INSPIRE: YK*RKEW EG6 Civic is now the fastest NA FF at Tsukuba Circuit-56.070 seconds

Since yesterday's post on the GNR EK9, I've been researching more Instagram accounts and YouTube channels along with reading the 4 Parts to "The Chronicles" Attack Tsukuba event posts. I found out that the Yellow Factory R KEW (Kanagawa Engine Works) sponsored EG6 Civic hatchback is now the fastest NA FF (front engine-front wheel drive) machine with a best lap time of 56.070 seconds. He is knocking on the door to that 55 second barrier. Wow!

I want to make sure I give credit to those taking these photos.

So, enjoy these photos from The Chronicles 4 posts. Find more here:
https://stickydiljoe.com/2020/03/25/attack-tsukuba-2020-coverage-part-4/
Please also jump over to Joey Lee's YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/stickydiljoedotcom

Please also check out @shuboxinc Instagram page. This dude lives in Japan and Vancouver and covers the racing scene in both places. He also has a YouTube channel found here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYH32V6cfQ0lDRQgnltiQ8Q

Without these dudes taking their time and money to travel to Japan and photograph and video these events and cars, I wouldn't have them, so big thank you!

Ok, back to the Yellow Factory * Racing Kanagawa Engine Works EG6 Civic hatch time attack car.
My notes on the car are:
Yellow Factory*RKEW EG6
K24, ITBs, ???hp/770kg (1694lbs)
Big aero, wide fenders f & r

Photo by Joey Lee of "The Chronicles" 

My point in writing this blog entry is to appreciate this car and its lap times, see the similarities to those of the other Top 5 Hondas and the differences. Because there are really no rules except to run street legal sticky tires, the creativity of Time Attack leaves it open to each team copying what works and coming up with their own tricks along the way using trial and error.

An interesting thing too is the "Time Attack season" in Japan is pretty short. It's during the winter months. Why? Cold dense air makes more horsepower and less stress on the powertrain. If the sun is out, the cool air and sun keep the track surface warm enough for grip but not so hot that the tires get greasy and slippery. Makes sense. Also only makes it possible for 3 big events. At least, that's all I'm really seeing during these months. That could be partially due to the small amount of coverage I see online. IDK.

Big front aero, wide wheels/tires, carbon body panels

Wide fenders, wide wheels/tires up front, carbon hood, doors, hatch and wings. I noticed the yellow tape sealing off the front splitter to the bumper. Cheap and functional. Heat and air vents in the hood.

Here was my first clue that the YF RKEW EG6 had set the fastest lap time. Thanks @shuboxinc! 56.0 is insane! It's super fast!

Notice the long shifter. I'm pretty sure that is a

Here's a video of the car a year ago (Feb 2019) run a 56.697 sec. In an entire year he's gained .627 seconds. A years worth of development and driving! Hours of hard work! Lots of money! All for .627 sec. LOL Much respect!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l48A3101pZ8&t=28s

So, I know this is a K24 powerplant. You can see ITBs, which Joey Lee's article says are Toda Racing Sports kit. A titanium strut brace, tube front radiator support. I don't know the power level.
The weight of the car is even lighter than the GNR EK9, by 176lbs. That's not chump change. 1694lbs is feather light. Part of the difference could be the EG chassis is slightly lighter than the EK chassis.

Super cool picture looking down on the paddock at Tsukuba. Man and his machine! Pretty cool that the rear hatch is still functional. You can see the rear side windows are lexan or carbon as well just like the GNR EK9.
The YF*RKEW EG6 and GNR EK9 are very very similar in build design. Let's see if we can spot any differences.
One difference I spotted was the YF EG6 has a rear carbon diffuser for cleaning the air flow out the back of the car and likely helping with downforce. Both cars are running 295 (or larger) fronts and smaller rears. Both have K24 engines. What I don't know is if either have standard 6 speeds or sequential gearboxes. That could cut down on gear change times and allow for customized gear ratios. The details of the drivetrain specs are just not known in the public so there could be some key differences there. Also, the "driver mod" is another big factor in lap times.

56.070! There you have it! The gold...errrrr....yellow standard for all other Honda time attackers to beat!

INSPIRE: GNR EK9 Tsukuba time attack machine

Time for some more INSPIRE. The other night, I started getting hyped up about time attack focused Civic hatchbacks, specifically the 1996-2000 model years, or the "EK" hatchback. Now, the EK9 chassis code is technically the Civic Type R for JDM market from 1997 to 2000. Not all 1996-00 Civics are "EK" actually. My 1999 Civic DX hatchback is actually an EJ6. Doesn't sound as cool, right? :( The USDM 1999-2000 Civic Si coupe is "EM1". But, for simplicity sake, all 1996-00 Civics are just called "EK", the 1992-95 are called "EG" and the 1988-91 are called "EF".

As I was saying, I was getting a dopamine hit while researching details of the fastest naturally aspirated (NA) powered Hondas at Tsukuba time attack events.  The difficulty of finding details about these cars that are the most interesting to me are due to a few things. First, they're in Japan. I don't live anywhere near Japan and second I don't speak Japanese. (Maybe that's my first solution, learn Japanese). Third, google searching for these cars doesn't result in much. These owners/drivers are doing this for the love of the sport and the love of tuning and not for internet fame or money. They probably don't think they're doing anything special enough to be worth anything to others across the world. (you are! please share info!) They're in their own little time attack world. :) So far, the only places I can find anything on these cars are YouTube, Instagram and a couple websites of Americans who make trips over to Japan once in awhile. Here's some links if you're interested:

YouTube Channel: "Attack Official @Days"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHgaHJ4IviYUwB40BoOkuQ

Instagram page with awesome photos and names of the cars/drivers that are helpful:
@mistbahn and www.mistbahn.com
The description for this IG page says "Honda PP1 BEAT (JDM Midship Kcar) for track. Mainly posting Honda track cars scene in JP. All photo shot by me except with comments.
Actually just clicked on the website and looks like its half English, half Japanese. Looks like the owner races a Honda Beat (mid engine tiny sports car) and runs a Racing Enthusiast website, mostly photography of race cars. Cool!

American websites of Japanese time attack/Honda enthusiasts:
The Chronicles is found at the website: https://stickydiljoe.com/
Not the most appropriate of names, but from my Honda padawan view, this is THE website for Honda tuning in the world. The close inner circle of Joey and the The Chronicles friends are the trend setters for Honda street cars from the late 80's to 2000 (EF, EG, EK and the Acura Integra counterparts (DA, DC2)). Joey and friends make trips to Japan and have become friends with some of the big well known Japanese Honda Civic tuning shops. Joey doesn't cover only Hondas, he covers all JDM tuning scene stuff. But, his roots are in Hondas and he covers all the biggest, highest quality Honda gatherings in Southern California.

Narita Dogfight website: https://thenaritadogfight.com/
Narita Dogfight YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5mGZ7CKbcnRN4UT1ZyH_Ag
Again, this is another Southern Californian Honda guy. He's building a sick EM1 Civic coupe time attack car. That car is worth a separate INSPIRE look. He rarely posts about it though and like many, gets busy with life and goes many months without sharing updates. Again, this site and his YouTube channel are not 100% 90's Hondas but its the only site where he's done some in-depth feature blogs on a few of the top Civic time attack machines from Japan.

Ok, that was a long intro, but I feel strongly to recognize and link you (and myself in the future) to their websites and YouTube channels. They are the ones supplying all the goods for now. I'll take you through my research process. I started by scrolling down the video list of the Attack Official @Days channel looking for any EF/EG/EK Civic hatchbacks. Then I would watch them and take notes on any info the video gives out. Like take a look at this picture below. It gives the cars power level, weight in kg (to convert to pounds, just multiply kg by 2.202462. I always shorten it to 2.2), tire model and size, sometimes the goal lap time or Personal Best lap and maybe some basic engine info. Then I take any additional notes I can by what I see on the car itself. Some info may be generic like the color and whether the car has simple or "big" aero mods, wide front fenders, etc. I'm just writing down what I observe. The other important piece of info is the cars are usually known by a title, which is based partly on the tuning shop that the car is built or sponsored by and the chassis code. In this blogs case, its the "GNR EK9".

The car I want to share and talk about today is the GNR EK9 Civic, owned by Asai Yasuji. It is one of the "Top 5" fastest NA powered Civics, with a fastest lap time of 57.823 (Update! found in The Chronicles posts from the February event that the new personal best time is 57.100sec) seconds at Tsukuba Circuit. Technically he's the 4th  (not sure where this puts him on the top Honda NA FF list) fastest according to the cars and lap times I've found so far. These pictures are all from the article posted by Narita Dogfight in March 2019 at this link here:
https://thenaritadogfight.com/2019/03/18/feature-northern-exposure-the-gnr-racing-ek9/
Go take a look at the original pictures and NDs story.

Screenshot from Attack Official @Days YouTube channel of the GNR EK9.

The notes I put in my iPhone "Notes" was:
GNR EK9 Asao Yasuji 57.823sec 57.100sec
link to the Narita Dogfight story
280hp/880kg (1936lbs) "Perfect" power to weight
295/30/18, custom ohlins, Endless brakes, custom radiator support
Big aero, wide fenders front and rear

GNR EK9 at Tsukuba Circuit pitlane ready for an attack session

Let's start with a stock EK9 Civic Type R. Stock power was 182hp (185PS) @ 8200rpm (8400 redline), 118lb-ft @ 7500rpm (LOLOL!!!) from a high revving 1.6L B16B and 5 speed. Google says it weighed 1090kg or 2403lbs. That means this car has dropped 210kg or 462lbs. That's 19% of its original weight is gone. Wow! That's significant. Just dropping the weight and doing no additional mods would transform the car. The EK9 Type R came in Championship white (NH-0), Sunlight Yellow (Y-56) for "facelift" or Kouki years, which were 1999-00, Vogue Silver Metallic (NH-583M) and Starlight Black Pearl or Flamenco Black Metallic was it was also called (NH-592P). So, this sharp looking blue is a custom non-factory color.

Let's talk weight. 462 lbs less than stock. So, my guess is carbon fiber #allthethings. Roof skin, doors, rear hatch, hood, front fenders and even side rear windows (maybe the rear hatch glass is carbon or just dark tint? Can't get a clear photo to tell). Then fully gutted interior (sorry, couldn't find a good interior photo). The front radiator support is chopped out and replaced with tube chassis pieces. No headlights remain. Typical dedicated racecar, there's nothing left that is not serving a go-fast purpose.

Close up shot of the front suspension. You can see the tube front support holding the body work and front aero. The Endless brakes (Japanese brand popular in racing circles), the Ohlins coilovers and the carbon headlight cover.

Then there's the tires. 295/30/18 tires on a 90's Honda???!!! That is INSANE!!! Stock was 195/55/15. 195mm divided by 25.4 converts mm to inches. 195/25.4 = 7.68" inch width. A 295 is 11.61" inch width.  How about 4x2 = 8" of more rubber on a car that weighs less than 2000lbs. The EK9 was a 5 lug (assuming 5x114.3 bolt pattern), so I don't think anything special was done to fit these super wide wheels. They bolt up. Oh, except for the fact that the fenders have to be tossed and you need custom wide units to replace them. See my last post for my idea of a clean, wide fender option (TF-Works).

GNR EK9 with K24 power

The Attack video of the 57.823sec run says this car is making 280hp. Or is that 280PS? I don't know the difference. haha Something with the different ways to measure power...That's 100hp more than the stock B16B. Of course, this isn't a B series engine under the hood any longer. This is a K24 with ITBs (Individual throttle bodies). The K24 stock was about 200hp around the world. This is probably a K24 with a K20 head for better flow and its going to be fairly well built, meaning aftermarket cams, header, throttle body, pullies (ditch the accessories like a/c), custom light weight (most likely titanium) catless exhaust and an ECU tune of some kind. Besides what you see, I have no idea what parts this K series is using or what's inside of it. This view also shows the cut out front half of the body and radiator support and front half of the internal fender.

GNR Racing EK9 in action at Tsukuba Circuit

Here it is in action. We haven't talked about the downforce aerodynamics at all. They're big! Look at that rear wing. Check out those front, double decker wings. The front bumper is actually fairly stock looking. You can see the transition from the front wide fenders to the bumper. The front grille looks blocked off with a carbon piece. The lower grille has an oil cooler (I think). The hood has big air vents extracting heat and letting air pressure out.

Final comment is the lap time of 57 seconds is really fast. I've seen video's on the same YouTube channel of high end cars, much more expensive cars, that are modified that are slower than this thing. The big lap time target for a fast car is the 1 minute barrier at Tsukuba. For comparison for how far time attack has come and for how far Honda Civic time attack builds have come, when I first started following closely the Tsukuba time attack lap record for a street car on "street" tires, the fastest lap time was 57 seconds. That was the record in 2002 by RE Amemiya FD3S RX-7. Who remembers the bright yellow JUN Super Lemon WRX STi time attack machine? Go take a detour and read this article: http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/130-0304-jun-super-lemon-subaru-wrx-race-car/
There is some good Tsukuba time attack history in there.

The JUN Super Lemon STI was the Top Time Attack machine in 2003. It had 582hp, 495tq from a stroked 2.5L turbo suby flat 4. It's fastest lap was 55.9 seconds. It had 18x9.5 Advan RGs, 265/35/18 tires, big rear wing, mild front airdam, and all metal body parts. The record was short lived and in December 2003 the Cyber Evo took the crown with a 55.8 sec laptime.

Just compare the basics though. That JUN Sti had twice the power, probably weighed almost 1000lbs more, had skinnier tires and awd and is only about 2 seconds faster than the lowly Civic. This is where the Civic catches my interest. The Civic is pedestrian. Look at the name. Civic. It's civil. It's a commuter car. It's a car to learn how to drive in when you're 16. But, with the right combination it can be made to go faster around a track or mountain road faster than much more expensive and purpose built sports cars. The Civic is a car I can afford. It's a car I can commute in and modify. Now, of course, I can have a gutted track car to daily drive. But, eventually the Civic will be retired from daily duties and can be built into a Tsukuba time attack inspired track toy! I'll keep researching and being INSPIRED. There's more cars like the GNR EK9 that inspire me and I'll try and put up a blog about those soon.

The hatch gets a Yonaka catback exhaust and more low

So, this whole coronavirus social-distancing has motivated me to do some more blogging. Figured I would do an update post on the 1999 Civic DX hatchback. It's coming up on one year of ownership. Currently the car has just over 51,000 miles. Pretty low for a 21 year old car, eh? ;) I've put about 16k miles on it in the 11 months of ownership. One of the (few) bonuses of the coronavirus thing is I'm not adding 400 more miles to the odometer each week. Ha Ha #cuphalffull

Had to drop by JDM Legends after the first round of mods and show Eric what I picked up last year.

Ok, so not a ton happened for months on the car. Just enjoying 41mpg on the daily and carving corners wherever I could. Then, one day while driving home on the freeway, I started hearing my exhaust. I know right!? Weird! LOL You're not supposed to hear the stock factory DX exhaust. Got home and put it up on jacks and turned the car on and got under the car. I found a silver dollar sized hole in the exhaust pipe right in front of the resonator. I bought a cheap Autozone patch and it worked for about 6 weeks. Then right before heading across the country for Christmas break, I pulled the car out of the garage to wash it and the exhaust was loud again and heard it dragging on the ground. No bueno! The patch had completely become useless and my pipe was fully separated and split in two.
I had already purchased a Yonaka 96-00 EK 3dr Hatchback catback exhaust. The problem was it was on backorder with an 8-12 week delivery.

"Pantera Corey" welding up the short patch tube on the stock exhaust while I wait for the Yonaka system to arrive.

My friends helped a brother out. "Porsche Kris" let me use his lift and "Pantera Corey" welded up my temporary exhaust pipe patch section. This all went down January 3rd after we got back from Georgia. My Yonaka catback was on a boat from China, literally, and didn't arrive until February. It finally got installed Feb' 21st. The patch held up great! Thanks guys!

The Yonaka system is a very nice quality system for the price ($240 shipped).

Nice quality welds and stainless steel materials.

Out of the box the Yonaka system was very nice quality. I paid $240 shipped, but that was because it was on backorder from October to February. Hey, I'll take it. I'm on a serious budget! I chose Yonaka for a few reasons. First, I couldn't afford a name brand system like Greddy or the like. Second, I wasn't going to go cheap and buy an eBay system. Third, most eBay systems use the big 4" round "fart can" muffler. That's just not my style. Unless I could get the muffler angled up "JDM style" I wasn't going round muffler style. Fourth, I wanted a more quiet system and preferably an oval shaped muffler. To me the oval muffler is a classier look. Unless I'm going super lightweight, time attack race style with Titanium materials, the oval muffler is better suited for my daily driving.

The Yonaka and the OEM catback systems laid out next to each other. Look at how the OEM has a slight bend after the heatshield. Hmm...

Yonaka catback installed. Notice the fitment...

The removal of the 21 year old OEM exhaust was easy and the install of the Yonaka was pretty straight forward. They supplied new hardware for the system but not the mounting hardware to connect up to the catalytic converter. My issue with the system is the fitment. The muffler ended up being about 1/2" to 1" shifted over to the right. I played around with the 2 lengths of rubber exhaust hangers on the car. The problem was, if I was able to get the system shifted to the left, it was really close to hitting the bottom of the car at the 90 degree bend section.

Overall I'm happy with it. If I can bend the 2 hangers on the muffler at some point to get fitment more on point, I'll do it.

A week or so after doing the exhaust, I finally decided to adjust the coilovers again. I've been wanting to go a little lower on ride height. I ended up only lowering it about 1/2" all around, but it made a difference in the look for sure. I also added about 1/4" more negative camber up front. I think that added about .5 degrees. It is very similar to the rears, which were at -1.1 and -1.4 degrees per the alignment shop. Since I dropped the rear 1/2" as well, it probably gained a couple tenths of a degree of camber. So, everything is probably at about -1.3 to -1.5 degrees. Should give me good handling without sacrificing tire wear. I didn't adjust front or rear toe at all. My tires show very little wear. The Hankook all-seasons are doing awesome!

All in all, I'm loving the hatchie! I've had fun adjusting the coilovers. The car handles great, is economical and I love washing it and keeping it super clean! Enjoy these beauty shots! I want to do some blogs about the top Civic hatchbacks that are inspiring me right now and giving me ideas for my own car. Hopefully I don't go 6 months before posting again. No promises!

Rear shot looking down the side profile for an idea of the fitment and camber.

What's next for the hatchie? I really want to do a front lip. My favorite lips right now are the First Molding, Spoon Type One or Tactical Art. They're all carbon fiber and start at like $400 plus shipping. Soooo, I'll probably end up going with a urethane eBay replica of one of those at first.

Cool top view from the porch. I always hand wash in my front lawn. Loving the white 949 Racing 6UL wheels with the Roma Red. 

Some cool news! I submitted an application to be sponsored by MPC, a tuning shop in the midwest who specializes in machined aluminum hardware, suspension bits and k swap parts. I was accepted! There is a "care package" in the mail. More to come on that! Pretty exciting. My first sponsor!

Change the entire car with one thing

Yes, wheels can change the look of a car and the tires can play a big part of the handling but that's not the one thing that changes the entire car. Suspension and ride height are what determine the look and handling and overall character of a car. That's what I'm getting into today with this post.
First a quick run down of what suspension I've had on previous cars:
My 1972 bug had stock rear suspension and the front beam suspension with 3-4 splines removed. It dropped the front end probably 2-3 inches and gave it that "hot rod" raked look. It was bouncy but looked cool.
My 1995 Civic EX coupe started out totally stock. Within a year and a half I had Eibach Sportline springs (given to me by my friend) and KYB AGX adjustable shocks and struts. This setup was awesome for the price and simplicity. The parts were good quality and worked well. The adjustability of the KYBs was really nice to have. I was able to feel the difference from soft to hard.
My 1995 Mustang GT had Eibach Pro-kit and I don't remember if it had anything other than stock shocks. I never really pushed this car in corners.
My 1998 Civic LX sedan was totally stock.
My 2002 WRX originally came with Goldline lowering springs and KYB GR2 (non-adjustable) shocks. This was a nice setup for the daily commute and spirited drive. I wanted to get more aggressive so I replaced them with BC BR Coilovers with 8k f/6k r springs and adjustable shocks. I had these installed at Innovative Garage in Salt Lake. I also had them install a bumpsteer kit. This setup changed the entire car. I also had a fairly aggressive alignment. It was lowered more as well. I had 17x9 +35mm Rota Grids with 245/40/17 tires. I did take this to a W.O.W (Wide Open Wednesday) event at Miller Motorsports Park which included an autox area. What a hoot! After getting the coilovers and enjoying the new ride I will never want to go with anything else.
My Fit was dead stock too.
My BMW 330ci had the H&R Sport Cup Kit (lowering springs and shocks/struts). This was a very nice setup as well. Stiffer and lower than stock but not very aggressive. I did an autox event with it like this. A little too much bodyroll but very nice for the daily drive.

So, in the past 20 years (whoa, I'm getting old) I've had many different cars and suspensions. These have all been my daily drivers. Obviously a track dedicated car will be a different discussion. For a daily car though, for me personally, I like a stiffer suspension than what the average lowering spring and sport shock can offer. Especially if you want to drive a car hard, like at an autox event or attacking some canyons, you're going to want stiffer springs and good quality dampening. This setup gets even more important when you run aggressive wide wheels and tires. I ran into this with my bimmer. I went aggressive in the rear with 18x9.5 +35mm and 265/35/18. After I first got the wheels/tires installed, I drove it to work. It was rubbing on some bigger bumps. I then invested in a heat gun and fender roller. I rolled the fenders and gave them a mini-pull. There was a mounting screw that I trimmed as well. All that work helped but I still heard a very slight "squeak" noise on big bumps. I found that the tire was rubbing on the edge of the bumper. If my suspension was stiffer there likely wouldn't be any tire to bumper contact due to the reduced suspension travel of a stiffer spring rate.
So, as I plan out what I want to do with the Civic, I will be getting some quality coilovers. There are many options for the 90's Civics. This chassis (88-00 civic, 94-01 integra) likely has THE largest selection of springs, shocks and coilovers than any other make/model. You can buy anything from $30 lowering springs or $200 "Racing Coilovers" from eBay all the way up to $5000 JRZ coilovers. For a street car like mine that will see mostly normal driving duties with some occasional aggressive driving and maybe 2 or 3 autox events each year it doesn't make sense to go very expensive. For me the sweet spot for street car coilovers is about the $1000-$1500 range. In this range you get quality construction for long lasting performance. You also get adjustability with dampening and ride height. This allows me to soften up the shocks for a trip down to St. George for a baseball tournament and then the next weekend stiffen it back up for an autox event. The ride height adjustability allows me to dial in the "look" or "stance" I want along with optimizing the setup for best handling and ground clearance. Having an adjustable setup you could go "show low" and raise it back up for daily driving. While that availability is there, I'm not interested in changing my ride height. I plan to get it where I want it and leave it there. Personally I don't want to have rubbing issues. I need to be able to put kids in the car along with some baseball gear. I had the rubbing issue with my bimmer and don't want to deal with that again. My personal preference on the "look" I want is not super slammed anyway. I prefer the "track" look with the top of the tire about even with the fender edge or a slight gap.
The most important first consideration is what brand are the coilovers. I don't want a no-name brand that has no history nor will back up any quality issues. Reliability and quality are important. In considering the options in the sweet spot of $1000-1500 one of the things I'm looking at is what the spring rates are for the different systems. My experience with the BC coilovers on my WRX was very positive. Those were 8k and 6k. I do remember reading that different suspension designs have different needs for a given performance level when it comes to spring rates. McPherson struct type design doesn't work the same as double-wishbone like my Civic has. I need to do more research to understand the differences. It has something to do with the geometry of the different designs and the "swing path" the specific geometries generate. Maybe I'll dive into that world a little and report back what I find.

Ground Control/Koni coilovers-tried and true go-to suspension for the Honda community for years!

BC Type BR coilovers. BC coils have become a great entry level coilover option. I was happy with the set I had on my WRX.

So, let's get to the options I'm looking at for the '99 EK Hatch, in no particular order.
First we have the big names who have been in the suspension tuning world for a long time. This includes companies like Buddy Club, Tein, Skunk2, Apex'i and Ground Control. For the Honda world, I know the Ground Control system is very popular and well liked one. It includes Eibach springs on an adjustable coilover design and uses Koni Yellow shocks with different valving. I found this system for sale in the $700-900 range. Just did a quick search and people are running various different spring rates.

K-Tuned K1 Coilovers-found them cheapest on jhpusa.com

The Speed Academy guys ran K-Tuned K1 and K2 coilovers on their project Civic EK Coupe. This car is essentially the same as mine. The K1 kits I've found for $900 and run 10k and 6k spring rates with adjustable dampening. The K2 Circuit is 20k and 16k with different dampening valving.  The K2 goes for about $1500-1700. I found a few decent video reviews on YouTube for both. While the "racer" in me would love to run the K2 I think its just too stiff for my needs. Plus its another $600-700 more cost. I am definitely trying to get the most for my money. I have other parts I want to do on my Civic in this first year or so. So, any money I can save will go a long way to the overall look and performance of my EK.
Another option is BC coilovers. With my success using the BCs on my WRX, I would be happy to get a set for my Civic.
I'll tell you, I'm leaning towards the K-tuned K1's. The price is right. $900 is very affordable for what I'm trying to achieve. Also, I really like what I've seen from K-Tuned on all their Honda parts. They are a company dedicated to Honda's and so for me, the fact that they specialize in this certain type of car means they're invested in making good quality parts. and are designing them specific for these cars. I also really respect the Speed Academy guys and their opinions on parts they test.
So, I am pretty much decided on the K1's.
I have more research to do on what alignment settings I should do. I went too aggressive on my WRX when I had the BC coilovers. I had too much wear from the toe out. I went with the suggestion of Innovative Garage. It was not an issue with their work or the alignment. I found that the tire wear was too much for my commute. It caused my tires to wear sooner than I wanted. I found that the camber was not necessarily the issue. The issue was the toe out (I ran 1/16" I believe). It helps in turn in but when normal driving, it scrubs the tires on the inside tread. So, for the EK I'm planning to be more in the 0 toe out. More to come on what alignment I should go with. I believe I'll need to get adjustable upper control arms to be able to adjust camber front and rear. If I stick to about a 2" drop I may not need to get camber adjustability. Like I said, more to come there.

EK hatch = the Daily Racecar

Blogging 2 nights in a row? Are you feeling alright?  ;)

Might as well keep going while I'm motivated to write.

So, what is it like to drive a 90's commuter car? LOL It's slow! I've never owned super fast or powerful cars. But, going from 230hp in 3300lbs (330ci bimmer) to a 106hp in 2300lbs ('99 EK hatchback) is a big change. The bimmer was also lowered and BMW also has the "Ultimate Driving Machine" going for it. Did you see the weight difference? 1000 lbs!!! This is one of the big factors in my decision to get back into a Honda.  Add lightness! Weight kills driving feel. Also #slowcarfast! It's more enjoyable to drive a car closer to its maximum effort than to hold back on a faster car.
I'm having so much fun driving this Civic around town. It takes more thought and planning to pass people on the freeway. It's fun to take corners. The light nimbleness is just fun!
The other detail is the Honda transmission and its shifter feel. My bimmer had a $300 nice quality shifter. This stock 20 year old SUPER light feel shifter is soooooo much fun!!! I can't really explain it. It's so light weight. You can flick it around. It's like this musical instrument that you can precisely and carefully maneuver around from gear to gear. The engine is so quick to rev that you can rev match so easily and quickly with the flick of the wrist. It puts a smile on my face.

The post needed a picture up towards the top. Here is the range of colors that Konig has for the Hypergram! I've already done Matte Grey on my bimmer. Maybe its on to Race Bronze next for my "daily racecar"?

The other thing I realized as I was thinking about what car to get next and as I test drove the Civic and then got back in the bimmer and then began driving the Civic is I'm not the right type of driver or personality to own a Mustang or any of the more powerful cars. My bro is a 'Stang guy. He loves getting aggressive in canyons and letting the tail hang out. He is less cautious you could say LOL. That kind of driving and mentality is rewarded by cars like Mustangs, rwd, torquey, higher power, heavier chassis, bigger and wider chassis. I just plain don't have the guts to hang the tail out. I'm a scaredy cat! I seriously owned a rwd car with over 200hp for 3 years and never got it sideways! I never did a burnout! Heresy, I know! I did like less than 10 drag launches in those 3 years. The traction control was annoying. But you can turn it off and I hardly ever turned it off.
I'm more of a "grip" driver. I like to stay in the lines. I like the details, I like to be precise. I feel like light FF (front engine, front wheel drive) cars fit that personality. I also like the "David and Goliath" ethos, the "Giant killer"(If you're wondering what Giants any Hondas have killed, just go review how the Hondas have done in Global Time Attack events in Australia!). I like to do more with less. I like efficiency. Light cars like Civics are known as "momentum" cars. You can't rely on your right foot to make up for mistakes. You have to nail the apex to carry your speed through to the next turn. I like the planning and thinking behind getting it right.
The first thing to address with the Civic then is not the engine. I could spend $1000 on the D16 single cam 4 pot and it would maybe make 140-150hp. It's simply not worth investing in. A turbo kit on the stock block would probably get it up to 175hp or so for like $3000 or so. Honestly not a horrible option, but now I've just added weight (turbo, intercooler, piping) and its all on the nose of the car. For the same cost, I could swap in a B series engine and get the same power level and have 1000 more rpm to play with.
No, the engine is not where I'll be focusing. The suspension and wheels and tires are "Stage 1".
Let's start with wheels. I'll definitely be going with 15". These are the most plentiful and cost effective. I personally prefer the look of 15" with 205/50/15 tires over 16" with 205/40/16. This second 16" option is exactly what I had on my first Civic (aka Jackie Chan). It looks good, don't get me wrong. Over time its not the look I like.

"Jackie Chan" was my first Japanese car, first Civic. It's a '95 EX Coupe. These were 16x7 +40mm Nippon wheels I bought off of eBay for like $400. The tires were 205/40/16 Sumitomo HTR's I believe. I bought this car in 2001. This picture was 2003 in Glendora, Calif. The suspension was Eibach Sportlines with KYB AGX adjustable shocks. This was a really good setup.  I loved this car. Hhhhhh....

I'm definitely a fan of the "JDM style" of build for Hondas. I'm also a huge track and autox fan. I like the "meaty tire" look. It looks purposeful and mean! It also makes the most practical sense for drivability and makes the most functional sense in that its the best way to build a car to be driven hard and for cornering. I can appreciate the "stance" look just like I dig super low hot rods and customs and even lowriders. I can appreciate the look and work that is involved. But, my personal style (and budget) is the functional, meaty stance.
So, first things first, I need to get some wheels. The black 14x5 steelies with plastic 90's hubcaps are not doing it for me. They're ugly obviously and they are hard, balloony all-season tires and they have no feel or grip. 185/65/14 tires have a tall sidewall.

Ugly 14" steelies with hubcaps!

Originally when I began my search, I really wanted to do 15x8 or even 15x8.5. For tires I really wanted to do 225/50 or 225/45 for that extra meaty look and Kanjo style with white lettering. Like this...

Kanjo style EK Civic with "Advan Yokohama" tire lettering

So, both my Civics had knockoff wheels. Nippon F5 are Desmond Regamaster copies. Those were on my '95 EG coupe. Then I had Rota Grids which are Volk TE37 copies on my '98 EK sedan.

My '98 EK Sedan with 16x7 Rota Grids with 215/40/16 tires on stock suspension.  Dig the pinstripe? Nope, me neither!! Don't ever buy from a ghetto used car dealer like First Class Cars. :(

After owning some knockoff Chinese wheels, (my WRX also had Rota Grids) I wanted to try and get some quality wheels. I bought Konig Hypergrams for my bimmer after watching the Speed Academy Civic track build vlog series. The Speed Academy guys explained that the Konigs are light, strong and affordable. That's my perfect combination. Sure, I'd love some rare Japanese wheels. I'd love some real Volks TE37s or Enkei RPF1s, but I simply can't afford those. In my search for Civic wheels, I started with Konigs again. I also really like the 949 Racing 6UL wheels. After looking around, they seem to be backordered everywhere I searched. They're also more expensive than Konigs. Not by a ton but they're more. As I said, I was first wanting to go aggressive. I wanted 15x8 or 15x8.5. But again, I pulled up the Speed Academy vlog series on the black EK coupe and saw that they had a blast on track and a nice meaty tire look with the Konig Hypergram in 15x7.5 +35mm and some sticky 205/50/15's (looks like they did go to a 225/45/15 on front later). THe 15x8/8.5 options from Konig have +25mm offset. That's a little aggressive. Not a ton. You can roll fenders. There are wide fender options. But, like the Speed Academy hosers (they're from Canada eh, take off eh hosehead) they wanted a bolt on wheel. Check it out. Looks great!!

Here's a screenshot from the Speed Academy YouTube vid when they installed the Konig Hypergrams.

 Here is the same wheel on an EG, the Konig Hypergram in Bronze. Love!

Ebay has been my source for wheels all these years. Here is the 15x7.5 +35mm Konig Hypergram in Matte Grey.

...and here is the same wheel in Race Bronze. 

I've purchased 4 sets of wheels/tires from eBay Speed Shop since 2003. I've had great success and great prices! It will be no different here. Discount Tire eBay store sells these Konig Hypergrams for $468 with free shipping. Steal of a deal!!
Now its just deciding if I want Matte Grey or Race Bronze. Hmm... decisions!
For tire, I see 2 paths I can take. I can take the approach I've always taken. Go cheap! For example, on my bimmer I bought Accelera PHI-R tires off eBay. I found 205/50/15 Accelera PHI-R tires for $243 for a set. So cheap!
For this setup (Konig Hypergram + Accelera PHI-R in 15") it will cost $711 plus $60 to mount and balance at Burt Bros. The same setup in 18" for my bimmer was $850 + $400 +$60 = $1310. About double!
The 2nd path would be to pay a little more and get a sticky 200 treadwear tire in 205/50/15. Like the EG picture above running BFG Rivals. There is the Nitto NT01/NT05s, the Federal RSR, the Toyo R888, and so forth. I found the Federal RSR for $350 for a set. Awesome deal! I might have to try that. They won't last as long as other options. The Dunlop Direzza is kind of a middle ground option at 280 treadwear and decent price. That might be my best option actually.

A few inspirational pictures to finish the post...

One of the few EK Hatches I could find with Hypergrams. Here it is in bronze. Very clean EK right here. 

This red EK Hatch is one I found on Instagram Speed Shop owned by "@jdmek7669". This looks like it runs 16" Konig Hypergrams. Those tires are pretty low profile. I have a hard time finding wheel/tire specs online. Nobody posts their setups openly. It's annoying.

Konig Dekagram, my second choice.

The Konig Dekagram was right up there. But, at the same size, this wheel is $100. Not sure why. Great looking wheel. I think a black Dekagram would look great on my red Hatch. Hmm.... should I reconsider?
That's it for tonight. Dream of 15" wheels and 200 tread track tires on your daily! I know I will!

Hello Honda! (again)

I need to do this blogging thing more. It's fun! 

So, yes, I went about 3 years with the BMW and sold it. Shocker, not shocker! My wife says the only thing I can promise is that in 2-3 years I'll want to sell whatever it is I own at the time. LOL sniff sniff...mmm hmm. I can't say anything...that is exactly what has happened. This is my (bug, civic, mustang, civic, wrx, fit, bmw, civic) 8th car! This is the keeper!
Seriously though, this might just be the keeper.
So, what did I buy? I bought a 1999 Honda Civic DX Hatchback in Roma Red with, wait for it...34,498 original Utah miles! I know!!!!! It's like a brand new car!!! It's 20 years old!!! Like "What the Honda!!!!????"
So, here's the story. Utah winter is wrapping up. It's about February, March and I'm starting to itch. My bimmer is running the stock wheels/tires (looks pedestrian), has a ticky noise I can't track down and its been about 3 years. The car has 150k miles and I start to search ksl classifieds. As I mentioned in my bye bye bimmer post, I always start out by looking for a 90's Civic. It's the car I grew up on! I'm hooked to them. They're light, nimble, economical, easy to work on, cheap to mod and on and on. The problem is at this point they are 20-30 years old. They're classic err... Neo Classic cars. They're not a JDM Legend! Which means they're project cars! I don't have time, money, space or tools for a project car!!! The entry price is great! I mean, even I can afford $2000-4000. So, I usually start looking for newer cars. This time I spent much time in the Mustang realm. Especially about 3 weeks ago. My brother told me he was going to be selling his S550 V6 Mustang and would be looking for an S197 (2005-2009) Mustang GT. Those can be had for about $7-12k depending. I was all in to be a Mustang bro again! Utah is not a sports car mecca. With only about 2 million people from Utah County up to Ogden, its like searching for a car in say Irvine/Anaheim but no where else. Not much selection! So, I wasn't finding any good S197 candidates. I started searching for WRXs, Hondas, Acuras and whatever sounded interesting.
I was actually willing to spend more to get a nice B or even K swapped Civic. There's actually one on ksl the past month, a black EG hatch with a K20 swap for $5500. But, its kind of racecar'd out and is not smog legal (it's in Idaho, I don't think smog is required there). I'm just not in a position to buy a project that I can't smog check until I do a bunch of stuff (that I'm not knowledgeable about). That was kind of hard to pass up.
Then I came upon this ksl ad in my 88-2000 civic search.

1999 Honda Civic DX Roma Red-soooooo clean!

 It felt too good to be true!!!

There is photo evidence of the 34k original miles!

 I was just hoping someone who knew how worth $6k this thing was didn't beat me to it!

You can eat off this thing!

Luckily I don't have the money to swap out this thing. It only has 34k miles! What a shame that'd be!

Roll up windows! No Cruise Control! = Add lightness!

A 1999 Honda Civic DX Hatchback, 34k miles, 2 owner, freshly detailed, no mods except a sweet lookin' aluminum Acura 5 speed shift knob for $6000. Huh, that's in my price range! I hadn't even had the serious talk with my wife, which gives me clearance to go hunting for real. So, of course, I texted her a screenshot of the ad and said "can I go see it?". The car has been up for sale for like 1-2 days when I actually text him. I said "Hello, I'm interested in seeing your civic. Would today between 4-5 work for you? Work in Draper, live in Farmington. I could drop by on way home from work. Chris" and then I followed that up 3 hours later with "Hopefully its still for sale. In case you have an offer on the table and you're not fully happy with the offer, please let me know." LOL
I was serious and was willing to go higher if there was another serious buyer. These texts were Wednesday April 24th. He responded that night. He did have other interested people texting him. I was able to go see it Thursday after work.
When I saw it I couldn't believe how like brand new it was. The second owner gave me the whole story. He bought it 4 months prior from the original elderly couple who barely drove it. It sat in a garage for 20 years.
The car is immaculate! It's like a museum piece. There is a part of me that feels bad for driving it. But, its a base model Honda Civic. It's nothing special as it sits. Maybe someday but probably not. There are millions of them still driving around. I just happen to have the cleanest 1999 Honda in the State. haha
I paid $5500 for it. What do you think? The kbb and NADA guides said $3600 and $3800. So, ya, I paid more than the value is estimated at. But, this car is beyond "Excellent Condition". It's also 20 years old, so I probably should have tried to see if a "classic car" guide said something different. I think I got a great deal! 0 problems, basically a new car and the perfect color for a blank Honda canvas!

Holy Cow!!! 34k original miles!!! Insane!!! Yep, I'm a happy Honda car guy right there! 1999 Honda Civic Roma Red Hatchback

This thing shines!!! Kudos to owner #2 for detailing it so well! You sold this car because of your attention to detail1

Me at work taking a selfie with the '99 EK Hatch

Of course, the first thing I had to do when I got to work (nope, didn't do much work that day!) was grab my car guy friends to come take a look!

34,498 original miles at time of purchase on 29APR2019 at about 12:30pm

The 2nd owner was like "I don't think the first owners every looked in here!"

The EK Hatch in its new home!

Of course the first mod was my "JDM Legends" license plate cover. I've had it for like 6 years or more. Just waiting to get something worthy to put it on!

JDM Legends License Plate Cover finally made it on a car of mine! I went with the "red" (DMV lady said, you mean orange?) Utah Ski plate design to "match" the EK hatch

This aluminum Acura shift knob is smooth and light, I love it!!!

I think that's enough for now. It's past my bedtime! Today I was able to get it smogged and registered at the Davis County DMV.
So, this is the blank canvas I've been searching for. I'm excited to own it, to document my ownership as I think this is a unique opportunity to own such a desirable car in the Import/JDM/Tuner community. It's basically a barnfind for Japanese car nuts. It's like finding a 65 Mustang coupe (not a Fastback Shelby, that'd be like if I found a Civic Type-R ) in a garage in like new condition!
I'm currently in research mode. Stage 1 will be wheels/tires and coilovers! Gotta get the ride up to Hechtspeed specifications and some proper wheels and tires. Until then...

Bye bye Bimmer!

Soooo, I sold the bimmer lol!!! It was almost 3 years, almost! I bought it for $6500, sold it for $3900. I always like to evaluate how I came out on the financial side of things with my cars. I have a very tight budget and so I'm conscious of where my money goes. I have typically lost about $2000/year on all my cars. Let’s see how the bimmer fared.
I replaced the radiator fan for $200, control arms and poly bushings for like $350, Konig Hypergram wheels and Acellera (who?haha) tires for like $1200. I did sell the BMW wheels for $450 so that makes the wheels/tires about $750.

The bimmus 330ci at work with the "winter mode" wheel/tire setup. Doesn't look half bad but its much more sedate than the Konig Hypergrams

$6500 - $1300 (major maintenance and mods) + $3900 = $3900. Divide $3900 by 3 years and that's about $1300 cost of ownership per year. That's really good actually. Huh...All said I really enjoyed BMW ownership. The car was a ton of fun to drive and own. When washed up it was good lookin' fo sure.

I was originally going to write about the new car I bought (1999 Honda Civic DX Hatchback in Roma Red) but I have too many things to say to close out the ownership of the bimmer including why I sold it. So, the new car post will be a separate one.
So, after reading my December 2017 update, there isn't a whole lot to update on. :) 2 main things I did with the bimmer was take it to Bonneville Speedweek in August 2018. I drove out to the Salt Flats on the Friday night, camped out at Lands End and enjoyed checking out the hot rods and racecars on the Great White Dyno on Saturday.

BMW 330ci at the Bonneville Salt Flats next to the SCTA trailer!

Here are the pics I put up on my KSL.com classifieds ad. Didn't end up needing the ksl as Pantera Corey's brother/niece ended up buying it! Very happy its staying in the family! Hope to see it out autocrossing soon!

Konig Hypergram 18" wheels on Accelera PHI-R tires and H&R Cup Kit

Tan Leather Premium Package, it grew on me. I love the heated seats in the winder. 

UUC short shifter an knob. Loved this set up. Very direct and had a quality feel.

Tan leather was easy to keep clean an stayed much cooler in the summer heat than black

Then a couple months later I was invited by Pantera Corey to try AutoX with him and his brother/sis-n-law/niece/nephew here in Farmington at the Legacy Events Center.

Utah SCCA Legacy Events Center OktoberFast Event-330ci and my first AutoX. Pantera Corey's Mazda6 is in the background 

 The Utah SCCA makes it very affordable (was like $35 for your first time) and lets you borrow a helmet. Had to go with lucky #78!

Can't remember who took the photos and shared them on Facebook but thank you bro! Here's the 330ci dodging cones!

I've done multiple longer trips in the bimmer. I went to St. George twice this year for baseball tournaments plus last fall for an Electric R/C flyin with my dad and bro. Heading out to Bonneville is fairly quick and easy. Not much to see though.  I took a cool picture of the bimmer in front of the SCTA trailer. I love the flats!

The AutoX event was so much fun! It was super helpful to have a friend who knew what they were doing as well. I think I had 6 runs between 2 sessions. I got faster on each run as I learned the course and as I pushed the car harder. One of the most interesting things was I learned from an experience driver guiding me along that I as I went slower in I was able to go faster out. The bimmer and the Accelera tires performed great. It was late October in Utah so it was like 60 degrees, perfect for not stressing out my equipment.
I really enjoyed seeing a ton of cool cars go hard at the cones. I loved hearing the engines and screeching tires. There was a white EG civic sedan that was gutted with some 15" meats and it was FAST. The Miatas were also fun to watch. They were able to carry so much speed through the turns.

OK, so the bimmer was #goodtimes but I was itching to move on. It has been about 3 years anyway. :) The reason I sold it was to get into a car that I could afford to modify. Modifying is the part of this hobby that I enjoy the most. I hit the limit with the BMW. There was really nothing I could have done to the engine to really boost power significantly. Sure, I could have spent a $100+ on an intake kit and gotten another 5hp. There are no headers that are smog legal since the catalytic converter is in the exhaust manifold. I could have done coilovers but it already had H&R springs and shocks. Plus it had 157k miles with some minor things that were bugging me. The car is heavy per my specifications. It's 3300+ lbs and only 225hp stock. Its a great cruiser. I just wasn't inspired by it anymore.
Every time I start getting the itch to sell and buy something different, I always start looking at 90's Hondas and Mustangs. In my past I've already had 2 Civics and a Fit. I just enjoy the lightweight, nimble character of Hondas. I enjoy the practicality and affordability. I commute 72 miles per day (20k/year) so having a commuter that I can call my project is also the best use of my dollars, the best fun per dollar.
The problem with Honda is the only ones I like are from 1988-2000. These are the lightest best handling Civics with the biggest aftermarket. The 2000 and newer Civics are heavier, bigger and they lost their 4 wheel double-wishbone suspension design. :( Booooo! Progress is not always better.