Steve's DC5S

[Timmy_B]

Oh well there you go....
car is looking good.. we should all meet up soon

[stevan]

Oh well there you go....
car is looking good.. we should all meet up soon

Thanks Timmy, i'm really happy how it all came out. Its time for more serious things now hehe. BTW how is your exedy HD clutch holding up? I want to get mine changed for the Exedy sports organic, and since the box is open i supose i should also throw in the obligatory Quaife LSD as well Keen to hear what you think of it, i mine is starting to go and its really soft and "doughy" with no noticeable bite whatsoever.

[Timmy_B]

Yeah man, Sport organic seem to be the way to go..
No issues with it at all, but you will have to get use to it.. The friction point is soo close to the ground, and its really bites and grabs
City driving is a pain in the arse cos my calf hurts from on/off the clutch so manny times..
Alot better the competition clutch....
I think you will really like it, Plus its best to do it while the box is off the car, and do it right might i add.
What else do you have planned for this year?? Intake? TB? etc/?

[stevan]

Yeah man, Sport organic seem to be the way to go..
No issues with it at all, but you will have to get use to it.. The friction point is soo close to the ground, and its really bites and grabs
City driving is a pain in the arse cos my calf hurts from on/off the clutch so manny times..
Alot better the competition clutch....
I think you will really like it, Plus its best to do it while the box is off the car, and do it right might i add.
What else do you have planned for this year?? Intake? TB? etc/?

Sounds like its the clutch for me then I already hate city driving and being on the M2 for an hour everyday so it wont be a massive concern for me haha, i will admit that having the friction point so close to the ground will take getting used to because mines almost at the top (probably because its quite worn).

As far as the engine i have not planned anything yet until i take care of my car's handling and drivetrain, nothing worse than a car that cant stop or put power to the ground. I have just forked out quite a bit for some nice non-JDM suspension, once that is in i will go for clutch and a quaife or similar helical LSD. After that i will be broke

[plAythiNG]

lease document al findings on your choice for a drivetrain setup!

besides clutch/flywheel/lsd .. is there anything els eon the cards Steve?

i as thinking replacing final drive to get more hard ass accerlation out of it and changing the 6th gear for an accord euro one so highway cruising - the revs are still low. however this matched with an ecu may not be that great...

[stevan]

lease document al findings on your choice for a drivetrain setup!

besides clutch/flywheel/lsd .. is there anything els eon the cards Steve?

i as thinking replacing final drive to get more hard ass accerlation out of it and changing the 6th gear for an accord euro one so highway cruising - the revs are still low. however this matched with an ecu may not be that great...

Drivetrain wise not much else besides the clutch and LSD because thats the essentials right now, changing the final drive will start to get a bit too expensive for me at this time as much as i would like to (TYPE-S is pretty lazy )

[plAythiNG]

but it will save u more in long run right>

[typeS]

[/URL]

That's a pretty stock cut-off, and yet everybody swears against HID's in stock reflectors, goes to show what quality kits can achieve

[stevan]

UPDATE - 17/3/11

This week has probably been the week where i have made the most significant purchase for my car to date, after spending countless hours researching suspension kits/manufacturers/custom kits and contacting distributors i have finally placed an order with Michael from RavenTech Racing in Perth who is the only official distributors of AST in Australia (He is fantastic to deal with, replies to emails quickly and helped me narrow down my options until i found the right one).

It has been said many times that you get what you pay for and it takes buying shit quality parts to fully understand this, none more so than suspension components. In 6 weeks time (pending no delays) i should receive brand new:

• AST 5100 Series Sportline 2 (Rebound Adjustable) MonoTube Dampers- 8/14 kg/mm (Valving range +/- 4 kg/mm) with spherical camber adjustable front mounts.

To be installed at the same time as this will be

1. PCI offset front LCA bearings

2. Hardrace Roll centre adjusters: This should restore some front geometry stiffness, reduce my bump steer and increase my steering feel that has diminished from lowering the car.

This new setup should in theory be slightly understeer biased so i wouldnt be surprised if i also go for a thicker rear swaybar to counteract this but only testing the rotation will tell.

I have also requested AST to provide me with a shock dyno-graph of all dampers plotted with every 2 clicks of rebound adjustment which should not be a problem. I will post this up as well for anyone interested to have a look. That is all for now until late April, between then and now i will have a serious look at sourcing a new new clutch and LSD which will be the next logical step to take.

I want to thank Tom (ChargeR) and Lukits01 for their input and advice, it is much appreciated



i'm perhaps a bit excited

[TeMp]

Nice work happening here.

What do you hope to see from the dyno graph of a new set of coil overs?

That's a pretty stock cut-off, and yet everybody swears against HID's in stock reflectors, goes to show what quality kits can achieve

The kit itself has nothing to do with the light cut off of the head light. Stock cut off is designed for the bulbs that came with the car not HID.

Maybe try shining your lights on a wall Stevan and lower the height a bit. Everyone that I know who has installed HID had to some what lower the height. Its the least you can do when you put HID into a head light unit that isn't designed for HID.

Btw I'm loving you photos too!

[stevan]

Nice work happening here.

What do you hope to see from the dyno graph of a new set of coil overs?



The kit itself has nothing to do with the light cut off of the head light. Stock cut off is designed for the bulbs that came with the car not HID.

Maybe try shining your lights on a wall Stevan and lower the height a bit. Everyone that I know who has installed HID had to some what lower the height. Its the least you can do when you put HID into a head light unit that isn't designed for HID.

Btw I'm loving you photos too!

Basically from what i have seen from previous AST shock dynos they should have good low speed rebound adjustment range which is NOT seen on many JDM kits, it is more so a case determining what adjustent range i have and the incremental linearity of the 12 "click" rebound adjusters.

With regards to my HID, after i installed it i went out for a drive and the cutoff was pretty much spot on with the drivers cutoff being sufficiently low, i have yet to be flashed yet so i take it as a good sign. For those interested RetroSolutions also provide full retrofit HID kits for us but i didnt really want to spend $500 on headlights at the time. I will try and get some more pictures of the cutoff against a wall shortly.

With regards to some poorer quality kits, would not the exact source of light being emitted from the bulb (offset into the headlight housing & location of the gas bulb) effect the spray angle from the HID? I have definately seen much worse light spray than i have on my car so there must be a reason for that, either way i am happy with them

Thankyou for the comments on the pictures, i try to get a lot of photos up for people's reference in the future and as a way of documenting what i have done. There will be plenty more to come

[typeS]

The kit itself has nothing to do with the light cut off of the head light. Stock cut off is designed for the bulbs that came with the car not HID.

Incorrect

The kit, specifically the bulb, is a critical element in producing the cut-off and reducing the glare. Reflectors work on the foundation of a focal point. The focal point can simply be described as the prime location in the reflector where a parallel and direct beam of light will be formed. Glare will be produced if the bulb is positioned, not close enough to the focal point, or too further in. Hence the “kit”, has everything to do with light cut-off produced, it is just as important as the optics.

Now the quandary with low quality hid kits are, there are no stringent manufacturing processes and controls when producing these, it’s matter of quantity over quality, at the cheapest price.
The area where most low quality hid kits fail, is at securing the bulb capsule to it’s base, more often than not, cheap material is used, which sometimes has not even fully cured.

The result? A mis-secured bulb, which does not align up correctly, and is not close to that critical focal point. The same concept is applied to hid reflectors, throw a low quality kit in, with the bulb not close to that critical point, and you will be left questioning, whether they really are halogen or hid reflectors?

Having said that of course no arc bulb will ever produce the identical cut-off to a filament type, as the light produced is physically different from one to the other. But it is wrong to assume hid kits don’t play pivotal role in producing a clean cut-off. Quality manufacturers these days are constantly maximising performance further and reducing residual glare even further, coating bulbs is another example.

I also happen to know for a fact, this kit produced by Retro-Solutions, is one quality piece. The glare produced is minimal, and the results achieved are quite astounding, for stock reflectors, it’s not by coincidence, why it’s so popular.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m against all arc bulbs in stock reflectors, period. But I also happen to understand, not everyone has the luxury for hid reflectors or projectors, and there will always be people who will go down this route. The least I can do is highlight the difference of using an inferior kit to a quality piece.

[stevan]

^^ that is what i was trying to say, the term "focal point" escaped me altogether. Nice info dude

[lukits01]

you get what you pay for and it takes buying shit quality parts to fully understand this

sad but true
*glances at pile of discarded junk*

[edfung81]

Nice write up!! Can't wait to see your review on those coilovers, especailly a track day after-report