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Speed Shop Tuning and Modification Acura Integra GSR Customizing and Modifying
1734 messages, Last post on Aug 13, 2009 at 7:19 AM
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Replying to: garados (Oct 06, 2005 2:13 pm) Than I did a reality check... If Honda put the 14x5.5 rims on a civic (96-97) that was a non-perfromance but good gas mileage car than would that really be an upgrade for me? However my car (GS) started out with 14x5.5 alloy wheels that actually weighed about 15lbs so yes it would be!!!! but than I though, assuming Honda, er, acura has been continuously trying to improve their integra, they went from my 14x5.5 (1990-1993, even the GSR of that time, hooray for B17!!!) to 15x6 for another 7yrs (94-2001) than it would appear that they DID find the best rims for our car!!! I mean doesn't Honda/Acura put much more time into their R&D than us consumers do?!?!?! 
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Replying to: 90gs (Oct 12, 2005 12:39 pm) There are of course 14" tires that can easily handle 2,670lb (+driver & passenger) GSR's, but they would have to be like 215-65-14's or 205-70-14" (195-75-14", etc.) like I used to put on some of my 70's american beater cars I owned in the 80's that weighed ~2900-3100lbs. ie: higher profile tires would be needed that are also harder to find these days. Not very practical on a sporty coupe that you want to make the best FWD handling car (back in the mid-90's many magazines called the GSR the best handling FWD car).
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I haven't posted in a while, but nothing really exciting has gone on. I got my skunk2 cat-back on and it sounds awesome, just what i was looking for, not too loud when driving around town but at about half throttle its really deep and well...... just awesome sounding. I can also notice a slight power increase which is nice. I should be getting the rest of my exhaust soon after i get a suspension set up on. I was wondering if you guys could give me a little input on what all installing high compression pistons involves. I've been looking into it and i just dont want to go in over my head with parts that are necessary when installing them. Mike |
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when you start messing with higher-compression pistons, things start to get wierd. First off, you'll need to do a little research into how much compression you want. I believe that if you go with 11.5 and up, you're not going to be able to use street gas. Of course, it depends on altitude as well. If I were going to do it, I'd go to about 11:1 compression and leave it there. Get some cams that'll take advantage of the compression, and then get it tuned. As for parts, if you go with 11:1 compression, you shouldn't need to upgrade the fueling system, but you might. If you do, bigger injectors and/or a high-flow/pressure fuel pump will be needed as well as a fuel pressure regulator or some sort of tuning device. For physical hardware, you're going to need pistons, piston rings, wrist pins, and the necessary installation tools. Along with that, you'll need to hone the cylinders in order to get a good seal with the rings. You'll also need seals and gaskets. If you want me to go over EVERYTHING you need, then I will. Just know this, if you do get new pistons, just rebuild the whole motor, it'll save you time and money. |
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ok second question. Are the power gains even worth the money and effort? If not, anyone know of other N/A setups that would be a good choice. -Mike |
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If you rebuild the motor, then yes, the power gains will be worth the effort. You'll have a fresh motor that hasn't been abused yet and is built with your goals in mind. If you're looking for a slight boost in N/A power without a rebuild, then I'd recommend the bolt-ons: intake, header, high-flow cat, exhaust. Then go deeper with the modifications such as a bigger throttle body, slightly aggressive cams (more aggressive = head modifications and higher compression), and maybe an intake manifold. When I did my engine rebuild, I stuck with stock compression but with forged pistons. I was planning on turboing the motor, but then I had an unfortunate event which stopped that plan dead. Anyways, the only "modification" I did was to go 20 over (20 thousands in diameter ... or radius, I'm not sure =P ) and open up the intake valve seats about a millimeter in diameter. In doing the valve seats, the intake ports opened ever so slightly and I realized a big increase (it was noticable even in the initial break-in) in power. The added displacement from the overbore was nice as well. If my calculations were correct, I was above 1800cc's (b18c1/5 are about 1780cc's, b18b's are 1800+) afterwards. I did an intake, header, testpipe, exhaust, ITR cams, 7 lb flywheel, and an ACT HDSS clutch, and the car was a beast. I could beat ITR's in the straights as well as the turns and braking, so my 4door was easily one of the fastest N/A fwd cars at the time that was racing at the track. Of course, all b-series motors take well to boost, and that's a fact. While it is a massive 1-time investment, it'll be cheaper in the overall picture and has the possiblity for more power later on. |
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Haha, alright, I've found a product that has sparked my interest. It comes with a 24mm adjustable swaybar up front, 15mm adjustable in back, bilstein HD shocks, ground control coilovers, 700 lb/in front, 350 lb/in back. *begin stupidity* How is this going to ride on the street har har har *end stupidity*. Anyways, for the miata, this is the spec suspension, however, I'm thinking of moving the 350's to the front and getting ... 250's for the rear? Of course, if you remember my past posts, I'd have to get new top hats, as the stock ones have been bored out to 12 mm from 10 mm. These new ones give the user about an inch of suspension travel back, so I'm thinking that it'll be a good investment with a lowered car. Does this sound like a good plan or should I look at something else? Here's another question, you have ~25-27000 to spend on a new (emphasis on new) street car. What would you get in ~1.5-2 years? 27000 is my absolute upper limit. I've been looking at the Golf Gti, WRX, Civic Si, Scion TC, and the RSX-S. Considering I've only driven the old WRX and a Scion TC, my experience is limited. Any opinions would be appreciated ^_^ Oh yeah, I'm keeping the miata as my impractical car, so not another miata =P |
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I think that may be the Spec-Miata standard suspension, but I always thought it was 500 in the rear (700F/500R). That's a road race setup. What do you want to do? roadrace the car or auto-x? If you go with the Ground Control coilover kit you can swap springs anytime you want (I 've tried 4 different spring combinations since '02) within reason and within your shocks' capabilities of course. Are the Bilstein HD's externally adjustable? Can they be easily rebuilt & revalved? There is a guy in my local SCCA club who is extremely fast with his CSP Miata with 450F/350R so your choice sounds pretty good. They had to kick this guy out of the novice class 2yrs ago in mid-season, because he was just too far ahead of all the other 1st year novices. He uses GC's Advance Design shocks though which I 'm sure make a big difference too. Speaking of which, I still haven't sent mine back to to GC to have them rebuilt. To answer your question, if I had $25-27K to spend and needed a more "practical car" (otherwise S2K would be my choice), but was limited to the 5 cars you mentioned, I 'd probably go for the Civic Si because it is all new. New chassis, newer technology, etc. But that is NOW, because the RSX, WRX, and GTI are old. They 've been in production for 5+yrs. 1.5-2yrs from now (it's nice to fantasize once in a while, hehe) who knows what the RSX-S or the WRX would be like? It's certain they 'll have more power, maybe even look better, handle better, who knows? That is if we 're talking about NEW cars, not used. You can be sure there will be new RSX and WRX models within a year or two. The Scion TC is not a bad looking car and well worth the money but it's not in the same class as the others. It's heavier, built cheaply from what I read as an economy car to keep the price down while still delivering respectable power & torque. The TC weighs >2900lbs. If it weren't for its 163ft-lbs of torque it 'd be an average car just a little faster than my wife's CRV which has the same HP and Torque. Now I think the TC does 0-60 in the mid-7's and has the least power in the group. Still a a whole second slower than the others so that would probably be my last choice or 4th. The GTI would most likely be my last choice because is just plain ugly and well just plain looking. It hasn't changed much in 2 decades. Since I 'm nearing 40, I 'd probably spend the $27K on a different cars than these 5, but that's just me. |
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What kind of cars would you look into? I'm open to all suggestions and opinions, so don't hold back  As far as what I want to do with the miata, I'm sticking to daily driving and auto-x until I get the new car, then it's becoming a spec miata. I think 350 lb/in in the miata will be the max I would want to go with on the street. I had 350's on the integra and it was nice and smooth on the street, but I'm not sure how the miata will react to the same spring rate =P
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Replying to: garados (Oct 17, 2005 12:41 pm) Well if I had a shorter commute than the 160mi. one I have now, I 'd be looking at slightly used Bimmers, 3series or a late 90's M3 (240hp) which can easily be had for $20K or less. My first choice of course would be a used S2K for like $25K + tax should come close to $27K. I found a few '05 S2K's 4sale. These people are just sick. They just want a new car every year or 2. One guy was selling his '05 S2K with only 9k mi. on it because he wants some new color that's available for '06. He was asking $28K (you can buy them new for 29K). He ended up selling it for $26K. He didn't care. People just have the money and when they make up their mind to buy something else they just want to sell the old and not wait for the best offer.. That's good for you the buyer. That's what you want. 1 - 2yr old cars, even 3yrs old, are very hard to sell because they cost "too much". Those are the cars you usually get the best deals on. My friend got a used '04 S2000 for $23.5K, 28k mi. The guy was asking $25K but couldn't sell it. I think my friend got a great deal since the guy only bought it in April '04. So the car was less than 1.5yrs old when he got it. Now if I had a choice between a new RSX-S, WRX or a 1.5yr old S2K for $23.5K, I 'd be all over the S2K. Check out the performance tests on the link below. I 've also seen 13.6s in the 1/4 and 5.2 to 60mph in MotorTrend, (also 113ft 60-0), but these are very close and probably more realistic: http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/honda_s2000_6spdmt_2005/16022/style_performance.html?refsrc- - - - =offnetwork%2Fcpc%2FPI Now go look at the specs of WRX and RSX, especially the braking, roadholding and slalom speeds.. 115ft 60-0 is NSX, Ferrari & Porsche stopping distances (Type-R did 120ft). But the S2K is not practical and it's not a car you drive in the winter so a Bimmer, RSX or Civic Si would also be good choices with high scores in the fun-to-drive department. Just remember, $25-27K can get you a LOT of car, if you 're not limited to new cars only. |
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