Reference: sharing my modding experience on old car

PART1

hi, just sharing wat i have done for the pass 2.2yrs with my
civic ES. still like my old car.got the car on 1st July 05.

Performance: hm..compare ES to my honda city 2G '01 VTEC w/o abs, the
VTEC kick not realli there..at first i was wondering y..

Theory: city 2g is lighter than ES. ES onli have 1 stage VTEC from a
range of 2600rpm to 3500rpm <--if i remember correctly..keke








around mid aug 05, met an accident. and from there onwards, the alarm
system
is veri sensative, any cars with louder exhaust can trigger it.after
tat, added some exterior modifications. eye lids, front bumper kit
connected to the front bumper using fibre glass material and a trimmed
boot lip. wire mesh for the bumper as well.

















my first meetup with my stock es on Dec05. got to noe the veri
first bro Honda1976 aka William, Lisss(u all noe..haha) and Civic es1
aka Alan. then bro MCDS came with his pre-fl ES with lots of magnets,
BMC intake, Neuspeed strut bar and many more.haha. , a few hrs got to
noe bro rookie, Sampoh and last is eeee78 aka Alvin. then bro Sampoh
have GB on wire mesh grille as well. think it suits my ride.

haha, bro DV and levi's, beemer, dadude, ahren, roy and many more stil not in the forum yet. =p=p=p

PART 2

First performance mod, around Chinese New Year year 2006, Simota carbon charger, large version.
Thanks
to bro Sampoh for helping me installed FOC, somemore within 1hr. u r
damn pro sia.haha. but used around 1mth, got it removed. Dun like, too
noisy.

Feedback: low end really gain quite a lot. High end
no diff at all. FC still remains.




Next following mod is bore
the Throttle body at Gary’s engineering, In the end, sold away cos I am
using stock filter, bore liao also no use cos there is a rubber connection
making the air flow nicely into the TB without ‘hitting’ the edge of the TB.



Joined my first GB in SHC-forum, Alutec low tie bar.

Feedback: first heard from bro MCDS tat it onli
reduced 1 or 2 bounce after going over humps. It did.







Team ES numbering starts around March ’06. Thanks to bro
Rookie
with the veri first design, MCDS still using if I am not wrong. Then
came bro Vynez’s with the following design shown below. Both designs
are great.








Next,
around apr '06, got $$ from gov cos of the gst increment. so change
rims and tires at Poh Heng. remove bonnet chrome strip. add a normal
gt-wing.

performance parts: Bridgestone Potenza G3 50/205/r16, Work emotion replica rims white 16 x 6.5j

feedback:
damn nice when the tyres are new. veri grippy on wet and dry. but abit
noisy...
rims quite heavy, 7kg+. FC become veri bad, 450-500km per tank. average
is 480km per tank..hai..cornering, not bad..abit improvements.

theory: think abit improvements cos of the heavy rims, better tyres, and thinner profile.

Disadvantage: It hardens real fast, around 10000km, the tyres cant perform as be4. Bro Xiaonick also agreed with it.






















Next mod, thanks to bro Chowhousehold for the very affordable Project miu SCR pure plus SD624 262mm front rotors and Project miu Bestop brake pads.








Around May’06, then got $$ again. change front anti-roll bar to 25.4mm, heard is from es8. rear anti-roll bar changed to 22mm dc5r's.


feedback with rear arb changed onli:
feel like a snake (mentioned by bro roy be4..haha) when changing lane
cos it makes the ride abit oversteer. rear body did not realli roll as
much when having attempting a sudden turn attempt.

feedback with front arb added: works veri well with the rear. gives abit
understeer compare to both stock front and rear arbs.

theory: increase in front arb size will give a more understeer feel.
increase in the rear will give a more oversteer feel.

note: the arbs i changed are much heavier than stock ES arbs.

bro ig108 broke his endlink. maybe cos he diyed, never tighten properly.but
to play safe, i removed both. and changed to BC coilovers.

pics of the fault tat realli scare me..look at the rubber near the endlinks.















Next mod,around Jun’06, did the Hotbit header 4-2-1 from Jeep Chee. Got
it at $210 cos eeee78 appeared and bargain with the boss for a discount for $10.

Feedback: not bad, low end to mid end got improvements. Felt more improvement was at lower rpm area.




Thanks to bro Darth Vader, make me gian. my first poison by him was the red Motegi lug nuts. Lighter than stock. Sold in the end cos dun like the color.












Next, around Aug ’06, RPM crank pulley, DV’s GB. I wonder how many times he had poisoned me..haha.Sold cos dun really feel the diff.

Feedback: low end abit improve. Can’t really tell as
maybe I am driving a manual. But hear from DV and bro Levi’s tat they really can feel the diff.



The same day, changed to Catco high-flow catalyst converter. Done at Fong Kim.

Feedback: low end really improve a lot. At mid rpm
abit gain. Higher rpms no much diff, think cos I did still using stock exhaust
muffler. When I stepped the acceleration pedal harder abit with normal half
clutching effort, the car can actually wheel spin!

Then, the veri same day again, done my BC coilovers bought from Fong Kim at $1200 with installation and 1 free wheel alignment. Added diy body stickers too.

Performance: improves handling, to lower the car and make it looks nice as well.

Feedback: it do really works veri well with the 16in rims. Cornering is better than with having aftermarket arbs.





















Around Sep’06, done the Pro RS stainless steel brake hose.
Thanks to bro DV, Levi’s, eeee78 & Rookie for helping to find the
cheapest SSBH. If I am not wrong, that is our first shopping together
or the second at ubi.

PART 3

Still not veri happi with the performance. I went to operate the stock muffler at Supreme Motorworks. Veri gd workmanship by Ah Orh.

Feedback:
now the mid to high-end really improves. Especially around 5000prm, the
kick is quite shiok. But, I lost the low-end quite a lot after a few
days. This is caused by the hi-flow cat. I installed previously.

Theory:
Quite quiet till the last day I sold my ES. Reason is cos he used metal
meshes, like those we use to scrap off the carbon on kettle base and
other utensils. Ah Orh packed it fully, looks like forcing all the
meshes into the muffler.

Disadvantage: damn heavy. I tried to carry it up.
Sweat arh!!




The
following week, bro Kelvin Koh told me he is using straight through
exhaust piping method, recommended me to get it done too. Sat
in his car, quite gd. So planned to do it at Ah Orh w/s. But Ah Orh
told me to try his custom made hi-flow catalyst converter. Ok loh,
tried. And sold my Catco to bro Ah ren.

**After Ah Ren brought from me cos I told him there is gain
and he trusted me. At first there is gain, within a week he told me his car
becomes sluggish. Damn paiseh, make him waste his $$. That is the
difference between and auto car and a manual car. Till now I still felt
veri paiseh when he tok about his welding mark. Veri sorri bro Ah Ren.

Theory: auto ES, do not touch the cat. Unless u dun mind the sluggishness at low-mid rpms.

Feedback on ah orh’s cat: He added a piece of metal to restrict part of the flow. It improved the low end. There is the same gain at mid to redline.





Think
after a month, another shopping with bro Darth Vader, Levis &
Roychew14. cant really remember where we meet, but in the end we
went to Maximus Racing at Woodlands Roy and I bought Blitz Sonicopen pod.

Ask DV to get, he dun 1..say BMC is the best. Lol. In the end still butt itchy go change, =p.

Then we went to Robson Design ad Midview building to take a look at the
carbon fibre bonnet. Bro Levi’s bought the CF bonnet tat day. Imagine
bro
DV’s face, wan to get but never get..lol. ur face is damn jialat that
day. Hope u read this.hahahahaha. glad that ur wife is understanding,
buy u 1 for ur birthday. kao, where to get this kind of wife, so gd.

Sold
my Blitz Sonic to bro Oilver. Bro, I gave u veri brother price for a 2
weeks filter, must make full use, go track more often. And ya, Roy, I
gave u the piping with $40 heat insulation FOC, must take care of it
hor.

Feedback: open pod leh, sure veri gd for hi revs especially
5000rpm
and above cos air can flow in with least restrictions. The intake roar
is damn nice. Best I heard so far. Maybe is my hi-flow cat., low-end up
to 2800rpm really veri veri jialat. And also, when downshifted from 5th
gear to 3rd gear for a sudden pickup, there is a lag. The laggy period
is like 1/2sec for me..like tat how to play gears sia…my skill maybe 1
of the factors for this case. Hehe. Cos bro Vynez says ok leh, no much
diff. how he manage to handle the filter sia..







Butt itchy, went to have the fog lights tinted. And went for East Deviant’s photoshoot year 2006.












trying to make my ride to look like this.







Around
Sep’06, bro Rookie intro bro Alec aka Gymkhana to us. This guy is
really damn gd. Told me to change rims, took off gt-wing, get gd tyres.
I do trust his theory, so I went to change rims and tyres. Mainwhile,
before changing rims, when to install Perfect Power SMT6, installed by Ah Tiong, tuned by Vic. I attended Bro eeee78 and Honda1976’s big day!!!

Feedback on piggyback: well, gain is abit loh. Veri veri little. But I trust vic’s tuning. FC improves by 30-60km per tank.

Thanks rookie for the ribbons during eeee78’s wedding. Still remembered all
ESs whose ride got lowered kanna hump when coming out of the hotel
carpark.
Bro Darth Vader, Levi’s, Rookie, Whites5, me and others who attended
the dinner. Roy, u damn heng, urs is the lowest, lucky u never drive
instead u got a chance to c levi’s opening up his legs while driving.
Still wondering y u look at there?? Haha.




honda1976’s wedding day, just next day nia.

LAST PART

Ok, at last, got my rims and tyres changed. Rims sold to Ah Tiong. Lol. Mod done just be year 2007 Chinese New Year.

Performance parts: front tyres using Yokohama Advan Neova AD07, rear tyres using Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. both tyres size at 195/55/R15. Rims change to SSW-SWPC016 rims 15 x 6.5.

Overall: FC improves, can travel 550-600km with 1 full tank.

Feedback on rims: Rims is damn heavy..wth..6kg+ near to 7kg..shitty..but can really feel the pickup is better.

Theory on tyres:
this is from my bicycle theory.Front is grippy on dry so can perform a
better launch. Rear is more grips on wet so when doing a hard braking
during wet weather, the car will not spin or sway like a fish.

Advantages on tyres: buy onli 2 AD07, cheaper than having 4. having GS-D3 to compensate the weak wet grip of AD07.

Disadvantage on tyres:
GS-D3 has softer side wall and weaker drip grip. When cornering hard on
dry road, car tempts to oversteer. During the wet, rear has more grips,
hence car feels understeer. Damn, got to learn 2 driving method,
somemore GS-D3 thread can trap nails and punctual tyres…DV got 3 out of
4 tyres punctual.









Year 07 starts, part time degree class starts. Damn busy, seldom join
meetup. That is where I felt left out. Hai….the feeling is like every
ES bros getting further from me. Even bro Levi’s is gone.

Lonely, install Hardrace camber kit for the rear. Then SPC camber bolt for the front.

Feedback on rear kit: got to play with cambers. Tried 0.5, front 1.2-1.6 stock range. No gd, oversteer, car like wan to flip like tat..ergh….

Feedback on having all kit and bolt:
Tried front 1, rear still remains 0.5. steering vibration improves at
high speed range from 105km/h and above till 140km/h. higher speed
never try, humji ..haha.

Feed back on front 1, rear 1: feeling becomes abit understeer than be4. car roll improves abit.

Feedback on front 1.2, rear 1.5: perfect, suits me.




Time to test out other performance parts. Changed to SD 4-1 header as I believe Honda engineers have their theory on y they have 4-1 header stock for our ES. Removed Ah Orh’s cat. As well.

Feedback:
no regrets. Low-end improves, mid-end no change. High-end lost abit
Previous with high-flow cat, 3000rpm and above the kick just started
when climbing up hill.

Theory: hi-flow cat. Will affect
low-end, so changed to stock, low-end improves. High-end lost cos of
the hi-flow cat. High flow mah. For 4-1 header, compare to stock,
low-end is not as gd, but the lost is quite reasonable. I still can
climb up hills.



Change rims alone during Aug ‘07… removed gt-wing as well. This time I listen to bro Alec’s recommendation, Bridgestone Potenza RE01R with rims Spoon replica aka Desmond Regamaster EVO replica aka Rota Slipstream, 15 x 6.5j.

Feedback on removing gt-wing:
car’s butt felt like floating. Not veri stable when attempting hard
cornering, but still can make it. FC improves by abit, 5-20km per tank.
Unbelievable.







Feedback on rims and tyres: can really feel the
torque.
Acceleration is better too. Damn gd. Best most I did so far. Can corner
as if I was with 16in rims. Swee. Gd tyres. Works well with light
rims.Tyres pressure changes evenly throughout all 4 pieces. Wow, RE01R,
4.9 out of 5 points. More sticky than AD07 after warming up.











Last second mod for my ES, Summit low-tie bar. To replace my alutec, cos when reversing up slope, car too low, knock the kerb.








My last mod, upsize exhaust midpipe from 1.5in to 1.75in using Integra
GSR’s midpipe. Thought is plug and play at first. During that day then
noe short of a few inch..no choice, extent it.

Feedback:
from my previous performance mod, I lost abit of high-end. Now I get it
back!!! 5000rpm and above, although the gain is not as much as using
open pod+ highflow cat, and highflow cat alone, but the exhaust roar is
abit louder. Low-end up to 3000rpm , lost veri veri little. Still can
climb up slopes with almost no diff with 1.5in piping. This maybe got
link with my stock air intake, cos it is well balanced now throughout
the rpms.







so,
spend so much $$ on my ES, hai..change car bah..change to something tat
no need to mod, comes with everything ready. FD2R is the choice for me.
Bros, come join the FD, of course not forgetting where we are
originated from, ES club.

still have lots of small stuffs like engine oil, spark plugs, ICE haven
say, well..wait write too much read liao also sian. like reading
rookie's big big SA.



last but not least, must say, i learn alot through this 1.6L civic ES5,
not even 100hp on wheels, but it realli helps me to understands quite
alot. not forgetting those bros who guide me, taught me and share their
poisons with me.



next, DV!!, if u read this, post ur modifications u done for ur car also since dec'05. sure longer than mine.

really really respect your dedication to your ride bro

I wouldn't have been able to remember all these in such details. cool!

Story of XiaoS ES Civic =)