This is just a thread I'm gonna post in occasionally to keep people updated about my Euro modding journey . Justin has one, but obviously he is a pioneer and the stuff he is doing is a lot more interesting and exciting, but I'm going different paths and I would like my experiences to be helpful to others considering doing the same.



The car is an 08' model Accord Euro Luxury with satnav. The car is shared by my dad and I so the modding has to be done in a way that doesn't painfully intrude on the comfort of the car. The car was bought with some simple factory options such as the 5-spoke gunmetal wheels (approx 2.5kg lighter than stock luxury ones each corner), mudflaps, spoiler, carpets and reverse sensors. When we got the car there was an agreement that it would be left stock for 'a good while'. Obviously my dad's and my interpretation of 'a good while' differed because I got on the case quickly .

My first modification was a Comptech 22mm rear sway bar. This was by far the best choice I've made so far for the car and I consider it to everybody as the best cost:benefit modification you can do to a Euro. The car's handling balanced out and the car felt more like a tourer than a luxury car.

With just the sway bar, my lack of track experience and shitty RE040 tyres, the car managed to pull a 1.19.1 at Wakefield and a 16.0 at WSID. Both these times impressed me and gave me some insight into the potential of the CL9 as a chassis, and the K24A3 as an engine.

The follow day after Wakefield I bought a Cusco strut tower bar. My initial reaction to this modification was disappointment, as the car would understeer too easily. In the weeks debating whether to keep it or not my driving slowly adapted and I learnt to drive to accommodate for the sharper turn-in and increased suspension depression. The mod ended up staying because I ended up being quicker with it once I adjusted. I decided that was enough for the handling for now, and I decided to move onto other parts of the car.



I looked at the intake and saw a lot of restriction there. The thick, fat panel filter, the huge resonators and the unnecessary baffling in the airbox all had to go. I started by removing the resonators and making a cold air feed to the stock airbox. I then debaffled what I could of the stock airbox and sanded it out getting rid of unnecessarily sharp edges and constraints. I saw very little to no increase in power and I concluded the restriction was either in the filter or further down the intake system. Not wanting a really loud intake (Injen, AEM, Fujita etc.) I stuck with the stock intake box and put in a K&N panel filter. Suprisingly this seemed to be the final linkand the car responded well to it. Noise increased slightly but the power increase was very noticeable.

I had - what I thought, was a pretty well-rounded car. I also thought that it was easily on the upper end, if not the top of performance for Euros in Australia... Then I stumbled into the Accord Euro subsection... and I shut up and listened.

I was exposed to ideas and concepts I'd never heard of. Almost ridiculous-sounding gains made with Toda headers, big top end power gains with an RBC, amazingly quick times at Wakefield with the aid of an LSD and coilovers. I realised I knew nothing of the Euro and mine went from being the top, to the bottom very quickly. But I wasn't discouraged, I was inspired.

I took a break from modifying and started saving. I read the Euro threads religiously, looking at what could be done with what, and the results. I worked out what gave the best results and started plotting out my priorities. The Euro became my life and I even named it; 'Eva.' Working on a very small budget initially I was doing everything on the cheap, doing what I could with what I had. I knew the bigger, better parts would come eventually. My 2nd modification to the performance was to remove the large resonator from the b-pipe and replace it with straight pipe. This proved to be $80 well spent, the car instantly jumped in the mid-range (only slightly noticeably) and gave a nice, very subtle gurgle sound. My experience from this, and thus far have told me that (roughly) as a rule of thumb with the Euro, you're looking at about $100 per kW gain at the wheels. Doesn't sound so appealing now eh?

After a few more sessions at WSID, with a bit more power than my first time, and a lot more experience I managed to get the car down to 15.5 on a warm night. The street and circuit tell you what your car needs to handle better all the time, but the strip is the only place where you can really figure out exactly what your car needs for straight line. I concluded the car needed much more peak power and shorter gearing to accommodate as it's fundamental straight-line needs.
Video of the 15.5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EstKKc47B48

When things were starting to look up for Eva and I, a tragedy occurred. One cold morning, through a mixture of a weak handbrake cable, a gear that didn't properly engage, gravity and a power pole, Eva bit the dust. The car was damaged pretty badly, from what could be initially seen. We claimed it on insurance and the car went off to a repairer. The damage that I thought I had accounted for was met, and surpassed by a LOT. The whole front right suspension setup had been destroyed, the wheel speed sensor and ABS unit had been annihilated, and then there was the aesthetic damage. Without doubt it was the longest 6 weeks I'd ever had to endure and I started going insane without the car. I would see Euros on the road and get really sentimental and emotional - not healthy for something most people see as "just a car".



A fuse snapped in my head and I figured, "if I can't have her now, I'll make sure she has some gifts waiting for her when she gets home". I referred back to my modification priority list and looked at my first; headers. It's been discussed a lot how bad the stock Euro headers are, and they really are shocking. They look like a bad bit of contemporary art rather than an efficient part of an engine. I made my mind up and started shopping for headers. Since I'd come onto the Euro forum all I'd heard was about the Toda headers. I did some more heavy research and found them to be a 4-2-1 design with long primaries and a smaller collector than the stock headers. These headers were definitely an improvement, but I wondered if they really were the best option. When I heard about gains upwards of 12kW at the wheels with them, my mind was basically made up. The only problem was the price tag. I'd gone from a Comptech Icebox replica, a resonator removal, and used suspension components to headers that (at the time) cost $2,200AUD+. Apart from objecting to how much they cost, I literally couldn't afford them, not even close. I was bummed out because all I'd heard was how the Todas are superior to every other header etc. and I couldn't afford them.

I looked through Ozhonda and on the net for an alternative. I quickly stumbled across the J's Racing header, also made for the CL7 like the Toda. The price was almost $800AUD cheaper and they had no exposure or reputation. I had heard of J's Racing and I knew they were good, but I assumed there must have been a reason why nobody bought their header. I did some research on American sites and found the main reason why nobody with the K24A Euro is because the headers don't fit... easily . The K20 head they're designed for sits slightly lower than the K24 head, so when fitted the header sits higher and conflicts with the subframe. I asked and looked around and the general feedback was that it could be done, but took a lot of time and effort. Still unsure I kept researching and found that the J's Racing header had the exact same piping diameters as the Todas and almost identical primary lengths. The major difference was that the J's Racing doesn't have the flex pipes which (although only slightly) disrupts exhaust flow. My mind was made up, to me $800 > a lot of time and effort. I bought the headers and the order was sent to Japan.

I was unsure where to go next so I decided to focus on the aesthetics, which up until now had been ignored (except for the wheels). I looked at a complete genuine EuroR body kit. Directly from Honda, even with mates rates, I was looking at $2,200 unfitted. It was about $2,200 more than I was willing to spend on a bodykit at that point in time so I abandoned that idea. I did however buy just the EuroR grille for a good price. The grille really adjusts the front of the car from low-end luxury to a more sportey looking 4-door, good mod I thought.



Sticking somewhere between the budget DIY and quality performance parts, I decided to stick with the aesthetic modding. I decided to sand and polish the stock mufflers to look more similar to the Fujitsubo Legalis R. After 4 hours of sanding/polishing, several mouthfuls of water mixed with dirt and paint powder and 2 VERY sore shoulders, it was done. I think it's a nice subtle touch - also makes the car look lower from the back!



Eva was due to arrive soon and as the parts piled up I thought... I better keep the pile growing . I bought an X-Force 2.5" cat, not as good quality as the headers, but not nearly-as important in it's role. I also bought a 3" Simota power stack filter to attempt to fit into the airbox. The pile grew and took up a big corner of my room, adding to the annoyance (but I think deep down amusement) of my parents, that I was going through with all the things I'd talked about.

Eventually Eva arrived home from her trip. I quickly went to work. I managed to fit the grille without taking off the bumper or snapping/losing any clips. A hard feat if you've ever tried it . I put off getting the headers installed because of the install price and the car being out of action for a day or 2 (it's still a shared car). The headers sat in my room waiting for their time to shine. In the weeks after getting the car back I developed my obsession with the RBC intake manifold. I asked endless questions (sorry Aaron, Darren, Justin and Yonas!) to try and collect all I could about what was needed and where I could get it.

Then following Eva's previous luck, she had another accident. I was driving down Epping Road with a moron in a Nissan Pathfinder tailgating me in traffic. I said to my friend in the passenger seat "Look at this moron, as if that thing would out-brake this". A few seconds later, thanks to a prick infront of me in an Astra with very dark tints, my theory was proven right and Eva had a very damaged backside.

We took the car to the insurers but I was okay this time because it was clear that the damage was not nearly as severe as the first time. Although more severe, she was still out within a week.

However when she was in the repair shop I bought a few goodies. A CL7R EuroR gear knob, a P2R gasket for a Civic Si and, ahem... an RBC .



Literally within 20 minutes of the car being home the EuroR knob was on even though a little bit of difficulty was encountered.



A few days later (today actually) after I'd mustered up the confidence and knowledge to attempt the RBC and P2R gasket, I did. Turned out I was out of my depth entirely but luckily I had the mod bennjamin there with me to help kink out any problems, I really couldn't have done it without him. As I'd been told, the piping no longer fit the stock intake box and I attached an exposed pod to the intake pipe in the engine bay (I'm praying I don't get pulled over). I'm looking to buy an intake pipe for the CL with the RBC, but I haven't sourced one yet. My initial reaction to the pod/RBC was mediocre. I don't like the sound of a big pod at lower rpm WOT, and I thought the Euro had lost it's individuality and sounded like every other Honda with a big pod filter. A few WOT pulls in traffic meant I could only go from about 2,000rpm to 5,000rpm in 2nd gear. I was really disappointed, the car had lost a lot of low end power and I felt no different from 4,000rpm to 5,000rpm. I thought it was the biggest, most expensive mistake I'd made on the car so far. Silly me, judging a book by it's cover... if it's cover consists of WOT from 2,000rpm to 5,000rpm . The traffic cleared as I pulled onto a more main road with a few lanes. I put my foot down almost to spite the RBC and a waste of time it had been, 4,000rpm, 5,000rpm, then a feeling I'd never felt in the Euro before. There was actually power at the top. The car rocketed to 6,000rpm and VTEC engaged, the mixture of the sound change and the sudden jolt through the seat dropped my jaw. I knew the RBC was a mod to gain top end, but I had no idea how much it would do, especially with the stock headers still on. For the first time ever Eva actually felt like she wanted to go to 7,000rpm and beyond without being forced to. I completely changed my opinion of the RBC and accepted it as my friend, not foe.



Well that's all so far as the RBC was put on today. Tomorrow I am getting the header and cat fitted, which should bring in a lot more power and utilise the RBC much more . I'll try and update tomorrow night with how everything goes, because the J's Racing header is by far the most untested modification I've done yet.

C&C welcome, if you have any questions or requests I'll do my best!