DanielJames' DC2

DanielJames · Oct 2, 2014

SPek9 said:
With toe it all depends on how you want the car to behave, understeer/oversteer etc

I have tried a few different alignment settings and I have always found that setting the toe to zero front and rear works best for my driving style. I run about -2.5 camber front and -2.2 rear, with 16k front and 10k rear springs, 225 wide front tyres and 195 rear tyres and it works very well....if I was to add a stiffer spring at the rear or reduce the rear negative camber the car starts to oversteer far too much so I have found a good balance the way I have it setup now and imo thats what is important

Also with the energy trailing arm bushes I found the car too unstable at the rear under hard braking with my settings

I've heard the car is very sensitive to RTA bushes! Your setup sounds extreme mate, have you got a build thread on here? I'll have a looksie.

I did a bit of reading this morning and I think I'll go for 0 toe. Only issue that may be is I know my rear wheels have slight toe so I hope the gauges prove accurate enough.

Drove the car to work today, all was well until I heard a knocking noise as I was pulling up to park!!

Still, that combo though

Off to get it tracked later so will have a look for the noise.

SPek9 · Oct 2, 2014

I don't have a build thread but I will have to fire a few pictures up that I have through the stages of building the car

Can't beat spoon brakes under spoon wheels!

Kipper · Oct 2, 2014

Awesome progress mate, been following this on facebook, I'm Kris McCloy incase you weren't aware! For the 'Ring this year in my DC2 I went for stock geometry and I'm glad I did, Car felt very stable at the constant high speeds. I also replaced the RTA's with OEM Honda item's which again I'm glad I did.

At the 'ring the last thing you want is a remotely tail happy Honda IMO, especially since the are a light car which shows on the peaks of the hills and cambered sections. Make sure you are happy with your discs and pads or it could really dampen your experience. I got brake shudder about 3/4 way in to each lap and it was ****, although being a first timer I was harsh on the brakes for not knowing the track too well. 2015 trip I plan for a very robust car, Robustness & reliability is a very important factor after 2014's trip, would like to run a 3-4 laps back to back next time.

Filo83 · Oct 2, 2014

Wow, its coming really nice

DanielJames · Oct 6, 2014

Kipper said:
Awesome progress mate, been following this on facebook, I'm Kris McCloy incase you weren't aware! For the 'Ring this year in my DC2 I went for stock geometry and I'm glad I did, Car felt very stable at the constant high speeds. I also replaced the RTA's with OEM Honda item's which again I'm glad I did.

At the 'ring the last thing you want is a remotely tail happy Honda IMO, especially since the are a light car which shows on the peaks of the hills and cambered sections. Make sure you are happy with your discs and pads or it could really dampen your experience. I got brake shudder about 3/4 way in to each lap and it was ****, although being a first timer I was harsh on the brakes for not knowing the track too well. 2015 trip I plan for a very robust car, Robustness & reliability is a very important factor after 2014's trip, would like to run a 3-4 laps back to back next time.

Hey dude!

I went for zero toe on the front and left the rest as it was setup by Grinspeed. The car was amazing on track on Saturday! Though Thursday did throw a curveball at me...

I thought I was going to need to replace my discs before the ring but I couldn't cook them on Saturday so they'll be ok I hope! Will be getting some grooved discs on it though for next year. I can't risk the helicoil removing itself on the Spoon calipers a few days before I go!

DanielJames · Oct 6, 2014

So let's go back to last Thursday.

Drove the DC2 to work!

Which meant I had a nice view out of the window:

The reason I took it to work was to get the geometry checked afterwards since I had just fitted new ball joints, track rod ends, and raised the ride height:

I like this picture as you can see straight through onto my coilovers and camber arm

Toe was out by about 3mm I think he said, so I got that zeroed.

Unfortunately then we found a disastrous CV boot.

My recently fitted spare driveshaft had a tear in the CV boot. Initially I was annoyed as I thought it must have always been like that and I simply didn't see it to start with.

Anyway, I limped the car home and for the 8th night in a row got started on it:

As you can see, there was CV grease everywhere

I quickly realised what was at fault.

One of my braided oil cooler lines must have slipped down when I was doing the rear engine mount last weekend, and was sitting on top of the CV boot. All it took was a little tear from the metal, and the boot was split.

I was pretty pissed off, but also relieved that I found out what the problem was straight away, so got on with fixing it.

Luckily I have a few spare driveshafts with good boots, so had a spare. I did try Euro Car Parts for a new one but they had none in.

What a bitch the shaft was to get out by the way.

I had to use a crowbar to get it out...

Anyway, I thought this would be an easy job. It wasn't.

DanielJames · Oct 6, 2014

Removing the circlips from the shaft was a right PITA. I nicked my hand with a screw driver at one point and started seeing blood appear from under my gimp glove:

Ouchy!!

I did eventually get there and got the shaft back in. Then I looked to relocating the oil cooler lines which meant removing both drivers side engine mounts.

Finished:

Anyway that ended Thursday. I'll do my trackday update later so I can include GoPro videos. The teg was amazing and faultless all day. Really impressed!

Cheers
Dan

DanielJames · Oct 7, 2014

Ok so Trackday update.

I went to the track with 3 mates, each of them in higher powered cars. We had:

550bhp E92 M3
320bhp Seat Ibiza
240bhp Astra VXR
225bhp BMW 125d

and ze teg was going to show them all up!

Here we are filling up on the way:

By the time we had got there, the heavens opened and the rain started pouring.

The whole morning stayed wet, which was no ground for me to be learning my car again! I haven't been on track for a while, and made quite a few changes since, so I was struggling.

Here's a few laps I recorded of the wet weather on my GoPro:

I didn't take many pics of the other cars, but this 328i caught my eye:

The day went faultless. I also didn't have to pull over to let one car pass... which was not something any of my mates could claim

I have a much better video of my dry laps uploading now, but I'll go back to what else I've done at the weekend.

After getting back from Blyton I realised I"d used quite a bit of oil that day. I had a quick check over the car for any leaks etc and gave her a top up.

Out came the jack, I wanted to try my Advan A048s on. I forgot my fukn wheel spacers at Blyton so couldn't give these a go

Test drive was, interesting. I couldn't believe how bad they were when the tyre was dry!

Next up I fitted another Speedhunters sticker, and gave the car a good overdue polish

I'm yet to review the above footage. Will post if any good. Was just testing the Yoko's on a roundabout lol.

Daily and Racecar in harmony

I'll post back when this video uploads...

Dan

DanielJames · Oct 7, 2014

Fitted my Feels low seat rail tonight too.

I had to relocate my eyebolt, I previously had it connected to the OEM Recaro rail, and as this isn't available on the Feels rail, I've had to drill a hole in my transmission tunnel.

I took a "before picture"

Got the seat out:

Time to drill!

Expertly marked up:

Once I had the hole drilled it was time to get under the car and see what damage there was :lol:

Unfortunately it got dark very quick! Got chance to test out a new gadget though:

The anchor plate I was using came with the harnesses. I dug it out the garage and applied plenty of sealant:

In!

Random moody pic:

Next up was fitting the rail to the Recaro, comparison pic:

One thing I noticed was that on the feels rails the gap for the bolt to sit in was much larger, meaning washers were needed

Action shot :lol:

I got the seat fitted back in okay but haven't had chance to get a comparison pic due to the night setting in. It definitely "feels" different though!

Cheeers
Dan

DanielJames · Oct 7, 2014

Dry lap video is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC2dlDO ... qQSL5knlEw

and1ne13 · Oct 7, 2014

Loving the track vid!

quimbasher · Oct 7, 2014

Excellent video, it goes well!

DanielJames · Oct 28, 2014

Ok ring update...

So it all started with a job offer. After being made redundant back in July I landed a perm job early September, so decided that since I missed a ring trip with the lads in August, that I would round a few together and get ourselves across to Germany.

Stevie G kindly donated me a 'ring card with 2 laps on it, cheers mate!

So after finishing my temp job at 5pm, I was straight off to Hull to catch the overnight Ferry to Rotterdam.

Car packed:

Arrived at the Ferry:

The ferry was quite interesting. All of my mates paid with notes and told the crew member/waitor guy to keep the change - I'm tight, I gave him cash.

Didn't expect him to give me a neck massage until I gave him a quid! Video on my facebook for those who haven't seen it :lol:

Anyway the next day we didn't waste any time and got on the road through Holland.

My mate Kurt is well into his photography, and I'll be posting a few of his pics along the way. I didn't really take any DSLR pics but Kurt has a **** load on his Flickr, click any of the pics to take you there.

Anyway rolling through a tunnel in Holland he got this super rolling shot:

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

of course I was straight on the Walkie Talkies asking him to get one of my brakes..

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

and then kicking up some leaves as we got closer to our bed and breakfast in Welcherath.

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

As soon as we arrived, we went straight to Adenau for Pizza at Pinocchio's:

Seat Ibiza & Honda Intergra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

I've recently invested in a Go Pole for my GoPro, which is bloody brilliant for goofy shots like this

and this..

after pizza it was time to get fuel, 102RON don't you know

and back to the B+B

The track was due to open on the Saturday for a few hours, but due to the many VLN crashes it was closed.

Nevermind! It was due to be open all day Sunday.

In the night we went up to check if our names were still on the track, they were!!

Unfortunately it seems that some fool has crashed into the armco where my ITR DC2 label was, but the DC2 lives on! (Dc2's never die etc..)

Just had an indian arrive so I'll end it there for now, I'll update what happened on Sunday/Monday after curry.

Cheers
Dan

DanielJames · Oct 28, 2014

Sunday, what a day that was. I managed to get 6 laps in between closures, and the car was excellent!

Here I am in the ring car park waiting to go on:

I had a few good laps, mostly following the locals and learning the lines, each time getting faster and faster.

The only lap that I've uploaded to YouTube however is this one. I don't advise driving like this at the ring, nor do I think my behaviour was wise in anyway, but it makes for a good video.

Integra Type R vs. Rental Scirocco:

Anyway, a few pictures that I found online:

After a few laps I needed to go to Ed's to refuel. This is without doubt the best petrol station you will ever visit.

(you know you're not in england when:

)

Even spotted my Audi!

Just as we were looking to leave this rolled in, JDM converted DC2 from Belgium.

I got talking to the owner, he had just spun a shell on track

He was just about to try and limp the car home to Belgium, which I believe he made, but the engine needs a good rebuild now. I think he's going to just replace it.

Following this the rain started so we decided to retire today, steak was on the brain!

Pistenklause steak:

You CANNOT go to the 'ring without having one.

Then it was back to the hotel for some more practice..

DanielJames · Oct 28, 2014

Track wasn't open until Monday evening, so we went up to the museum + ring kart (Go Karting).

First of all, Nurburgring toast:

There wasn't much for the Honda fan in the museum, but plenty of nice cars none-the-less.

Below, this E36 GTR took my eye, as it shared my Momo mod78 steering wheel

Schuey was pretty lively considering he's just come out of a coma:

After the museum we headed down to Adenau to get some pictures of the trackday cars which were blatting round.

Photographers. :tomato: :cuss:

Track was excellent Monday night. I only got two laps in, and the first one was pretty shakey. The second however, saw me set a personal best BTG. I don't chase times at the ring, but just going by the GoPro footage, I managed an 8:47. Anyone who's been will tell you anything under 9 on a tourist day is good going, so I was well happy

I finished the night with trying out a Schnitzel

Tuesday, we went to Spa.

DanielJames · Oct 28, 2014

We discovered on Monday night that there was going to be a trackday at Spa the next day. Me and Dan quickly decided that we needed to go, and though it was fully booked online, check to see if there were spaces.

Unfortunately, there weren't any spaces for track time, but being at Spa was brilliant. I will definitely return next year to do some laps.

This little EG and CRX were lovely looking things, Civic went well too! Didn't see the CRX on track.

Spa selfie:

Before leaving, I actually got my DSLR out for the first time of the trip to get some snaps, I really wanted a pic of the red EG.

DSC_0031.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0037.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

Mercedes SLS vs E36 BMW by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0057.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

Civic EG6 by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0094.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0102.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0123.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

So yeah, Spa was ace!!

Queueing for the Ferry I soon realised why they call them smokey B's :lol:

DanielJames · Oct 28, 2014

Here are my favourite pictures of the car on track:

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

and here's a selection of Kurts pictures from the trip:

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

Nurburgring by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

Honda Integra by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

Nurburgring by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

RX7 by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

Porsche Carrera GT by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

McLaren 12C by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

GR by Kurt Blythman, on Flickr

All 117 pics are viewable here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurt_blythman/sets/72157648241550939/

Cheers!
Dan

(now to do the Mimms update..)

EK4Sure · Oct 30, 2014

Nice pictures, too bad the Scirroco driver was being such a dick not letting you pass.
White Belgian ITR belonged to a friend of mine, and brown Civic at the Spa petrol station belongs to Boes16a2 here :))

DanielJames · Dec 23, 2014

Ok going to continue from Mimms..

It was another top weekend with Honda friends 8) Spent the weekend at Pwizzle's again and he actually got his DC2 out for some pics!

DSC_0134.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0135.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0137.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0141.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0142.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0145.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0146.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0148.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0151.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

DSC_0157.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

The teg inside at Mimms:

DSC_0164.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

After Mimms I had a mini meet up with Keiran (Infamous Nikko), Ku, and Josh with the DC5.