Me and my 98 EK4

[tuyen]

Hi OH,

I've always been into cars but the EK4 has been my first Honda. Previous cars were Nissan S13 silvia, R32 gts-t, HR31 gts-x, Commodore VX, Audi A4 1.8T, BMW E36 M3 (in that order).

Bought the EK4 when petrol prices in WA where skyrocketing (nearly $2/L for 98 unleaded) and I needed a zippy daily car for work. Saw a silver 98 EK4 for bit over $10k on carsales and so decided to research and read up some reviews about the car. 160hp for a 1.6L! damn that seemed impressive. Took it for a test drive and was hooked. Glad i chose it over a corolla :)

After purchasing the car I initially told myself I would keep this car as is and just drive it (unlike my previous cars which were all modified) but after I saw a set of new Drummond Motor Sport coilovers for cheap, I just had to. I had then stumbled across ozhonda forums while googling about suspension setups and to my surprise, unlimited parts new and used to choose from! *uh oh*

I had now decided to modify the car so that it would go half decent on the track while still being my daily.

Few photos so you get the idea. Will update this thread with better ones when I have the opportunity and as more mods take place. If this is meant to be in the build-up subforum instead, can a mod let me know!

http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/IMG_0821.jpg
http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/IMG_0824.jpg
http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/civic4.jpg
http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/civic5.jpg

Cheers all and keep up the good work.

Tuyen

[mrwillz]

nice niceeeee!

[90LAN]

nice mate mugen twin loop
what happened to the m3 ?

[Mr_will]

welcome.

photos of the m3 or it never happened

[tuyen]

http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/IMG_0235.jpg
http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/m3_1.jpg
http://www.iinet.net.au/~tuyenn/IMGP8858.jpg

Sold the M3 as the VANOS (variable cam timing) unit was starting to get a bit noisier and I knew eventually would require replacement (quoted $3-4k to replace with a low km unit). General maintenance costs of the M3 was a bit too steep for my living too. Engine takes like 7-8L of oil and since I always use fully synth would cost me over $140 on just the motor oil alone every service. Awesome cars though. Strong power and handling is great on the track. Still feels heavy though as opposed to the civic which is like a go-kart.

I enjoy driving the civic more for the short city roads everyday. I can burst around corners and round-a-bouts without stopping :) Oh I love the DMS coilovers!

[TYPE-ONE]

hey what headers are you using? looks like 5zigen

[rawr]

Welcome to the forums

Yum to the m3 and the new civic! height is really good and I'm loving the rims, and muffler. Get a new intake :P An SRI or CAI can really get it screaming. Also try a front lip out! There's access, or the SiR lip that can be bought at your local honda dealer or the traders on the forums.

[tuyen]

JDM Limit AX 4-2-1 stainless steel header for B16A with decat test pipe.

Mugen intake and SiR lip hopefully soon. I have read about the improvement changing to DC2R shift linkage has so that is on the cards too. Also ASR subframe brace + EK9 rear sway bar kit.

Thanks for your comments :)

[RtN]

Welcome!! yeh i have the dc2r shift linkage in my civic also its great but also remember to make the most out of it, get the Energy Suspension bushing kit! lol and yes the asr + ek9 sway bar kit makes quite a bit of difference. Nice daily set up there. hows your coils? havent heard much about them. Australian brand?

[eeKayFouR]

whoaa nice ek4 ! want your rimzzzzzzz bruh :p

[Red_EG4]

Your M3 was a neat piece of work!
Welcome to the forums, enjoy your stay :wave:

[SHOGUNOVDDRK]

Welcome to Ozhonda :wave:

Velli noice cars and very nice EK

[hisoka]

good choice man did your nissans go any hard or just stock.

EK4 are cool ~

[newbie]

welcome. nice ek4, and good mods too.!

[kriZy]

nice and simple

definately go the ASR + EK9 Rear Sway bar!

[STTICH]

seems like very tidy ek4.

how does the coilover feel?

[tuyen]

thanks again all. Will clean it up more and take a few nicer photos to share with you all as the modifications continue.

yeah my skylines did go hard but they also drunk petrol hard too. wanted something bit quieter and daily friendly..

DMS (Drummond Motor Sport) coilovers handle awesome. They have a 30 step damper/bump adjustment and are also height adjustable. I set it on 17 clicks (30 being hardest) for daily driving and 27-30 for track.

1-5 clicks = feels like stock EK4 shocks with super low king springs
10-15 clicks = Koni yellows with super low king springs
17 = nice for daily roads :)
25+ = feels like typical jap track coilovers. good setting for track work.

I've owned a few jap dampers (ie. Tiens, Apexi etc) in the past and I found the damper adjustments didn't make much of a difference and the springs that come with them are damn hard. So bumpy!

With the DMS dampers, I can actually feel the difference when changing the settings straight away. But the price you pay for a new DMS system (~$3500-4000), might not be worth it to some. I was just lucky to pickup a cheap clearance special set for the EK.

[i-jrdm]

nice ek4 enjoy.. its a nice clean car :) love the exhaust and headers!

[mrwillz]

where did u find the cheap ek coilies

[Sir_vtec]

nice car and you got new rubber on your wheels :)

asr kit and a ek9 swaybar is prob one of the best bang for bucks mod u could do. you ll love it

[tuyen]

The DMS kit was a 'final' set advertised on the official DMS website. I purchased them directly through them (located in Adelaide).

Thanks for the advice on the ASR + EK9 rsb upgrade guys. Tossing up between which to get first. rsb or mugen intake ? :)

[kriZy]

hmm good contemplation.

think of it this way

want noticable power? - Mugen intake

want noticable handling? - rear sway bar.

you'll have to vtec it alot to feel the difference with the intake..

whereas the rear sway bar you can always rip corners anytime for fun :)

[rawr]

I reckon intakes with hondas only does good for your butt dyno lmao.
A tiny bit more responsive but definitely sounds beefier.

[TYPE-ONE]

j's intake is also good with the rite ducting and heat shielding

[barefootbonzai]

I reckon intakes with hondas only does good for your butt dyno lmao.
A tiny bit more responsive but definitely sounds beefier.

shows how little you know.

[rawr]

Honestly, Would you prefer intake or suspension benefits for a ek4?

Intakes what? 5-10kw max? CAI for better top end response and SRI for mid end response.
Personally, I'd prefer a bit better suspension handling so rear sway bars and all that goot things.

But intakes do sound sick :)

[peeweechik]

sweet and welcome

looking forward for updates on new mods

i love ek's

[Slaz]

Welcome to OH and nice EK, how long ago did you buy the shocks, you got them for a great price, i almost bought them, but having 2 sets of DMS's would just be greedy, lol.

What rate DMS springs are you running on them?

[tuyen]

Cheers again all.

Front 500lb (8.9kg) Rear 300lb (5.3kg) are the spring rates fitted to the shocks. Would prefer them to be bit stiffer on the track but that's okay.

What's your DMS setup Slaz? Yeah 2 sets is just greedy, especially since they can easily be rebuilt :) What do you think of them?

[Slaz]

Yeah but the price you paid is actually cheaper then the service price believe it or not, hahahaha!

They are a great shock, i have the bigger units and run 10-8k toda springs on mine and they are the goods for the track, its harsh on the street on shitty roads but got to be some trade off doesnt there.

For the money, you couldnt have bought better, how long ago did you get them?

What did they slug you for your springs, about 180 each from memory or were they fitted to the sale set?