EliteCM.net

Real Name: James
Ride: 2007 Honda Accord EX 4Dr
Color: Grey
Engine: 2.4L K24
Tranny: 5-speed manual
Status: daily driver
Miles: 38k

Location: Raleigh NC
Occupation: Student, Automotive writer
Interests: Cars, Music, Movies
Organizations: www.carthrottle.com/ (http://www.carthrottle.com/)
Awards:

Mods Installed: Corsport Aluminum shift cable bushings
Sylvania Silverstar Ultra L/H beams
Comptech short shift adapter
17mm Acura TL rear sway bar
Honda leather shift knob


Mods Waiting for Installation:


Future Mods and Plans:
TSX IM
Hondata IM Gasket
SRI
Hawk pads
Bilstein/H&R suspension
TL-S F/R sway bars (27.5/20mm)
TL 17" wheels (5-spoke)
Honda Foglights



Car History: purchased at 33k miles from a local carmax.  It's a grey color with tan cloth, 4cyl, 5-speed manual.  Replaced my Saab 900 Turbo, who's transmission imitated a hand grenade

Pictures:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs369.snc4/45202_848003596858_2734772_47497364_7597043_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs406.snc4/46966_848004001048_2734772_47497371_7647061_n.jpg)

Welcome to forum!!! Can't wait to see what you do to your car in the future. Enjoy

Welcome to the Elite James. You will find a whole lotta quality info for your ride on here as well as an incredible assortment of personalities  >:D

By the way, from the pic of your car, it looks as if you have a Carbon Bronze Pearl Accord rather than a "Grey" one.

Enjoy your stay and good luck when the mod bug hits you  ;D

Welcome to ECM

Welcome, like the color.

Thanks for all the welcomes!

quoc: me too!  I've been having fun finding OEM upgrades for the car so far.  I am always a fan of bolting on better manufacturer parts.  The first thing about the car that bothered me was the shifter, so I went whole hog on that and now it is awesome :)  Next will be some suspension work.  I listed the RSB in the wrong heading, it's actually in my trunk right now - I found out you can't use the stock support bushing brackets with the bigger bushes of the TL bar, so I am waiting till tomorrow for my nearby Acura dealer to get the parts.

Mr Eazy: the mod bug bit me a long time ago :)  My last car (Saab 900 Turbo) was pushing 17psi of boost through a straight pipe exhaust, among other things.  The one before that (a VW Jetta that was junk) had a lot of suspension work done too.  I can't leave well enough alone.  Also, thanks for the heads up on the color.

Welcome.  Be careful.  My car was stock at one point.  Now it's beyond the point of no return.

they all start out stock :)

I think this motor needs more GT2860RS

It fares well with an Eaton M62 also. ;)

welcome to the forum....I would say your car needs a bit of a drop but then i noticed no suspension upgrades in your future mods list.

jury's still out.  I like the way it rides, right now I'm focussing on it needing more power.  I have the 17mm rear sway bar in now, and it's quite a nice step up but I am already thinking maybe I should've gotten the 20mm!

Personally, I wouldn't do the 20mm with the stock suspension and even less with the stock tires. Oh yeah, welcome to the elite.

Here’s my 2c, for what they’re worth. I don’t see modding an Accord engine. True, it does take well to mods but like most enthusiasts you always want more than the typical intake, headers, exhaust. I just don’t see the point to add the ‘little mods’.

But work with what ya got, as they say in motorcross.."run whatcha brung!"

The Accord motors do well with some boost.  You can make 300 whp with a home grown turbo set up.  I'd be careful though.  Adding just a rear sway bar will make your car less "neutral" and cause oversteer.  It's best to upgrade both front and rear sway bars.  I'd also reconsider other suspension upgrades.  You don't have to go low, but a mild drop with a stiffer suspension will improve handling and the safety of your vehicle.  There's no point in having more power if you can't control it or keep yourself safe.

you raise some good points, however
I didn't find the handling balance to be all that "neutral" from the factory with the stock 13mm sway bar.  too much body roll, not enough front end grip.  I would actually prefer trailing throttle oversteer to terminal understeer.  I agree that the whole suspension could use an upgrade (as long as I'm not scraping the oil pan) but I've always found sway bars are the best place to start with a stock suspension.

I don't think I'll go the coilover route with this car, I generally find the ride on most coilovers to be offensive and they're usually pretty noisy.  The appeal of an "install and forget" setup like Bilstein HD's and H&R springs is hard to deny, that's probably the route I'll go when I have more money.  I've updated my profile thusly.

as for power, I was really just kidding about the GT2860RS, I plan to keep this one for a long time and don't want to boost it.  When I have the money (aka post-graduation with a job) I want to get a GMC Syclone/Typhoon for that purpose  >:( I've been researching the compatability between K20A2 head and my car's block, it sounds like an intriguing concept.  More power is definetely in the works but above all must remain reliable.

thanks everyone!

-James

I found that I had more oversteer than desireable with my car.  Another plug and play set up for suspension is the Neuspeed Supercup kit.  I've ridden in cars with them and found they had the same ride quality as my Tein Basics (a coilover set up).  Since I live in a climate that gets snow, I raise my car in the winter months.  I now have the Tein Comfort Sports for the TSX and have found the ride quality to be more comfortable and not noisy at all.

Another power option that you may want to consider is a TSX swap instead.  Swapping the head will be more work and more money in the end when you consider that to swap the head, you have to either start with a CR-V bottom end or swap your pistons with TSX pistons.  Of course, you do not want to swap pistons without machining the block.  So you can see why swapping a TSX long block would be desirable.  

If you're looking for a way to improve the "fun" factor of your car and give it a more sporty feel, I would strongly suggest swapping in a TSX 6MT with a RSX Type S flywheel and clutch.  I would say that was the greatest upgrade I have ever done with my K24A4.  In my opinion, it's the way the K24 Accord MT should have come from the factory.

welcome 2 ECM
have fun  ;D