• Registered users are encouraged to enable MFA/2FA to add an aditional layer of security to their account. More information can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/activate-2-step-verification-on-your-email

My 2005 Vivid Blue Pearl EP3 Type R

Messages
4
Hey! I just bought my fourth Honda and first Type R.

My last Honda was a EUDM EK4 VTi, which I had for almost 5 years and drove daily (100.000 km in total). Loved it to bits, and it never had a single hiccup, and that car singlehandedly hooked me on the brand.
After 5 years of ownership, an opportunity to buy a Supra came up, so I let the EK4 go and jumped the gun. I don't regret getting the Supra, but it was not fit for me, so 3 years after I sold my Supra, I decided that I wanted an EP3.

I didn't really have any criteria for what I wanted exactly, but I just kept looking at what was coming up for sale in my own country and the neighbouring countries (I live in Denmark). Then suddenly a very vague sales ad for a blue EP3 came up for sale in Sweden, but the car looked mint and it had supposedly only done 99.000 kilometers / 61.500 miles.
I thought the color looked really interesting, because I generally hadn't seen them in that color before. I tried Googling "Blue EP3's" and stuff, but basically no results came up. I later found out from talking to Honda Denmark that only a total of 132 cars were produced in Vivid Blue Pearl, and they were all sold as a last year color run, and only on European EP3 Type R's. He sent me this table showing the sales figures in Europe:

xZ8BrP2.png


The seller was hard to get ahold of, and I had only ever seen 2 exterior photos of the car, but I fell completely in love with the blue so long story short, I followed my gut feeling and set sail for Sweden.
Turned out the car was in really good shape. It's a 15 year old car, so it's not flawless, but it was 99% stock and had no mechanical issues.

The car was originally sold in Sweden and has driven there all its life, being stowed away every winter. Even though they don't salt their roads in Sweden, it was still put away for winters - and I will continue to do that because they definitely salt like crazy here in Denmark.

So yeah, I've had the car for a little over a month now. It was such a great feeling to come back to an analogue car, after driving a newer Fiesta for the past 3 years (which I still have but I haven't really used it the past month).
It is currently sitting externally OEM. Only non-OEM things currently is the cold air intake (which is temporary, I have another one waiting to be mounted) and the radio.

I really, really want to keep it OEM but oh my god I'm itchy to buy rims or something. Who knows what I'll do, just as long as I can convert it back.
Anyway, here's a bunch of photos of the car.

Thanks!

PhTWkKY.jpg

OkCcTog.jpg

NZQduOK.jpg

7iyGVlC.jpg

u2byl1W.jpg

sMqCV1x.jpg

Fxa3dRW.jpg

FeRWaRN.jpg

i5VHmer.jpg

7le6nkZ.jpg

sARs5UE.jpg

3Gdi3om.jpg
 
very nice!

I see the centre console heater controls are different to other EP3's too. Or was this a later update too?
 
The center console heater controls are mechanical in this one. I have yet to determine what markets/years has the other kind of knobs though.
If you have the electronic knobs, you're lucky! These knobs were such a PITA to align and assemble correctly when I had to change the headunit.

It took around 4½ hours, mainly because of the wires running from the knobs behind the dashboard.
 
mine has also the mechanic controls and they are ****, the cable from temperature button keeps (bending) due to design of the system and it is not working anymore. replacing it is not cheap or easy job.
 
It's been a while since I posted this, but I still have the EP3 and I've made a few changes to it since my first post:

Installed Japan Racing JR5 rims with Advan Fleva tires. Found the rims banged up for cheap and decided to have them overhauled and repainted from bronze to Volk CE28 Formula Silver, and I fitted them with a Honda center cap.
Rims:
  • Front: 7.5" x 17"
  • Back: 8.5" x 17"
Tires:
  • Front: 215/45R17
  • Back: 225/45R17
I also found the Fujitsubo Legalis R catback at a really good price through Tegiwa, so I opted for that. Very happy with the choice, as the OEM-style double tip really fits with the car IMO. It's also a very subtle sounding catback, and in the beginning I actually didn't even notice a difference in sound at all. It's then slowly been getting a tiny bit louder through the years, and here after 2+ years and about 5000 km driven it's finally sounding a little louder than stock.
I highly recommend this catback if you're looking for a subtle upgrade to the exhaust that also looks really good.

I scraped the red off the brake calipers and painted them yellow with a kit from A4H. Always had a thing for yellow calipers, and I think it looks good in contrast to the ongoing red/blue theme on the car.

The car was recently lowered with some H&R 30mm lowering springs. I was ambivalent about lowering it as I've read how easy it is to mess up the geometry of the car due to the steering rack. I'm glad that I ended up doing it, because the car thankfully doesn't drive any worse.

Apart from that, I've done a lot of smaller things in and out:
  • Fitted a new OEM gear knob.
  • Fitted new OEM floor mats.
  • Moved the amplifier installed by previous owner from the trunk to under the passenger seat and cleaned up a lot of messy cable work.
  • Cleaned up some wiring in the engine bay.
  • Took a trip to the Nurburgring with some friends and got the boot lid sticker to prove it :D
There are some more things that I probably forgot to mention, but this is how the car looks today:

6okpQO1.jpg

FxGjwx6.jpg

Q0zDvTK.jpg

Z2bfPdI.jpg

CNXU6Pr.jpg

w66VK73.jpg
 
Wow, that's such an amazing colour, thanks for sharing. Why it never game to the UK is beyond me!
 
Back
Top