Civic Type-R Owners Club & Forum

Currently got an ep3 , great car but feel it lacks power , started turning it into a track car ( LSD, clutch, flywheel ,lowered, strut brace ) but contemplating whether to go to the next level I.e supercharge
It's very expensive to get to 300bhp,

Contemplating selling up and buying evo or skyline which have so much more available power


Anyone been in similar dilemma ?

Thoughts and opinions greatly received

gregg21 wrote:Currently got an ep3 , great car but feel it lacks power , started turning it into a track car ( LSD, clutch, flywheel ,lowered, strut brace ) but contemplating whether to go to the next level I.e supercharge
It's very expensive to get to 300bhp,

Contemplating selling up and buying evo or skyline which have so much more available power


Anyone been in similar dilemma ?

Thoughts and opinions greatly received

I don't yet have a JRSC, I have a 245bhp premier but here's my opinion. a 300bhp EP3 will be as quick or quicker than most evos I would guess with the power to weight ratio, it will still be more reliable and still return decent MPG. I haven't heard of any problems with JRSC except the mani cracking which can be fixed or prevented using a support bracket

Evo/skyline are easier to make quick. Most out there are already 300+bhp.
Running costs are far higher than the civic.

I threw about £9k at my car - LSD, gearbox rebuild with carbon syncros... track tyres blah blah blah
It still wasn't floating my boat and I felt it needed a chunk more power but the SC options were expensive

So I went out last week and bought a 2005 BMW M3 SMG II convertible.


Absolutely zero-regrets

Modded cars are fun but there's no replacement for displacement

PhilBarker wrote:So I went out last week and bought a 2005 BMW M3 [...] there's no replacement for displacement

Except the newer M cars are smaller engine + turbos

PhilBarker wrote:I threw about £9k at my car - LSD, gearbox rebuild with carbon syncros... track tyres blah blah blah
It still wasn't floating my boat and I felt it needed a chunk more power but the SC options were expensive

So I went out last week and bought a 2005 BMW M3 SMG II convertible.


Absolutely zero-regrets

Modded cars are fun but there's no replacement for displacement

What the hell were you doing?

On my old EP3 track car I spent way less than 9k to achieve the following spec:

Chassis
Federal RSR tyres
Konig Remember wheels
DME camber arms
Progress front and rear adjustable ARB's
MeisterR Zeta R coilvers
Buddy club RCA's
SuperPro poly bushes
Stoptech discs and pads
Hel brake lines
Avid billet 62a motor mounts
Stevie Grinspeed corner weight and FRSU

Transmission
ClutchMasters FX400
Mfactory LSD
FN2 5.1 final drive
Hybrid racing shifter bushes
MTEC shifter spring

Engine
Custom 3.5" intake with BPI Vstack
Skunk2 70mm throttle
Skunk2 Intake Manifold
K-tuned billet TPS
K-tuned fuel rail
Acura RDX injectors
Supertech HighComp valves
Supertech Manganese Bronze valve guides
Supertech Beehive valve springs
Supertech Ti retainers
Supertech Collets
Prayoonto signature stage two cams
Spoon skinny head gasket
PLM header
TDI-N 3" exhaust with Vibrant muffler
Hondata Kpro - Paul the gooner tune

Misc
Cobra Imola Pro GT seat
Buddyclub rail
Cobra 3 point street harness
Skunk2 knob

That car was 3 tenths faster than an SMG E46 M3 on the 1/4 mile and considerably faster in gear.

I think he means including the car. (At least I hope he does) :newsmile:

Would still prefer a tuned ep3 anyway.much more fun.

I bought a load of stuff for mine last week, yellow speeds, all brand new suspension, Evo 8 wheels, teg M, exhaust, camber adjusters........loads of stuff. Then relaised i'm getting bought into a cheap car,

So i stopped everything and backtracked, meansing a load of new parts are going to be for sale next week before i sell the car. I think this will be the last Ep3 i own :bigcry:

So a nice 70k cosmic will be for sale shortly

doing track days i don't necessarily feel more power is what you need.

track days are about handling and the fun you have doing them, not to make sure your faster than others...

the civic is more than capable without having to upgrade its power or even look at more powerful cars.

at least until you get the experience needed to take it faster.

lee

smithylee wrote:doing track days i don't necessarily feel more power is what you need.

track days are about handling and the fun you have doing them, not to make sure your faster than others...

the civic is more than capable without having to upgrade its power or even look at more powerful cars.

at least until you get the experience needed to take it faster.

lee

in fairness with trackdays, everybody should keep their cars longterm and leave power at a normal level say 240bhp. then spend their money on handling. if you keep the same car its the only way you know you are getting better. Thats whay most of my mates have done and same as my brother, engine power static, handling mods changing along with driver training.

A well driven slower car can easily beat a car with 3 times the power around a track. Just look at suzuki swifts around the ring.

smithylee wrote:doing track days i don't necessarily feel more power is what you need.

track days are about handling and the fun you have doing them, not to make sure your faster than others...

the civic is more than capable without having to upgrade its power or even look at more powerful cars.

at least until you get the experience needed to take it faster.

lee

I agree with this statement. My standard ep3 surprised a lot of people driving far more expensive and more powerful vehicles when I took it onto the goodwood circuit.

Another to agree with Lee. I've managed to keep up or in some cases be faster than cars with more BHP.
Although how fast a car goes round a track is more down to driver ability personally. But a decent handling car will give you more confidence and make you a better driver.

Lol sorry Phil but you only had the ep3 a few months and it was 200bhp not even remapped. To claim you spent 9 grand modding is ridiculous. you should have spent your money more wisely lol. A decent ep3 would rape your bmw and be better to drive but you seem more interested what people think of you driving it lol. However let me know if you wanna sell me your knob.
Yella got anything interesting to sell?

yella wrote:I bought a load of stuff for mine last week, yellow speeds, all brand new suspension, Evo 8 wheels, teg M, exhaust, camber adjusters........loads of stuff. Then relaised i'm getting bought into a cheap car,

So i stopped everything and backtracked, meansing a load of new parts are going to be for sale next week before i sell the car. I think this will be the last Ep3 i own :bigcry:

So a nice 70k cosmic will be for sale shortly

What's the plan now?

*nub* wrote:Lol sorry Phil but you only had the ep3 a few months and it was 200bhp not even remapped. To claim you spent 9 grand modding is ridiculous. you should have spent your money more wisely lol. A decent ep3 would rape your bmw and be better to drive but you seem more interested what people think of you driving it lol. However let me know if you wanna sell me your knob.
Yella got anything interesting to sell?

Lol I guarantee the e46 would be a better drive than the civic.

Well he doesn't need to spend 9 grand to get one up to the same speed/ handling. He's got a hair dresser version of the e46 but I don't know about the engine specs. My point is his ep3 was crap

E46 M3's have plummeted in price due to the rear floor issues

Doesn't an e46 m3 have like 350bhp?

Josh1921 wrote:

yella wrote:I bought a load of stuff for mine last week, yellow speeds, all brand new suspension, Evo 8 wheels, teg M, exhaust, camber adjusters........loads of stuff. Then relaised i'm getting bought into a cheap car,

So i stopped everything and backtracked, meansing a load of new parts are going to be for sale next week before i sell the car. I think this will be the last Ep3 i own :bigcry:

So a nice 70k cosmic will be for sale shortly

What's the plan now?

what i considered earlier in the year, a Mini GP2, out the box track car with warranty, standard they come with 6 pot brakes from the 135i, coilovers standard, Kumho semi slicks standard, looking a one on saturday, a fiesta ST out of interest and something a bit boring from VW

I'd been on the verge of making the change from my Supercharged 300bhp Civic to an Evo. Checked the insurance, for an FQ300 it was £700, I'm paying £400 odd for my civic with the same power. Obviously I want to make the Evo faster so as the BHP increases so will the insurance. So I didn't see the point in buying a car to just modify it again and spend all that money. I enjoyed doing it to the civic, it is very very capable and is perfect for my everyday car.

Basically I couldn't justify modifying again and the extra service cost, insurance cost and petrol costs. Civic does me just fine, going on 7 years with the same car now...it's like a part of the family