Arctic blue Integra DC5

[Paul.M]

Hi all,

Thought I would start a thread on my 30th Birthday present to myself.

I have been looking at these for about 5 years on and off but never gone through with buying one, lockdown must have got to me as I took a massive gamble and bought this sight unseen from the opposite side of the country and had it delivered... Very out of character for me!

Luckily I've had it on a ramp and it all seems to check out solid enough, I have replaced the front left wheel bearing, a headlight ballast and done the usual tidy up bits, new bulbs and plates etc.

It's a 2002 with 122k on the clock.
Imported in 2006.
Came with a massive stack of paperwork including the Japanese history, it was a grade 4 import.

Spec is as follows:
Oem shocks with spoon springs.
Pbs pads all round, j hook front discs, hel braided lines and mtf600 fluid.
Custom cat back.
Hard race rear camber arms, front eibach Camber bolts.
Super pro front caster bushes.
Full geo set up (more on this later).
Tegiwa short shifter.

I took it up the lakes for a couple of days this weekend and it performed faultlessly. It gets loads of attention too, I keep getting people asking about it at lights or when I park up etc which is a new experience.

Immediate plans are a decent set of tyres all round, it has budgets up front at present as the previous owner had it on a set of different wheels, I'm also going to read up on setups and get it in with grinspeed or tenspeed as the current geo seems a little extreme to me, it's running 3 degrees negative camber up front, that may be normal but to me it seems a bit overkill, get a couple of dents removed and get out on track, a couple of friends have invited me out to the ring next month but I think that might be a bit soon for me to get it sorted due to other priorities.
I would also like to get the exhaust tip replaced for a smaller one at some point as it's a little too big for my taste but this won't be a top priority.

Thanks

Paul 😁

 

[Louis]

This is lovely. Nice to see one not in white aswell!

 

[Jesse James]

Love a 30th birthday Japanese car gift to self

Got myself an sti hatch for my birthday most definitely a dream car.

Enjoy it mate

 

[imprezaworks]

Love these

 

[Pep]

lovely that. I regret not getting one a few years ago, hope I can get one before they’re either too leggy or silly money for a good one!

 

[CrippsCorner]

One of the best shapes for a Jap car these. Great looking thing... always thought if I got one it'd have to be in white, yours is very very nice!

 

[Silent_Scone]

very very nearly bought one of these early this year. Still on the bucket list. Love them in blue, too.

 

[Greeny.]

Would 100% have one of these if i was 10 years younger, love them.

 

[Danith]

Ace. Chris at Tensport will sort you out, lot cheaper too. Are you from around that way? Seen you put pics up on IG. great colour.

How's it looking underneath?

 

[JamesBryan]

Headlight polish and that would look mint, Paul!

Grinspeed are good as well, they set my Clio up twice now and it's felt the best it's ever been.

 

[Philip.]

Nice! I miss chucking mine around b-roads.

 

[Paul.M]

lovely that. I regret not getting one a few years ago, hope I can get one before they’re either too leggy or silly money for a good one!

They are very expensive for what they are in my opinion, that was always the thing that put me off buying one for so long!

Would 100% have one of these if i was 10 years younger, love them.

I felt a bit odd making the purchase 😅. I have already decided to get a daily along side I think for general duties and adult stuff!

Ace. Chris at Tensport will sort you out, lot cheaper too. Are you from around that way? Seen you put pics up on IG. great colour.

How's it looking underneath?

A friend of mine uses them for his ep3 and holds them in high regard so I think that's the place to go! I have an annoying rattle that I think is coming from under the dash on full throttle in second and third that I can't track down so a pair of ears on that could be handy too haha!

Underneath seems solid enough, had it on a ramp and had a good poke round with a pry bar and no issues there, I am going to give a bit of attention to the inner arches behind the speaker covers though as this could do with a bit of wire wheeling and protecting.

Headlight polish and that would look mint, Paul!

Grinspeed are good as well, they set my Clio up twice now and it's felt the best it's ever been.

That is also on the list of stuff to do as well, I have the polish set to one side ready, just being lazy haha!

 

[Danith]

Yeah that behind the speaker area is mega common on the ep3 too.
Who is it that takes his ep3 there? Won't get a more sound bunch than Chris, Gaz and Richard. Know these K20 cars inside out.

 

[Paul.M]

Yeah that behind the speaker area is mega common on the ep3 too.
Who is it that takes his ep3 there? Won't get a more sound bunch than Chris, Gaz and Richard. Know these K20 cars inside out.

Thats good to know, I haven't heard a bad word about them yet, my friend is Jole Docherty, he seems to help them trackside with his son Freddie too (Freddie is a right little dude, he's ace!), another friend Iain has had his supra there a couple of times too by the looks of it.

 

[Danith]

Thats good to know, I haven't heard a bad word about them yet, my friend is Jole Docherty, he seems to help them trackside with his son Freddie too (Freddie is a right little dude, he's ace!), another friend Iain has had his supra there a couple of times too by the looks of it.

Oh yeah I've met Jole and Freddy when we all did a trackday at Oulton last Dec or Nov at Oulton.

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

One of those cars I always wanted to own, but now probably never will

Great cars!

 

[Paul.M]

No updates on the car for now, haven't really used it much with working from home, I haven't actually cracked a thousand miles in it since May yet.

It's booked in to tensport on the 17th to have an alignment done, hopefully a rattle behind the dash that is driving me mad tracked down and the clutch fluid changed so hopefully that all makes a nice difference.

In other news I have now picked up a daily, I bought what I believe was the cheapest running panda 100hp for sale at the time, it has been sat around for months and was filthy so gave it some love at the weekend and servicing it this weekend before a trip to Yorkshire on Wednesday and a couple of days in Devon on Thursday 😁. I love the little thing already, it's such a laugh!

A pleased as punch me 😅.

And the scariest part of the trip home...

 

[MarkCup]

I'd love one of those Pandas, great little things.

 

[Paul.M]

I'd love one of those Pandas, great little things.

It's brilliant, a friend of mine has had one since new so I have had a lot of experience with them including a trip out to the ring in his, I was originally looking at cheap £1500ish estates but this came up and I went to see it as quickly as the lady selling it could accommodate me!

 

[Greigf]

Cracking cars, enjoy

 

[Crazylegs]

Hello mate

I've had two DC5's in the past, I had an AB like yours which I sold as I needed the money, it also needed a new timing chain as it had stretched slightly and skipped a tooth, it did go well though and I miss it a little.

I've recently traded my black Mugen replica kitted one in for the 182 as I'd had a lot of issues with it and it needed a new engine.

I'm going to be completely honest here, I'm not a fan of them. I've had numerous other Honda"s and although they're a pretty car with a good driving position and gearbox, they're not nice on UK roads. They pull you everywhere and tramline poorly because of the diff and it gets tiresome after a while. On an open road they bounce everywhere too and I find the brakes to be very poor on them.

I see you're running PBS pads which may help, you're also running a lot of negative camber on the front. I'd reduce that to 1.5 on the front. Have you got adjustable camber arms for the rear?

Rob at Area Motorsport is probably the best at setting these cars up, they also do a bespoke yellow speed coilovers kit which has very well balanced spring rates front and rear so worth a look, improves the car massively seemingly. Caster adjustment is also supposed to help a lot you.

I used Ben at VTEC Direct in Winsford for all my work, they replaced my engine too and I'll be using them for work on the Clio too. If you need any further help bud give me a shout. Hopefully your experience of them is more positive than the one I had.

 

[Crazylegs]

Few pics.

 

[Crazylegs]

 

[Paul.M]

@Crazylegs thanks for the comments/advice, I have actually read about your troubles on the ITR pages, what a shame!

The car does have hard race rear camber arms on it and front caster bushes so hopefully it should be set up quite nicely, the alignment issues started from a front wheel bearing being replaced and the garage not understanding the eibach camber bolts so one side has camber and the other side has little to none on the front.

I can also appreciate your comments about the ownership of them, I have wanted one for years so in my head I hyped it up and held it in possibly too high of a regard so at the minute I'm a little bit underwhelmed by it, this may change once I get the chance to use it more and I have a couple of trips planned before I make up my mind or do anything drastic so I'll see how my opinion changes though!

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

I do like these, though I was always more of a DC2 fan. They're a nice looking car for sure though. The only thing I'm not that into are the factory wheels. They let it down a bit for me, so I'd have to change them.

 

[Crazylegs]

@Crazylegs thanks for the comments/advice, I have actually read about your troubles on the ITR pages, what a shame!

The car does have hard race rear camber arms on it and front caster bushes so hopefully it should be set up quite nicely, the alignment issues started from a front wheel bearing being replaced and the garage not understanding the eibach camber bolts so one side has camber and the other side has little to none on the front.

I can also appreciate your comments about the ownership of them, I have wanted one for years so in my head I hyped it up and held it in possibly too high of a regard so at the minute I'm a little bit underwhelmed by it, this may change once I get the chance to use it more and I have a couple of trips planned before I make up my mind or do anything drastic so I'll see how my opinion changes though!

Hi mate,

Yes I've not been too lucky in my ownership and that's kind of blighted the experience a little for me personally. Hopefully I've not put too much of a downer on the car for you. I don't think mine were ever setup correctly which doesn't help. They're a difficult car to get sorted especially for the road.

I ran OEM dampers and Eibach springs on the blue one with no fast road setup, and adjustable bolts and hardrace arms on the rear with OEM dampers and Spoon springs on the black one. As mentioned they do suffer from bump steer without roll centre adjusters, it's difficult to correct. From what I've read the Yellowspeed coilovers that Rob and his team at Area have designed runs spring rates which are supposedly perfect for the DC5, I believe the rear rates are half of that on the front (Or the other way round) lol. Also if you get coilovers, Area do adjustable top mounts and adjustable caster plates and this really transforms the car. They're still going to drag you everywhere this is the thing.

I've not had my 182 long and I honestly believe it has a better chassis than the Teg, it's better on its toes too and so is the braking feel. If I was ever to go back to a Honda and I probably will at some point, it would have to be an FD2. Same engine but more aggressive VTEC, better gear change, 50% stiffer chassis than the Teg and independent suspension front and rear which again the Integra lacks. Seems they didn't carry the good suspension of the DC2 over and into the DC5 which is bizarre.

I hope you enjoy it, definitely get it on track as it will come into its own on a flat smooth surface and not much will compete with it tbh.

 

[Crazylegs]

Stevie at Grinspeed, Ben and Twig at VTEC Direct or Area Motorsport are probably the three best around at setting the suspension up on these cars too as they've got years of experience with them.

 

[imprezaworks]

Yeah grinspeed are spot on.

 

[Philip.]

I used VTEC Direct when I had mine. Ben did an awesome job at fitting coilovers, various arms, alignment and some underseal topping up.

Have to agree with @Crazylegs a bit. As much as I used to love taking mine out for a blast (it was epic), using it day to day it was a bit of effort.
That's why I got rid for the FN2...which was a bit meh. Why I'm in a newer VAG car now. Too many Japanese cars that were breaking my back

 

[Crazylegs]

I used VTEC Direct when I had mine. Ben did an awesome job at fitting coilovers, various arms, alignment and some underseal topping up.

Have to agree with @Crazylegs a bit. As much as I used to love taking mine out for a blast (it was epic), using it day to day it was a bit of effort.
That's why I got rid for the FN2...which was a bit meh. Why I'm in a newer VAG car now. Too many Japanese cars that were breaking my back [emoji38]

Ha ha they can be hard work lol

Yes Ben is brilliant, I've used him and Grinspeed and I mainly use Ben now simply as he's closer to me (North Wales) and he's based near Chester.

They're really good with Honda's, I drove down there for the first time last year when the black one kept pulling to the right. He jacked it up immediately and took the wheel off and spotted it was running EP3 track rod ends which was causing the pulling. He tried to get the part in there and then as he wasn't comfortable with me driving it as it was but he couldn't get one in stock so it had to go back.

They setup a lot of Clio and VTEC Challenge cars so they know their way around a Honda. Either way you can't go wrong with them or Grinspeed.

 

[Philip.]

Ha ha they can be hard work lol

Yes Ben is brilliant, I've used him and Grinspeed and I mainly use Ben now simply as he's closer to me (North Wales) and he's based near Chester.

They're really good with Honda's, I drove down there for the first time last year when the black one kept pulling to the right. He jacked it up immediately and took the wheel off and spotted it was running EP3 track rod ends which was causing the pulling. He tried to get the part in there and then as he wasn't comfortable with me driving it as it was but he couldn't get one in stock so it had to go back.

They setup a lot of Clio and VTEC Challenge cars so they know their way around a Honda. Either way you can't go wrong with them or Grinspeed.

Spent the best part of a day with Ben and the dog hanging around talking cars and tracks.
Great guy and they REALLY know their Honda's. They had a turbo EG there at the time and that was a work of art.

Love their Accord's!

 

[Crazylegs]

Spent the best part of a day with Ben and the dog hanging around talking cars and tracks.
Great guy and they REALLY know their Honda's. They had a turbo EG there at the time and that was a work of art.

Love their Accord's!

The dog is massive lol but he's harmless, Fred lad his name is lol

Yes he's got an Accord that he rents for track days, tempted to rent it for a weekend if I can at some point rather than use the Clio but I imagine it's quite expensive.

Anyway we're clogging up the thread lol, they're good guys though I agree. [emoji106]

 

[Danith]

The ep3 is going back to tensport on the 19th for my coilovers and setup.

Chris @ Tensport knows these hondas inside and out. He'll set it up bang on.

He's even branching out and getting to know the old fords ha (blasphemy!), started racing an st150 in the ST XR series.

 

[Paul.M]

@Danith there's a good chance the integra will still be there on the 19th, I'm leaving it with them on the Monday as they are quite busy, I might even be down there myself in the afternoon if it's ready to be picked up. Feel free to have a look round it or I'll let you take it for a quick spin if I run into you 😊.

@Crazylegs @Philip. Dont worry about clogging up the thread, it's nice to see other people's perspectives, both of your comments make me feel better that I'm not alone in the thoughts I have had towards it a bit.

 

[Crazylegs]

@Paul.M No probs at all mate, I think it will just take you some time to get used to it that's all. They are nice cars don't get me wrong, I just had some bad experiences with them and I don't gel with them but you may totally love yours. I must admit, I do miss the high revs and the drama which you don't get with the Clio. It's just a case of getting it where you want it, I think with adustments to the handling, camber/caster etc etc then it will feel tonnes better.

Does it have KPRO at all as it makes a big difference, especially to mid-range torque? I took mine to Chris at EFI for mapping. A good exhaust if you ever go down that route is a Fujitsubo RM01A, they're super lightweight and have had loads of R&D put into them and they make great power, they're a relatively quiet system too but sound great under VTEC so they're good for trackday noise limits. Torque GT sell them and you can get a forum discount from them too I believe, I got mine from there. A K tuned shifter is also nice if you're ever looking to upgrade from the standard shifter.

Good article on Fujitsubo here, well worth a read.

The Art Of Exhaust-Making At Fujitsubo - Speedhunters

Speedhunters takes you behind the scenes at Fujitsubo, Japan's high performance exhaust manufacturer.

www.speedhunters.com

 

[Paul.M]

The guys at Tensport have had a decent look over it and sorted out the alignment again for me, drives much nicer now, I will happily be reccomending them to other friends.

I also stopped off at a detailing place in Preston on the way back for a look too.

 

[Paul.M]

@BenRS182 I can't reply in the other marques thread because pauper but this is mine that I picked up last May.

I still haven't had much chance to get out and use it due to the various lockdowns etc but my concensous is their cost now far outweighs them as a car in my opinion, over the last year or so they have rocketed value wise and are now unobtainable for a lot of people.

I bought this one as a lower end of the market car as I wanted to try one but wasn't really willing to pay over 10k for a decent one, the really good ones are now fetching 12-14k easily. If you want to try one I would try and find a lower end of the market one (I paid 7 for this) and check it for rust, get underneath if you can and try and get the seller to send you pictures of behind the rear 3/4 inner arch, I wouldn't bother about mechanical parts that need changing as quite a lot is interchangable with the EP3 and places like Japserviceparts have been spot on for me getting parts needed.

You're quite welcome to fire me any questions and I'll answer them the best I can for you, I also need to update this thread a bit so I'll get on to that this afternoon

 

[Paul.M]

Okay update time, they are quite random updates due to the lockdowns etc going on.

Firstly I managed to get out on a trip in the panda, put it on the road, used it to go to yorkshire then somerset and devon, realised it was far too small for me at 6 ft 5 to realistically use as a daily and sold it upon my return. It was a fun but short lived ownership.

I then started using the integra for runaround jobs, got some funny looks using it for tip runs and DIY runs but turns out due to the massive boot opening it is actually quite practical!

 

[Paul.M]

Next up was a trip out to a local car group evening which I arrived at ust as it was finishing due to stopping off to see my friends new to him Alpina, lovely car and a totally different experience to the Integra!

 

[Paul.M]

I then started the little tidy up jobs, the weather strips on the doors were faded and cracked which is a common problem, I picked up a spare set off someone locally and resprayed them in satin black and fitted them, small change but made a massive difference.

I also had a rare chance to pop to a friends after having some work done on his supra.