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Okay guys,
Time for update #1 of 2 for this month,
Once year 12 was over I began modding the EP3 ready for it's first track day (16th of December). At this point it only had I/H/E as the major mods. Also, I ran my CR Kai's which were running on about 10% tread RE001 and RE050 and somehow managed to pull a 1:45.5 PB in my DC5. With stock suspension on the EP3 and very very worn tires my first session gave me a 1:49.5 (already beating my DC5's PB for first time at track)...
So I decided to up my pressures a little to 35 all round and that's where I found a slight gain in traction mid corner. Because the trackday was half short/half long track I only had one other session to pull a better PB in the EP3, the sun came out and an almost perfect session was had, new PB for EP3 was acquired of 1:47.5
From here I switched cars with my dad (2011' WRX) and got to experience Winton with some boost, WOW! Forced induction in the near future? HAHA
Anyways, whilst on the short track I found the I could push the EP3 even more and if it had stayed the long track I feel I could have matched my DC5's PB. On stock suspension and crappy tyres I was very happy with the car as a package (probably prefer it over the DC5 at the moment) and am looking forward to the track days coming up in the next few weeks. Big mods happening as we speak so watch this space 
Thanks for your support too! Much love CLUBITR
Here's a quick snap of me hunting down my dad at the track (his PB was a 1:50.1)
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Lots has been happening to the EP3 recently but I’ve had little time to update so here you go! I’ve also included pictures this time, and will try to from now on so it’s not a wall of text
To start, I’ll inform you all as to why I have been able to have my car off the road for so long… her name is Gabby, Gabby the Golf. A 97’ Golf GL MK3 has become my new daily for uni/work purposes so I don’t have a repeat accident of my DC5 as a daily.
Have had the Golf for about 2 months now and have installed a set of JOM Coilovers (Mighty Car Mods), a set of Axis OG’s (15x8+25) and a Kenwood head-unit with a Cadence Sub/Amp. Should do the trick!!
If you’re wondering, a particular officer DID have a problem!
Civic Update Time!
First of all, I finally ditched my Autecnica bucket seat as my track/daily seat and in it’s place, a virtually new Bride Zeta III Type L in Red. A friend of mine sold his EP3 to upgrade to S2000 (me want!) and parted his seat at a price I couldn’t refuse.
The seat bolted straight up to my Buddy-club Super Low Side mount rails so I had no problems there.
Next up, my brake pads were gone after my December track day so I fitted my Project Mu B-Spec pads from my DC5 (loving this cross-compatibility!)
On the topic of brakes…..
Many years ago there was a limited run of “Indy Special” DC5s that had a cage, bigger brakes and some other small tweaks. Through a good friend on the forum and former owner of my DC5 Bennet, I was able to source the set of Harrop Big Brake Callipers as well as the Harrop Double ventilated slotted discs. The 4 Pot brakes have been known to give a terrific upgrade to the Hondas and I figured I’d need some braking power due to the lack of brakes I’ve had up until now. Many complications were met during the install such as the removal and install of the studs (extended studs were needed for the added 10mm offset of the rotors), and the fact that the calliper bracket didn’t line up properly. Eventually the brakes were fitted and they look simply amazing! Can’t wait to test them after I install my APP Braided lines and the good brake fluids. I believe I am the first person to retrofit these brakes onto an EP3 as there was a very small amount of the Indy Specials.
As I prepare my car for Honda Nationals I noticed that the EP3 doesn’t exactly have the same aero potential as the DC5 (Canards, Wing etc) so I decided to push a new boundary, a GT wing on an EP3!
Currently you can only buy a J’s Racing wing that bolts onto the stock wing for added rear aero although I could not justify the price nor see the massive gain in such a short wing, so I jumped on the phone to my buddies down at Carbon Plus.
Pictured is a Varis GT Wing which was made for an Evo 8 with extended stands. I decided to ditch the stands and custom fabricate my own brackets to bolt into stock EP3 wing so I can get the right angle I’d like plus some further adjustability. The wing is super aggressive! Exactly the same width as the car!!
I’m in the final stages of fabrication now and am finishing the drilling for the bolts to mount the wing, will update with finished photos soon!
To remove the pesky 180km/h speed limiter on my car without a KPRO (not yet anyway) I decided to invest in an Apexi RSM (which I actually purchased for my DC5). I got a chance to install it which was very simple and I love having that extra bit of data to look over.
Since my last update I also ditched the JDM rear number plate bracket so give the rear a cleaner look. The area was really dirty and I had no cut and polish around so I cleaned the dirt with a good spray of WD-40.. GHETTO BRO!
And of course, whilst performing a simple wire tuck of my JDM earth straps I somehow snapped one of my cam cover studs (possibly because I torqued the nut too much or that the engine was still warm)… learnt my lesson and ordered another couple from the boys at BYP
In early Feb I also had a chance to enter the first round of the Victorian Super-Sprint Challenge at Phillip Island. On the Saturday I went up with my crew to test a few things out on the car such as damper settings, ride height, tyre pressures and set up the RSM to remove limiter. Throughout Saturday I hovered around the 2:04 time (GPS timed) which put my a second off being the fastest EP3 at Phillip Island although we spent long parts of the day testing different setups for the Super- Sprint on Sunday. The weekend posed a challenge for us as getting the AD08s to a comfortable temperature was hard when you corner harder turning left than right at the island. The last session on Saturday we felt the car was setup just about perfect and I managed a 2:00.07 which upon returning back to the pits I found, made me the fastest EP3 at the Island which was a major goal for my car’s build.
The Super-Sprint posed difficult for many drivers as the weather showed spots of rain (if Phillip Island wasn’t scary enough) however I learnt the track at age 14 in the wet so nothing was new for me (except being in a much faster car). A spin in the first session (tyre pressure fail, no heat) put me back a bit as a realised a crash going 140+km/h around southern loop could be very dangerous. The limiter removed I was pulling 212km/h down the straight and the car’s steering/suspension felt very stable, had faith in the car!
[youtube]u6_aTfyfrd4&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Little did I know that in my class for Super-Sprint you were allowed to run any tyre other than a full slick. I came third in my class with a competition time of 2:02.00 (in the semi wet) and was behind an MX5 and a Lotus who both ran Semis (maybe next time I’ll get em!)
But for now, that’s my update. Exciting things ahead for my car as I learn to drive her and appreciate her. Thanks for reading, much love
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In the final stages of preparation for Honda Nationals 2013 I have decided to push some “long term mods” forward, the updates over the next few weeks will consist of these mods. Sorry again for the lack of photos as I no longer keep the car at my house.
I like knowing exactly how my car is feeling when I’m on the track, for this reason I felt a monitor of temperatures and pressures would become vital (especially with some of the heat spells Melbourne has had). So I decided to grab a Defi setup with a twist, I opted for the ZD Advance Club Sport package which is a small screen that sits on your dash that reads almost anything you can get a sensor for in real time. The ZD was originally purchased for my DC5, yet another mod being put to good use in my new car.
I used the Greddy sandwich plate for oil temperature and oil pressure as well as a Greddy water hose adaptor to run my water temperature. The install was very straight forward, only took me a few hours from start to finish. I recommend this setup to everyone as it is both affordable and gives you great customisation for the display’s readouts. Also includes a sequential RPM bar!
Since installing my new brakes I figured I might as well complete the setup with a set of braided lines, I chose APP Racing braided lines as they were both affordable (from JDM Yard) and showed great reviews. Following the brake line install I bled all my lines with RBF660 (thanks again to Mugsee at Autosphere!)
A clutch bleed also took place with my left over fluid from the brakes.
Vibrations! How we love them in our Hondas! I decided it was time to install a set of engine mounts in my car (as I loved my DC5 mounts when I installed them). Since the Innovative 60a mounts were still in my DC5 wreck (holding my engine in place) I set out searching for something else, possibly stiffer! Thanks to Peter (Eskimo_firefighter) I was able to source a set of Hasport 70a mounts (they always felt great in his EP3). The engine mounts took about 4 hours to install as there were a few fitment issues (such as removing headers) but all in all, they are well worth the money.
Time for the hectic wang! Below are some shots of my new wing finally mounted properly with the brackets complete and drilled in. Some further modifications to the brackets will be made to gain some extra down-force from the wing blade however the aero gain so far has felt very good! More on that later.
And to complete this update I serviced my car in prepartion for my upcoming track day. Shell 5w40 full synthetic engine oil was used as well as MTL Red Line transmission fluid for my gearbox (yet again, thanks Autosphere!). A Hamp oil filter was fitted when my sandwich plate was installed (service took place on the same day).
Now for the Tampered Motorsport Labour day trackday!
I went into this track-day assuming it would be my last day to test all my new parts before Honda Nationals so I took the day very seriously. I had no expectation of a PB for the day as it was ridiculously hot (hit 38 degrees!) and my AD08s had seen better days!
First session was just a warm up and to feel how my brakes felt on the track. From Japan my EP3 had an ABS light on dash and cannot be fixed no matter which fuse I change, so if braking too hard I can lock up. MY test for the first session was cleaning the brake pad surface and getting some temperature into the brakes so they could handle the rest of the day. The pedal felt very soft early on but by session 2 it came good!
Another problem I had was the heat raising my tyres pressures too high, to combat this I lowered the fronts by 4psi and rears by 2psi. This gave the car less/no tyre squeal and gave me better steering and corner response.
After the first two sessions my car was finally setup and ready to be pushed to see what it had. I was extremely happy with the setup going into session 3 and the tyres were actually coping with the heat fairly well. My only concern was that the rear became very tail happy (possibly high pressures or the fact the tyres were almost bald) and I believe that if I didn’t have the extra aero given by the wing I would have lost the back end many times. Slight bits of oversteer were easy to combat with steering/throttle response so the car felt almost balanced.
I ended up deciding that since the tyres were on the way out (their very last day) I might as well push them for everything they were worth. I drove on the limit the car could handle and the best of my life! A pushed a new PB in the second last session of 1:44.53 so I had officially gained 0.05!
This wasn’t exactly good enough for me so in the last session I purposely pushed my rear out slightly in turn in and combated it with steering and power to go even faster through the corners, the result was a PB of 1:44.3!
So there she goes, another track-day is behind us. I’m happy with Cindy’s progress so far and look forward to Honda Nationals where we can all have a bit of fun in our cars. For now that is all, but stay tuned.
Thanks for reading and your support everyone!
Peace x
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Well it’s time; Honda Nats 2013 is upon us. I spent the last couple of months working on the Civic (many 4am nights) and well, she’s finally ready.
Lets begin!
To begin I decided it was time for a new set of tyres as my AD08s were well worn. I found a new website in the UK named “Demon Tweaks” that ship any tire and sell cheaper than tire rack so I ordered a new set of AD08s in the size 225/45/17 all round. Now, you’re probably thinking these tires would bulge on my 7” CR Kai yes? I agreed. So I opted to run a fresh set of rims, RPF1 was my clear rim of choice because of its weight, its price and its look. 17x8.5+30 all round is my effective fitment (+40 rim at the front to counteract my +10mm extended top hat on BBK rotors). Rolled and flared my guards a little and relocated my rear bumper tabs. I also got an alignment this week which netted me -3.5 at the fronts and -2.5 at the rears with the help of a pair of Ingalls Camber Bolts.
Stretch is good!
Now to get some power out of this pesky K20a (:
I opted for the usually ECU of choice, the Hondata Kpro (V3). I had Craig from PSR Tuning take care of my ECU and tune for me and I was astounded with the result of my power output and torque increase. VTEC now sits at 4800 and comes on very harsh. The power figure? I was shocked too!
150kwatw
I’ve recently added a new gear-knob and extension to my setup for easier / better shifter feeling at the track, I love how this sits and feels. Mugen Gen 2 gear knob with Circuit Hero gold extension.
Anyone who has met me will know I’m a shortish guy, and for this reason I needed to find an easier way of getting in and out of my car as my bucket seat is… tight. I decided to fit an NRG Quick release onto my Nardi deep corn and used a Works Bell Short Hub to get it fitted to the steering column.
And now, some mods that won’t particularly make any difference on track but suit my taste when it comes to modding a car. I’m an aesthetic lover also.
First in was a custom order J’s Racing Teal Cam Cover from Japan (took 4 months!). Fitted to it is a Carbon Plus Kevlar spark plug cover also (featured on my DC5).
Along with these I decided to ditch the ugly looking fuel rail setup our cars come with and add some bling to the bay. In came a Hybrid Racing gold fuel rail with fuel pressure gauge attached. I love how my bay is looking at the moment.
My main aim and goal with my cars and track work is to someday become professional driver and those who know me well would also know this is my dream. It’s been on the down-low for a while now but I can finally let you all know that I’m officially sponsored by Carbon Plus down here in Victoria. Carbon Plus offer a wide variety of Carbon Fibre products for many Japanese cars and pride themselves on their fitment and quality guarantee. For Honda Nats we have collaborated on something very special to hopefully help others with EP3s looking to add carbon, it took many, many hours but we have finished. A complete aero package has been installed to my car and will hopefully give the extra down-force needed when you push harder and harder at the track. Because I love keeping people in the dark I’m going to bring some bad news, I’m not going to upload any photos or descriptions of the parts. They can all be viewed on my car at H Nats and will update with photos in my post H Nats update.
Thanks for viewing guys, your support has really helped me over the past few months, see you all really soon!
PS, some old friends have made their return on my car from my DC5, just as a daily set for a couple weeks before they get picked up by their buyer
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Hey guys!
As promised I’m going to finally share the details on my Carbon Plus Aero Package. Testing went great at Honda Nats and I’m confident that this kit we have made for the EP3 is the best package out there that makes a noticeable difference (more on H Nats later).
To start off, a splitter made entirely of Carbon fibre. The splitter begun it’s life as a 2x1m flat sheet that we then cut to shape with a stencil. The stencil was an Evo9 Voltex splitter in wood that we traced and used a jigsaw to cut into postion. The great thing is that the piece is big enough to have an undertray that extends to nearly under the dash for dat extra aero!!
Because high fives for PB!
Next up, the diffuser. Again we used an Evo9 carbon part, this time it was a Varis diffuser. The great part about this particular diffuser was the bars curve matched the evo’s so all it need to bolt up was 2 holes in the bumper and boom it was in. To hold up the front end we used my beaks bar support bars. The beaks bar was removed to leave the angled bar that we then bolt the front part of the diffuser onto. The upwards angle seems “aerodynamic” so we believe it’s doing something positive for high speed forces. I don’t have a photo for this part as it’s too hard to get enough light underneath for a shot so it’ll have to wait till the car is on the hoist again.
**Honda Nationals**
Finally the day we had all been waiting for was upon us! A few of my mates and I decided to head up the day before for the Winton test and tune day so I could first scrub in my new tyres and secondly set up my dampers and tyre pressures for the following day’s illustrious event. The car felt great throughout the whole day and I was going quicker and quicker as the day went on. With some advice from the Legendary ChargeR himself I decided it was a good idea to drop the damper rates considerable so I wouldn’t be fighting the car so much mid corner, with this I shaved my PB down to a 1:43.2.
Honda Nationals was the reason why I modded my car so quickly, I wanted the car to be ready and competitive for the day so I felt a lot of nerves going into it. The car was 100% ready and I had no excuses to pull off the times I was expecting. The first few sessions I took easy and showed some passengers around as I got the tyres up to temperature. I pushed and pushed through my sessions and the brakes were holding up perfectly to the weather on the day, no fade whatsoever. My gearbox was also super smooth at high revs and no issues revving the car to 9k+ with my fresh oil change pre Honda Nats thanks to Autosphere.
Times slowly crept lower and lower until the 3rd last session of the day where I finally cracked into the 42s which was my goal for the day, although I was even more impressed to find that the best time for the day and my new PB became a 1:42.0. The car had more in it too so I was super happy with my weekend’s efforts and excited for future events to push this current setup. Honda Nationals was by far one of the best events I have ever participated in and all of this is owed to the two event co-ordinators Tom and Mugsee, you guys pulled off a top class event that we will all remember for a long time, Kudos!
Well all that I have done since Honda Nationals is installed some facelift Depo headlights. Had to do some slight rewiring to get H1 setup correct but I love the non faded fresh look these lights give to the car.
Next event, Phillip Island. A few of my crew and I went down to the Phillip Island sprint day a week after Honda Nats. Saturday’s weather was windy and cloudy so I had high hopes that Sunday would stay the same, I was wrong. Pouring rain was the forecast and in typical Phillip Island style, it was worse! HAHA
First few sessions I had to adjust my lines and gears/power as I now had a tune and aero package. My previous PB was 2:00.3 and all I wanted was to beat that although I had doubts as the rain seemed to be sucking people into the walls (literally!). Faster through most corners and on the straight ended up giving me a best laptime and new PB of 1:56.2 and I was over the moon with this time. Slipstreaming at 200km/h down the straight with spray coming up off the first car was scary but the track dried up by the end of the day and it was a great learning experience.
Dancing after Phillip Island PB!
The part of my life that makes me happiest, working on my car at track
Another small update will come soon when I get a few more parts in but other than that the car is done for now. Just a few fine tweaks and more testing and I will be happy. The car is quicker than I expected and it’s now up to me to push the car into the lower times and catch the likes of Mattlew, ChargeR and Mugsee. Also, a new project has begun and I won’t give details on it just yet but well, its going to take me some time. Get excited, big things coming in the not too distant future.
Thanks for the reading and much love guys,
Peace
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Thanks guys!!
She makes me very happy. Dat 9k vtakkk
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It’s time for a well overdue update. It’s officially been a year since my DC5 was written off and when I look at my EP3, I can see I didn’t waste a minute of the past year. Anyways, I’ve been in Europe recently with Circuit Club tracking in Dubai, Germany and Belgium and enjoying my time off from Uni. One thing, Spa and Nurgburgring were insane, that’s all that can be said, it’s a bucket list type of thing and I would recommend such a trip be undertaken by any car enthusiast!
Anyways, to the EP3.
The Carbon Plus EP3 Package has finally been complete and is now available for sale. The final touches were a set of Voltex Widebody Canards from an Evo9 and the freshly moulded EP3 hatch in Carbon. The Canards needed some custom work to fit but they look great. Chris (JDMCVC) decided to install the canards by cutting them down, I chose to slit the bar and insert the canard into it (as it’s going to forever be a track bar)
Also, as a safety procedure I chose to install a bolt in cage to the Civic. It’s a Cusco Bolt in from Japan. It’s pretty basic but it should do something positive in an accident so I’m happy.
They are the only new mods. Now onto trackdays! I took part in the ADVAN Cup held at both Winton Raceway and Wakefield Park (yes Cindy the Civic made her interstate debut). At Winton the day was run by Circuit Club and well, it was ran extremely well! The day ended with a new Winton PB of 1:41.4 and the title of fastest Front Wheel Drive for Rnd 1. On Advan Neova tyres.
In between the two Advan Cup trackdays I also took part in a wet trackday at Phillip Island. Car ran and was ready for the drive to Sydney the following day! For the first time ever I experienced what it was like to go to a trackday and not PB, I guess the wet does that to you :P
Wakefield time!
The drive was 7 hours from Melbourne to Goulburn and between my co-driver and I it went pretty quick. I was greeted early in the morning by both Felix and Shak as well as the ever passionate photographer Berty. First session out I just went to learn the track layout and basic brake points. From there I pushed harder every session. First session I cracked out a 1:15 and from there went a second faster each session. After a few pointers from John Boston I ended the day with a 1:12.5 which I as pretty happy about considering my target was reached in the first session!
I left Wakefield with my second Fastest Front Wheel Drive on Neovas title as well as claimed fastest street EP3 at Wakefield (which was beaten a few weeks later by BYP!!) I’m happy, things are good at the moment.
I then went back to Wakefield after Europe to take part in a Circuit Club trackday (and try out my newfound skills from Nurburgring). The day was great and it was a lot of fun finally having my dad back out there with me. New PB was achieved on the day of 1:11.4 however I was disappointed as my optimal was a 1:10.1. I just couldn’t link up all my sector properly.
What’s next? I’m not sure. I’ll see my Sydney homies at WTAC when I bring my car up, other than that, thanks for reading and take care!
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Full details of the car and accident can be found on my DC5R Build thread.
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