Buddy Club Racing Spec Condensor, Mugen Socks and Bulbs

At idle, my car had a tendency to vibrate. Nothing out of the ordinary at all but I wanted to try and smooth the idling. I had always been aware that one of the supposed benefits of an earthing kit was a smoother idle but I wanted to go one better with some current and voltage stabilisation. Buddy Club's racing spec condensor immediately sprang to mind and additionally it was a nice bit of engine bay bling.

The Condenser combines an electrical grounding system with a battery current and voltage stabilization control unit. The unit is designed to stabilize electrical "noise" and voltage spikes, and offers additional grounding for vehicles.

Benefits include: 

• Improved Horse power and torque (realistically this is very negligible if at all applicable for a N/A Type R)
• Improved Fuel Economy
• Smoother idling with improved engine response (what I was interested in)
• Improved electrical component performance (again what I was interested in)
• Improved battery life (and also what I was interested in)

I also got a pair of Mugen socks i.e. reservoir covers for a bargain £15 brand new. They're designed to minimise clutch and master cylinder leaks. In reality though, they're used more for a bit of engine bay bling.

And last but not least a pair of PIAA bright white side lights to replace the yellow OEM bulbs.

Rays Centre Caps

Anyone in the Jap scene will tell you that Rays, specifically their Volk Racing line are 'generally' the most desired wheels on the market and for good reason too. Not only do they look the dogs danglies, but they are incredibly light and strong due to the forging process.

I was 90% sure that I would be getting a set of CE28's but wasn't sure which ones. What I did know though was what centre caps I wanted regardless of the CE's I chose - Volk Racing GT Black Overseas Limited Edition. As there was obviously only a limited number of these I decided to get them whilst I still could.

Limited Edition Volk Racing GT Black Overseas Centre Caps

Fast Road Set Up

Fast road set up or FRSU for short essentially is a nickname given for adjusting the geometry of your suspension, predominantly to increase the level of corner speed capability of your car by adjusting the camber, toe and caster angles. Everyone who has had this done will undoubtedly tell you the difference from a normal geo setup is like night and day. Of course you can go more aggressive with your setup depending what your car is used for, so you get other nickname terminology such as aggressive road setup, mild track setup, track setup etc etc.

I was due for my annual service and there was only one place I was ever going to go for all my car's needs - Tom Gannon Motorsport or TGM as they are more commonly known, based in Fleet. Tom and his guys have a  reputation second to none. Many people would argue he knows more about Hondas than anyone else in the country, not to mention he's worked on more DC5's (and prepped more DC5 race cars including his own beasts) than anyone else. On top of this, his prices are always competitive and he's a thoroughly decent chap who will always give you the best advice. Sounds too good to be true? It's really not. You can't beat him.

Anyway, it so happened that Tom had a couple of sets of Eibach Pro S coilovers on special offer. The Eibachs are rated by many over here (based on experience) as one of the best 'fast road' coilovers you can get. Reason being that they ride our cruddy roads and speed bumps very well yet when pushed, they perform excellently.

It would be rude for me not to take advantage of this offer so I booked my car in for a major service, Eibachs, rear Eibach camber arms and fast road set up dialed in.

One week before my car was due at TGM, I was cleaning my car and noticed some fancy writing on my stock suspension. My 'stock' suspension turned out to be this.

Yes that's right, Mugen Sports Suspension

Mugen Sports Suspension

My initial thoughts were "crap what have I done? I've just splashed out on a brand new set of coilovers when I have Mugen suspension!" Cue lots of frantic research and my fears were laid to rest. Don't get me wrong they are a nice bit of kit, but the Eibachs as I've found from research and experience are a much better option, for the UK roads.

Rear Eibach Pro S Coilover.

Dampers engineered by KW under Eibach's specifications

Whilst my car was in, I decided to get my gear shifter changed to a B&M short shifter. I was now used to the gear throw of the Teg and although nice and crisp, it didn't feel as short as it used to. The 30% throw reduction should improve the feel of the gear change.

OEM Gear Shifter

B&M Short Shifter

A week later I collected the car and the difference was like night and day. Here was why:

• After the service, the car felt more healthier. It may have something to do with the oil as it was running on 10w 30 semi synthentic. Opie Oils recommend 5w 40 fully synthetic, so I asked Tom to use 5w 40 Silkolene Pro S fully synth - a great brand and oil grade that I would recommend to any DC5 owner. Note: Silkolene Pro S is now called Fuchs Titan Race Pro S.
• The throw of the B&M short shifter was unbelieveably short. It was almost comical (but in a very nice feeling way) how short the gear changes were, I was loving it.
• The biggest change by far though was how the car handled after the coilovers, rear camber arms and FRSU. The difference really was like night and day. Even going at slow speeds you could feel how much more sure footed the car felt. It not only enables you to take corners faster, but gives the reassuring feeling of added stabilisation.
• Eibach coilovers - I found my car was able to ride over speed bumps, pot holes and bad road surfaces without that 'crashy' feeling. They were noticeably less harsh than the Mugens and perfect for the roads we have here.

My FRSU settings are below:

Tree Sap, Bird Poo, Dust Protection and the Secret to Why My Car is Always Clean

In the absence of a garage, one of my best friends brought back a Coverite Softbound car cover for me from HK. A great bit of kit for protecting my Teg:

• Soft inner 'cushion' layer
• 3 layer breatheable fabric
• Water resistant
• Rot and Mildrew resistant
• No leak constuction by using ultrasonic welding
• UV stable

Let the Mods Begin!

My first mod had to be a stereo. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of the teg, but doing weekly trips between Newcastle and London end up being 6.5hrs long on a bad traffic day, one way!

Although there was a rather expensive Pioneer Jap Navigation Stereo system with the car, the Sat Nav boot CD was missing and so I could not use any functions of the system - FAIL. It was time to hunt for a stereo that would fit my needs:

• Double din
• Touchscreen
• Minimal 'physical' buttons
• Plays MP3s and videos
• USB connector
• Some sort of protection against thieves

Many stereos fit most of the above criteria. However it was the last point that pretty much determined what stereo I was going to get. I was so paranoid about having a double din stereo as you can't remove the facia like most single din units. I was convinced some twat would one day break my window and try to rip out the stereo. It wasn't so much the potential loss of a stereo but the damage to the car to get to the stereo I was worried about.

And then finally, the solution to my dilema had been found. Whilst browsing the itr-dc5 forum, one of the owners had posted up a quick review on the JVC AVX-810. It was the only double din unit with a removeable facia on the market. It met all of my criteria and so my first mod was bought

Unmissible Opportunity

The start of 2009 was upon me. I had effectively ruled out the other car choices and so I was quietly deliberating what to do about finding a Teg. Comissioning a fresh import was no longer appealing. Afterall, the economy had just collapsed and the Pound to Yen exchange rate had fallen from 230 to around the 130 mark. Oh how I wish I had the foresight to buy all my parts before then, more on this later.

As fortune would have it, I was working for a client up in Newcastle where coincidentally, Andy from 200bhpcars is based. It was at this time that a former customer of his was trading in his Teg which appeared to be in immaculate condition with some added goodies. To give you an idea of why this car caught my eye:

• Late 2004 Facelift in Championship White
• C Pack - Tinted rear windscreen and side rear windows; Rear wiper, electric power folding assist mirrors
• Push starter button
• Auction grade 5/A which in layman's terms means it's practically brand new
• Imported with only 4k miles on the clock. Two years on it still had only done 10k miles!
• Mugen Assist Meters (around £800 at the time and I believe over £1k now!)
• And some other goodies which I didn't spot at the time. More shall be revealed later.

The car was up for £13k which was an absolute bargain. Andy had said that it was still in 5/A condition and anyone that knows Andy knows that he is one of the most helpful, capable and honest Traders around. Alas for Andy, there was no interest. Afterall this was the time where everyone was in fear for their jobs. This as it happens was a big advantage for me.

It took me a while to deliberate if I should take the plunge and go for the car. I was still undecided about the whole facelift/ pre-facelift route. What prompted me to eventually take a look in person was a price drop to £12,750; the fear of an opportunity missed. Surely someone would snap this car up, it was an absolute bargain.

One late, dark and cold evening in Newcastle, I went to visit Andy's premises after hours. In his garage he had a brand new white GTR, an RX7, a couple of DC2's, an FD2 and 'some' car underneath a cover surrounded by spotlights.
The moment Andy removed the cover I fell in love. The car was in stunning condition and even the hated rear bumper of a facelift looked good. This really was a case of pictures don't do this car justice and the Teg looks great in pictures!

Outside visual check! - Stunning and immaculate condition
Inside visiual - Wow! I will hold my hands up and say the Mugen Assist Meters never really done it for me in pictures even though they were stunning. The only way I can describe why is that they always looked a bit 'big'. Seeing them in real life, they were the perfect size and when lit up in the dark provided a real wow factor.

After wiping the drool off my face we eventually went for a test drive. Andy took me out first to warm the car up and the first thing I noticed was how snug the bucket seats were and how loud it was inside the cabin. There was a significant difference between this and the CTR that my bro used to own, not what I was expecting but was very pleasing.
After 10 minutes, Andy pulled over and I jumped into the driver's seat. The experience was exhilarating, and I was a quite a bit hesitant to hit vtec as it was an icy night! The gear changes felt crisp yet so short at the time that I wasn't sure I had completed the gear change!

Once back at the garage, I decided that this was the car for me. We agreed on a slightly lower price and put down a deposit to secure the car.

A few weeks later I had taken ownership and here is how she looked back then.

Mugen Assist Meters - Water Temp, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure