Accord Euro vs. MX5 :D

So last night, I headed up to a part of town with a bit of twisties for a bit of a run in my Accord. Did a lap or two before pulling over and hada rest. After a while, a MX5 drives by (towards exit), but then a minute later, it heads back for another lap, so I though, why not give it a chase (touge style) ;) .

Kept up with it on the straight no problem, then when we reached the first corner, things got interesting. This MX5 was like on rails, slight braking and then full throttle in and out of corner. My tyres were screeching like mad and it end slipped a few times. Getting a bit scary then, cos I was going at least 90km/h+ in the corner, so in the end I decided to ease off.

Then MX5 pulled over, so I did as well. I had a chat with him and he was saying that my Euro was pretty fast, but I said it just couldn't take the corners fast enough.

So that was my eventful evening. I think my next car will definately be a RWD. FWD can handle alright in most situations, but push it to the limit, it just doesn't feel stable/confident. Mind you, I have driven a RWD before.

PS: I don't condone street racing. Take it easy on the roads people ;)

Yeah, MX5 are known for their handling, they just lack power.

I agree that the Euro don't like corners, suspension too high and too much understeer. They say that a rear swaybar helps dramatically, like ones from progress or comptech.

I would like to see what the coilover boys have to say :D

sounds like it was a grat night even though u lose in the corner but hey it was fun i bet ^_^

you have the suspension of a luxury car
why do u even compare it
eheh

mmm, it depends on what type of corner that you are talking about.
small cars like DC2R MX5 are agile, they are suited to tight corners, Euro on the other hand find it hard to keep up with these cars.

On fast flowing corners, Euros are very very good. Can keep up and even gaining on the DC2R and such. I had first hand experience following a DC2R when we went out for a drive on Sunday with a couple of NSX, S2000, DC2R and DC5R.

Well I knew I had no chance from the start, but I just wanted to see if I could keep up :D

Type R Positive: I agree with that. Too much body roll, but you can't expect too much from a car built for comfort. Sway bars, coilovers, and a bit of weight loss would definately help reduce the understeer and the hugh body roll.

baboo: Well the place i go to has nice flowing corners at the start, but then became tight at the end, hence the reason why I could keep up for a while but then got left behind in the end.

Oh yeah, I find the stock tyres not too bad after all. I think it's definately due to the fact that I'm NOT following the recommended 32 psi and pumping it to 40 psi instead (which an advanced driving course taught me). Does make the Euro much more agile than before, and less tyre screeches when you corner.

There is nothing wrong with pumping up your tyres a bit more!
My Euro goes so much better when low on fuel, I wouldnt think that 40 - 50 kg would make so much difference.

Baboo: you are a lucky bastard! I only have commodores and falcons to play with. They are no fun. It doesn't help being stuck in a one horse town as well.

MX5 was designed to be good at twisty roads, somehow like the mini coopers they are lightweight and like corners.

Its just to bad that our euro's are designed for comfort and safety.

Lower the car to get rid of the bodyroll, and maybe some lightweight alloys with low profile tyres and maybe u could have more fun around corners :D

:D I actually own both of these cars!!

A 2003 Mazda MX5 and a 2003 Honda Accord Euro luxury auto. Both are excellent handling cars, just very different in their style. My MX5 has a few mod's whereas the Euro is stock, but regardless the MX5 is definitely the most agile. Power is obviously down vs the Euro but remember it weighs a lot less too.

The Euro is a great car and I never cease to be impressed when I drive it, I have more than managed to keep up with a heavily modified S2000 and a lightly modified (from memory) DC5R on the Old Pac in the Euro, to the point where they ended up pulling over and waving me past.

Having said that, it sure is hard to beat lightweight and rear wheel drive ...

thanks
Rod

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jolt

The Euro is a great car and I never cease to be impressed when I drive it, I have more than managed to keep up with a heavily modified S2000 and a lightly modified (from memory) DC5R on the Old Pac in the Euro, to the point where they ended up pulling over and waving me past.

thanks
Rod

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Really u could keep up with a modified S2000 thats new?? I did that test a few months ago, and First gear yeah sort off can keep up, second and third gear ur left for dead if u drag a modified S2000.. Lucky it was my friends modified S2000....

I borrowed my friends Type R so i could drag the same S2000 and the S2000 still kicked the Type R's Ass... Too much wheel spin on the Type R for my taste...

I'm not knocking u Rod... The MX5 and Euro is a real nice car and are impressive in their own right... But it no way can keep up with a Type R or S2000 unless u have heavily modified ur euro in a way where it can keep up with those cars... If u did keep up i'm pretty sure it was like 2-3 car lengths away...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pum[Z]

I'm not knocking u Rod... The MX5 and Euro is a real nice car and are impressive in their own right... But it no way can keep up with a Type R or S2000 unless u have heavily modified ur euro in a way where it can keep up with those cars... If u did keep up i'm pretty sure it was like 2-3 car lengths away...

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Rod said he could keep up with those cars on the 'Old Pacific Highway'. This is not a drag race, but a great drive with many smooth flowing corners. I did it once in an Astra, and now I have my Euro, I want to go drive there again. It is a great road. If you are in a car which inspires confidence (in handling and low RPM torque), you will be able to let the car just flow with the corners. If the car is set up too twitchy or too stiff, it will not be able to keep the momentum up between corners. Cars with a good spread of torque would be faster on this road than one with just peak torque at peak RPMs. The gear ratios also play a very big part when driving there. I reckon the Euro would not need to change gears when in the corners because at 80-90km/h, that would be the sweet spot of 2nd gear in the 5AT (the 6MT would need to shift between 2nd and 3rd gears in the corners and could possibly be slower than the 5AT in this case!). Even if you drop your speed, the Euro still has enough torque to accelerate out of the corner without downshifting.

Power doesn't really matter because you are not accelerating from 0km/h to 100km/h in this case, but rather maintaining your speed through the corners.

Rod was able to keep up maybe due to driving skills? that plays a small part too. ;)

the old pacific hwy?


is that the road that is in between lane cove road and the pacific hwy where it goes over the f3 near the pacific hwy/pennant hills rd? really nice twisty flowing corners. if not, does anyone else know this road?

if it is, i took that the other night, had an old school wrx on my tail and he couldnt keep up. when i turned off he drove past giving me the bird. lol.

i had never been on that road before but was with a mate and told me it is a good drive. My acccord handled beautifly and with some decent power under my bonnet it had no trouble pulling away.

of course i never went over 50kph.

If you doing a drag race, Euro can never keep up with S2000 or TypeRs.

1st gear is tall, so Euro can outrun most of the cars if launched correctly.
the ratio gap between 1st & 2nd gear is quite big so from 2nd gear onwards the S2000 and typeRs creeps away.

This is where slow corners comes to affecting the Euro, using 1st gear the rev is too high it doesn't have any torque, but using 2nd gear the rev drops below the powerband. Unless you sorta let the clutch half engaged at full throttle to keep the rev up.

but if doing rolling start using 2nd gear, the Euro is able to keep up. 2nd-3rd-4th gear acceleration is where the Euro shines.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jolt

The Euro is a great car and I never cease to be impressed when I drive it, I have more than managed to keep up with a heavily modified S2000 and a lightly modified (from memory) DC5R on the Old Pac in the Euro, to the point where they ended up pulling over and waving me past.

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Is both the S2000 and DC5-R black? If so then I know which 2 you are talking about and i doubt you had a chance against that particular S2000 as you'd be surprised to the extent of mods it has :!:

Yeah I think they both were black, the DC5R had white wheels too from memory.

It was pretty obvious that the S2000 was modified (fixed back seats were a dead giveaway), but many mod's don't necessarily make a car quick through corners, that's more to do with the driver. :rolleyes:

Having said that, maybe he was just out for a quiet drive and couldn't be bothered playing with some guy in a Euro who looked like he had something to prove!! :D

If you know the guys and they can recall a standard graphite pearl Euro, I'd be interested to know whether he was going hard or not.

thanks
Rod

was it the turbo model mx5

The one I followed was a normal MX5. Turbo (SE or SP) would have left me for dead instantly.

I think jolt's one is also normal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jolt

Yeah I think they both were black, the DC5R had white wheels too from memory.

It was pretty obvious that the S2000 was modified (fixed back seats were a dead giveaway), but many mod's don't necessarily make a car quick through corners, that's more to do with the driver. :rolleyes:

Having said that, maybe he was just out for a quiet drive and couldn't be bothered playing with some guy in a Euro who looked like he had something to prove!! :D

If you know the guys and they can recall a standard graphite pearl Euro, I'd be interested to know whether he was going hard or not.

thanks
Rod

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Yes, those are the 2 cars. When we go out to that area we don't drive hard during the day (ie. too many motorbikes) and no I don't own that black DC5.

If he was hammering it then then he would be long gone and he can certainly match his driving to his cars potential.

No mine is not a turbo, just naturally aspirated. The SP is just a half-baked job worse than an aftermarket kit and the SE uses the old non S-VT Familia GT-X/Laser TX3 engine as it's basis, but it is the better package of the two.

Bearing in mind that the MX5 was never designed to be turbocharged (it doesn't even have gearbox mounts!!) the torque that a turbo engine can generate really doesn't suit the style/nature/concept of the car.

Also I had some bad experiences (valves, engine, gearbox, diff, fuel pump) previously with an S15 200SX so I have shied away from turbo's since then. I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough and get back into a turbo car in the future though.

Even though it isn't turbo, it didn't stop one guy from a bunch of DC5R's, DC2R's and a highly modified Civic from asking me if I liked my SP ... I guess they were surprised that we (my friend was driving, I was passenger) were quite easily keeping up with them on the Old Pac too ... :D

thanks
Rod

maybe jolt would like to come out someday and demo his euro :)

so when will you be free jolt? i'm coming back to sydney soon :wave:

Come out? Where? Not sure about you, but I'm not the kind of guy who sits in a closet buddy!! :rolleyes:

However if you would ever like to meet up and go for a drive up the Old Pac, I'd be more than happy to come along. I'm free most nights of the week when it's late enough to go for a decent run up there.

My Euro is only a little baby auto stocker!! Take it easy on me ok?!?! :D

What mod's have you guys got done to your cars?

thanks
Rod

I'd be interested in coming and having a look around as well. Big admirer of Euro's.

I'm not really sure if i'll keep up, but thats not what it's all about :)

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