The 'Teg: a DC2 road to all the Honda's story

When I was young, I wasn't exactly a Honda guy- I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't until I drove (and later purchased) my first AP2 Honda S2000 that I gained a love for the high-revving VTEC machines. I still have an S2000 (sold my first one, bought another), but it still took me a few years after that to get into the FWD Honda's.

The years to follow led to me owning x2 S2000's, a 1988 CRX Si, an EK Civic hatch, a 2018 Civic Si and even an FK8 Civic Type R.

At one point, I had built my CRX to run SCCA STS and TT Tuner 5, but unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances led to me selling the CRX before I ever really sorted it out and dialed it in. While I was competing in the CRX it became, let's say, less than street friendly, leading me to only drive it back and forth to track/autoX events. So, to get my FWD, double-wishbone fix, I picked up an EK Civic hatch to use on the street. 
 

After I sold the CRX, I started slowly amassing junkyard parts for the EK... even had a B18b motor and transmission sitting in my garage at one point, that I pulled from a local junkyard, waiting to give the EK a healthy dose of power it desperately needed... right before I was about to start really building the EK, about a year ago (in August 2022), I stumbled across a 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, unmolested with only 125,000 miles on the clock for a price I couldn't refuse: 

Someone took very good care of this car. The original owner had it for 20+ years. The guy I bought it from essentially just parked it in a garage and didn't drive it. The result? A very clean GS-R. So clean in fact, that I was almost hesitant to start modding it. The only mod it came with was a now out-of-production Comptech (CARB legal) header. Everything else was bone stock with no signs of modification. 

As much I was liked my little EK, after I picked up the DC2, I decided it was a better place to start and ended up selling my EK and putting my efforts into improving upon the merits of the DC2. 

I had previously picked up a set of Integra wheels for my EK, that I mounted a fairly sticky set of Continental tires to. As the EK essentially went on the back burner (before I sold it), I figured I would throw them on the DC2: 

If I was going to put this car on track, I figured the first thing it needed was a full sized aluminum Koyo radiator, as the stock one was likely factory from 1996: 

I then had to address the tall elephant in the room: I'm 6'2" 215 lbs and this is an old Japanese car from the 90's with a moonroof. In order to gain some headroom, I threw in a set of Coreabu A4's that I had from a previous build... but they didn't net me much headroom on sliders... so, I drilled some holes in a mount and just mounted the driver's seat to the floor. Worked like a charm! I could now fit in the car with a helmet on! 

While the car was in great shape, I figured I would take care of all the maintenance, as I didn't have a history for it. So, new spark plugs, wires, transmission fluid, pads, rotors, fuel filter, water pump and a new Gates Racing timing belt: 

^^^^That little tool to hold the timing belt in place was absolutely wonderful! One of the best speciality tools I've ever purchased! 

I then decided to help keep the motor intact, I should address potential oil starvation... which I did with a Moroso road race oil pan: 

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With all the basic maintenance done, and reliability mods checked off the list, I decided it was time to start setting the car up. At this point, I didn't have much of an idea about what I wanted to do with the car as the old DC2 doesn't have many places to play competitively. I considered SCCA TT Sport 6 for a while and while it did sound appealing, later on, I would give up on the idea (I just don't think the DC2 can be competitive against the NC and RX-8 in such a limited trim). 

I also still wanted the car to be street friendly, which my former CRX was not. So, instead of building the car for a specific class, I figured I would just make the car fun to drive and see where it took me. As luck would have it, I happened to have a set of genuine OEM Integra Type R springs sitting in my garage... I had purchased them from a guy who swore they were from an EK9 CTR, with the intention of slapping them on my EK at some point... but when I received them, the paint dot codes didn't match, so, not knowing what exactly they were to, I just threw them in a parts box and forgot about it. As I was considering a Sport 6 build, I saw OEM springs were allowed... a light bulb went off in my head... I had a set of unknown springs in my garage... I never thought to check what the paint dot codes were for OEM ITR springs... such enough, they were OEM ITR springs! They had just been sitting in my garage, collecting dust lol. 

So, with thoughts of Sport 6 in my head (at the time), I picked up a set of Koni's, replaced all the rubbers and mounted a set of ITR springs up! Talk about a wake-up call! All I could think of was: this is how this car should have came from the factory! Which, it technically is... with the shocks turned up about ~70%, the fun factor went thru the roof! 

To tidy everything up and make the best use of the car's new handling prowess, I decided to freshen up the suspension: new upper/lower arms, new tie rods, ball joints, bearings etc. Unfortunately, one of the axles decided to fight me when I was pulling the knuckle to replace the bearings, so that ended up on the replaced items list as well. 

And while tracking was on my mind, the eye-sore that was this old, brittle, clear-bra had to be addressed. With a little bit of help from a steam-gun and a box of plastic razor blades, I managed to get back down to the OEM paint: 

in for B18 goodness.  i had a '95 GSR hatch back in '97-'02

I decided the car needed more grip and a bit more rotation. And while SCCA Sport 6 was still on my mind, I picked up a Progress rear sway bar (class legal) and a set of 205/50R15 tires mounted to a set of 15x8 +35 square Konig wheels: 

The Progress RSB is 22mm, which, not coincidentally, so it an OEM Integra Type R sway bar... with the 22mm bar bolted up, the car rotated beautifully! To the point where I would almost forget it was a FWD car... the balance with OEM ITR springs and an ITR sized RSB is wonderful! Completely neutral. No understeer, no oversteer, it just points wherever I tell it to go. 

Unfortunately, I was getting just the slightest amount of rub in the right rear side, due to the new wider wheels and tires. It was at this point that I decided to abandon the idea of SCCA Sport 6 and pulled out the heat gun and fender roller. I didn't go crazy and flatten anything, just a slight roll, where I could put the stock rubber liner back on. Problem solved: 

After giving it some thought, I decided Sport 6 was no longer in the cards. As such, I decided I would just upgrade all the bushings to Hardrace rubber, which, honestly helped the car feel a bit more planted, but I didn't notice any real additional NVH. After my previous lesson in my CRX, I decided I would stay away from poly, more specifically, no poly in the rear trailing arm: 

^^^Word of advice to anyone replacing Honda RTA bushings: get the expensive Schley Honda/Acura Bushing X Tractor (SLY-65130). I used one of the cheaper knock-offs on previous RTA bushings and all I did was fight. The Schley tool made it a simple in and out job! Yet again, another speciality tool that was worth every penny. 

As the car was getting better, I found I was driving it a bit quicker, and as a result, I was missing a gear from time to time. I decided I should replace the motor mounts for better shifter feel/engagement. I want to share my folly with anyone who hasn't been down this path before... please, for the love of all that is holy and good, stay away from cheap Rock Auto engine mounts. Yes, they will bolt in just fine. Yes, they're a small fraction of the price of the OEM mounts. You get what you pay for and I learned that the hard way! 

That rear T-mount is an absolute pain in the neck to get to! I put an OEM-knock-off brand mount in there, thinking I didn't want a lot of NVH... boy was I disappointed to find the car rattled like crazy afterwards, specifically at idle, at a stoplight. You would think I put solid mounts in the car! I would later source new OEM mounts and just paid the small fortune they were asking. Well worth it. The car now shifted like new and with OEM mounts back in, it was vibration-free! 

While I was tearing things apart, I figured I would continue with Hardrace hardened rubber bushings everywhere: 

The car now felt tight as a drum, while still being extremely street friendly! 

So, with the suspension being completely refreshed and much tighter, I figured the car needed a bit more power. I've seen mixed reviews on many of the filter on a stick intakes out there, so I passed on them. I was looking for something that the community seemed to agree actually made power with being more OEM+ per se. 

I contacted the folks at Heeltoe Auto and put money down on a brand new CT Engineering (formerly Comptech) Icebox! It was on backorder, but I was shocked to see they are actually making them still! It's a pretty nice piece: 

Putting the Icebox in involved removing the OEM resonator/silencer box, which saved a few pounds in the process. It also looked very clean in the engine bay and came with a (not needed for me, but nice), CARB legal sticker, so folks in all 50 states can run this thing: 

I'll be honest, the car did pick up a bit of power. My wife and I both noticed it. It also sounds GREAT! Before, I couldn't hear that sweet VTEC howl, but it now comes through loud and clear! The car sounded very good, without being obnoxious to my ears. 

While the car was fun, I found that the tall gears of the GS-R didn't really match the nature of the high revving engine. I'm used to my S2000 and found myself wishing the gearing was closer to the S2000's- especially the big gap between 1st and 2nd, where the car easily falls out of it's powerband. 

I found the answer to my problems and scored a sweet deal on a JDM EK9 B16b gearbox! The tranny was freshly rebuilt, with brand new synchros, etc. Absolutely mint. So, I invited a couple of my buddies over and had it swapped over in a day. 

My fully refreshed B16b box next to an old LS box I had sitting in the garage (to swap into the EK): 

In retrospect, I probably should have taken the opportunity to swap in a new clutch, but the old one looked fine, had zero issues and there were no signs of leaks from the RMS, so I left it alone. All in all, it was pretty straight forward and nothing fought me. 

Truth be told, this is actually when I swapped in a new OEM T-bracket motor mount. I had swapped the old one out the hard way, where I put in an OEM one while the tranny was out, which made the job MUCH easier. 

I had always heard about the legend of the "b*tch pin". I found the legend to be overstated. I used the right sized punch and had it out in under 2 minutes. YMMV. 

To date, this is the absolute BEST modification I have ever made to this car! The shorter gearing brought this car to life! I thought yet again: this is how this car should have come from the factory. Which, yet again, technically, it did.

In 5th gear on the freeway, yes, it spins at a very high RPM, but I didn't see much of a drop in fuel economy and hardly noticed the extra noise. Take that with a grain of salt, as my other fun, sporty car is an AP2 S2000... which spins just as high on the freeway in 6th. To me, the trade-off was absolutely worth it, especially since this car is driven in town ~90% of the time. It makes the car so much easier to keep on boil, and the shifter feel of an old Honda it top notch, leaving me loving just rowing through the gears! The OEM torsen LSD was also immediately noticeable the first time I put my foot down coming out of a local corner- while not a clutch-type, the torsen is infinitely better than the open OEM diff! 

I can't say enough about the Type R box in this car. By far the most expensive "mod" I've done to the car, but 100% worth it. 

Congrats! Many of us long time honda owners here. too many to list, but yes DC2 GSR , 2 S2000 (ap1 and ap2) and crx si (greddy single turbo) over the years. 

After installing the gearbox, I figured I would go further into track mods, as I felt like I was past the point of return. So, I decided the car needed some camber by way of Hardrace upper control arms. I forgot to take pictures of the fronts, but I put in both front and rear UCA's, dialed in -2.5 degrees of camber and the grip level of the car was certainly noticeable! 

And since I was going more "racecar", I decided I should finally pick up an exhaust... it's a long story, but I essentially ended up with a brand new DC Sports cat-back for free! 

I had only heard sound clips of the DC Sports exhaust on the Internet and hadn't seen any recent reviews. It seemed to have a nice, deep tone on the internet and saved quite a bit of weight off of the car (about 11 lbs)... I would not recommend this exhaust if you value your eardrums. It's a 2.5" straight-thru design (that should have been my first clue) with a resonator. This thing droned to the point where I was ready to turn around before I even got out of my neighborhood. I've had a lot of exhausts, on a lot of cars in my life. This was the most headache inducing by a pretty good margin. Maybe I'm just getting too old. 

I tried using a silencer... technically, 2 of them... I tried a 1.625" silencer, which actually worked pretty well and allowed the car to be driveable for longer distances. Although I could feel a substantial power loss and realized the silencer was choking the exhaust down to a diamter that was smaller than the stock exhaust (stock is 2.0"). So, I decided I would throw in a 2.0" silencer, so at least I didn't feel like I was making less power than stock. 

The 2.0" silencer wasn't terrible I suppose, but it still grated on my nerves. I ran it for a while, but when it got to the point where I didn't want to drive the car anymore, I eventually removed the exhaust and went back to stock (for the time being). 

With the car feeling more like a racecar for the street, I decided to head on down to a local autoX league at PPIR and have some fun! Despite my cone dodging rust, the car was actually competitive in a local FWD class, that was dominated by several stripped out CRX's with b-series motor swaps. My DC2 was still a full street car, full interior, on OEM ITR springs and was WAY behind the power to weight ratio limits set for this league/class, but she was still keeping up!
 

It was at this time that I considered really putting together a build for this class, but then something unexpected happened... 

mr2s2000elise said:

Congrats! Many of us long time honda owners here. too many to list, but yes DC2 GSR , 2 S2000 (ap1 and ap2) and crx si (greddy single turbo) over the years. 

Thanks brother! I've actually had my GS-R for about a year now, I just figured I would finally document the slow build I've been putting together over the past year. Good taste in cars haha! 

Not to turn this into a BMW thread, but as I was trying to decide which route to take with my DC2, I found myself loving the car, driving it more than any car in my stable and seemingly hesitant to go much further with it, as the car was very fun, economical and streetable; which led to me browsing FB marketplace one day and finding an E82 BMW 128i 6MT w/sport package. 

The BMW was an absolute mess. It wouldn't hardly drive in a straight line. The dash was lit up like a Christmas tree. The engine had a disturbing stutter/hesitation at certain RPM's. The interior was absolutely trashed. But I'm a sucker for a good deal. 

I saw this as a new opportunity: instead of building my DC2 further and potentially ruining it as a street car, I could buy this dirt cheap 128i, build it to run NASA TT5 and be back in a RWD platform on track! I drove a couple hours away and even though the car was already dirt cheap, I made the former owner an even more lowball offer... we met somewhere in the middle and I limped this German pile all the way back home, white knuckled the entire time (the car was terrifying to drive on the freeway!). 

It seemed like a good idea... then I started fixing everything that was wrong with the car- there was a LOT wrong with this car! So much that I'll likely start another build thread for it. At the end of a few months, the E82 drove great! No more lights on the dash, the engine felt strong, it tracked straight as an arrow and the interior cleaned up nicely! 

During this time, I had stopped working on the DC2, as the BMW became my focus. Then, after everything was finished, I made a startling discovery: the little Bimmer is wonderful to drive! I found myself grabbing the keys to the BMW almost everywhere I went. The DC2 feels far more raw and eager to play around in the corners, whereas the BMW is more relaxing to drive and considerably more comfortable. 

In summary: I bought the BMW to be a track car, then essentially fell in love with it as a daily. As a result, I stopped modding the Integra for a while... but have now come back full circle with getting back on board to modding the DC2 and tracking it. 

With the 128i as my new, fun, semi-daily (technically I have a work car I commute in, but I won't get bogged down with that), I've come back to focusing on building the DC2 even further. I just figured I would mention the break I had in the build and what led me to committing to go even further with the DC2...  

EDIT: my BMW 128i build thread is now listed here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/e82-128i-when-your-projected-track-car-turns-into-your-daily/258441/page1/

After months of being on the fence and having this gauge and pod setup just sitting in the garage, I finally got around to installing this AEM oil temperature gauge! 


I feel like it contrasts pretty well with the car's black and tan interior. 

I installed the sensor into the pre-tapped bung in the Moroso oil pan, so the reading is straight from the pan. I'm honestly not sure if that's the best place for it, but it seems to be working just fine. The weather has been cooler here lately, and honestly, the temps hardly get passed 200 F (ambient while driving it has been in the 60's F). I haven't brought it out to the track yet, so I'm not sure if that translates into it being safe to push without an oil cooler, but so far it runs pretty cool- I'm assuming the Moroso road race pan (extended capacity) and Koyo radiator are somehow helping in that department. 

I was shocked to find that no one really makes an oil cooler setup for these cars anymore... I know a lot of you folks would advise to just make my own, but to be honest, my metal fabrication skills leave much to be desired. I am fairly decent with a wrench, but I have no fabrication skills to really speak of. I called a local performance shop (which I won't name), to get a quote for an oil cooler and it was utterly outrageous. As luck would have it, I managed to find a brand new Greddy kit from Japan that cost considerably less than what I was quoted locally- so I now have an old school Greddy oil cooler kit being shipped from the motherland! Fingers crossed it's legit. 

After removing the overly obnoxious DC Sports exhaust a while ago, I learned my lesson and spent all the money on this brand new Apexi WS3 exhaust! 

I was surprised that Apexi is still making brand new exhausts for these cars, but sure enough, they are! This piping isn't as big as the DC Sports exhaust: DC Sports= 2.5", Apexi= 2.38", stock= 2.0". 

It also isn't as light as the DC Sports exhaust: DC Sports= 26.4 lbs, Apexi= 35.6 lbs, stock= 37.4 lbs. It's almost as heavy as stock! But honestly, it feels so much more substantial than the DC exhaust- everything feels high quality. The construction is top notch and feels like it was made to last. 

Installing this thing was a breeze! Honestly, it fit like an OEM part. No rattles, no trouble lining anything up; it felt just like a factory part. They even sent highly detailed instructions that contained specific torque specs! You get what you pay for I suppose. While I would have liked to have saved some weight, I think there's other areas I would rather save it in that don't involve my ears bleeding. 

Speaking of which, I fired her up and there's absolutely NO DRONE to speak of! Honestly, I can't hardly tell if it's louder than stock. If you're looking for a nice, high quality exhaust that is truly OEM+, I can't recommend this thing highly enough! I don't care that it probably doesn't flow as well as the DC, as I can actually drive it on the street without attracting attention or giving me a headache. A++++! 

After much inner debate and heading the advice of FWD GRM'ers, I decided to try and maximize front end grip for the DC2 and I ordered the Flyin' Miata Kogeki wheels in a reverse staggered setup (15x9 +36 F & 15x8 +36 R). Side note: I had no idea that Konig produced these wheels for them! 


The wheels are gorgeous! 

Throwing the 15x8 +36 wheels onto the rear, they clear the upper control arm mount without an issue and spin freely! 

I put the 15x9 +36 wheels on the front left side and got excited when I saw they BARELY cleared and spun freely! They cleared the left side, but it's TIGHT! 

Unfortunately, I tried to fit them on the front right side and it scraped the knuckle... doh! SOOOOO close! I guess the regular Konig 15x9 +35 offset is probably the highest you can really go without scraping. Oh well. I considered taking a dremel to the knuckle to clearance it, but I'm hesitant at this point, so I'll probably just order the Karcepts hubs, 36mm axles and some ARP studs to avoid ever having to deal with it in the future. 

I considered running a small 3mm spacer, but was advised by fellow GRM'er Keith Tanner than I should probably use the x1.5 rule to be on the safe side... meaning, the wheel studs on the car are 12mm in diameter, so to safely use spacers, I should try to have 1.5 times that thread engagement... my measurements essentially point towards me only having 19-20mm of thread engagement (before any spacers), so I'm a bit hesitant to use a spacer on a car I'll be tracking. 

I decided that I'm going to complete the DC2 build, with the goal of running it in NASA TT6. So, I figured I need to not only make some power, but make sure the car is tuned safely for track duty (I'm not sure I trust the OEM ECU to compensate for all of my breathing mods under stress). So, it's time to get into ECU tuning! 

I picked up an OBD1 P72 ECU, along with a jumper cable and a Hondata S300: 

It's been years since I've actually tuned an ECU (mostly turbo Subaru's, turbo Mazdaspeeds and played around a bit with N54's). I might be able to stumble through it, but I've elected to contact a local dyno tuner to set everything up and try to squeeze some more power out of this old girl! Next stop: to the dyno! 

Well, it actually showed up: a brand new Greddy/Trust oil cooler. 

Google translate might be in order: 

Looks fancy. Even with shipping from Japan, for an obscure part you can't find in the States anymore, it was still considerably cheaper than the quote I received to fab one up locally. It's a pretty small core, which, is actually preferable for my setup. 

Side note: I really need to get some welding equipment and learn to weld. I am getting a bit tired of paying larger sums of money for kits with pre-assembled brackets that with an extra skill, I'm sure I could figure out how to fab myself. 

It was around 80 degree F outside today and I was driving the GS-R around... I don't think I saw temps rise above ~203 F. I'm at high elevation (5000 ft), so I assumed the oil will get much hotter come mid-summer on track. I'm gonna hold off on installing this thing over the fall/winter and will re-visit it in the spring. 

Everyone knows blue is faster

In reply to docwyte :

There's a lot of misinformation online about red being the fastest color, but those in the know, go with blue.

  Since the new front wheels need a spacer and I don't have much thread on the wheel studs (not enough to comfortably run a spacer on track), I decided a set of ARP extended wheel studs were in order. Which of course means new open lug nuts, etc. I figured if I'm going to run extended studs on the front, I might as well run them all around. 

Fortunately, I just so happened to have a set of brand new Timken rear wheel hubs/bearings sitting in the garage (I think I bought them sometime last year and never got around to installing them since the rears were fine). So, I figured I would get to work installing the studs into the rear bearings/hubs! 

For the fronts, I'm just waiting on a couple more things to arrive in the mail... I'm going a little overboard in the front, but there's a method behind the madness.   

Well, I had the car dyno tuned today via Hondata S300... the result: right around ~160whp. For a car rated at 170hp at the crank with minimal bolt-ons (CARB legal airbox/Icebox, shortly CARB legal header, quiet cat-back exhaust- on the OEM catalytic converter!), that's not bad! Simple math says with drivetrain loss, she's likely making somewhere in the neighborhood of 180-188hp at the crank. Not bad for a 27 year old motor! 

Compared to the stock ECU, the tune picked up about ~5whp peak, with gains of 5-10whp from about 5000rpm on up. 

For purposes of NASA, the "average" max horsepower figure looks like it'll be right around ~154whp. I need to have the dyno shop email me the dyno files to upload them into NASA's max average HP calculator to get an exact number. The car weighs around ~2600 lbs, so with me in the car, it'll be close to ~2800 lbs. Using NASA's online calculator ( https://form.jotform.com/83435707892164 ), I think the car should probably be close to maxing out TT6, depending on the tires I run. Depending on the car's exact weight, I might find a couple places to save a few pounds to try and max out the class. 

I managed to get the new hubs/bearings/extended studs on the rear today. The right side slid right on… the left side race got stuck on the spindle and required the use of a torch, an angle grinder, a BFH and a chisel… not necessarily in that order... good times!

I actually think the new open lug nuts look pretty good on the car! 

So, as previously covered, I needed extended wheel studs to run the new 9" wide wheels I picked up. I had a dilemma: only 1 company thru RockAuto makes an aftermarket wheel hub (DuraGo) and in order to install studs on these cars you need new hubs and bearings (studs can't be installed with hubs on the car unless you want to cut up the stock knuckles- hard pass). Their stud knurl sizing appears to be inconsistent and their quality is questionable (I've read of at least 1 report on the Honda boards where one of their hubs actually failed on track, sending a wheel flying...). I'm sure I could just order them, measure the knurl diameter and figure out which ARP studs to order... but I decided to pass, even though this was the most economical solution. 

Option #2: buy a set of new OEM wheel hubs and press ARP studs into them. OEM hubs are getting tougher to find and cost a small fortune- over $200 a piece. For hubs. Ouch. I decided if I was going to do it, I might as well spend all the money and do it right. 

Option #3: buy Karcepts hardened 36mm hubs and a set of axles for a 2002-2006 RSX Type S! This is overkill- it takes your axle spline up from a stock 32mm axle, up to a much beefier 36mm, increasing axle strength/durability. This is absolutely NOT needed at my current power level... but I have a feeling that sometime in the next couple years, the car will likely get a big power boost in the form of a K24 swap. So, the way I looked at it: this is more of a future-proof upgrade. It's a bit more work and money right now, but will allow me to run high quality hubs and bump up the power big time if I ever go that route in the future. 

While I'm in there, I figured I would also upgrade to a set of stainless steel braided brake lines and Hawk DTC 60 pads (to replace the HP+ pads that are currently in there). 

I'm almost ready to be "done" with this build for hopefully most of the next year! Only 1 more [major] component to order... 

Great project. I'm definitely going to follow along.