The Shadow Type R Build

[TheShadow]

I appreciate the insight. I generally have the car in the air before loosening anything - would you recommend loosening the connections with the wheels on the ground instead? I'm not sure that I can fit under there without the car jacked up, and I'd imagine that putting the rear wheels on ramps would put abnormal loading on the bar.

Maybe my understanding of preloading is wrong? I was operating under the assumption that I should leave the sway bar loose until the car is completely on the ground, and then tighten as best I can. Since I wasn't able to get under the car very well when it was on the ground though, I tightened the bar most of the way with the car jacked up and just torqued it on the ground. Do you think that could do it? If so, any recommendations to get under there with the car down?

Yeah ramps are one option, I stacked a couple of 2x6 pieces under the tires to get a comfortable height. As far as the angle, it doesn’t matter here - weight is weight on that sway bar. I’d leave the linkages loose (you can do that part in the air) lower the car to get the weight on the rear tires and then torque everything. That process worked well for me - but this shit is like campfire stories, 3 different guys will swear their method beats the piss out of the other ways.

Otherwise, severe crippling weight loss is your only option to get under the car without ramps or blocks. Hope you aren’t lowered!

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[davemarco]

Yeah ramps are one option, I stacked a couple of 2x6 pieces under the tires to get a comfortable height. As far as the angle, it doesn’t matter here - weight is weight on that sway bar. I’d leave the linkages loose (you can do that part in the air) lower the car to get the weight on the rear tires and then torque everything. That process worked well for me - but this shit is like campfire stories, 3 different guys will swear their method beats the piss out of the other ways.

Otherwise, severe crippling weight loss is your only option to get under the car without ramps or blocks. Hope you aren’t lowered!

Lol well I already cut down to near bantamweight territory in past two months, so I'm not getting any thinner unfortunately. Based on this though, it sound like I can just jack the rear up and slide ramps under to give me the clearance that I need. It's still weird though - everything feels super tight right now, so I'm not sure what could be rattling. I know that the bar is supposed to have some side to side play in it, but I seem to be the only RV6 owner who's rear sway makes noise. It's weird.

 

[TheShadow]

AIR RAID!!! Wait… was that premature? I guess WWIII hasn't officially kicked off yet. We must still be somewhere in the post credits of 2 World 2 War and we haven't started World War: Tokyo drift yet. But man… it's been a hell of a winter. There been just… so much snot from little noses in my house… and I heard the term "Elmer's Glue Ear" about my youngest (which left a glorious arts and crafts based image in my head about the inside of her head.) Covid be damned though! Things (at least in my neck of the woods) have really seemed to have gone back to almost pre-pandemic attitudes. Masks are basically only found in TV medical dramas again, and they are only loosely recommended in most buildings (which of course means no one wears them.) I don't even have to wear one in my office, where I am officially back to about 50% of the time (queue internal crying related to actually having to deal with people again.) And social distancing? Is that something you do to your [insert least favorite family member]? Lately my wife and I went to a beer drinking festival (yes friends, we know our priorities) and a Tool concert and wow - I forgot how tightly people can get packed into confined spaces. It was like we were clowns piling into the world's smallest VW bug.

But man time flies - just look at some of what happened. We:

Enjoyed a slide.

Put up Xmas lights.

Channeled our inner Jason.

Practiced building furniture.

Got lost in a bucket.

Built a snowman.

Listened to some meetings.

Realized we can climb on the motorcycle.

And threw some shade at the neighbor kids.

I know, I know - none of that is about the real reason we are here - Project RacecaR with an emphasis on the R. There has been glorious progress though! There have been parts slowly piling up in my basement since last fall, starting with this beauty - which I was surprised that not only did Fedex deliver it, but they left it at my door.

I actually didn't make a lot of progress this winter season until pretty recently. I decided I was tired of cold fingers and using the halogen lamps just to knock the chill out of the air. I think this is the first step to officially becoming a cranky and lazy old man. I'm ready to start bitching at kids for walking on my lawn. Or bitching that the grass isn't growing right in the first place. Anyway. Since the start of the off season I mainly just took my intake out and shipped it away for…. reasons… so the car sat idle without idling or the ability to even idle for about 5 months. Maybe I can tell you about those secrets soon. Don't ask me about my criminal mischief though - those secrets are mine to take to the grave. We're getting off topic fast - never mind.

Who's ready for some cutlery? EVERYBODY SPOON TIME. I'm such a nerd - been a Spoon fanboy since like middle school… Yeah it's overpriced (not as bad as Mugen though!), yeah I waited too long… but how can you deny such pure joy that gets brought on by quality parts like this???!

Wait - wrong part. Too tired, can't think - maybe I need something to give me some energy. Maybe a RedBull - I hear it gives you wiiiiiiiiings.

This wing was actually kind of fun to install, outside of the constant fear that I might drop or accidentally ding up the carbon parts. I did watch a few YouTube videos on how to remove the rear hatch paneling but by and large it wasn't much different than taking a door panel off. It's your basic grab and pull mentality for most of it. Only two areas to really watch for are getting the covers off of the handles (to access the only bolts you remove in the paneling) and the rubber bumpers next to those handles. Just go slow with the covers and you should be fine. As for the bumpers - if you have any hopes to re-use them you will need to remove them last, and go at it from the back side (as in behind the paneling.) Reach your fingers in and release the tabs from the inside - don't pull those suckers down from the outside. This is one instance where brute force breaks tabs. Huh - another T-shirt slogan. Speaking of tabs and clips - if you haven't figured it out already, get yourself like a goddamn bucket full of all the clips on these cars. I swear they break when you so much as look at them wrong. I'll dig up the part numbers later.

Ok the panels are out, and from here it's literally 4 bolts and your wing is off. It does have some screw / tab thing that helps hold it in place even when those bolts are removed. Honestly pretty easy. And in reality, there's nothing real technical with this install. You will be drilling an extra hole on each side of the hatch, so you know - don't mess up, just measure twice cut once, plus ultra. I tried making a template out of thin wood but there was enough of a curve in the hatch where that didn't work. I had to rely on one of the most detailed, complicated and expensive tools I own for this job - the graduated metal ruler. And painters tape (which also took years to master.) After drilling I used some clear coat from my touch up paint to seal the bare metal edge in that new hole but that's honestly it. Slap those parts together and man - you've got yourself a GT wing! Really went together smoother than expected… are… are my mechanic skills improving? Or did I step on a leprechaun again… Here's the new hole you have to drill (and yes friends, make sure you have a weight to hold down the hatch if you aren't latching it once the wing is off.

I did gloss over a few things though, one of which I'm not entirely happy with and one I'm just stupidly embarrassed about. First - I REALLY wish Spoon would have included a gasket to go between the wing base and the hatch. The OEM wing had one. Makes me think it is worthwhile so I tried to make one. I used RV foam tape first and thought it would work like gangbusters, but it just wouldn’t compress enough to not look goofy when tightening the wing base to the hatch. And yeah, I did not want to push the limits of how tightly I could crank those bolts down for fear of breaking something. I ended up pulling the foam tape off and using some Tesa tape I had instead. And it worked great - at least from the standpoint of protecting the paint between these parts and providing some damping benefits (rattles suck.) The big unknown is I don't know how waterproof that tape is, which was the main reason I wanted to do this - to keep water out of my hatch. Because this car sees so much rain (see below where I put the rear wiper in a box because it got lippy with me.) Time will tell how well that tape works - fingers are crossed.

Ahh yes - the embarrassing story (the really sad part? - it won't be the last dumb thing I do in this post.) First off - how many of you know the fun fact of when you pull the battery out you can't open the hatch? There is enough electronic wizardry there that you need battery power to open it. Remember I shipped out the intake for…. Reasons…? I also had the battery disconnected since the car was "in work" that whole time. So let me paint you a picture - after getting the hatch open to do this job, and putting a towel down to block the latch, I do this job, and am at like the last step in the install. Now when I removed the bolts originally I could see signs of Loctite. So yeah, let's put new Loctite on the bolts right? So I went to pull out each of the 6 bolts on the wing base and added a little sealant and put them back in for final torques. Man… this is stupid… the new bolts you add are conveniently located through an opening in the hatch sheet metal, but there is also a harness in the way on the driver's side that makes it just a little dumb. Easy to work around, until goddammit - I dropped that bastard of a bolt in the hatch. Like IN the hatch. Between the metal panels, and heard it roll all the way up by the hinges. Shitfuck. I tried using a magnet and it wouldn’t work. Tried shutting the hatch a little and I could hear it shift. So I crawl in the car, and gradually start shutting the hatch, and wait… what was that click? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TOWEL. Super. I'm locked in the hatch. I mean I got out (obviously) but it was dumb. Don’t drop that bolt. Or lock yourself in the hatch.

So I really only have these pics of the wing so far... the car is filthy (which leaves all too much opportunity for bored fingers to draw in grrrr...) and I know this is a shame because this part is gorgeous. I promise future posts will have some more worthwhile images - I just wanted to get this post up before all the details spilled out of my smooth brain. Car doesn't even look right without the Titan summer rims.

Also - I deleted the rear wiper. 3 lbs weight savings yo! I figured I don't use it, and I had the hatch torn up for the wing anyway - why not. Used an ECS tuning delete plug, part number 005265ECS01. Not "specifically" made for Hondas but it worked fine. No frills, nothing fancy. That puppy stops leaks just like those flex seal commercials *slaps the hatch*. Also no dedicated pictures here because... it's a plug... use your imagination.

One more thing about re-assembling the hatch - before using your big juicy muscles to force the panels back in, make sure the green clips are actually fully seated in the correct spots. I noticed some of them shifted slightly and wouldn't line up when going to re-assemble (leading to breakage.) Seriously, these things are an investment:

Bumper / common clips (black) - 91505-TM8-003
Interior panel clips (green) - 91560-SZW-003

Ok! What else… Oh! Hybrid Racing heavy duty detent springs are in! This was another instance of "I've had this part for months, but it wasn't worth tearing apart the engine bay just for this." But since I had the neighborhood in the engine bay emptied for …. Reasons… I decided to throw them in. Outside of getting access to the top of the tranny this might literally have been the easiest thing I've done to the car. And it stiffens up the shifter movement - no false advertisement or broken promises here. The shifter feels great and I would recommend them (disclaimer though, it did feel pretty awesome before these springs too.) My main hope here is this helps "center" the knob between shifts and cuts down on times I'd hit the gate between 1st/3rd and 3rd/5th gears.

And what else do you do when the engine bay is this exposed? Forget how to put it all back together? Maybe. But first, what about a set of solid engine mounts all around! Hasport to the rescue. I loved my rear motor mount from the first day I had it in. I had the 62a durometer in the back for about 10K miles and will honestly recommend this to everyone. But we're here to knock things up a notch - BAM! 72a this time around baby! That is exactly 10 more "a" for those of you who struggle with math. So it has to be better. How much better is 10a you ask? Well - I'm going to guess my feedback will be influenced by how angry my family gets from the extra vibration (on a side note - you wouldn’t believe how much I get scolded by my oldest when the roads are too rough and we bump around. Yes child, I influence the American infrastructure system and am directly responsible for the poor quality of our roads… c'mon kid - cut me some slack.)

I do have a handful of miles on the mounts so far and first impressions are pretty damn positive. I know they will likely settle out a little after some break in time, but overall I was impressed with only a modest NVH increase. I expected it to feel like Mecha-Godzilla was ripping up Tokyo in my engine bay. Instead it's more like Wall-E got into a slap fight with Johnny 5. Similar to when I just did the rear mount, the main vibration is going to come in when idling and when the RPMs are below 2k. After that - yeah it doesn't seem much different to me (again I kinda like feeling that kitty purr through my seat though.) I do see my hood and dash vibrate when just not moving, and there is some RPM around 1400 that will shake the hell outta my rearview mirror, but those are pretty small windows of time when this happens so I am personally very ok with the tradeoff. Plus - I think the solid mounts look sexy (even though you will only ever see the engine side mount once everything is put back together.) Don't forget to use a high quality prop to hold up your strut bar.

All in all though, they went in easier than expected. I mean with an instruction manual that is 3 steps long, how tough can it be? Seriously, each step is essentially "swap mount" then "swap next mount." Such clarity! It's all good though, there really isn't much of a trick here other than support the silly engine when you undo the mounts. I mean… duh? I'm sure someone somewhere didn't follow that advice and is having a bad day. Regardless, the most painful part is just all of the effort un-doing the stuff to get to the tranny mount (intake, battery and tray, ECU, misc. harness brackets, all that stuff comes out. It's a little tedious, but I've done it so many times at this point - what's one more time?) The mounts slipped in like warm butter though - I barely had to fiddle with the jack to get things to line up. Good on you Hasport!

Ok I guess that's it - let's call it a day! Do what now? You say I owe you another embarrassing story? Damn you for actually reading and retaining information you crafty observer. Ok. So another fun fact? Who knew, without cheating, that the two rear engine mount bolts are the same thread size? And who knew, without personally dicking it up themselves, that you can install them in the wrong spots? Yeah… I figured that out the hard way. The bolt that goes in the REAR is like 15 mm longer - and that 15 mm reeeaaallly made it hard to fit around my RV6 larger diameter front pipe when installing it in the FRONT with the new mount. And REEEAAALLLY made it hard to get it back out after I finally figured out my mistake when I learned the rear bolt was now too short… without going into too much detail (which is mainly composed of swear words) I ended up having to disconnect that front pipe from the rest of the exhaust and push it out of the way (angrily.) The only saving grace was the 72a rear mount actually went into the chassis sooo much easier than the old 62a one (I remember basically bludgeoning the old one in with a hammer….)

This makes me think of a fun game I haven't played in a while though - who wants another round of "What Parts Play Nice Together??!" Today we will document the relationship between the following parts:

• Hasport Rear Engine Mount and Aftermarket Front Pipe (Obviously mine is RV6 but guessing any larger pipe will be similar): They fit together fine… just don't be dumb like me. If you have the choice, install the rear motor mount first before upgrading the front pipe. Otherwise I'd recommend to just undo the front pipe and get it out of the way… it wasn't worth trying to finagle it with a pry bar to get the occasional mm of extra clearance… Overall rating: Solid A.
• Hasport Passenger Side Engine Mount and Radium Coolant Tank: Not gonna lie - I think this one worked in my favor - I believe the shape of the OEM overflow tank actually over-shadows the lower rear-most bolt on that engine mount and requires it to be taken off and moved out of the way. Not with the Radium! I was able to get at the bolt with a simple extension. Overall Rating: Solid A.
• Hasport Passenger Side Engine Mount and Radium CCV Catch Can: Not gonna lie - this one is dumb. For a couple of reasons… first - I'm not convinced the CCV can is really doing much. I checked it again this time around and it barely has anything in it. Like a light film on the inside of the can at most. Now I haven't driven to Mexico or anything in this car, but it is not catching anything like the PCV side. So much less that I'm considering removing this can and simplifying the engine bay… Second dumb thing - I can't explain why the Hasport billet mount has a "ledge" cut in the top surface for the front most bolt - only thing I can think of is to ensure orientation with the instructions… but that ledge is exactly where the Radium can should mount - which is now no longer a flush and even surface between those two holes. I ended up stacking some washers that I shaved down to fill the gap, but I don't love that solution. Overall Rating: D+. I made it work, but don’t like it. I also don't have a good picture detailing this - if anyone really can't visualize what I described I could be convinced to go take a new pic.
• Spoon GT Wing and ECS Tuning Rear Wiper Delete Plug: Just kidding - obviously this one works. 10/10 would highly recommend.


I think that I'm actually finished this time. And no, I'm not hiding anything up my sleeves… In fact, my sleeves have some of the least magic up them in quite some time. As in I'm really not sure where to go with this car next. Maybe there will be something related to … reasons… but otherwise what's left to do? Spoon bumpers are still on my wish list but despite what the TV tells me my kids need to eat at least twice this week… Maybe big brake kits? Maybe coilovers? Maybe there will just be effort spent trying to get on a track later this year. Maybe I will finally organize my workshop so I don’t have random OEM type R parts piling in the corners. Maybe I will just work on one of my other 3 Civics (get off my back, there is plenty of room between my driveway, the street, and the neighbor's driveway.) Or maybe the winds of change are already upon us and something else will come up entirely. Is this forum even still active? Or is everyone too wrapped up in that crazy 3 cylinder Corolla? Quick - someone post a reply. I feel like I've been talking to a wall. And not one of my normal 4 walls that talk back. What?

I will finish by apologizing for only having like 3 photos of the actual car in this post, and about 19 of my family. I guess that's what winter is about, spending time with your family. Remember to find yourself a partner that thinks her jokes are funny:

If you want another game to pass the time with - see if you can find all 4 Civics of mine in this post. Later all!

 

[TheShadow]

It's calm here… too calm. Is everyone transitioning to the 11th gen? I'm not. My budget says no. My common sense says no. My wife says no. My heart says no too - I love my car. But, sometimes you get to a point and realize it's time… Time for what you ask? Lunch time? Maybe. Margherita time? I mean it is 5 o'clock somewhere… Time to get a watch? Ha - dad jokes, but still no. Time to die? NOT TODAY SATAN. I'm here to tell you it is time, friends and family, time for the fastening:

(Insert Glitter and Sparkle sounds)

Before we get too spooled up though (ha) I first ask you to please remove your hats and take a moment of silence for a fallen hero. All joking aside, it was actually time for one to die… An icon that lasted longer than any of us expected. An island that helped shape our lives and carried our families through good times and bad. No, I'm not referring to Miss Elizabeth Windsor. *Stifles a tear - I'm referring to this gem:

For the third time since owning it the "Crappy Hatch" gave us the middle finger and laid down. First it was an intake valve that gave way. Then a front ball joint decided to go. Now, the rear control arm to the knuckle rusted out and dropped that corner of the car to the dirt faster than a lowrider (right where the arrow is pointing above.) Fun side note - my wife was driving the car to her work (for the first time) when this happened. So of course it figures that this misfortune happened to her, and now she will forever have to endure the knowledge that she single handedly killed this piece of history.

I was hopeful that repairs could be made. I tied things back together with some rope and drove her home that day (See photo above - this kind of fix is good for like 30K miles right?) and ordered some parts. However, things went south fast once getting under the car. Let's just say the mid-west climate is really good at bringing out the rust in a car. The body was basically crumbling as I tried to get it apart (not to mention the rain of rust chunks coming down every time I hit a bolt with the impact gun.) Long story short - she's dead. Motor still turned (for now) but she's dead. Off to pasture. Down to only 3 Civics. You lasted an impressive 267,XXX miles. You will be missed… It is also worth noting, I have a surprising number of fond photos featuring this worthless car. I know at least a few are in previous posts… In the spirit of keeping this post short (yeah right) I only put in the above 3. If I get even one comment saying they want more though, I will flood a filler post with Crappy Hatch pictures.

But now - on to the fast chronicles. I assume your excitement mirrors how desperately my girls want in the next Civic in the line-up. LET ME IN!!

Here we have it folks. A big turbo. TD05 bearings and 660 possible buff ass horses to be tamed. I suppose the cats out of the bag with this one now that RV6 has released some info and teaser details, but this all relates to the "reasons" mentioned in my last post. THEY WERE GOOD REASONS LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS THIS THING IS. I really hate how some of the prettiest parts on my car get so buried underneath shielding and hoses and whatever other bullshit is in the way of my drooling. It's all bullshit. But, a big thank you to Rich at RV6 for helping put this beauty into my hands - and I have to say, my hands love it. For once I wished in one hand, metaphorically (bull)shat in the other, and the hand I preferred filled up first! Any questions?? Let's go!

Install was honestly more or less like any other engine part. Intake out. Lower shielding out. Bust some knuckles and drop the socket wrench like 9 times pulling the top pipe off the turbo. On the bright side, my downpipe studs came off with no issues again! On the dark side, I had broken brackets on the downpipe holding the heat shield… but Rich is one fine fellow, and fixed it all up for me no questions asked! I also do not feel like this was part quality related - I think I'm just hard on things… do you know how many phones I've dropped and shattered? This is probably the prettiest picture of the turbo in the bay I have from halfway through the install.

All in all I would say this was pretty easy for an install, just long. I'd also recommend to drain your fluids first… The proper way. Don't make a mess all over your engine before choosing to do this either (like someone I know.) And these hose pinch pliers? Throw those silly things away. I wasted money on those dumb things thinking they would save me time or effort. They don't clamp for beans. I was promised a mess free environment. Instead I got an antifreeze soaked engine bay. False advertising. I'm talking about these green plastic clamps - maybe yours are red I dunno. Maybe I got cheap ones. I hate them. I threw mine across the garage in a fit of rage after they lied to me about how well they supposedly worked.

Aside from a messy engine bay and the delay related to my downpipe repair things went super smooth. Re-assembly also went pretty damn good, and no smashed fingers! Everything went in place nicely and just fits. So that means it ships. And by ships, I mean it hauls ass. We will get to that though. I really like the work RV6 did with this turbo. The new formed coolant lines are super clean and fitment was perfect, along with the new lower support bracket. And I learned about safety wire! As an added measure of safety the turbo to downpipe nuts now feature lock wire to help retain them. I'm clearly not a professional or an artist with this, but I like this feature. I think my work didn’t turn out half bad.

Honesty though, I don't even really have good advice on installing this. It was literally that straightforward. Just the normal stuff, don't cut any hoses, don't drop any bolts or shear them off, don't be a dick to strangers, the normal life lessons. I suppose the only thing I will mention is be careful when pulling the turbski out - it’s a little awkward, and don’t mistake the wastegate arm as a convenient carry handle. Otherwise oil in the oil parts, antifreeze in the antifreeze holes… That's it - go wild kids, even your mother could do this install. I guess once piece of advice would be to make sure you have a very organized system to safely store your parts during the install. Like a ladder.

So all of these new goodies are in the car, along with the PRL race MAF housing that has just been collecting dust in my basement till now. What now? Well we do the start-up leak check! This is the fun step where I bite my nails and get nervous at all of the strange sights and sounds coming from my car as it acclimates to the new parts, purges air bubbles and burns off any residual oils still hanging around. We pretend like we are in the fast and furious movies! All was good though! So what now? PRETEND LIKE WE ARE IN THE MOVIES AND CRANK OPEN THAT IMAGINARY BOTTLE OF NOS!

An additional special thanks to Pepo Besosa for remote / street tuning me. He's a super chill guy and was very accommodating and easy to work with. Fun fact - I had a state trooper pull up behind me as I'm getting all the above wires set up. Didn't even see him pull up or walk to my car (I was in the zone man.) So of course he scares the bajesus out of me as he sticks his head into my open passenger window. "No Officer, everything is fine, no problems. Yes Officer, I will turn on my hazards when I'm on the shoulder (his "reason" for coming to talk with me.) No Officer, I have no intention of flooring my car up and down this road a few times, cresting over 100mph, to tune it." *Shifty eyes.* He left, didn't see him again, no further run in with Johnny Law today (WOOT!)

Man this thing scoots though. The spool is phenomenally fast - when you get on the accelerator BOOM you are up above 20 psi like that (imagine me snapping fingers vigorously right here.) At first I thought the lag might be a hair longer than stock, but honestly at this point I think the difference is in the tune. I know Pepo did a great job of making sure the boost comes on in a safe manner, so I feel the "timing" of boost is just different than what I've been used to for the last 5 years of this car. So for now let's chalk the lag comment up to taming a new beast.

Oh - I also got these swanky new bushings! Another win for Rich at RV6! My last set got a little noisy… You know whenever they would make a reference to sex in PG rated movies? That squeaky mattress sound? That was literally the sound my car was making. I could bounce up and down on my door frame and the neighbors would yell "KEEP IT DOWN YOU TWO!" So other than these bushings just being painfully annoying to replace, the new ones worked great. And I found a slick way to get them in - C-clamps for the win. Hammers be damned.

So now we have new parts. What to do? Boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go racing! Off to Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas for a real break in. I drove the car there this time rather than trailering - we coupled racing with an in-law visit so there was more stuff than would fit in any one car… It was very hard to not speed on the highway… Although, I did realize I was using this feature of the car wrong all these years.

Feet holders. Who knew.

It sure was a hot one at the track though… I actually booked this trip back in like what… May? June? Thinking yeah, September will be niiiiiiice and cool. No running the heater full blast to help with cooling this time. Pffffffftttt how wrong I was. This is how the week went: Monday through Wednesday, like 97 degrees. Thursday through Sunday, like low 60s. Track day was Tuesday. At least it wasn't raining I guess. However, I didn't get the memo that shorts were allowed - I was like the only dude in jeans. Lame.

This track day was… interesting. It was actually the most accident filled event I've ever been to - and mind you, every skill level only got 3 sessions on track (which seemed super low compared to others I've been to.) First session just sucked - got stuck behind some arsehole who wasn't even trying and wouldn't let me pass (he actually got flagged off and kicked out of the event entirely) but then that same session was cut short due to spilled oil. Second session I went off track… again… (Gingerman flashbacks.) Car is fine, it happened in a nice area. If I can claim that things weren't my fault I blame the guy ahead of me for not giving me a pass signal until halfway through the straightaway - I ended up coming into the next turn too hot and whoops - hello Mr. Understeer. Third session was fine, but of course I'm nervous at that point so feel like I didn't do my best. Did I mention the sweat? My hands felt like they were gonna get blisters from being hot, wet and working hard. That's what she said. There were also at least 2 guys who ran out of gas on the track, one dude totaled his car entirely, one other instance of oil on the track and I think at least one other person to get towed in? Mercury was in retrograde. We can blame that. Here is a video showing a few decent laps I had and my whoops. Disclaimer - I'm not a professional, and it was my first time here. I know I suck eggs.



Overall the day was a success though (minus the whoops.) I learned a new track and did have a bunch of fun. Also saw another Type R! I have to get better with names though - I should have friended him on Facebook or something… He was wearing a cool One Piece straw hat though. Loved it. If you are here Straw Hat Man - shoot me a what's up. Heartland was definitely a track I would need more time at to master though. Not a ton of elevation change, but some of the corners were definitely tougher to navigate than I was initially expecting. And with only 3 sessions, I was very much left wanting more.

On to the post-race component quality check. I'm still doing good on my first set of Raybestos ST43 race pads up front - really happy with those. Surprisingly, my PS4 tires still have a little life in them… I feel like they might not be as grippy as they once were, but some good tread for spring driving next year. I actually made my highway trek on my snow tires cause why not - thinner tires means better gas mileage right? So at this rate they are just staying on the car for the rest of the year. Otherwise I've been fairly quiet about the revised RV6 compliance bearings… well, because again they just work. They've always felt good - performance wise I have never once had a complaint with any version of these. They have just been periodically noisy - which this new version has so far passed all checks for no noise (and that includes ~15 hours of highway time to and from the track, the event itself, and whatever other daily driving I've done.) Just remember to visit James' lube corner periodically and keep these puppies slicked up.

Otherwise the turbo did great - rock solid and suuuuuper happy with the performance. I will say though… my only complaint, and this is very much my own fault…. but I need better fuel. Hi - My name is Ben, and I'm still running on 91 octane pump gas. Like a loser. I very much will be investing in a flex fuel kit soon. The turbo is amazazing, but I almost felt like it was… bored? I could tell it had the desire to run harder - it was like it wasn’t even trying to put out the power I was asking from it. I'm going to do it everyone. IT'S (soon to be) CORN TIME. Seriously guys - this turbo gets like 18 thumbs up. Or at least the maximum number of thumbs up I can give. 2? I think? Big toes aren't thumbs right? So yeah, 2. But they are way up. That's what she said again.

The biggest feedback here, along with more time to learn the curves on Heartland, is also wanting more time to really understand the new tune and timing of boost. I do feel there is room for improvement on when I get on it after exiting a corner as compared to before. I just need more time. I didn't even play with tire pressures, or the settings on my Spoon wing (which did great as far as I could tell.) I have all these levers to pull but not enough time to try them out. I very much need a full day on a track that isn't new to me. So take that to the bank boys and girls - variety may be the spice of life, but don’t forget to also hone your skills at a familiar location.

How about we use this space for the highly anticipated montage section!! To represent the passing of a few days after the track day, let's look back and remember when we:

Mowed The Lawn.

Claimed Tools As Our Own.

Helped Fix A Motorcycle.

Met Our New Cousin.

Wouldn’t Agree To Take A Good Photo with the turbo.

Learned To Bleed Brakes (And Enjoyed Watching Bubbles In The Fluid.)

Tried To Hide From The World (Poorly.)

Got Lost In A Sunflower Field.

Got Lost In A Box.

Pestered Our Uncle Mike While Watching Kill Bill.

Had A Shopping Basket Race.

Phew… that was a journey. So many photos to comb through. Anyway back to the show!

To round out the trip I was also asked to participate in a local car show that my father in law helped promote. And guess what? I somehow won the "Best Modern" category! I'm not entirely sure how… considering there were some other cars there that could have easily won - I mean there was a legit Lamborghini and a real life McLaren. Now for those of you not in the mid-west, we generally don't see cars like that here in the snow and rust belt - so they seem extra elusive and special. I have no proof at all the voting was fixed, so while I'm not sure I deserve it, it was kind of fun to win. This was my wife and I with our oldest (who decided to fall down stairs minutes before this picture.) The little one was back home napping. Don't mind the fingerprints on the trophy - we were admiring it. We never win things. Don’t ask us about our Good Morning Rodeo "Really Tough Trivia Question" streak.

The only other thing to mention is my hood cable apparently decided to stretch during this show. Went to open it to show things off and nope. Not this time. It opened probably 30 or so times during the past week with the track event and everything, but nope - not this time. So that's on the to do list to fix. It's also some extra fodder for me to drool over those Spoon bumpers… I kind of dinged mine up trying to fish a screwdriver through to manually unlatch the hood at one point… One more war wound I suppose.

So that's my rant and ramble this time around. I have no more words, or at least no more words that add to this story in a useful way. I do however, have one more cool sticker on the back of my car thanks to my wonderful wife and her craftiness. And cool new racing gloves to try. I know they aren't "legit" or "fireproof" but they are red. And will help with chafing. Me-wow.

Until next time. Happy Halloween y'all! I'm currently preparing to be Jim Hopper for Halloween. Season 3 fat Hopper - not buff season 4 Hopper for those of you in the know. I’ll post pictures after I get the green light to shave my face rug into the best stand alone cookie duster / soup strainer I can. Side note - who here also has a problem storing spare parts… BOXES EVERYWHERE.

 

[Mufasa]

It's calm here… too calm. Is everyone transitioning to the 11th gen? I'm not. My budget says no. My common sense says no. My wife says no. My heart says no too - I love my car. But, sometimes you get to a point and realize it's time… Time for what you ask? Lunch time? Maybe. Margherita time? I mean it is 5 o'clock somewhere… Time to get a watch? Ha - dad jokes, but still no. Time to die? NOT TODAY SATAN. I'm here to tell you it is time, friends and family, time for the fastening:

(Insert Glitter and Sparkle sounds)

Before we get too spooled up though (ha) I first ask you to please remove your hats and take a moment of silence for a fallen hero. All joking aside, it was actually time for one to die… An icon that lasted longer than any of us expected. An island that helped shape our lives and carried our families through good times and bad. No, I'm not referring to Miss Elizabeth Windsor. *Stifles a tear - I'm referring to this gem:

For the third time since owning it the "Crappy Hatch" gave us the middle finger and laid down. First it was an intake valve that gave way. Then a front ball joint decided to go. Now, the rear control arm to the knuckle rusted out and dropped that corner of the car to the dirt faster than a lowrider (right where the arrow is pointing above.) Fun side note - my wife was driving the car to her work (for the first time) when this happened. So of course it figures that this misfortune happened to her, and now she will forever have to endure the knowledge that she single handedly killed this piece of history.

I was hopeful that repairs could be made. I tied things back together with some rope and drove her home that day (See photo above - this kind of fix is good for like 30K miles right?) and ordered some parts. However, things went south fast once getting under the car. Let's just say the mid-west climate is really good at bringing out the rust in a car. The body was basically crumbling as I tried to get it apart (not to mention the rain of rust chunks coming down every time I hit a bolt with the impact gun.) Long story short - she's dead. Motor still turned (for now) but she's dead. Off to pasture. Down to only 3 Civics. You lasted an impressive 267,XXX miles. You will be missed… It is also worth noting, I have a surprising number of fond photos featuring this worthless car. I know at least a few are in previous posts… In the spirit of keeping this post short (yeah right) I only put in the above 3. If I get even one comment saying they want more though, I will flood a filler post with Crappy Hatch pictures.

But now - on to the fast chronicles. I assume your excitement mirrors how desperately my girls want in the next Civic in the line-up. LET ME IN!!

Here we have it folks. A big turbo. TD05 bearings and 660 possible buff ass horses to be tamed. I suppose the cats out of the bag with this one now that RV6 has released some info and teaser details, but this all relates to the "reasons" mentioned in my last post. THEY WERE GOOD REASONS LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS THIS THING IS. I really hate how some of the prettiest parts on my car get so buried underneath shielding and hoses and whatever other bullshit is in the way of my drooling. It's all bullshit. But, a big thank you to Rich at RV6 for helping put this beauty into my hands - and I have to say, my hands love it. For once I wished in one hand, metaphorically (bull)shat in the other, and the hand I preferred filled up first! Any questions?? Let's go!

Install was honestly more or less like any other engine part. Intake out. Lower shielding out. Bust some knuckles and drop the socket wrench like 9 times pulling the top pipe off the turbo. On the bright side, my downpipe studs came off with no issues again! On the dark side, I had broken brackets on the downpipe holding the heat shield… but Rich is one fine fellow, and fixed it all up for me no questions asked! I also do not feel like this was part quality related - I think I'm just hard on things… do you know how many phones I've dropped and shattered? This is probably the prettiest picture of the turbo in the bay I have from halfway through the install.

All in all I would say this was pretty easy for an install, just long. I'd also recommend to drain your fluids first… The proper way. Don't make a mess all over your engine before choosing to do this either (like someone I know.) And these hose pinch pliers? Throw those silly things away. I wasted money on those dumb things thinking they would save me time or effort. They don't clamp for beans. I was promised a mess free environment. Instead I got an antifreeze soaked engine bay. False advertising. I'm talking about these green plastic clamps - maybe yours are red I dunno. Maybe I got cheap ones. I hate them. I threw mine across the garage in a fit of rage after they lied to me about how well they supposedly worked.

Aside from a messy engine bay and the delay related to my downpipe repair things went super smooth. Re-assembly also went pretty damn good, and no smashed fingers! Everything went in place nicely and just fits. So that means it ships. And by ships, I mean it hauls ass. We will get to that though. I really like the work RV6 did with this turbo. The new formed coolant lines are super clean and fitment was perfect, along with the new lower support bracket. And I learned about safety wire! As an added measure of safety the turbo to downpipe nuts now feature lock wire to help retain them. I'm clearly not a professional or an artist with this, but I like this feature. I think my work didn’t turn out half bad.

Honesty though, I don't even really have good advice on installing this. It was literally that straightforward. Just the normal stuff, don't cut any hoses, don't drop any bolts or shear them off, don't be a dick to strangers, the normal life lessons. I suppose the only thing I will mention is be careful when pulling the turbski out - it’s a little awkward, and don’t mistake the wastegate arm as a convenient carry handle. Otherwise oil in the oil parts, antifreeze in the antifreeze holes… That's it - go wild kids, even your mother could do this install. I guess once piece of advice would be to make sure you have a very organized system to safely store your parts during the install. Like a ladder.

So all of these new goodies are in the car, along with the PRL race MAF housing that has just been collecting dust in my basement till now. What now? Well we do the start-up leak check! This is the fun step where I bite my nails and get nervous at all of the strange sights and sounds coming from my car as it acclimates to the new parts, purges air bubbles and burns off any residual oils still hanging around. We pretend like we are in the fast and furious movies! All was good though! So what now? PRETEND LIKE WE ARE IN THE MOVIES AND CRANK OPEN THAT IMAGINARY BOTTLE OF NOS!

An additional special thanks to Pepo Besosa for remote / street tuning me. He's a super chill guy and was very accommodating and easy to work with. Fun fact - I had a state trooper pull up behind me as I'm getting all the above wires set up. Didn't even see him pull up or walk to my car (I was in the zone man.) So of course he scares the bajesus out of me as he sticks his head into my open passenger window. "No Officer, everything is fine, no problems. Yes Officer, I will turn on my hazards when I'm on the shoulder (his "reason" for coming to talk with me.) No Officer, I have no intention of flooring my car up and down this road a few times, cresting over 100mph, to tune it." *Shifty eyes.* He left, didn't see him again, no further run in with Johnny Law today (WOOT!)

Man this thing scoots though. The spool is phenomenally fast - when you get on the accelerator BOOM you are up above 20 psi like that (imagine me snapping fingers vigorously right here.) At first I thought the lag might be a hair longer than stock, but honestly at this point I think the difference is in the tune. I know Pepo did a great job of making sure the boost comes on in a safe manner, so I feel the "timing" of boost is just different than what I've been used to for the last 5 years of this car. So for now let's chalk the lag comment up to taming a new beast.

Oh - I also got these swanky new bushings! Another win for Rich at RV6! My last set got a little noisy… You know whenever they would make a reference to sex in PG rated movies? That squeaky mattress sound? That was literally the sound my car was making. I could bounce up and down on my door frame and the neighbors would yell "KEEP IT DOWN YOU TWO!" So other than these bushings just being painfully annoying to replace, the new ones worked great. And I found a slick way to get them in - C-clamps for the win. Hammers be damned.

So now we have new parts. What to do? Boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go racing! Off to Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas for a real break in. I drove the car there this time rather than trailering - we coupled racing with an in-law visit so there was more stuff than would fit in any one car… It was very hard to not speed on the highway… Although, I did realize I was using this feature of the car wrong all these years.

Feet holders. Who knew.

It sure was a hot one at the track though… I actually booked this trip back in like what… May? June? Thinking yeah, September will be niiiiiiice and cool. No running the heater full blast to help with cooling this time. Pffffffftttt how wrong I was. This is how the week went: Monday through Wednesday, like 97 degrees. Thursday through Sunday, like low 60s. Track day was Tuesday. At least it wasn't raining I guess. However, I didn't get the memo that shorts were allowed - I was like the only dude in jeans. Lame.

This track day was… interesting. It was actually the most accident filled event I've ever been to - and mind you, every skill level only got 3 sessions on track (which seemed super low compared to others I've been to.) First session just sucked - got stuck behind some arsehole who wasn't even trying and wouldn't let me pass (he actually got flagged off and kicked out of the event entirely) but then that same session was cut short due to spilled oil. Second session I went off track… again… (Gingerman flashbacks.) Car is fine, it happened in a nice area. If I can claim that things weren't my fault I blame the guy ahead of me for not giving me a pass signal until halfway through the straightaway - I ended up coming into the next turn too hot and whoops - hello Mr. Understeer. Third session was fine, but of course I'm nervous at that point so feel like I didn't do my best. Did I mention the sweat? My hands felt like they were gonna get blisters from being hot, wet and working hard. That's what she said. There were also at least 2 guys who ran out of gas on the track, one dude totaled his car entirely, one other instance of oil on the track and I think at least one other person to get towed in? Mercury was in retrograde. We can blame that. Here is a video showing a few decent laps I had and my whoops. Disclaimer - I'm not a professional, and it was my first time here. I know I suck eggs.



Overall the day was a success though (minus the whoops.) I learned a new track and did have a bunch of fun. Also saw another Type R! I have to get better with names though - I should have friended him on Facebook or something… He was wearing a cool One Piece straw hat though. Loved it. If you are here Straw Hat Man - shoot me a what's up. Heartland was definitely a track I would need more time at to master though. Not a ton of elevation change, but some of the corners were definitely tougher to navigate than I was initially expecting. And with only 3 sessions, I was very much left wanting more.

On to the post-race component quality check. I'm still doing good on my first set of Raybestos ST43 race pads up front - really happy with those. Surprisingly, my PS4 tires still have a little life in them… I feel like they might not be as grippy as they once were, but some good tread for spring driving next year. I actually made my highway trek on my snow tires cause why not - thinner tires means better gas mileage right? So at this rate they are just staying on the car for the rest of the year. Otherwise I've been fairly quiet about the revised RV6 compliance bearings… well, because again they just work. They've always felt good - performance wise I have never once had a complaint with any version of these. They have just been periodically noisy - which this new version has so far passed all checks for no noise (and that includes ~15 hours of highway time to and from the track, the event itself, and whatever other daily driving I've done.) Just remember to visit James' lube corner periodically and keep these puppies slicked up.

Otherwise the turbo did great - rock solid and suuuuuper happy with the performance. I will say though… my only complaint, and this is very much my own fault…. but I need better fuel. Hi - My name is Ben, and I'm still running on 91 octane pump gas. Like a loser. I very much will be investing in a flex fuel kit soon. The turbo is amazazing, but I almost felt like it was… bored? I could tell it had the desire to run harder - it was like it wasn’t even trying to put out the power I was asking from it. I'm going to do it everyone. IT'S (soon to be) CORN TIME. Seriously guys - this turbo gets like 18 thumbs up. Or at least the maximum number of thumbs up I can give. 2? I think? Big toes aren't thumbs right? So yeah, 2. But they are way up. That's what she said again.

The biggest feedback here, along with more time to learn the curves on Heartland, is also wanting more time to really understand the new tune and timing of boost. I do feel there is room for improvement on when I get on it after exiting a corner as compared to before. I just need more time. I didn't even play with tire pressures, or the settings on my Spoon wing (which did great as far as I could tell.) I have all these levers to pull but not enough time to try them out. I very much need a full day on a track that isn't new to me. So take that to the bank boys and girls - variety may be the spice of life, but don’t forget to also hone your skills at a familiar location.

How about we use this space for the highly anticipated montage section!! To represent the passing of a few days after the track day, let's look back and remember when we:

Mowed The Lawn.

Claimed Tools As Our Own.

Helped Fix A Motorcycle.

Met Our New Cousin.

Wouldn’t Agree To Take A Good Photo with the turbo.

Learned To Bleed Brakes (And Enjoyed Watching Bubbles In The Fluid.)

Tried To Hide From The World (Poorly.)

Got Lost In A Sunflower Field.

Got Lost In A Box.

Pestered Our Uncle Mike While Watching Kill Bill,.

Had A Shopping Basket Race.

Phew… that was a journey. So many photos to comb through. Anyway back to the show!

To round out the trip I was also asked to participate in a local car show that my father in law helped promote. And guess what? I somehow won the "Best Modern" category! I'm not entirely sure how… considering there were some other cars there that could have easily won - I mean there was a legit Lamborghini and a real life McLaren. Now for those of you not in the mid-west, we generally don't see cars like that here in the snow and rust belt - so they seem extra elusive and special. I have no proof at all the voting was fixed, so while I'm not sure I deserve it, it was kind of fun to win. This was my wife and I with our oldest (who decided to fall down stairs minutes before this picture.) The little one was back home napping. Don't mind the fingerprints on the trophy - we were admiring it. We never win things. Don’t ask us about our Good Morning Rodeo "Really Tough Trivia Question" streak.

The only other thing to mention is my hood cable apparently decided to stretch during this show. Went to open it to show things off and nope. Not this time. It opened probably 30 or so times during the past week with the track event and everything, but nope - not this time. So that's on the to do list to fix. It's also some extra fodder for me to drool over those Spoon bumpers… I kind of dinged mine up trying to fish a screwdriver through to manually unlatch the hood at one point… One more war wound I suppose.

So that's my rant and ramble this time around. I have no more words, or at least no more words that add to this story in a useful way. I do however, have one more cool sticker on the back of my car thanks to my wonderful wife and her craftiness. And cool new racing gloves to try. I know they aren't "legit" or "fireproof" but they are red. And will help with chafing. Me-wow.

Until next time. Happy Halloween y'all! I'm currently preparing to be Jim Hopper for Halloween. Season 3 fat Hopper - not buff season 4 Hopper for those of you in the know. I’ll post pictures after I get the green light to shave my face rug into the best stand alone cookie duster / soup strainer I can. Side note - who here also has a problem storing spare parts… BOXES EVERYWHERE.

Absolutely love your posts! Love seeing more about the person behind the driver’s wheel. Car is sweet as hell though. I’m also on the fence with flex fuel as it’s not at many stations here. What cab are you running the dark terror to? I had a tiny terror for a bit to get my (affordable) fix with Orange amps, but went back to my true love - a Fender Twin Reverb.

 

[NapalmEnema]

Great build thread looks like you're having a blast. That latest wing you added looks great!

 

[TheShadow]

Absolutely love your posts! Love seeing more about the person behind the driver’s wheel. Car is sweet as hell though. I’m also on the fence with flex fuel as it’s not at many stations here. What cab are you running the dark terror to? I had a tiny terror for a bit to get my (affordable) fix with Orange amps, but went back to my true love - a Fender Twin Reverb.

Thanks for the kind words! Yeah as far as I know there are only two places to get e85 in my town, and neither are exactly on my commute…. As for the Dark Terror - it’s currently powering two Orange PPC112 cabs - I bought one with the head originally, then ended up buying a second one years later to compliment it / angle slightly for more of a surround sound feel.

Great build thread looks like you're having a blast. That latest wing you added looks great!

Always having fun!! And yeah it’s the Spoon GT wing - I love the unique swan neck style.

 

[NapalmEnema]

Thanks for the kind words! Yeah as far as I know there are only two places to get e85 in my town, and neither are exactly on my commute…. As for the Dark Terror - it’s currently powering two Orange PPC112 cabs - I bought one with the head originally, then ended up buying a second one years later to compliment it / angle slightly for more of a surround sound feel.




Always having fun!! And yeah it’s the Spoon GT wing - I love the unique swan neck style.

Yeah that’s the stand out bit. Post a few more from the side if you got em. That’s such an interesting approach to it.

 

[AlphaDigital]

Blackhawk, RA, and Gingerman!

Ive only done BHF, Gingerman is on my list, Road America at some point. Ill be returning to BHF next year, its too much fun not to attend. ABCC is also on my list! Fun story, I met Rich, the owner of RV6 at BHF this year and he was running the R660 super nice guy. Hope yours lasts you a while, id love to upgrade to something that will last and take the abuse of track days! Also, your hand positioning at Heartland is triggering me hard right now, Im gonna go play madden to cool off. lol

nice write up!

 

[wl222516]

I haven't finished reading all of them, I was supposed to work on my project and now i'm halfway through the post lol. Thank you for documenting everything you put on the type r and your thoughts with them. I just got my type r two months ago and I'm itching to make more modifications to the car. It really is a great car to work on and learn from for people like me who have little to no mechanical experience.

 

[Sam3]

@TheShadow thanks for the write-up and sharing your experience. I’m following several drop-in turbo developments (PRL P700, 27Won Kuro, and RV6 660) and I’m very interested in the RV6 since I bought and installed every suspension mod they have to offer for the FK8, and I’m happy with their products.

Speaking of which, I printed your instructions for the suspensions components and gave it to my installer, who find it very useful. I recently installed the full front/rear spherical bushing sets and the revised front compliance mount. There’s more noise as the car moves slowly (parking lots), but it’s quite mild. Nowhere near the described creaking I read about. The car handles markedly better at the track. Two main observations so far:

1. The car doesn’t get unsettled easily, and recovers quickly once it does, such as going over curb bumps (e.g. the esses at Buttonwillow).
2. Since I don’t have coilovers, the maximum camber I can get with the EVS balljoint middle setting is -3. But since the spherical bushings minimize deflection of the suspension geometry under heavy load, I feel that I’m getting more out of this camber than before. I can already see less wear on the outer edges of the tires with same camber.

Interested to see how you address the perceived lag tracking out of corners and whether a tune would make it better.

 

[TheShadow]

I'm back baby - just like Futurama (for like the 9th time.) Kind of wild to sit back and think I'm right at 6 years of owning this car - it actually might take the record for longest car I've ever owned. I think my registration costs for the plates will actually start coming down. Hot diggity daffodil! It's been a little over half a year since returning here and updating this post. It almost feels like growing up, moving away, then coming home to visit your family. Including the part where I feel like a bum for not really accomplishing much. Ahh, the circle of life. That means this post might actually be on the shorter side though, so people with no time rejoice. Pfffftt. Like I can keep things short. Sorry y'all - buckle up for filibustering.

Despite not having done much with the R (I need a better nickname here…) I have had time to think. Time to really take a step back and realize just how much the people in my life mean to me. I can't help but wonder if the pace of normal life has a tendency to narrow my priorities and whittle down my attention… So ladies and gentlemen, the advice of the day is not to channel your anger and say bite my shiny metal ass, but to tell the people that matter to you just how much they do mean to you. My wonderful daughters and my beautiful wife deserve a forum thread dedicated to them that is five times longer than this one dedicated to a silly machine. I'm good with machines though, they are simple, there have (sometimes poorly translated) instructions. That’s what makes a family so rewarding though. I'm constantly expanding my viewpoints, discovering some of my personal weaknesses, and realizing just how much this tiny little heart of mine can love. So I sincerely hope nothing comes in the way of me dedicating the rest of my life to my family. This one's for you: My strong and talented oldest daughter Janis Joplin, the equally strong and talented (but half the size) youngest daughter Stevie Nicks, and my wonderful, smart and beautiful wife Joan Jett - without all of you I wouldn't have a single aspect of the life that I hold so close to my heart. I love you all, and I hope someday you can all read these non-linear rants of mine and appreciate the time we've spent together. Also - names have been changed to protect identities.

Before we move one, let's take one more moment to reflect. One more moment to focus on improving ourselves by looking inward. Balancing our feelings and minds. Becoming one with ourselves and the world around us. For example we should all:

Become one with the leaves.

Become one with a skateboard.

Become one with a snowball.

Become one with a block tower

Become one with a pistachio.

Become one with the fishes.

Become one with a toy Honda.

Become one with routine maintenance.

Become one with the motorcycle.

Become one with a Gator.

Become one with tape numbers.

Become one with a bench.

Become one with track stickers.

Yeah buddy - that's right - another track in the books. This time it was Autobahn Country Club. I've been meaning to get to this one for a while, but it has been challenging to find a date that worked in our schedules and was for the full circuit. I mean why go to a track to only drive half of it… So I finally got on the full 3.56 mile loop - second longest lap of any track I've been on. And I have to say - I looooooved it.

**As a very important footnote - I need to point out and recognize the skill and thoughtfulness of my lovely wife Joan, who actually made the Heartland Motorsport Park and the Autobahn Country Club track decals for my car. She is amazingly talented, kind, and super cute - thank you!

First things first - before going here, I've heard Autobahn is like a country club (I mean duh, it's in the name… c'mon man.) Yeah - it very much is a playground for the rich and fanciful. It's a cool playground, don't get me wrong, but yokels like me are clearly just there for the day. Considering memberships are like 50k a year there… yeah I will embrace my inner poverty. All joking aside, I was not excluded or judged even a little bit. We were all there to race and have fun, and it was a hoot and a half at least. Super nice place, good amenities, and for the love of god - they had some shaded seating. NO SUNBURNED CHILDREN FACES TODAY MR. SUN. Oddly enough, they did not have a very good track store for t-shirts and stickers… but whatever.

The actual track is so much fun though. I think it might actually be my favorite of all I've been on. It's super twisty with lots of turns, and some subtle but fun to master elevation changes. And listen here fellow R owners - this track plays to our advantages, heavily. The plain straightaways are few and short leaving just oodles of areas to really let our car shine, brake late and eat mustangs. I was even doing better than a legit Lamborghini out there. I mean, sure he was probably babying it, but it sure made me feel good. Side note - I'm kicking myself for not having the go-pro recording for that lap… it's old and temperamental (so am I) so maybe it's time to break down and buy a cool dash cam or something. Dreams.

Man alive though - my car was just running beautifully here. Maybe we can chalk it up to my skills improving (ha - probably not.) Maybe it was the cool racing gloves I shared in the last post that actually do help with sweaty hand syndrome (maybe.) Or maybe it was he RV6 Performance turbo really just getting a chance to shine (Yeah, that's the ticket.) I think enough time finally passed after getting tuned to where I once again became one with the car (see above steps for becoming one with oneself.) Whatever the reasons things were just lining up and feeling good. Except for the code I kept popping. I'll spare you the buildup, it was just a secondary O2 sensor code that wasn't disabled in the tune initially, just mildly annoying that it kept pinging off every other session. I would definitely go back here though.



I won't lie - I know that is kind of a boring video. I only turned on the camera for about half of my sessions to try and preserve battery life - and yeah. Pretty sure I exactly picked the most boring ones. I have no proof of the aforementioned Lambo passing… Just scooping cars that honestly could have been down in a lower skill level.

Here we are though - the end of my post. Just kidding suckas! IT'S TIME TO GET SPOON FED! Oh man I've been dying to do this mod for a long time. Spoon Sports steering wheel with a Works Bell short boss / SRD kit and tilt hub. I mean, just look at this JDM glory:

One of those photos is clearly more professionally done than the other (Thanks Simply Modified Photography!)

I won't lie - I really like this. I know it's not super practical, and we're living on the edge with no airbags now, but this wheel and hub combo are just cool and unique. I toyed with getting a quick release, but they are so Fast and Furious 3. We're living in the future - Fast X is now. It actually does make getting in and out of the car easier too - the extra room is very apparent the first time you exit the bucket seats with the wheel tilted. So I think it's a win. And the Spoon wheel is also super comfortable, especially when paired with those sweet racing gloves. There were a few quirks to get used to with this setup though. Like I don't know why I never thought about it, but when you pair it with the SRD kit, the whole button setup rotates with the wheel. Just didn't expect it to. I also didn't anticipate how diligent you need to be having the tires straightened out before tilting - again, seems obvious, but took some practice making sure I was straight before turning the car off and tilting the wheel.

As far as packaging topics go this all fit in nicely. Again, I used the short boss, but it did move the wheel slightly. It actually pushed it towards me about a half to a full inch - enough to make hitting the turn signals and wiper stalks just a different length. I can still reach them, but it’s a little more of a reach than before. So that aspect is strange but the wheel feels very naturally placed to me now. I also did not experience any rubbing between the wheel and the dash / cluster hood when tilting so also a bonus!

To all those people who say go big or go home - yes. Spend the coin on Works Bell stuff - it is top notch. It's solid and there's no play anywhere in the system. I will admit though, it felt really dumb having to buy the SRD kit and then not use all those parts from the normal boss kit… but oh well. I needed to retain the cruise control button for the Hondata traction control. The install really wasn't that bad either. I mean I did it back in January, so maybe I just forgot the pain with time… I recall needing to take a lot of time to make sure I had the right parts, I've not actually swapped a steering wheel before. Was harder in my head than actually doing it.

A few tips - when doing the torque on the main hub nut I installed a couple bolts and used a screwdriver to react the torque - worked well.

For those curious, yes, you do need two MALE resistors. Here they are, one is taped up already and the other shows how you bend the tabs on the resistor wires to help tuck it all in place.

I had some trouble getting the horn to work initially, but I wonder if some of that is the goofy style of horn button on the Spoon wheel. I ended up wrapping a wire around some of the ground connections inside the button, and then I installed the grounding ring between the tilt hub and the short boss. For those curious - no, I did not get this to work on the first try. I ended up tearing the whole thing apart. Twice. All in the spirit of having a beeper to beep at slow people with.

I think that's all I've got. I did stop in to check out the newly acquired shop from RV6 Performance in Chicago - oh boy it's huge! I think he had the keys for all of 3 days at this point, so I saw more floor polishers and painters than top secret go fast part development, but hey! Progress! Exciting times for that company - and it was awesome to see him again. Hopefully there will be some more stuff cooking out of there - I'm eyeing the bypass valve currently and hopefully more!

We are going to end abruptly though - I literally ran out of car stuff and side stories… Until next time I will leave you with one piece of advice to all of those aspiring drivers-to-be: If you are too young to drive a car - drive a cruise ship.

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd Bonus Photos:

P.S. - Ask my wife how much she enjoys helping me get this on and off the trailer.

 

[AlphaDigital]

Love the update! I was at ABCC about a week ago! I only did south though, which was a lot of fun.

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