My CL9 -A brief introduction, then a few questions!

[mjp073]

Hey guys - new forumgoer here. Spent yesterday at work reading from page 1 all the way back to 2010 topics, which was fun. Thank you all for making me sure to never have any spare money ever again.

Anyway, I drive a 2007 auto(yes, I know,) euro in graphite pearl. I've put 18" ROH Mantis Blacks on it (here's a link for any interested, http://www.roh.com.au/newreleasemantisblack.php) but havent dropped it down yet. I defnintely need to, while it looks nice, it would look 100% nicer a bit lower.

So heres the deal. I'm 22, so as you may expect I dont have much spare dough lying around. But, I would love to spend some of what I can scrape together making my precious all shiny and hopefully a bit less sluggish.

From what I've read I should look at a CAI and a set of headers in regards to the second. I hope it's worth my time for the auto model? From what I understand the auto box is decent as far as they go...

As for the first, does anyone have any experience with the plain mesh grills on ebay?
(http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PAINTED-A...d032592&_uhb=1)

Since they offer to paint the grill if you'll give them the paint code #, I'm just hoping they wont need to be sanded back to fit. It would be great if anyone had any experience they could share here. I know a lot of you have invested in Euro R grills, but I was hoping for something without chrome (I absolutely hate chrome except in tiny amounts.)

I'll give my car a good wash and post some current pics for any interested

[Black Euro]

Hey buddy! Congrats on the purchase!
If i was you I'd just do the basics i.e. lower, rims and etc
if your after power you will need to spend a bit of cash as all the mods including headers/exhausts and intakes/intake manifold dont really help with out a tune which costs a fair bit!

As for the grill, looks like a mugen replica (i think if someone can confirm) I dunno if there are any fitment issues with those replicas but it shouldnt be a hassle!

Look after it and it will treat you fine! post some pics when you get a chance!

[iRoik]

Hey man, Welcome! I only got my 06 Lux about 2 months ago as well and I'm loving it. I'm 20 and at uni so as you can relate, I'm not looking to spend big on my car just yet.
I've only done a couple of mods to it though, but its all aesthetics or function, nothing to do with performance:


I've restored the headlights, and now they look much better (My HID's now product a sharp cut off rather than a fade). I used the 3m headlight restoration kit, and it worked a treat. It only set me back $30. Great investment!
This is essentially how mine were like:


I changed the front parkers to LEDs. It suits my white xenon lights much better than the yellow light given off by the normal bulbs - although this is just personal taste. LEDs are quite cheap and you could do both sides for under $10

(not my car)

Right now I'm waiting for my Grom from Cushie Audio
http://www.cushieaudio.com.au/
Essentially it adds bluetooth (with steering wheel integration), USB, Android and Apple playback via your car speakers. - I only went with bluetooth.
It'll cost you roughly $200+ depending on what options you want.

The other thing I'm waiting for from AusPost is my 4300k bulbs to match my foglights with my other lights.

[ChaosMaster]

Hey mate, welcome to Ozhonda. I'm similar to you, with a similar car, bar manual, and of similar age. Things changed are my RIMs, HID, LED parkers, Xcarlink and BT unit, however I have springs and CAI (IceBox) on it's way.... (low stock at HT it seems, been waiting a month already....) so I get what you're thinking. One thing I will recommend is looking at changing your gearbox oil. It's the first thing to fail with Honda auto's. Freddy has a thread dedicated to it, for which if you've been going back through the pages, you've probably ran into it a few times. As for power, the CAI is the easiest and cheapest way, and yeah, headers will help too. It won't give you a huge jump in power though, just a little. Both together would prob give like 3kw atw at most, not much, but noticeable.

[dirlok]

Hello and Welcome...

I personally wouldnt bother with shelling out too much money on performance mods. I'd aim to do your suspension first, lowering and getting some camber arms (you'll need them).

As for that grill, I've had one before. The colour isn't the best match, but it will do. I'd personally (now from my experience) get it unpainted and take it to a shop to paint and fit. It will require some drilling of holes to fit. Its a fairly easy thing to install yourself if you really want to, just need to remove the bumper and make sure you dont snap/break any of the plastic clip screws.

All in all, the grill isnt too bad and I'd work on making your car look good. Performance isnt something you can do cheaply.

[mjp073]

Pics as promised! Sorry if they come out upside down as they look to in preview...

[mjp073]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Had its first service under my care today. OEM brake pads had killed the front rotors so had to replace those. Tyre pressure was down, but no biggie. Changing the oil to 5w30 full synthetic though... holy god it actually revs now. No more complaints in the power department. Also new brake pads with the rotors so i dont stop like a deranged kangaroo anymore.

Am pretty happy!

[HunterZero]

Pretty normal to have to replace rotors soon after 80,000km or so in modern cars. The rotors don't have enough meat on them to be machined.

Auto will be a bit harder on brakes than the manual.

- HZ

[ChaosMaster]

Yeah, I've got 65,000km on my Manual CL9. Pads are only half gone. According to the vernier I still have plenty left on my disc. Go figure huh.

[TR541]

Pics as promised! Sorry if they come out upside down as they look to in preview...

Nice pics (although I had to turn my laptop upside down to see your car properly)

Haven't seen those wheels on a euro before, they look great. are you planning to lower your car?

[mjp073]

Thanks x) yeah I am planning to lower it probably around an inch or so to decrease that arch gap. Lot of crappy roads and bumps around me.

Bought like four lint rollers. My border collie loves jumping in whenever he sees an open door so it's super fluffy.