter (no intakes, just the filter in the factory housing). And lastly you can change the axle-back (not catback) exhaust with a straight pipe (if you can, axle-back exhausts usually have 1 bend on them) but you have to have a muffler, any kind of muffler.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
And his ITR has 205-50-15s on compared to 225-50s or 225-45-17" tires on the TT. Those tires are much wider than just the 20mm (which is about 1") because the TT wheels are much wider than the 6" ITR ones. I think the TT's are 7.5" wide so the tires have a lot more contact with the pavement. Anyway, here 's a pic of me 3-wheeling while auto-xing :-) but my suspension is by no means stock..
but my suspension is by no means stock.. target=_blank
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I have an Accord LX with dealer installed Alarm/Keyless Entry. I never had any problems it works 100% of the time. Any suggestions? Thanks.
P.S. Do you all pay $27.95 for an oil change at the dealer? So far I've but it bugs me as my Accord at the Honda dealer cost only $14.95. They say they'll service all Acura cars as well. I'm very tempted to take my Integra there. Thanks.
$14.95? Where do you live? I get my oil done at the Honda dealer once in a while when it's on sale for $19.95, otherwise I buy Honda oil filters for my '97 Civic & '99 Integra (which is the same filter) and go to other shops that charge $15.95-19.95 and give them the filter so they subtract like $2 for that. My Acura dealer wants $32.95!!! What a ripoff, and they use the same Honda oil filter as the Civic does. It's not that I can't afford it but it's the principle. I don't like getting ripped off or overpaying for things like this.
I like taking my Integra to my Honda dealer for oil changes because the mechanics look at my car to see what new mod I got and we talk about different upgrades and stuff. They also have given me some good advice. The Acura mechanics are not too talkative and seem to work like dogs without resting or taking brakes. The Acura shop looks like a sweat shop because it's the only Acura dealership in a 30 mile radius so they 're always busy and they have a huge shop with like 20 lifts and there are at least 15 guys working in there. It looks like a airport or airplane hanger when you go inside. The service advisors (there are about 5-6 of them in cubicles - nice working area outside the shop) and manager are very curtious though and they have nice loaners plus they wash your car every time.. Their donuts are good too At the Honda dealership, they have 3-4 old torn vinyl chairs in the 5x7' waiting room and the 13" TV barely works, but it beats paying $33 bucks for an oil change at the Acura dealer even if they have a 27" TV w/cable, coffee & donuts, and leather couches in their waiting room.
Hey, what happened to my pic? I must 've moved it to another album, let me test it again..
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I would not get an exhaust alone since it will only give you about 2-3hp. You need to get a header (DCsports, Comptech, Mugen-expensive, etc.) Header & exhaust together will give you another 7 or so HP and more torque.
The intake alone will make the car noticeably faster and the header & exhaust will give you more power in the mid-top end (RPMs) and you will also get a higher top speed. To see any "real" power though you 'd have to do an LS/VTEC conversion and that 's about $3K. You will get an extra 40-50hp though and your car will be faster than stock GSRs. Just make sure you get it done at a race shop where they 've done a lot of these. But why buy a 140hp SE and $1K+ on Intake, header & exhaust? Why not get a '96 GSR if power is what you mainly want? Modding the GSR will give you better gains anyway. Just add an AEM intake to the GSR and you 'll have 185+hp at the flywheel (I gained 12.5hp and 7.5ft-lbs of torque at the wheels with the AEM, that's almost 15hp at the crank/flywheel). Then spend some of the money you 'd spend modding the Se on suspension mods for the GSR. It's a lot more fun and safer driving an Integra with a nice tight suspension.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I got a rental from them after I brought the car in about 10 days after I bought it because it was pulling to 1 side and asked them to check or do a wheel alignment. They said the car wouldn't be ready till the afternoon, so I just said, "then I 'm getting a loaner right?" and they guy said sure we 'll get you one. The lady before me had just gotten the last Acura loaner they had so they send me accross the street to the Chevy dealer which they own and gave me a Cavalier POS rental. Worst car I ever drove and it only had 2k mi. on it. It felt like it had 150k on it and I wouldn't want that car even if they gave it to me.. I learned my lesson now. Next time I went back at 7-7:30 and was the 2nd person there and they gave me a '97 Integra LS auto. They seem to give the CLs and a TL they have to TL and RL owners only.. They only have about 4-5 Integras, 1-2 base CLs and 1 TL to loan out from what I can tell so it's first come first serve.. Late comers are send accross the street for cheap Chevy crapola rentals.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
http://www.hondacarsofmckinney.com/content/coupons.htm
I'm tempted to confront Acura dealer about why costing so much for an oil change for a same Honda oil filter. $14.95 at the Honda dealer is a great deal, which all so includes a free (so-so) car wash.
If I utilize this feature will my car be too low to qualify for Solo Stock?
I wouldn't really lower the car by the shock. Springs is the best way to lower your car. I have my springs on the middle ring on the Konis which means stock height, but my springs are about 1" lower anyway. Most people with race springs (2.5-3" drop) use the upper ring on the shock to increase the height because the springs are too low and their tires rub. From what I remember, the rings (grooves) on my Konis looked like they were about 1" apart. Could be 3/4 but it looked more like a full inch.
The problem with using the Konis to lower the car is that the spring will be now constantly compressed by 3/4-1" and your ride characteristics will be affected. The best way is to get aftermarket springs that are 1" shorter but they 're designed that way. BUT if you want to race in the stock class (GS) you gotta leave the stock springs on. The best mod you can make, not that Konis is not a good move, is to get yourself some R compound tires or another set of wheels with R tires on them. You should do very well now in the absense of ITRs and TTs (they got moved to DS class because they were way too good for GS), assuming you 're talking about your '00 Bimmer. Wait, did the 3 series move to DS too? I think they did. Well with R tires and the Konis set a little stiffer than normal you should do pretty well and should be able to give those ITRs and TTs a run for their money. If you 're a really good driver you can beat an inexperienced ITR driver. Last year in G Stock, there is a very good driver with a 328i ('99) and R tires that beat 1 or 2 Type-R with fairly new drivers but succumbed to the more experienced ones, and he was only about 1/2 sec. behind my times and I 'm in DSP..
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I've got access to a shop that I can do the work myself. I'm going to try compressing the stock springs slightly (1/2-3/4") and see how it affects handling. The stock springs have probably settled 1/4" or so since new anyways. Worst case scenario is a few extra hours switching them all back to stock height.
Top Choice of Thieves: Acura Integra
March 15, 2001
Page 1 of 1
The Acura Integra was the most frequently stolen 1999 model-year vehicle during calendar year 1999, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) preliminary report. The report is based on vehicle thefts reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and auto-production reports filed with the Environmental Protection Administration.
Almost two of every 100 Integras from model-year 1999 were stolen in that year, nearly double the rate for the number two choice of thieves, the Mitsubishi Mirage, the NHTSA said.
Of the 201 vehicles rated for theft frequency, the Plymouth Neon and Dodge Stratus came in third and fifth place. The Mitsubishi Montero was fourth. The theft rates for those vehicles range from 0.85 to 0.9 per 100 cars produced.
The NHTSA report said total thefts of 1999 models during 1999 amounted to 2.89 per 1,000 vehicles. That rate was 14 percent more than the 2.53 per 1,000 1998 vehicles during 1998.
The best thing you can do, is not give your home address when you go for an oil change or a repair. Most of the time the thieves are either grease monkeys or give out your address to their friends or other car thieves for a few bucks. I just don't give anyone my address, they don't need it and you don't have to give it out.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Theft depends on geography. Even though the Integra may be the most stolen car in the country, mine's never been broken into or stolen in the 3 years that I've owned it in Milwaukee (downtown/eastside). In other cities, like Appleton WI, I almost wouldn't even worry about leaving the doors unlocked. Almost. But it depends where you live.
And it's always best to keep cars in garages, instead of junk in the garage. Remember, when someone sells a house, they measure the garage on a per car basis, like 1-car, 2-car or 3-car garage, not a 20-box, 30-box, or 40-box garage. IMO, if you cannot park your vehicles in the garage, then you either have too many vehicles or too much junk that you can live without.
Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks Message Board
The Koni Yellows is the best non-custom valved shocks you can have for auto-xing and racing in general. And like I had said before, you can adjust the rear ones so you get slight oversteer and eliminate understeer. The only thing is though, if you 're running stock (GS I assume) class, the shocks alone are not enough to beat a Prelude SH or an Eclipse/Talon AWD turbo. The Prelude SH performs very well in auto-x (with a good driver) and 3-wheels on command. The DSM turbos are just too fast and get excellent traction with the AWD. You should be able to do very well though with some R compound tires. Still, even without the Type-R and TT in G Stock, the GSR in stock form is still not one of the leading cars in GS. A BMW 328i with Konis and R tires can kill a GSR as well as the others I mentioned above. In the absense of these 3-4 cars, your GSR will kick butt (you 'll have A4s for breakfast). Just make sure you get another set of wheels with R tires or just get R tires. VW VR6 is also a formiddable opponent. Good luck with your new shocks!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anybody know about driving schools in the N.J., N.Y. and PA areas?
Pocohantas: Why can't I see the post I did yesterday? I didn't swear or berate anyone, honest!
For your convenience, I did copy/paste your post onto the email, so you can re-edit it and post it back into this discussion. Feel free to email me if you have any further questions. Thanks for your participation. ;-)
Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks Message Board
Put in the yellows myself last weekend. Have had several days to test them out and here is my .02 on install and performance:
Install: If you've got a floor jack, jack stands, and a spring compressor it is not very
hard to do. I had the left rear control arm bushing freeze on me so I had to get a new bushing and press it in. If that had not happened I could have replaced all 4 struts in about 5 hours. The bushing replacement took me an extra 2-3 hours. The shocks come with pretty good instructions but you will need the car's shop manual as well for install/removal. Oh yeah, you will need a big drill bit to bore out the dust
cover hole as the Konis are larger diameter than stock.
I did use the stock springs but set the Konis spring perches for lowering springs. The stock springs had to be slightly compressed but ride height has barely changed. I haven't noticed any unusual rebound or handling characteristics using
this setup. I stayed with stock springs so I could Autocross in Stock class.
Performance: Wow. Response and control are dramatically increased even on softest settings. On softest setting ride comfort and noise are better than stock. My ideal settings are 3/4 turn (40%) up front and 1 turn (55%) at the rear. Now if I pre-load coming into corners I can get the rear to swing out just a bit. Helps defeat cronic understeer.
I've gotta thank Harry for giving feedback. You helped me out alot. I often find it hard to justify extra cost/benefits versus some cheaper parts. I can say I think I made the right choice with your help.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I bet they put the same diameter bars on LS/GS as the GSR because they need all the help they can get to sell them! This is the 8th year of production with a new model coming out in 2 months. I bet you can get an LS really cheap right now, under $17K shouldn't be a problem. Beats a Civic EX that sells for $16k.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I 'd say if you 're going to race in a Stock Class get the VW VR6 but this is not to say that the VW VR6 dominates the G Stock class. Stock Preludes (base and SH) usually destroy the VW VR6s. The WRX with 227hp AWD is also going to be in GS this year (to test it out, they move it out if it does too well). Eclipse/Talon Turbo AWD will always beat a VW VR6 in G Stock with equal drivers. BMW 328i with R tires usually beat the VW VR6 as well. Type-R and TT (if they 're still in GS, they 're supposed to be moved up to DS) usually destory all others in GS. So what I 'm trying to tell you is that the VW VR6 has a lot of competition in GS which is why most GSRs and VWs get out of that class and go to Street Prepared or Modified classes to compete better. In DSP where I run I 've only raced against 4cyl. GTIs and have beaten them. No VR6 yet.. I 'm not sure if the VW VR6 is in DSP, gotta look into that.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks/Station Wagons Message Boards
Pocahontas
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Hatchbacks/Station Wagons Message Boards
My car's foot well carpet gets wet on the passenger's side and creates a nasty, musty smell. More than a few sources have suggested that there's a plugged A/C reservior (leaves??) behind my firewall and to flush the exterior "drop-down" tube by forcing either air or water upwards through the tube and blowing whatever the obstruction is away...
This is a good idea, but I have two questions:
1) How large is this reservior? Coffee cup-sized? toaster-sized? The reason I ask this is that I need to know approximately how much water to expect to flow out (presumably along with other "gunk") in order to gauge success.
2) As opposed to water or air, does anyone see a problem with stuffing, say, an oil dip stick up the tube and clearing it that way?? This seems a much more direct/effective approach to solving this problem.
Thanks in advance,
V
'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)
Stops like a dog on a chain now. No squeeling and no dust. Pricey though. $60 for front set and $50 for back.
BTW, I also got Brembo rotors on all 4 corners (OE diameter, not the big ones). Car stops about 10ft shorter from 60mph.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
shtevey: Restore performance? That's not that many miles for an Acura, you shouldn't have to do much to the engine to be getting peak performance. Change plugs, rotor, wires, fluids, etc. normal wear items. Then rev the snot out of it! If your not farmiliar w/Honda/Acura don't be afraid to rev high. They thrive there.
charlestonguy: Make sure they changed the timing belt. Usually they do the water pump at the same time.
If the seller cannot prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that the timing belt has been changed you need to evaluate the car as if it were abused/neglected. Take it to a Acura dealer or mechanic and have them check it.
How can I say that it's been neglected if the timing belt hasn't been changed? Easy, grab the owners manual and check out the service interval for the timing belt. 75K if memory serves me right.
Overall, it's hard to go wrong w/used Acuras and Hondas. Insurance is higher though.
However, I had two major failures in one week, and one could have killed me. The first was no big deal. The first was a ignition coil failure, while I was on the inbound express lanes during rush hour, no less! That was replaced for about $200. The second was catastrophic. I had JUST gotten off the highway and was driving up the parking garage when the left front end collapsed and the car skidded sideways with a metallic screech. At first, I thought that I had a catastrophic tire failure and that I was riding on a rim. On closer inspection, I noticed that the left front wheel was completely disengaged from the steering mechanism and suspension and was sitting askew in the wheel well. I shudder to think what might have happened if this occured 5 minutes earlier on the highway.
My mechanic showed me the failed part later. It was a failed front ball joint which then cracked the left drive shaft. Apparently, this is a sign of old age for a car. It's just a matter of time before the right one goes as well. This car has been well maintained, by the way. I've taken it for all its major scheduled maintenance and oil changes. However, it did get parked on the Chicago city streets for 4 years in a row, though snow and salting.
After reading so many testimonials of the "little car that could" I have to wonder if my car was a dud. I used to think that it was nearly invincible but not so anymore. I can't afford the risk of another serious failure. So I am trading the car in for something new. Any thoughts?