EP3 Civic Type R (Supercharged)

[RS Grant]

As per usual with one of my car journals, my first post might be a little on the wordy side.. but I promise that I'll try to keep following posts a little more to the point!!

I sold my previous semi-track spec EP3 ( Link Here) at the end of 2017 and had planned to use the replacement Fiesta ST2 Van ( Link Here)as a do-all track/dog/daily car... but I really didn't gel with the Fiesta and that was sold on within a few short months. But while I've planned to jump back into an EP3 and re-fit the diff/ECU/seats etc that I removed from my previous EP3, I've not actually found a car which I was happy enough to buy as a base; there are a lot of destroyed examples out there which are advertised as clean but turn into something quite different when checking MOT history and/or viewing in reality.

I also flirted with the idea of buying a clean DC2 Integra or EG/EK Civic and building a K20 project, however, when I actually started to look for a clean/rot free (I was willing to accept a bit of rust given their age) example; there were barely any left, and any which did exist were being advertised for very strong money indeed... which torpedoed that plan pretty quickly.

I did also consider buying a DC5, being one of the few fast Hondas which I've not yet owned, but the big issue was that I really like them and so the thought of using one of those on track and picking up the inevitable stone chips/marks and/or having to roll the arches to accommodate wider wheels/tyres wasn't something which I would have been happy doing to a DC5. Therefore, they will likely remain an unticked box for the foreseeable future.

So after all of that, I had come full circle and satisfied myself that an EP3 was the correct route for me to go down again. I had car-related stuff to keep me occupied with my other cars so I wasn't desperately searching and scanning every new advert/listing which appeared. It had become more of a passive search of the usual places when I had a spare moment.. and it was during one of these that I saw this car, but after viewing the photos I almost dismissed it because it looked a bit 'barry'd up' for me. However once I started to read the spec list, it got me pretty interested. The car has had a LOT of money spent on it in the past wee while... and after speaking to the owner, I discovered that he had bought it as a standard car and had sent it to a local specialist to have all the modifications fitted over the past year; the amount of paperwork which came with the car is unreal:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr


Engine Spec:

Jackson Racing Supercharger (Standard Sized Pulley)
RC 650cc Injectors
Innovative Solid Engine Mounts (Track Spec Bushes)
Hondata 4 bar Map Sensor
Tegiwa Strut Brace
TegiwaM Carbon Intake & Silicon Hose
Tegiwa Aluminium Radiator
Tegiwa 4-2-1 Exhaust Manifold
Tegiwa Centre Section
M2 Dolphin Tip Backbox
Hondata KPro Version 4 (with Bluetooth connectivity)
Mapped by Russ at RA Motorsport


Recent Work:

New OE Oil Pump and ACL Big End Shells when Supercharger was fitted ~5k miles ago.
New Timing Chain
New Rocker Cover in OEM Wrinkle Red
Full Recent Service


Chassis:

Meister R Zeta Coilovers
Replacement Bushes Throughout
Eibach Front Camber Bolts
Eibach Rear Camber Arms
Tegiwa Adjustable Steering Arms
Tegiwa Steering Rack Riser
Fast Road Geometry Setup by Automek Glasgow


Gearbox:

MFactory Carbon Synchros
Honda 5.1 Final Drive
Quaife LSD
Tegiwa Shifter Bushes
Tegiwa Short Shifter
DC5 Integra Lightweight Flywheel
Exedy Uprated Clutch


Brakes:

Refurbished Calipers All Round
Goodridge Braided Brake Lines
Front Stoptech Discs
EBC Yellowstuff Front Pads
Rear Stoptech Discs
EBC Yellowstuff Rear Pads


Wheels:

17" Rota Grids (Limited Edition Neochrome Finish)
Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres
Tegiwa Forged Wheel Nuts (Black)


Interior:

DC5 Integra Recaro Seats
Custom Seat Rails Fabricated by Automek
Stripped Out Rear Interior/Boot
GC Fabrications Rear Cross Brace
Mugen 3 Alcantara Steering Wheel
K-Tuned Gear Knob & Gaitor
Pioneer Single DIN Bluetooth Stereo


Exterior:

Mugen Replica Front Bumper Lip
Tegiwa OEM Carbon Bonnet (Unused Aero Catches Included)
Black OEM Spoiler
Tegiwa Front Canards
Tinted Windows
Team Heko Wind Deflectors


...so as you can see, it's pretty comprehensive and a little more high spec than I had been looking to buy as a base car to fit my old parts to.

As I mentioned above though, the car came with some bits of personalisation (stickers, headlight film, sunstrip..) which weren't really to my taste; so the day after buying the car, I set out with my hairdryer and glass cleaner to rid the car of these:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...and a couple of hours later, I had a pretty 'scene' looking rinsing bucket:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Now the stickers and stuff were all gone, the car was (IMO) looking much better:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

As far as driving goes, it's been a bit wet and greasy, so not ideal to try and get to grips (pun intended) with a 300bhp Supercharged Type R... but in all honesty, once in 3rd gear and above traction seems pretty good, so I expect that 2nd will be pretty useful in dry conditions too. It goes extremely well though, kind of like a normal Type R does, but just more muscular and with a fairly manic top end too... the 5.1 final drive also means that it revs really quickly.

I'm sure that it will be making some supercharger'y whine too, but the exhaust setup on this car is so loud that you cannot hear anything else... which is why that is one thing that I will be doing some research about and looking to change. On that subject, I've made a list of things which I plan to do to the car for definite:

- fit my KSport 8-pot 330mm brakes
- change the exhaust system
- properly clean the interior and engine bay
- buy and fit a baffled sump
- fit my semi-slick tyres
- buy and re-fit a rear wiper (visiblity is horrific without it)

Then I have a list of things which I may possibly do:

- fit a smaller pulley/belt and get a map tweak for extra power
- facelift it, with later spec headlights/rear lights & front bumper
- either spray rear spoiler silver, or replace with Mugen replica in silver
- fit my Corbeau Clubsport Seats & Harnesses if the DC5 seats aren't great on track

So there we have it...I've finally got back into an EP3 and I'm very pleased that I will have something which I can have a good laugh with on the road as well as taking round Knockhill too!!

[Butter Face]

Welcome back, looks like a decent base once you’ve taken off some of the tat. I HATE those ‘mugen’ front lips.

Some tasty bits on there and your list sounds like great additions!

[RS Grant]

Butter Face said:

Welcome back, looks like a decent base once you’ve taken off some of the tat. I HATE those ‘mugen’ front lips.

Some tasty bits on there and your list sounds like great additions!

Cheers mate... it's nice to be back!!

I agree and tend to prefer a 'less is more' look with my cars.. which is why I'm thinking about changing to a silver rear spoiler, different front bumper etc. I don't mind the look of a Mugen rear spoiler plus the big bonus is that it adds some stability to the rear with the adjustable blade, but the black rear spoiler on my car doesn't really do it for me... although I find it less offensive than I did when it was mixed in with the stickers to be fair.

I'm looking forward to getting to drive it properly and I don't want to instantly stick it into storage for the winter after only just buying it; but I'm reluctant to have it out and about now that the salty roads have arrived!!

[RS Grant]

Apologies for the lack of updates on all of my Readers' Cars threads, it's been a hell of a busy year with work, moving house, selling some of my cars and making sure my new puppy didn't end up as a completely out of control labrador beast!!

Anyway, nothing happened with the Civic for the vast amount of 2019.. it got washed, the battery trickle charger which I was using on it failed and took the battery with it so it got a new battery around summertime. This is how the car sat most of the time at the old house:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...moved into a new home in July, along with all the usual stresses which come with that. So once again, the Civic didn't get a look-in as it's really a 'fun' car that won't get touched unless I have a clear schedule.. which I was struggling to find and there was a moment where the Civic was to be prepared for sale and sold on rather than sitting unused.

However, in a weird turn of events, the Civic remained and I actually ended up selling my Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, MK4 Golf Anniversary and was in the process of selling my M3 Competition Pack when the buyer pulled out of the deal... which was nice of them.

A group of friends were organising a track day at Knockhill at the end of August and asked if I'd like to stick something on. After a bit of persuasion (ok, no persuasion!) I signed up for it and booked the car in for an oil change and the fitting of the K Sport 8-pot brake kit which I'd bought for my previous EP3 but never fitted.. only to get a photo ping through from my mate who was fitting them:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Oh sh!t!! So a hurried call to the guys at Clark Motorsport who supplied the pads secured some replacements via next day delivery and a refund despite buying the pads c18 months previously... great service and the car was ready to go the next morning:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Quick road test to bed them in, spin through to Knockhill for the track night in absolutely horrific conditions.. and I was ready to go. Had a fantastic night, car was absolutely flying round and the annoyingly loud exhaust was a distant memory thanks to ear plugs, a helmet and the need to concentrate!!

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr


Car was going extremely well, I was having a great time and the Uniroyal Rainsport tyres were unbelievably good in, err, the rain.. which I had heard, but was only experiencing myself for the first time!! The thoughts of selling the car had vanished somewhere on the first lap and I was loving it out there. I took a couple of wee videos on the GoPro which I'll stick links up to below:

First Track Video
Second Track Video

If there was any doubt that the brakes hadn't quite been bedded in fully before the track night, then they were certainly getting the treatment and doing their business on track.. front discs were actually glowing despite the temperature and rain!!

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

So there we have it, first proper drive and first track day with the Civic was going fantastically well (despite the weather) too. But that wasn't quiteeee the end of the story for that track outing.... I have zero warning lights and the ABS light goes out as it should on start up, but after fitting the K Sport brakes, I am able to lock the front wheels under very heavy braking. Not great.

It was ~5 minutes before the end of the track night and I had been chasing a 600+bhp TTRS ( Link To Full Spec Here) around for a while, having a fantastic time!! On this particular lap, we approached the hairpin (the biggest braking zone at Knockhill) at the usual rate of knots, when the TT started to slow down a lot more than it had done previously... unknown to me, there was a MK2 Escort which had been hidden from me by the spray/TT on approaching the corner. The TT continued to slow down, I had to hit the brakes a bit harder than I had been, which caused them to lock up and the car to continue at the same rate, so I came off the brakes and then back on again, which locked up instantly again and by this point I was sliding right towards the rear end of the TT... so the only available option was to come off the brakes, steer to the left side and aim for the gravel/avoid the TT, which I did, with only a few inches to spare?!! Here is a link to some grainy phone footage that appeared on Facebook later on...

Near Miss @ Knockhill

Couple of seconds after it happened, I tried to drive forward and dug myself a wee hole.. put it in reverse and it started to move. I thought that if it was moving in reverse then it must drive forward, so tried that and instantly dug myself two big holes and beached myself. Great.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Got out of the car to meet the marshalls and saw that while I'd been going backwards, my front bumper had acted like a big scoop and lifted many gravel stones and due to the weight had popped itself off at the bottom. Double great.

The marshalls dragged the car out using the straps round the cross brace in the rear rather than crawling around in the gravel and I drove up to the pit lane to an ovation from everyone and while telling my tale, two of my friends popped the bumper back on within 30 seconds and there are no lasting issues which I suppose you could consider as a silver lining..?!

Still picking pieces of gravel out of my front bumper, a wee while later, me and a couple of my friends made a spur of the moment decision to sign on forthe Saturday session of a weekend long 'Tartan Tarmac' event at Knockhill... with no time to prepare the car further, it would have to be going on as-is regardless of whether it was wet or dry.

Obviously as the day arrived, the weather turned from absolute misery into a lovely warm/dry day.. great.. however I didn't have my sump baffle and semi slick tyres fitted so the trusty Uniroyal Rainsports would have to go above and beyond for me.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

To my surprise the tyres didn't actually melt super quickly and while they did start to get a bit loose after a few laps, I was still able to have a good time and enjoy myself...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

That last picture is possibly one of my favourite photos that I've got of my cars, it either makes me look really quick, or really slow... but we'll go with the former!! ...on the subject of pace, the Civic is now the quickest car I've taken round Knockhill and verrrry nearly dipping into the sub-60 lap time, which is reasonably quick.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

So that's it, the car has been laid up since around October time and won't see the road until around March/April time next year.

The list of 'things to do' is very similar to what it was last year; I got a wee bit of a wake up call after my visit to the gravel this year so I am considering the addition of some roll protection and the fact that I think this could be the car of choice for a 2020 Nurburgring/Spa roadtrip it probably makes sense to be as best prepared for that as possible.

[tvrfan007]

A good read, and I really like these with a charger. Bit hairy that you lost all brake modulation, shouldn't be able to lock a wheel if your abs is still functional.

[RS Grant]

tvrfan007 said:

A good read, and I really like these with a charger. Bit hairy that you lost all brake modulation, shouldn't be able to lock a wheel if your abs is still functional.

Thanks, was a fair bit of info to stick up so was hoping it didn’t get too boring!

Re: the brakes, they modulate well up until the point where (I assume) the ABS would start to kick in and then lock up. But yeah, it’s not ideal given that the car will be getting used in anger and require hard braking.

One of my friends said his EP3 did the same when he installed his big brake kit too, so just now I’m unsure if this is a ‘known’ issue or whether we both have an issue which needs rectified.

[lewis87]

Looks like a blast, I took my DC5 around Knockhill on a rather rainy day in the summer, could of done with some rainsports then.

[RS Grant]

Well the Civic has been sitting since the tail end of last year, after going to my storage unit to give it a dust off I discovered that I had connected the trickle charger but forgotten to actually turn it on at the wall.. which may sound familiar to anyone who looks at my threads, because I killed the battery in my Impreza doing exactly the same thing and mentioned that in my RC thread for that car a couple of weeks ago. So two new Yuasa batteries later, they're both alive and well once again.

Aside from that, the exhaust noise had been annoying me on the Civic, it was just far too loud to use on the road (for me) and the noise it made was piercing/uncomfortable; which I'm sure is amplified on my car given that it's stripped out from the front seats back.

I know that more often than not you need to expect a certain amount of increased noise when you start messing around tuning cars, but even if I could change the tone of the noise, then I could live with loud.. but a nice loud if that makes sense?! So when the 'Black Friday' deals appeared at Tegiwa, I went for one of their cat-back exhausts which is a copy of the Fujitsubo RM01a. After doing a bit of reading about this exhaust everything said that it was a fair bit quieter than others and so I thought it sounded like it could be the answer to my problem; despite the increase from ~2.5" pipework to ~2.75" pipework.

So it was ordered on Black Friday and while it took a few weeks to arrive, my car wasn't being used so that was no big deal. Finally the planets aligned and I was able to find time and a willing friend to give me a hand fitting the thing yesterday.

First off was a trip up to the folks house to drop off some bits and bobs for them and collect the exhaust, where it had been sitting since delivery due to moving house myself and my garage being rammed floor to roof with boxes/crap.. was a lovely peaceful day in the country until I turned up in the Civic, never has a Covid food delivery car been quite so loud.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

On the way to my friends unit, I thought I'd take a couple of dB readings to see what kind of difference (if any) the new exhaust made, the first reading is cruising on flat dual carriageway at 70mph in 6th gear. With the lower final drive in my car it revs a touch higher than a car with a standard final drive, so maybe the cruising readings will be slightly higher readings than is typical.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

The second reading is full throttle through 2nd and 3rd gear, the real painful one..

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

So there we have it, when I sent those dB readings over to a few friends then the fact I moaned about the volume and the reason I wore ear plugs to drive the Civic suddenly made sense!!

Here are a few pictures of the exhaust as it arrived, you can see the wee box at the top of the main box in the first picture; this is my Clockwise Motion Sump Baffle Plate which will get thrown on at some point.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Looking at the big silencer on the centre section (rather than the straight bit of pipe fitted) and the sheer size difference between the back boxes gave me some hope that the sound levels would be dropping nicely...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Wee bit of fiddling with bolts, gaskets, exhaust paste and a new Honda exhaust mount to replace:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...and the exhaust was fitted...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Happy days, looks considerably better (I'm not a fan of 'dolphin tip' exhausts) but if I'm honest, at idle, the noise of the car didn't sound wildly different and I started to get a bit concerned that I'd maybe not be enjoying any kind of reduced volume when driving and still require the ear plugs!

So to the dB readings; again, the first reading is done on a flat dual carriageway at 70mph in 6th gear:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Second reading done going through 2nd and 3rd gear at full throttle/revs:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

As you can see, the figures suggest a 6-7dB drop in volume but the difference in normal driving (where I really had an issue) are huge. The car is still noisy, but it's a more rounded sound rather than a sharp piercing sound. It also doesn't go absolutely crazy with noise if you go near the throttle pedal, for instance accelerating with moderate throttle in 5th or 6th gear from 40-50mph up to 70mph or trying to maintain speed up an incline it was pretty unbearable sitting in the car and you had to be extremely light on the throttle to try and avoid the noise; well it isn't anything like that anymore.

At full thottle it isn't as crazy as it was, but it's a bit like asking if you would rather be punched in the arm or the face.. you'd choose the arm, but the fact is; you're still getting punched.

Unsure what the crack is with Covid, track days, etc.. so what the rest of 2020 holds is kind of up in the air at the moment. I expect track events to be horrifically busy and there may be a few more people than usual getting over excited so not sure I want to jump into that mayhem until everyone gets it out their system and cools down a bit?!

I'll get the car onto the dyno for a check over of the map and make sure everything is running ok. I don't expect much/any difference with the new exhaust but the increase in pipework diameter may make enough of a difference to get the car remapped, time will tell.

[RS Grant]

Well ~50 weeks have passed since my last update and all I can really say is that the car went in for an MOT recently and passed.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

I'm in the process of sourcing bucket seats to replace the Corbeau Clubsports that I sold recently. I'm also booked in to get the sump baffle fitted, rear brakes changed, suspension geometry check/set up and as of this afternoon I should have a new steering wheel ordered for the car too.

I also need to change the IACV because cleaning it/toeing the car round track hasn't cleared the issue I've got with erratic idle. So I guess the actual unit itself is gubbed and needs replaced.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Glad it’s still going well. Looks ace still!!

[RS Grant]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Glad it’s still going well. Looks ace still!!

Thanks mate, it's still running great and it's nice to hear the whine (briefly) before the new exhaust wakes up.. after the old one was so crazy loud at any revs it drowned out any intake/whine noises.

I also bought some of those headlights adaptors that you told me about too. But I didn't realise how difficult it would be to find some reasonable condition facelift headlights second hand to use them with?! ...so I'm waiting to buy and fit those too.

[roadie]

Looks like a fantastic car, great work rescuing it from its former state!

[The Rotrex Kid]

RS Grant said:

The Rotrex Kid said:

Glad it’s still going well. Looks ace still!!

Thanks mate, it's still running great and it's nice to hear the whine (briefly) before the new exhaust wakes up.. after the old one was so crazy loud at any revs it drowned out any intake/whine noises.

I also bought some of those headlights adaptors that you told me about too. But I didn't realise how difficult it would be to find some reasonable condition facelift headlights second hand to use them with?! ...so I'm waiting to buy and fit those too.

Yeah tell me about it! Mine are aftermarket ones but just not that good. Been tempted to buy brand new OEM units at just over £500!!

[RS Grant]

roadie said:

Looks like a fantastic car, great work rescuing it from its former state!

Thank you, it was definitely not my taste visually when I first bought it!!

I'd actually prefer it to be more standard looking than it is.. with a facelift front bumper and a couple of other wee bits, but I'm sure it'll get there at some point. Just making sure that I get the oily/fun bits sorted out first then I can move on to how it looks.

[RS Grant]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Yeah tell me about it! Mine are aftermarket ones but just not that good. Been tempted to buy brand new OEM units at just over £500!!

Haha I've had a look at those too, but for my use it's definitely excessive.. some second hand'ers will sharpen up the looks and with some uprated bulbs hopefully increase light output on the rare occasion it's driven in dusky/dark conditions.