After persistant nagging from ChargeR, I've decided to get my car blog thread started. My story isn't particularly interesting, but I guess it might provide a good laugh and/or ideas for other owners that hopefully they can draw some inspiration from.
Originally tossing up between a SW20 MR2 or DC2R, I cut my choice down to the DC2R because of its 4 seater and boot space practicality over the MR2 and test drove a white 1996 example with the personalised plates 'CEPER' (low in Indonesian, I think). After countless hours of thought, I realised that after dismissing the DC5R because of its large awkward shape, I was actually in love with it and could think of no other car that I'd rather. The S15 did come to mind, considering that at the time they were both around the same price however the stigma of owning a Nissan and their associated crowd, and the 'full' package of a Type R (factory body kit, recaros, aggressive look, etc) convinced me that the DC5R was the perfect car for me, and it was.
After testing a couple of DC5R's locally, I eventually found a Milano Red DC5R with a sunroof in the West side of Melbourne, which was exactly what I wanted! A couple of days later on February 12th 2004, I was the proud owner of my very own DC5R.
Pic of my first CRSX meet soon after picking up the car, where I met Hadean amongst other guys who have since disappeared from the scene.
Being the povo uni student that I was, I rode around stock for a good part of 2 years and was the center of all 4WD jokes because of the ridiculously high stock height. Eventually, after finishing uni and getting a job, I started pouring money into the car and became a CBR (chequebook racer) because of my fascination of accumulating parts without actually enjoying the car (ie. tracking it).
Pic of my 4wd DC5R
On November 26 2006, I participated in my first track day at Winton with the HSCCV (Honda Sports Car Club of Victoria) and had an absolute ball. Incidentally, this is where I met my nemesis, ChargeR for the first time; on the battlefield, in his emo clothes and his emo hair. At the end of the day, I managed to pull a 1.54 in my DC5R with i/e/coilovers + street tyres, whilst ChargeR in his relatively stock DC5R with i/e + street tyres convincingly wooped me with a 1:51. I would eventually get my own back at the next track day and thus began our rivalry with each other...NEMESIS!!! That being said, I still didn't feel good about just managing to beat ChargeR; I had a fair amount more mods than him which were just compensating for my driving (or lack of) ability, which has since been my focus when attending track days; improving my driver ability without compensating with mods.
Riding on silver Advan RG's
My lap times for each of my track outings are recorded below. I'm glad to say that despite doing a bit of CBR inbetween the various track days, most of my time improvement has been due to driver ability. The second times along each line is my Nemesis' laptimes for the same event.
A wheels magazine PCOTY '06 laptime around Winton for a 2002 DC5R is: 1.45.53
26/11/2006 - HSCCV - 1:54.8110 |1:51.6290
11/03/2007 - RX8 - 1:50.27 |1:50.7980
09/06/2007 - On The Run - 1:48.003 |
18/11/2007 - HSCCV - 1:46.853 |
17/02/2008 - Mazda RX8 - 1:44.?? |1:44.2545
10/05/2008 - Circuit Club - 1:43.9800 |1:43.7600
25/06/2008 - EXE Track Day - 1:42.53 |1:43.0100
Pics at some of the last track days I attended
Details on my car:
2002 DC5 Integra Type R
Stealership aftermarket sunroof by Hollandier
Injen CAI
Buddyclub Spec 3 exhaust
Mugen headers
Kpro
Endless Zeal Function V6 coilovers F:10k|R:10k
Custom polyutherane engine mounts
Whiteline Front adjustable sway bar
Whiteline Rear adjustable sway bar
Mugen front tower bar
Mugen rear chasis bar
17x7.5" +29, 17x8.5" +37 Advan RGs with Dunlop Direzza Z1's
Endless Zeal 6pot mini calipers (on stock rotors)
Endless CCX pads for track, VN9500 for street
Ingalls front camber bolts
Ingalls rear camber kit
Centrax Catch Can
OEM Honda AU window visors
Mugen replica rear wing
HIDS
Viscous Short Shifter
Red Recaros
Red side door trim
Part of the game of modifying cars is to try something, realise that its not what you want/need, and then try again with a different part/item. Throughout my time with the car, some of the progression of mods that aren't reflected in the cars current state include:
stock box --> Apexi SRI --> gutted stock box --> injen CAI
stock mounts --> ESMM --> DIY polyutherane (stock) mounts
Stock rims --> 17 x 7.5" +45 Advan RGs in silver --> 17 x 7.5" +29, 17 x 8.5" +37 Advan RGs in gold
Bridgestone RE030 --> Bridgestone G3 --> Bridgestone RE050A --> Bridgestone RE01R --> Dunlop Direzza Z1
Stock suspension --> Tein Flex --> Endless Zeal Function V6
Some random shots I took
I'm sure that theres plenty of random stuff that I've left out that I'll remember to add in later on, so apologies in advance at the organisation of this blog.
Oh and lastly before I forget, thanks to all the guys who've helped in creating the car I drive today; these are the guys behind the scenes who've lifted a tool and helped, or just given me general setup/driving advice. Big thanks especially to wlee2 and ChargeR who've helped me get out of sticky situations (clutch not engaging, calipers falling apart, etc) as well as helped in advising the cars setup.
Cheers,
Michael
Originally tossing up between a SW20 MR2 or DC2R, I cut my choice down to the DC2R because of its 4 seater and boot space practicality over the MR2 and test drove a white 1996 example with the personalised plates 'CEPER' (low in Indonesian, I think). After countless hours of thought, I realised that after dismissing the DC5R because of its large awkward shape, I was actually in love with it and could think of no other car that I'd rather. The S15 did come to mind, considering that at the time they were both around the same price however the stigma of owning a Nissan and their associated crowd, and the 'full' package of a Type R (factory body kit, recaros, aggressive look, etc) convinced me that the DC5R was the perfect car for me, and it was.
After testing a couple of DC5R's locally, I eventually found a Milano Red DC5R with a sunroof in the West side of Melbourne, which was exactly what I wanted! A couple of days later on February 12th 2004, I was the proud owner of my very own DC5R.
Pic of my first CRSX meet soon after picking up the car, where I met Hadean amongst other guys who have since disappeared from the scene.
Being the povo uni student that I was, I rode around stock for a good part of 2 years and was the center of all 4WD jokes because of the ridiculously high stock height. Eventually, after finishing uni and getting a job, I started pouring money into the car and became a CBR (chequebook racer) because of my fascination of accumulating parts without actually enjoying the car (ie. tracking it).
Pic of my 4wd DC5R
On November 26 2006, I participated in my first track day at Winton with the HSCCV (Honda Sports Car Club of Victoria) and had an absolute ball. Incidentally, this is where I met my nemesis, ChargeR for the first time; on the battlefield, in his emo clothes and his emo hair. At the end of the day, I managed to pull a 1.54 in my DC5R with i/e/coilovers + street tyres, whilst ChargeR in his relatively stock DC5R with i/e + street tyres convincingly wooped me with a 1:51. I would eventually get my own back at the next track day and thus began our rivalry with each other...NEMESIS!!! That being said, I still didn't feel good about just managing to beat ChargeR; I had a fair amount more mods than him which were just compensating for my driving (or lack of) ability, which has since been my focus when attending track days; improving my driver ability without compensating with mods.
Riding on silver Advan RG's
My lap times for each of my track outings are recorded below. I'm glad to say that despite doing a bit of CBR inbetween the various track days, most of my time improvement has been due to driver ability. The second times along each line is my Nemesis' laptimes for the same event.
A wheels magazine PCOTY '06 laptime around Winton for a 2002 DC5R is: 1.45.53
26/11/2006 - HSCCV - 1:54.8110 |1:51.6290
11/03/2007 - RX8 - 1:50.27 |1:50.7980
09/06/2007 - On The Run - 1:48.003 |
18/11/2007 - HSCCV - 1:46.853 |
17/02/2008 - Mazda RX8 - 1:44.?? |1:44.2545
10/05/2008 - Circuit Club - 1:43.9800 |1:43.7600
25/06/2008 - EXE Track Day - 1:42.53 |1:43.0100
Pics at some of the last track days I attended
Details on my car:
2002 DC5 Integra Type R
Stealership aftermarket sunroof by Hollandier
Injen CAI
Buddyclub Spec 3 exhaust
Mugen headers
Kpro
Endless Zeal Function V6 coilovers F:10k|R:10k
Custom polyutherane engine mounts
Whiteline Front adjustable sway bar
Whiteline Rear adjustable sway bar
Mugen front tower bar
Mugen rear chasis bar
17x7.5" +29, 17x8.5" +37 Advan RGs with Dunlop Direzza Z1's
Endless Zeal 6pot mini calipers (on stock rotors)
Endless CCX pads for track, VN9500 for street
Ingalls front camber bolts
Ingalls rear camber kit
Centrax Catch Can
OEM Honda AU window visors
Mugen replica rear wing
HIDS
Viscous Short Shifter
Red Recaros
Red side door trim
Part of the game of modifying cars is to try something, realise that its not what you want/need, and then try again with a different part/item. Throughout my time with the car, some of the progression of mods that aren't reflected in the cars current state include:
stock box --> Apexi SRI --> gutted stock box --> injen CAI
stock mounts --> ESMM --> DIY polyutherane (stock) mounts
Stock rims --> 17 x 7.5" +45 Advan RGs in silver --> 17 x 7.5" +29, 17 x 8.5" +37 Advan RGs in gold
Bridgestone RE030 --> Bridgestone G3 --> Bridgestone RE050A --> Bridgestone RE01R --> Dunlop Direzza Z1
Stock suspension --> Tein Flex --> Endless Zeal Function V6
Some random shots I took
I'm sure that theres plenty of random stuff that I've left out that I'll remember to add in later on, so apologies in advance at the organisation of this blog.
Oh and lastly before I forget, thanks to all the guys who've helped in creating the car I drive today; these are the guys behind the scenes who've lifted a tool and helped, or just given me general setup/driving advice. Big thanks especially to wlee2 and ChargeR who've helped me get out of sticky situations (clutch not engaging, calipers falling apart, etc) as well as helped in advising the cars setup.
Cheers,
Michael
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