New CL9 owner

[graphicgoose]

Hey guys,

I'm not new to forums or cars, but I bought my first Honda last week. I've actually been through a few cars over the last couple of years (FG XR6T, FG2 GT, VF SSV-R) but work situation has become a bit unstable and I wanted to get rid of my debts and start saving hard. So sold the big expensive car and picked up a single owner manual CL9 Accord Euro Luxury with 60,000kms on the clock. Now have no debt and a few grand savings, plus still a nice car. Black with tan leather, looks nice.

Car is in fantastic condition and has been very well looked after, drives just like a new car! Bonus was that it came with a set of Pedders coilovers from the previous owner, SCORE! Admittedly, they wouldn't be my first choice of coilovers, but I'm not complaining, given they were free. Also came with some aftermarket 17" rims. Again, wouldn't be my first choice...but they look alright so I'll just stick with them until I get sick of them.

Very happy with the car so far. Currently in the shop having some creature comforts fitted (Satnav, connectivity etc), so that will keep me happy enough cruising around town. Goes in for its 60,000km service next week and will have the engine flushed as the previous owner only had it serviced every 10,000km...not every year/6months. Had a proper inspection done on it though and it came up trumps. Only suggestions were for the engine flush (very very minor amounts of black sludge sitting on top of the engine) and new rear brake pads. Thinking I might replace all the rotors and pads though, get something a bit better. What's the best options for rotors and pads all round on these cars? Want some more bite and pedal feel, coming from my previous cars the brakes feel a little lacking in the CL9. Ideally would like pads that don't produce a crazy amount of dust and last a decent amount of time.

Anyway, here's some photos (everyone loves photos!)...just excuse the Carsales watermarks...haven't had a chance to get my own photos yet.

[Squalled]

Welcome mate,

Quite a list of cars you've had.

[graphicgoose]

Cheers mate.

Yeah...wasn't initially my intention to swap cars so regularly (had my previous cars for 4 and 5 years respectively)...but I had a bunch of dramas with each of the Fords. The GT I got brand new and had nothing but bad luck and troubles with it from day one. The gearbox also had an issue, in that it would grind going from 1st to 2nd and going from 2nd to 3rd under high load...several friends and even the foreman at the dealership tested it and agreed there was something internally wrong with the gearbox. However, Ford came back and wouldn't approve the warranty work as they "weren't aware of any issue that would cause that problem"...at which point I was just over it so traded it for the VF. VF was a great car and lovely to drive, didn't really want to get rid of it but just put me in such a bad financial position that something had to change and with the series 2 VF coming out later this year I was only going to lose more money on it the longer I kept it. So sold it off for the CL9.

So far I'm really enjoying the Euro. Really nice little cars!

[Squalled]

Wow! That sucks man. I had a friend of my Dad's who had an XR5T and he had a lot of problems with that.

Hopefully the bad luck doesn't come back with the Accord Do you have any other plans for the CL9?

[graphicgoose]

Yeah, I lost all love for that car by the time I got rid of it hey! The motor was fantastic, as you'd expect from a supercharged 5L V8...but the rest of the car around it was crap. Same as my FG turbo really, had to get the diff rebuilt and the aircon never worked properly, not to mention the rattles inside and the passenger door trim would pop off when you shut the door...top notch build quality...

I'm really hoping this CL9 proves to be as bulletproof as I've heard they are! Not really any plans at this stage, other than the rotors and pads. I'm intrigued by a short shifter...but the factory shifter really isn't all that bad, so not overly fussed. To be honest, I've never owned a vtec before...so not sure what can be done to these CL9's really. Either way, the intention was to get this as a cheaper car and not dump lots of money into it...so probably won't end up spending much money on it at all if I can avoid it.

[Squalled]

Geez. That's absolute rubbish. Haven't heard to much bad about them to be honest but now, wow.

Good on fuel, has decent power and torque for its engine capacity.

Generally people would go headers (PLM seems to be popular), catback with high flow cat (Invidia is excellent but pricey), intake (custom made or something like Injen), Bigger throttle body (J35 also seem popular) different VCT cam, Hondata tune. All that does come at a price though.

I'd personally just put an exhaust to get a nice sound. VTEC engagement is quite high on the K24 engines (above or roughly at 6000 rpm).

[graphicgoose]

Yeah, Ford customer service is shocking! They're great cars to get power out of, both the turbo 6's and the blown 8's...but the rest of the car around it isn't up to scratch unfortunately.

Yeah, it was a shock jumping in the Accord and seeing 700km till empty hahaha! And you're right, for the size of the motor it's plenty fun enough to boot around town.

YEah, the vtec is really high...up around 6,000rpm...would be cool if it came in earlier, but from the reading I've done it seems like it would start getting pricey to mod these things...which defeats the purpose of me buying myself a cheaper car.

[Squalled]

Personally an intake will make it a little hesitant and laggy down low (personal experience with my H22 Prelude). An exhaust would open it up a bit and give it a nice sound. Even just a catback would work well and give a nice sound.

Some people do say remove the intake resonator to get louder induction noise (doesn't seem as laggy with a standard intake arm and box).

Install of a Mugen intake which does show the resonator removal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehzJRL2jrGM

[graphicgoose]

Cheers for that. I'll see how I go, but for now I'm happy to just enjoy the car as is.

[Squalled]

No worries man. Enjoy!

[Jasemas]

Hey man congratz on the car
Good to see you got a JAPANESE made car
You cannot beat that qaulity

A couple of heads up for you
-Rear brake pads wear prematurely - due to the hand brake being tightened too much (desgin fault)
Check handbrake tension accordingly (pun there)
-Power steering hose recall - sometimes they leak and fires may happen (there's a recall on this)
-Current TAKATA airbag fiasco (your car needs to have its airbag replaced) inform local dealer - but don't get overwhelmed
-The manual euro's tend to burn oil (not the autos) check em regularly. Look at changing the PCV valve.

Overall a great car to have!
On the brakes depo
Maybe look at some RDA/DBA rotors
Also i hear great things about QFM (QLD friction material) pads

[graphicgoose]

Thanks man. Yeah, I've read so many good things said about Hondas and their reliability...Not to mention what I've witnessed from friends and family who've owned them over the years.

Thanks for the heads up and tips, I'll be sure to discuss them with the dealership when it's in for its 60,000km service next week.