picked up this eBay-spec intake for shits and giggles.

It was like 45$ or something - and it has pretty miraculous fitment considering it has to snake around; the battery, radiator hose, transmission and clutch lines, an engine mount, and the filter sits very nice and protected inside the bumper. Pleasantly surprised tbh... it even came with nice stainless t-bolt clamps instead of crappy hose clamps!

I honestly was expecting to cut it up and make my own intake but I’ll keep it for now - just gotta get a better filter for it, might paint (or plastidip) it black for more of a low key look under the hood

I doubt it’s doing much for the car but it completely changed the sound under heavy acceleration, I can actually hear when it hits v-tec... yo.... lol.

I wanted just a little bit more noise from the car, and the induction howl is really doing it for me. I didn’t appreciate how nice the L sounds until now! would be nice to hear the exhaust a bit more but it’s a nice modest sound right now...but I have some plans

 

Maybe not at stock but maybe it will do something once it's tuned? I'm definitely watching this. I got my Jazz GD3 last week and I'm in love with it. And I am watching you and others for ideas on what to do to my car.

 

Thanks Alastair, and yes - eventually I’d like to put it on Hondata and squeeze a few more ponies out of it.

I’d really like to go the unpopular route and do a mild n/a build on the motor - a mild street/track cam, a head refresh (valve/spring /retainer) but I’d probably have to do some bottom end work to bump the compression... so idk .... Or maybe a supercharger if I could find a good price? Time will tell. But that would only come after I got the rest of the car sorted - the suspension needs more tweaking for me to be happy and I’d like to get some of the body work cleaned up.

 

Not very interesting, but I painted the intake tube with plastidip this am, and just got it re-installed. I like the looks of it much better. almost kinda looks like it was that was from the factory...







all those rusty brackets and hardware drives me a lil crazy...

 

Did you do any baseline runs at stock to see if the Cold Air intake made a difference? Keen to know.

 

No i have not, don’t really plan to either...at least not until it’s on Hondata.

with the ik22 plugs, intake, exhaust manifold, and the full 2’ cat back - I should *maybe* be up like 5-8hp, but that’s just based on what I’ve read on here, from other folks who have done similar mods and had their car dyno’d. a lot of them run a cat delete tho - and I do not. So the exhaust might not be as free flowing as it could be.

But I’m content for the time being. If I could get it to push like 120/130 I’d be pretty dang stoked but I’ve got some saving and research to do

 

I want to go cat delete as well. I don't think that would be an issue in South Africa.

I also want about 130HP if I can.

I see you mention IK22 plugs. Do different spark plugs really make a difference?

 

apparently so, if you search around you can find the info pretty easily - with the IK22s (which are 1-step cooler than the OE plugs) and running 91/93 octane, it will add like 3-8hp (if I’m remembering everything correctly)

edit: Today I also wired up the fog lights independently of the low beams so I can turn them on with with my DRLs. I used SickFit’s guide which is on the forum. glad to have a lil more control of my lighting.

 

Interesting. I have access to 93 and 95 in South Africa. Would the ECU not just relearn after a few drive cycles and bring the power back to original levels?

I did a quick Google to try see what difference running different plugs would make but most of the articles just go with the "stick with what your manual says" stuff. Did you "feel" a difference with the plugs? Measure your 0-100 times before and after? A few ponies by simply changing plugs sounds like one of the best bang for buck upgrades out there.

 

I was not that regimented about it unfortunately, the car does feel like it pulls pretty strong for only having like 100hp. but that’s just “butt dyno” impressions and nothing concrete.

I took a cruise over to the lake so here’s some photos I took

 

did a fun little thing and made some custom hard lines for the TB coolant and valve cover breather, and got rid of that funky setup and kinked breather hose. another small step in cleaning up the ‘bay.



Before.

After!

 

no pics...but I installed the Progress rear swaybar- and wow, it absolutely lives up to the hype! One of the best bang for buck car modifications I’ve ever made I think.

Car feels so much more planted under harder cornering, obviously it reduced the suspension roll too. The car feels very planted and solid, seems to track down the highway better. Although it’s seeming like I should probably move to a stiffer coilover setup if I want to drive the car any harder.

install was a bit more work than I expected - it took me quite a while to wiggle it into the correct position and I scratched it up pretty bad...would have been easier with a second person.

I have some camber bolts for up front, so I’ll get an alignment and throw those on soon

 

Man! What a journey! I’m a new fit owner and just read your thread from beginning to end. Working on my own. Had it for about a month now. Was the same color as yours but in muuuuuch rougher shape. Doing a Type R tribute build in Nardo Grey. Your post is definitely inspiration. Here’s where I am so far.

waiting for the mods to approve my thread so I can document all of my progress as you did.

 

Hey thanks, I really appreciate that. This forum isn’t very active so it’s nice to get some love on my thread lol.

I’m glad you enjoyed the thread and my car - and it seems like you’ve got the right idea too! My car is really lacking on the paint/body work side of things - I’d love to get the panels straightened out and the car repainted again some day...

 

also, check this out haha - I used the fit to rearrange the project boats today - was pretty stoked to see it handles the tongue weight without much sagging. That’ll get some stares at the boat launch...😅

 

That would look so awesome going down the highway! Color match the boat Storm Silver & put a Honda outboard to round things off. My car car has one of those mini hitches too. Too bad I have nothing to tow.

 

Hi I just noticed that you are rustproofing your fit. Would you be kind to share type of color you used to protect and how did you prep the under the car painting. Did you do it on hoist or... Any info is welcome.

 

Yes I have been!

ive primarily used the product called POR15. In black and silver. It’s pretty expensive but it works very well from my experience

to prep for it, I remove any flaking/scaly rust, give it a quick grind/sand, and then wipe it with lacquer thinner - and then paint it.

I’ve done all of the work to my car with nothing but 2 jack stands and a floor jack. No hoist or anything fancy!

 

Your post inspired me to inspect my rear support, found it full of rock and corrosion. How did you get your bolts attaching the rear support to the car off?!? Mine are seized on, probably due to 12 years of rust lol

 

what brand is the roof rack? I love the look with the storage box. I have some extra paint left over so I was thinking of a setup similar to yours and painting the storage box to match the car. That looks like a perfect road trip ride! Stock wheels actually look really good with the drop.