Asuna | @chingwingding's #R-34159 2019 Championship White Civic Type R Build

[chingwingding]

Hello everyone! Relatively new owner of my 2019 Civic Type R that I purchased a month ago. I bought this car in replacement of my dual-duty AP1 Honda S2000 that I had the pleasure of owning for four years. Though that was a great experience, I decided to upsize into something larger, more modern, and a little faster to get by the daily commutes.

Transitioning from the S2000 into the Civic Type R was easy and hard at the same time. I like the power output that the Civic Type R gives over the S2000 and the gearbox is very smooth and easy-going like the S2000. The amount of space that this has over the S2000 is insane. A part of me is still amazed that I travelled up and down California every month in that car with such little space to work with. Traveling with the Type R is a lot easier than the S2000 and the drive is a whole lot better. The only hard transition from the S2000 to the Type R would be the size of the car. I had to learn a lot of spacial reasoning and understand how big this car actually was in comparison to the S2000 where I could easily fit into any spot.

I'm excited to build this car to my ideal form of a well-balanced dual-duty car - race on Sunday, back to work on Monday type of deal. I learned a lot from modifying my S2000 and I hope I can implement what I learned from the S2000's build philosophy and lessons and apply it better here. My issue with the S2000 was that it became too racecar; I built it up too much and too fast and it was no longer enjoyable. Thankfully, the parts on the Type R are significantly more expensive, so I have a lot more time to consider and it would take a lot longer for me to build a racecar out of this one if I were to make the same mistake.

This was my AP1 S2000! I'm very proud of what I made it to be, but I ultimately regretted taking things too far and building the car beyond what it was meant to be used for. I never really got to use the car to its full extent with the parts that I put on it, but hopefully that changes with the Type R.

I'm excited to log and share the progress of this car as I never really did it with the S2000! I'm excited to learn about this chassis and have a lot more fun with this one than I did in the S2000. Thanks all for tuning into my thread and enjoy as I try not to ruin this car too much!

 

[chingwingding]

I really suck at updating this thread. When I had started this thread, I hoped I would have been consistent with uploading more content for myself to look back on, but it seems that I totally forgot about this thread.

I've decided to try and make a slight comeback, featuring gradual progress that the Type R has made. It hasn't made much progress, but enough for me to have a few posts to write up and document for myself as well as others to review and enjoy.

One of the very first modifications I did was ordering a set of VOLK Racing CE28 Club Racer II wheels in Diamond Dark Gunmetal. Coming from CE28's, I knew that I wanted to give them a try on the Type R, and in the beginning I wasn't disappointed really! I ordered these literally a week or two after I had gotten the car, knowing that I HAD to replace the stock 20" wheels.

The spec I ended up ordering was the standard spec that was available for this specific wheel - 18x9.5 +38. I ended up having the car's fenders trimmed by @mrsexys2k on Instagram to help eliminate any possibility of rubbing before having them put on. Make sure to reach out to him if you're in California and need any of your fenders rolled; he's done so many cars and he's essentially perfected the art. I love that dude, despite us meeting and talking once.

For suspension, I decided to go with Eibach's Sportline lowering springs. I wanted the equivalent to a ~1.0" drop, but I wanted to retain the comfort aspect of the car since I came from a bone-rattling S2000. I definitely achieved that goal with the Eibach Sportline lowering springs, and I still have them on the car after one year. Zero complaints here!

The initial look of the car with everything on was very satisfying. I got the comfort aspect that I wanted thanks to Eibach's Sportline lowering springs, and I got the look that I was looking for thanks to the CE28 Club Racer II's topped with the RAYS 19mm Hex Lug & Lock Nut set (fun fact - I didn't want these lug nuts in the beginning, but I accidentally bought the wrong set and I ended up just keeping them. I still have them to this day!).

More posts to come. There's some catching up we need to do to present day. I'll be putting time aside to update this thread a little more often. Can't wait to write the next update!

 

[chingwingding]

We all know how boring this car sounds out of the factory. Okay, maybe not the 2020+ with the pumped-in sounds; I think those sound a lot more aggressive than the 2017-2019's. Nonetheless, this car sounds quieter than the vacuums I own, and we've got to change that.

My solution? HKS's Legamax Premium Cat-Back Exhaust, sourced by myself at Legacy Racing (www.lgcracing.com). I spent a while looking for exhausts for this car, but none really appealed to the criteria I required it to meet. As a daily driven car, I wanted something that offers ZERO drone, but also something that could get pretty loud when I wanted it to be. I wanted something with a clean design, but also something that aesthetically works for any cosmetic package that I put on it in terms of aerodynamics. Choosing the HKS Legamax was a good decision since it's a lower-volume exhaust when you're commuting around, but it gets to a fun sound level when you step on it.

The exhaust is great, but the events leading to exhaust - not so much. After picking up this exhaust, I was rear ended at a stand-still. Fortunately, contact was not made with the hatch or any other components other than the rear bumper and rear diffuser. It's all fixed now, but man what a shitshow that was.

I find myself wanting to get a catted downpipe and front pipe to complement this exhaust because it's a little quiet for my liking now, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet for whatever reason. I might switch up the exhaust after owning it for a year now, but I'm worried that I might run back to it like everyone else does with their HKS Legamax systems. We'll sit on it for a little longer and enjoy the sounds this one makes before we pull the trigger on a decision.

 

[RonaldChan237]

Nice build there bro! Are you running with 265/35R18 square setup?

 

[chingwingding]

Nice build there bro! Are you running with 265/35R18 square setup?

Thank you! I'm running a 265/35R18 square setup. I'm currently on Yokohama's ADVAN APEX V601 tires.

 

[chingwingding]

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I didn't update this thread because who knows why, but I did make a couple changes that I'm super happy with - the first being the change over to VOLK Racing TE37SL's in Titanium Gunmetal.

As you can see based on the driver's side grille region - that's an oil cooler plate in there. I went with HKS's Oil Cooler unit and I'm super happy with how it performs. The unit was a little hard to install since there was a lot of trimming required, so I ended up having it done at a shop local to me.

I also evened out the front camber and matched it with the rear camber using EVS Tuning's camber joints. I'm pretty particular about having matching camber everywhere because I like the uniformity behind it, so I knew this was a must. This also solved some of the rake issue that the Eibach Sportline lowering springs had and balanced out the front and rear height. Everything is looking just proper for this car now.

I do have plans for next year and to make this car a little more fun. Can't wait to get around to it!

 

[RonaldChan237]

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I didn't update this thread because who knows why, but I did make a couple changes that I'm super happy with - the first being the change over to VOLK Racing TE37SL's in Titanium Gunmetal.

As you can see based on the driver's side grille region - that's an oil cooler plate in there. I went with HKS's Oil Cooler unit and I'm super happy with how it performs. The unit was a little hard to install since there was a lot of trimming required, so I ended up having it done at a shop local to me.

I also evened out the front camber and matched it with the rear camber using EVS Tuning's camber joints. I'm pretty particular about having matching camber everywhere because I like the uniformity behind it, so I knew this was a must. This also solved some of the rake issue that the Eibach Sportline lowering springs had and balanced out the front and rear height. Everything is looking just proper for this car now.

I do have plans for next year and to make this car a little more fun. Can't wait to get around to it!

Nice TEs you got there! Are those 19s? I'm currently running on 18x9.5JJ ET45 all round

 

[chingwingding]

Nice TEs you got there! Are those 19s? I'm currently running on 18x9.5JJ ET45 all round

Thanks for the kind words! I knew I had to pick up a Titanium Gunmetal set when I first laid my eyes on them. They're GORGEOUS.

The ones that I have on my car are 18x9.5 +38! Not too far off from the spec you have.

 

[ApexEight]

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I didn't update this thread because who knows why, but I did make a couple changes that I'm super happy with - the first being the change over to VOLK Racing TE37SL's in Titanium Gunmetal.

As you can see based on the driver's side grille region - that's an oil cooler plate in there. I went with HKS's Oil Cooler unit and I'm super happy with how it performs. The unit was a little hard to install since there was a lot of trimming required, so I ended up having it done at a shop local to me.

I also evened out the front camber and matched it with the rear camber using EVS Tuning's camber joints. I'm pretty particular about having matching camber everywhere because I like the uniformity behind it, so I knew this was a must. This also solved some of the rake issue that the Eibach Sportline lowering springs had and balanced out the front and rear height. Everything is looking just proper for this car now.

I do have plans for next year and to make this car a little more fun. Can't wait to get around to it!

This shot is so good. The car looks perfect. Quite possibly my favorite FK8 color and wheel/color combo ever. So clean and simple.

 

[chingwingding]

This shot is so good. The car looks perfect. Quite possibly my favorite FK8 color and wheel/color combo ever. So clean and simple.

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words! This shot is one of the shots I use most frequently for reference. LOL

 

[chingwingding]

There have been some changes to say the least.

Over the span of a few months, I've added a couple more parts to the FK8 to complete my vision of what I wanted it to look like - that being the MUGEN front lip spoiler and the APR Performance GT-250 GT wing. I'll go over each one a little bit.

The MUGEN front lip spoiler has been on my list for a while now, but I only pulled the trigger late last year (December, if I remember correctly). I waited for the lip to come in stock for about two months before I was notified that it was available to ship, and I received it in a pretty quick manner. Big thank you to King Motorsports for supplying the front lip. The installation process was seamless and only took maybe about 20-30 minutes with me quadruple checking that I was drilling into the right spots.

Not too long after came the APR Performance GT-250 GT Wing. This completes the look in the rear for me as I thought the HKS Legamax exhaust looked a little naked and isolated without a wing in the back (the OEM wing doesn't count). To be honest, I sort of do miss the OEM wing so I'm honestly not even sure how long this is going to stay around. I wanted to tidy up the rear end to make it not look so "naked," and this wing was one of my go-to options since I really like how this wing looks on this car. Normally I would go VOLTEX, but this wing had my attention and I decided to pull the trigger on it. The installation process for this was super smooth - it only took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get it done.

As of this year I have been tracking this car a little more often - two times over the five months this year. Both times were at Buttonwillow Raceway with neither of these modifications installed. The third track day will be coming at the end of this month (Monday, 05/30) at Weathertech Raceway, which I am excited for. Like always, I'm procrastinating on preparation, so here I am writing a little update on my thread to document the progress of it.

That's about it as far as updates. In terms of pictures - I have a couple to share!

 

[chingwingding]

I got to drive at Laguna Seca last week and I got some photos from the event photographer! What an incredible experience to be able to drive the racetrack I've grown up driving in video games. I easily have hundreds of laps logged on Forza for this specific track, and in all honestly it made me very comfortable with driving the track in person. LOL

Overall the car handled very nicely, but after this track day I am considering a couple adjustments.

a.) These 300TW's gotta get the hell off the track. I've milked the hell out of them and I'm finding myself buying those 300TW's over and over again as daily tires that end up seeing track time. LOL I think it's time to shop around for entry-level 200TW tires and wheels for track duty specifically.

b.) It may have been in my head, but it did feel like as I was deeper into my driving sessions the brakes took a little longer to work. I am using MOTUL's RBF600 which I thought would be just fine, but I sort of want to try a brake fluid with a higher boiling point to see if it's really all in my head.

Other than that, it was a FANTASTIC track day! Now it's time to let the summer heat pass and wait for the cooler weather to come by again so I can go back out again.

 

[Savvy_withoutwax]

Can't wait for the next updates!

 

[chingwingding]

Can't wait for the next updates!

Thank you! It'll probably be a while until the next update since the scorching hot season is here, but I'm excited to keep tinkering with this car as well!

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