On Wednesday my car was booked in at TDi for a few more bits and bobs. I arrived semi promptly/late for the work to begin, Tein Superstreet Coilovers, Spoon Baffled Sump, Spoon drain bolt, Mugen Filter (provided by moi before you ask!) & Energy engine mounts were order of the day.
Within 2 minutes of my car going up on the ramp it was apparent there was a problem. Hmm Radiator fluid pissing on the floor, a stone had obviously hit the radiator on my way there. Luckily for me there was still loads of coolant left in the radiator so the car hadn't got anywhere near overheating. This left the issue of having an empty knackered Radiator and Honda not being able to deliver one until the next day.
TP's Car
Whilst work continued TP kindly agreed to let me join him on his travels to Burger King for some lunch. The first thing I noticed after getting into the rather deep buckets seats was the noise. His car was considerably louder than mine. The suspension was also a fair bit bit firmer.
Being the nice chap that he is, TP kindly offered to let me drive back whilst he hung onto my valuable dbl whopper meal. My initial impression was how heavy the clutch felt in comparison to my standard item, although that was to be expected of a semi paddle style clutch. Braking wise you could really feel the improvement the Spoon calipers made over the standard parts, you'd expect so for £1200 though.
As most of the drive was on the motorway I got to experience some lead right foot action. It's pretty nippy and I could feel the extra 15/20bhp it has over my car, although you only really noticed that at illegal speeds.
All in all a very nicely modified CTR with plenty of go and the stopping power and handling to match.
Cheers TP, much appriecated. 8)
Tein Superstreet Coilovers:
With my car fixed (left at TDI overnight waiting on a new rad from Honda), Mark reset the geometry for me and at my request made it a bit more agressive than the standard "Fast Road" setup which had seen my rear tyres do about 12k and have loads of tread left. Obviously that meant that the handling could be improved at the expense of tyre wear. :twisted:
The results of the coilovers and the new geometry are nothing short of sensational. Prior to the coilovers I had Tein S-Tech springs lowering 25mm at the front and 20mm at the rear. These were marginally harder than stock pre-facelift springs and got rid of some of the CTR's understeer, however the car still lacked steering feel and oversteer wasn't predictable. With Tein Superstreet coilovers this has all changed. The ride height has remained much the same, about a 25mm drop, but the damping and adjustments to the geometrey have really changed the handling. The 'turn-in' is fantastic now, even last night on a wet roundabout I wasn't getting understeer. The front end just bites and bites hard. The rear stays fairly well planted unless you really push on, in which case you get mild, but massively controlable and predictable, oversteer.
The ride quality isn't anywhere near as bad as I suspected, in fact it's barely harder than it was on Tein springs, thats with the coilovers set on the medium setting on both front and rear.
Overall I'm delighted with them and got them at a fantastic price from TGM(Thanks Tom & Sara!) after a customer of theirs deemed them too hard for road use.
Other bits:
If you bothered to read all of the post you'll note I was wondering why TP's car was louder? The answer I found as soon as I drove my car again. Engine Mounts ! Uprated mounts transfer a considerable amount of noise and vibration into the cabin that stock mounts do not. This is was the reason why. So be aware, uprating mounts will cause minor steering wheel vibration at idle and an increase in noise. Even with this increase the car is still no where near as loud as it was with a Buddy Club Spec III and a stock manifold/engine mounts.
So although slighty more expensive than I had hoped (due to having to pay £100 for a new Radiator) I'm delighted with the results. I'd strongly recommend TDI's service, they're friendly, helpful and everytime I go there I drive away in a better, more focused car.
TP - Cheers for the Radiator mesh too chap! 8)
Within 2 minutes of my car going up on the ramp it was apparent there was a problem. Hmm Radiator fluid pissing on the floor, a stone had obviously hit the radiator on my way there. Luckily for me there was still loads of coolant left in the radiator so the car hadn't got anywhere near overheating. This left the issue of having an empty knackered Radiator and Honda not being able to deliver one until the next day.
TP's Car
Whilst work continued TP kindly agreed to let me join him on his travels to Burger King for some lunch. The first thing I noticed after getting into the rather deep buckets seats was the noise. His car was considerably louder than mine. The suspension was also a fair bit bit firmer.
Being the nice chap that he is, TP kindly offered to let me drive back whilst he hung onto my valuable dbl whopper meal. My initial impression was how heavy the clutch felt in comparison to my standard item, although that was to be expected of a semi paddle style clutch. Braking wise you could really feel the improvement the Spoon calipers made over the standard parts, you'd expect so for £1200 though.
As most of the drive was on the motorway I got to experience some lead right foot action. It's pretty nippy and I could feel the extra 15/20bhp it has over my car, although you only really noticed that at illegal speeds.
All in all a very nicely modified CTR with plenty of go and the stopping power and handling to match.
Cheers TP, much appriecated. 8)
Tein Superstreet Coilovers:
With my car fixed (left at TDI overnight waiting on a new rad from Honda), Mark reset the geometry for me and at my request made it a bit more agressive than the standard "Fast Road" setup which had seen my rear tyres do about 12k and have loads of tread left. Obviously that meant that the handling could be improved at the expense of tyre wear. :twisted:
The results of the coilovers and the new geometry are nothing short of sensational. Prior to the coilovers I had Tein S-Tech springs lowering 25mm at the front and 20mm at the rear. These were marginally harder than stock pre-facelift springs and got rid of some of the CTR's understeer, however the car still lacked steering feel and oversteer wasn't predictable. With Tein Superstreet coilovers this has all changed. The ride height has remained much the same, about a 25mm drop, but the damping and adjustments to the geometrey have really changed the handling. The 'turn-in' is fantastic now, even last night on a wet roundabout I wasn't getting understeer. The front end just bites and bites hard. The rear stays fairly well planted unless you really push on, in which case you get mild, but massively controlable and predictable, oversteer.
The ride quality isn't anywhere near as bad as I suspected, in fact it's barely harder than it was on Tein springs, thats with the coilovers set on the medium setting on both front and rear.
Overall I'm delighted with them and got them at a fantastic price from TGM(Thanks Tom & Sara!) after a customer of theirs deemed them too hard for road use.
Other bits:
If you bothered to read all of the post you'll note I was wondering why TP's car was louder? The answer I found as soon as I drove my car again. Engine Mounts ! Uprated mounts transfer a considerable amount of noise and vibration into the cabin that stock mounts do not. This is was the reason why. So be aware, uprating mounts will cause minor steering wheel vibration at idle and an increase in noise. Even with this increase the car is still no where near as loud as it was with a Buddy Club Spec III and a stock manifold/engine mounts.
So although slighty more expensive than I had hoped (due to having to pay £100 for a new Radiator) I'm delighted with the results. I'd strongly recommend TDI's service, they're friendly, helpful and everytime I go there I drive away in a better, more focused car.
TP - Cheers for the Radiator mesh too chap! 8)
