JDM Accord EURO-R 2005 with handling mods and livery

JDM Accord EURO-R 2005 with handling mods and livery

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BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Monday 15th May 2023
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So having resurrected my BEAMS Celica thread with updates,after a nudge from Zuban I thought it sensible to add the 2nd car of my 2 car garage on here and give it its own thread.Some will have seen pics on a couple of the other Euro R owners threads but apologies if you've seen it before! And I'll go from the beginning as to why i ended up with this car,so there will be waffle,sorry but i warned you.On a PC it looks fine,on a phone the long threads seem to go ooooon...

Having sold a very nice ST205 GT-Four Celica in 2020,I knew because of family commitments I was going to need something with a modicum of practicality,pretty much with 4 doors for my growing brood of grandkids,and something my 80 plus year old Mum could get in without folding her up like a concertina..
We had a family runabout in a Skoda Fabia 1.6SE diesel,but I needed something for when that wasn't available,but I wanted a car that I'd actually enjoy driving so with a reasonable budget I started scratching my head for choices.I decided for maintenance and reliability I wasnt going for another turbo car,and not a diesel either.I had the Celica as a weekend toy but something as a daily would be handy,and as I don't have a commute I knew I wouldn't need to worry too much about mileage etc.
My mate who owns a DC5 and is a bit of a Honda nut,suggested, in passing, an Accord,which on the face of it I quite fancied.Like the look of them.Then he said you do know they do a Euro R version with basically the same running gear as the Integra.That got my attention.So after some internetting,I decided to contact Torque GT ,they had a couple in stock but not quite to my fancy ,I wasn't fussed if I had a standard car but as they came with differing levels of bits n bobs,I decided I'd like one in Pearl White (though the blue is nice) and with a boot spoiler,factory one fine but if it had a nice Mugen one,then well all the better.I budgeted to get a standard one,best I could find and then I'd probably change suspension and wheels,and exhaust later.
So,chat with Darren at Torque,a deposit was down and the search started to import my own car direct from the Land of The Rising Sun.Exciting stuff.

My experience with Darren was excellent,daily emails regarding the auctions and advice too.We discounted a couple that were coming up ,but found one to bid on! It was a very late 2007 car,in white,super low miles, Grade4.5B, Mugen spoiler,Mugen wind deflectors but otherwise standard.He did warn me that this car would be a target for not just me,but dealers etc so it was likely it would go above my budget but we'd have a pop.
So 2 days later I'm sitting on edge of my seat as its almost auction time,then Darren emails to say the car has been pulled pre-auction.Dammit.Apparently it does happen.But we'd keep looking for the right car,I was prepared to be patient anyway especially as it would take ages to get one over to the UK even if i won a good one,so hey.

Anyway a week goes by and Darren contacts me to make a suggestion.A customer car they'd imported themselves in 2018 was possibly coming in as the owner was looking to upgrade to something a bit lairy. He sent me some details and pics the seller had sent him. 2005,in white,89k on it which was higher than the ones I'd been looking for in Japan,but hardly biblical.Full Jap history file,all original dealer books and documentation (all in Japanese obv),BIMTA certficate,nice interior with full factory 'Euro R' mat set etc.Sounds good! He said that as I'd stated I didnt mind some modifications,this might be well worth a consideration.It also had all documentation for UK service history since its arrival in '18,serviced mainly by Torque themselves ,but also receipts for the exhaust,suspension and a bill from Grinspeed for a full setup,including a service including valve clearances too.Nice.
Now I don't usually like the idea of buying a really modified car as I'd rather do it myself knowing the parts are right and they're done right for my taste.
But this thing had a load of goodies on it,mostly supplied and fitted by Torque themselves for the customer when it got to Uk and not cheapo parts either,plus all the evidence of maintenance.

Fujitsubo Legalis exhaust system,nice set of 7twenty alloys in grey, genuine Mugen wind deflectors,Tein Flex Z coilovers,Hardrace front upper and lower adjustable control arms,Hardrace rear arms,Hardrace balljoints, Injen CAI with longarm extension,aftermarket strutbrace,and quite a few other bits.I saw the pics of the car and it looked really good too.It would also come with the original suspension,airbox system and factory strutbrace if needed to revert back to some originality.
So I was sold really to be honest,those bits I'd have wanted to have added in stages later anyway,the car was just about on my top budget and had over 2 grands worth of goodies added.Bonus.And it was already registered here ,so no boat trip involved for it,it would have a fresh MOT and PDi ready to go .
Deal done,train ride from Kent to Cornwall and I picked her up.Filled up with VPower and fresh from a kip on the train,I started the journey back up to Kent.And have to say it was brilliant,I was a touch worried that the suspension mods would make it a bit too hardcore for the road,but not a bit of it.Wound the coilies back to a compliant level and was great.
So that's how I ended up with it,more to come from ownership point of view and its changed its look a bit now,but here's the pics i took early doors:





Clean and with childseat in situ!





Engine shot,camcover starting to lose its red paint which is common on these,job for later.



So thats how it sat,all good at that point so I'll update how things have gone bit later..









Edited by BEAMS 162 on Monday 15th May 11:16


Edited by BEAMS 162 on Monday 15th May 11:22

d_a_n1979

8,700 posts

74 months

Monday 15th May 2023
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Fantastic car pal thumbup

Always wanted (and still do) one of these

I was coveting the Accord Type S estate that Torque GT had in a while back; this one and a white one:

https://www.torque-gt.co.uk/honda-accord-type-s-15...

Low & behold the white one sold a few weeks before I bought my current F31 and earlier this year; it turned up at Grinspeed to get fettled! Small world...

After my DC5 and short lived 3months onwership of a pirates black ATR (currently on eBay at a laughable £5k) laugh I never ventured back to Honda! But a Euro-R would pull me back in easy enough biggrin

Bookmarked thumbup

Cambs_Stuart

2,921 posts

86 months

Monday 15th May 2023
quotequote all
That looks brilliant. I'm a fan of what you did with the Celica, so hoping this thread is another cracker!

bumskins

1,465 posts

17 months

Monday 15th May 2023
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BEAMS 162 said:
...nice set of 7twenty alloys...
Is there such a thing? wink

Tbf the Regamaster replicas look a lot better than all the TeeHee37 replicas, and yours in grey probably look better than the originals do in matte black IMO, lovely car and best of luck with it cool



mat205125

17,790 posts

215 months

Monday 15th May 2023
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That's stunning. Very cool, and I have zero knowledge that this model was such a thing.

Zuban

25 posts

56 months

Monday 15th May 2023
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That is really very nice, does make me think about a type s estate as the next family car

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Tuesday 16th May 2023
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bumskins said:
Is there such a thing? wink

Tbf the Regamaster replicas look a lot better than all the TeeHee37 replicas, and yours in grey probably look better than the originals do in matte black IMO, lovely car and best of luck with it cool
Cheers,re the wheels they are a Regamaster doppelganger,you can find these listed through Driftworks etc,they also come with the proper 7Twenty centrecaps etc.Yeah they suit the car in grey for sure.


BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Tuesday 16th May 2023
quotequote all
I've seen the Estate type S and I do keep an eye on Torque's stocklist as a matter of course,so I've seen the cars you mention. If you want an estate then they're really nice,though you won't get the K20 drivetrain obviously.

So fast forward a year or so,well happy with the car but couple of niggles have started to bug me.The front splitter,when I bought the car Torque had told me the previous owner for some reason had decided to fit some sort of extra splitter-y type thing to it,but it had got damaged and removed.The holes under the front of the factory bumper had been filled and the bottom half had seen some new paint,which I spotted on pickup as it had too much Pearl in it.Wasn't a bad job by any means,but when i was giving the car some detailing love it had begun to irk me a little,I also noticed a small chunk of the black plastic foglight surround was missing.I didn't need the fog surround including a foglight,but could I find the plastic part on its own?Course not.The Euro has a different bumper to any other CL7 Accord so its a specific part .I went on RHD Japan and all the usual places but I could only get a complete unit for over 200 quid plus posting,and no one was breaking any as they aren't exactly common cars.
I had a chat with Torque who said they could source me one but it would have to be through Honda,so begrudgingly agreed to get them to send me one after being bummed by Honda for 66 quid for a moulded piece of plastic.Still,at least I had it. I contacted the guy I've used for paint on the Celica and took the car up to him to have the whole front bumper section removed and repainted properly,no point in trying to match just the lip area,I wanted it done properly and Gary did a bang up job ,obviously having to remove fog light assemblies meant he could fit the new surround,I didnt see the point in having the bumper done only to refit a broken part which is why I had to have it.



That's a bug in the right of next pic,not a chip already lol. The black around the foglight is the only part of the new surround actually visible,the rest is behind the panel with the plug fittings and tabs etc.But at least it didnt have a chunk missing now,that you would have seen.



So the next couple of things that needed sorting.The ride height was becoming an issue,I can see why the previous owner lost his splitter ornament so quick because the car,although looked nice with its stance,was just too damn low.On more than one occasion before the bumper was painted,I'd bottomed the front out more than once on our crap roads,even going a touch quick on dips it scraped,and also on smaller smooth speed bumps the exhaust would give a clang no matter how slow or what angle I tried.So I wanted that sorted,no point keeping it like it and taking paint off the underside of my freshly painted front!
I also noticed under braking the car had started to 'grab' to the left,harder braking at speed meant the car was unsettled and I'd started sawing away at the wheel a little to keep straight so that wouldn't do.
Decided to take it to John at Blaze Motorsport not far from me,hed done a full setup and corner weighting for me on the Celica so no brainer,get height raised and setup rechecked,and have calipers off and see whats what.

You can see the exhaust issue here,especially due to the design on this car.Too low.



Trip to see John,and after some testing and measuring we raised the car by around 15mm,which is a lot,then rechecked camber etc etc and that was job done,car still looked good,lower than stock but now was a bit more compliant for road use.
Brake wise,pads were very low on rear,discs ok and fronts were fine disc wise,it had PBS pads on front with about 70 percent meat left on them.Calipers both sides seemed to be moving freely enough,passenger side not as good though so cleaned and regreased everything in the hope it would sort itself.A day away from the workshop though and it was back again.Crap.
I could've just gone for rebuild on the the calipers but the single pot ones on the Euro R are frankly not great anyway,I'd read on Kewy's thread on here about a straight swap with the twinpots that were fitted on the older UK Type R Accord,and a straight fit.So rather than waste money getting the ones on the car back to where they would be from factory,ie not brilliant,I looked for some second hand Type R jobs.Certainly couldnt justify 5 figure coast for Spoon or K sport 4 or six pots,and didnt really need them tbh.Brembos on the Integra would be pricey second hand,would certainly need a rebuild too,and would need some work to make them fit.So the hunt for a pair of twinpots started,and I also went belt and braces and ordered up a full front to back set of discs,pads and brake lines from Torque.No messing about.



BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Wednesday 17th May 2023
quotequote all
A peruse around the usual sites and i found a likely set of calipers from a UK Type R. These had been rebuilt and repainted in silver,looked very nice but they weren't cheap,but miles cheaper than a new set of aftermarket jobbies.I balanced up the cost ,and providing they'd been done right I took a punt and negotiated the price down a bit and set of to pick them up from a chap in Sussex.Turned out to be a very approachable fella and deal done I came home with them. Had a good look at home and all seemed good,all new seals ,pistons were immaculate and even the nuts looked new.So took a pic whilst glistening in a new red coating in readiness for fitting.



I also had my other bits delivered from Torque,including fluid.





Popped back to Blaze and soon enough I was ready to see how the brakes were.
Turned out to be a good move,pedal feel was much better though with new fluids and re-bleeding you'd kind of expect that anyway,but after a short bedding in time it was apparent that the car was braking so much better,confidence was there now to put my foot down and not be concerned,so that was a purchase well worth it.

So other than doing my own oil change servicing,the car was doing exactly what I bought it for.I dont do a lot of miles in it to be honest,pop my Mum here and there if our family car isn't available,do a school run on a Thursday to collect one of my granddaughters for the mundane stuff,but other than that its still used as a 'weekend' car really.So meet up with friends for a few blasts and go to shows /meets etc.The car does all this admirably and I've had a few cars over the years,but I'd say for an all round car,practicality and performance this is the best car I've had in that respect.The Recaro seats are excellent,it has everything I need like dual zone climate control,heated electric foldy mirrors and all that.Enough for what you want and not loaded with stuff that sounds good on a spec sheet but you never really use.

Breakfast meet with friends M3 and DC5



Playing odd one out on Celicaclub stand at Simply Japanese Beaulieu.Celica wasn't ready tyre wise for this one so I was the interloper holding up the club flag LOL. All a good bunch,loads of banter about putting a Honda on a Toyota stand,standard ribbing!






BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Wednesday 17th May 2023
quotequote all
My thoughts then turned to making the car stand out a bit,I like my cars to have something a little different about them.If you've seen my BEAMS Celica thread then you'll get the idea.That car is a one off,it was never going to be built as a sleeper and the look of the car was always going to end up in your face a bit,but it was important to keep a nod to Toyota heritage and keep it old skool but with a modern twist.
With the Accord,I wanted to give an equal nod to the cars sporting pedigree but without going over the top with it.I had looked at loads of touring car designs but i wasn't looking to do a replica as such.Something that those in the know would probably recognise as the inspiration but to my own design.
I'd been looking at a few of the James Thompson cars,and also some others.So I grabbed a shot of a car that showed the cues I wanted for the rear and sides especially,and got in touch with my mate Mook at Skewer down Hampshire way for a chat about how to move forward.




So its not so much about the full design on these,I liked the angular rear colouring coming down from the inner section of the rear light cluster,and a couple of the swoops on the side from the wing area,the lower parts of the rear quarters into the side skirts,and Mook had some great little renders of how we could incorporate a little of that without going silly,and tie it in on my own car.He does have a good eye with this stuff,he always says about how a design should flow and is very aware of what your eye is drawn to when it comes to a wrap,which is where some people miss the ball a bit.

Some of this would still be likely to change a little as we went,so booked a day in with him and it was off to Hampshire to get it done.He'd suggested the right colours we would use,what wrap would suit and a metallic gloss would complement the metallic pearl paint of the car.
The red we would use he had already fitted when he did Bilal's TRD Supra 3000GT,a car which looks amazing.And then we'd contrast my car with a grey,to tie in with the wheels.It would then be a case of a reasonably minimal bonnet design,to tie the whole thing from back to front,do a sunstrip and use the same wrap for the flashing on that,the Advan design lent itself perfectly for that.The Euro R decals already on the rear doors of the car would come off,but he would resize new ones that would be a bit bigger,using the same font Honda use but again matching the wrap colour.

The Supra



And this is how she turned out.Was really pleased with it,did a great job and the metallic wrap pops nicely in the sun when it hits it.Just gives the car a bit of a statement but without looking like an afterthought,it follows the lines and angles of the car perfectly and has that 'flow' he insists on so much,even down to the grey against the wheel colour.Cue shedloads of pics..
































Edited by BEAMS 162 on Wednesday 17th May 17:13

JJJ.

1,391 posts

17 months

Wednesday 17th May 2023
quotequote all
Lovely car.
Less is more, the wrap doesn't do it for me at all. Still, is good we're not all the same.

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Wednesday 17th May 2023
quotequote all
That's fair enough mate,if we were all the same it would be a very boring world.I do like the crispness of the look without the wrap,I'm sure at some stage knowing me I'll want a change,and the beauty of the wrap is that is gives you the option to do something else or go back to factory finish again.But I really like the new look so it'll be staying for a while for sure . cool

d_a_n1979

8,700 posts

74 months

Wednesday 17th May 2023
quotequote all
I really, REALLY like the finished article on this car...

Harks back to when I was massively into my Hondas in the 2000s (EF8 CRX, EF2 Del Sol, EG6 SiR-S, EK9 in CW, DC5, ATR and Prelude BB8)

Love the finish and touches as it brings it together and makes it very original IMO

I couldn't honestly say whether I'd prefer it OEM or liveried up like that; TBH I'd take it either way cool

I rarely see these in with Ste & Don at Grinspeed; but when I do it always makes me want to get one haha biggrin

I'll have to sell the wife's Racing Jazz whilst she's not looking laugh

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Thursday 18th May 2023
quotequote all
d_a_n1979 said:
I really, REALLY like the finished article on this car...

Harks back to when I was massively into my Hondas in the 2000s (EF8 CRX, EF2 Del Sol, EG6 SiR-S, EK9 in CW, DC5, ATR and Prelude BB8)

Love the finish and touches as it brings it together and makes it very original IMO

I couldn't honestly say whether I'd prefer it OEM or liveried up like that; TBH I'd take it either way cool

I rarely see these in with Ste & Don at Grinspeed; but when I do it always makes me want to get one haha biggrin

I'll have to sell the wife's Racing Jazz whilst she's not looking laugh
Cheers,you've had a right old collection there,some of the prices of those are mad now.
Yep it looks good to me either way but nice to have it different to others.Your missus might notice the Jazz/Accord swapover methinks lol


d_a_n1979

8,700 posts

74 months

Thursday 18th May 2023
quotequote all
BEAMS 162 said:
d_a_n1979 said:
I really, REALLY like the finished article on this car...

Harks back to when I was massively into my Hondas in the 2000s (EF8 CRX, EF2 Del Sol, EG6 SiR-S, EK9 in CW, DC5, ATR and Prelude BB8)

Love the finish and touches as it brings it together and makes it very original IMO

I couldn't honestly say whether I'd prefer it OEM or liveried up like that; TBH I'd take it either way cool

I rarely see these in with Ste & Don at Grinspeed; but when I do it always makes me want to get one haha biggrin

I'll have to sell the wife's Racing Jazz whilst she's not looking laugh
Cheers,you've had a right old collection there,some of the prices of those are mad now.
Yep it looks good to me either way but nice to have it different to others.Your missus might notice the Jazz/Accord swapover methinks lol
Nah; she's not very good at noticing changes biggrinlaugh

Yup; loved my Honda's... I'd absolutely go for another EF8 CRX and EK9 out of them all; they're the ones I regretted selling the most

They'd be a fantastic weekend car to smash around the likes of Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass etc...

But as you said; the prices are mental now!

Not healthy for the wallet either biggrin

Scoobydrew95

243 posts

21 months

Thursday 18th May 2023
quotequote all
This is just absolutely awesome. Love the liveries. Nice to a well done example.

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Saturday 9th December 2023
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Been a while since I updated here,there's another couple of Euro R owners on here so thought I'd better post up and keep up appearances LOL!
I haven't actually made any major changes in all honesty but I have been enjoying the car a lot.Had it 3 years now,gone quick.I do have a plan for the new year though,I'll be taking it to the Prescott Hillclimb event in April that i do with the Celicaclub,I've had the Celica do runs the last couple of years or so,and being the club it is,full members can take another of their cars if they so wish,so fancy getting the Accord up the hill a few times.

With that in mind I've spoken to Paul West at TPW Engineering to give the car a remap.This isn't about chasing HP numbers,the main advantage of his tune should improve the cars power delivery more than anything.Better throttle response,improved midrange power and will likely bring the VTEC crossover point down the rev range from 5500rpm at full throttle.It's something I'd like to have done,and the map he does ,doesn't affect any of the other factory functions either.So its mainly about response and driveability,and if there's a few extra horses to be found then its a win-win.Looking at around March so hopefully be done in time for the Prescott event.I do have an Injen intake and a nice Legalis exhaust system so would be nice to get the car set up to at least make the most of those mods,though a new exhaust manifold would be even better but they are not cheap,and I do have my other car in need of some love plus a family car to run!But be interesting to see the improvements,I'll update when its done.

I do highly recommend these cars if anyone has a thought of owning one.They are of course far more expensive than any other Accord,but these are far from a run of the mill car!

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Friday 16th February
quotequote all
Still enjoying driving this car,other than an interim service I did not long ago it hasn't wanted for anything luckily.I do now have the car booked in with Paul West at TPW Engineering on the 4th March for a remap,so really looking forward to that,to see how the car responds 'before and after' on his dyno.
. Without forking out for a performance manifold and the like,I'm not expecting too much in terms of outright power increase,the point is to improve response and driveability.I'm guessing she's lost a few horses over the years but will be interesting to see how it comes out in the end,and hopefully make the car even more enjoyable to drive.For anyone interested,I'll let you know how my experience goes.

d_a_n1979

8,700 posts

74 months

Friday 16th February
quotequote all
BEAMS 162 said:
Still enjoying driving this car,other than an interim service I did not long ago it hasn't wanted for anything luckily.I do now have the car booked in with Paul West at TPW Engineering on the 4th March for a remap,so really looking forward to that,to see how the car responds 'before and after' on his dyno.
. Without forking out for a performance manifold and the like,I'm not expecting too much in terms of outright power increase,the point is to improve response and driveability.I'm guessing she's lost a few horses over the years but will be interesting to see how it comes out in the end,and hopefully make the car even more enjoyable to drive.For anyone interested,I'll let you know how my experience goes.
Good to see the cars still doing well… Paul West; is that the guy Ste uses (King Tuna) as he calls him?

BEAMS 162

Original Poster:

172 posts

49 months

Friday 16th February
quotequote all
Hey Dan
Yeah that's the chap,has a very good reputation so I'm prepared to do the trip up from Kent to get him to do the work.I know Kewy on here has had his Euro R to him a couple of times and he's chuffed with his car.

https://www.facebook.com/kingtuna/