Hi. Newbie here, from the UK.
I finally succumbed to the scrappage scheme and decided to upgrade my car.

My previous 2 cars were Honda Civics, so I actually went to look for a 1.6 3yo replacement but the UK Honda deals at the moment were too enticing (5yr servicing for £550, 2grand for my existing car (probably only worth £100 tops), 0% finance for 2 years etc etc).

I would be going from this:





To this:

Front spots/fogs were the optional extra on my ES. They installed it brilliantly too, changing the indicator stalk to new ones rather than giving me a separate switch for them somewhere.



I'm glad I went for Storm Grey as it looks nice on this imo















I'm amazed that Honda managed to include VSA as standard . Audio controls on the steering wheel for ES are handy & I also like the orange-red glow of the dash



I don't think I'll change the HU as I like the standard look (although not too sure about the sound as of yet). I also like the fact that we have recirc/fresh air change as a button rather than a cheap slider (I hate sliders 'cos I always manage to break 'em )



Initially I decided not to do any audio upgrades (I keep changing my mind about this). Well, at any rate I may not change the HU, but I have yesterday started considering upgrading the front speakers alone (undecided between components for ~£100ish or coaxials for the same - coaxes need less "work" as they're a straight swap. I might have trouble figuring out where to put the tweeters or crossover if I go component although on the front "ledge" part at the top of the upholstery looks a good bet - red circled area):


The only other thing I've changed so far is the tax disc holder to a black "twist off" richbrook one
Overall I'm v happy and now just have to remember to drive extra carefully for the first 600-1000miles or so .

Glad to see other Euro's here, beware - I may start asking some very dumb Q's over the coming months as I get to grips with it .










































(BTW, that's my daily drive, here's the other one ):

 

Welcome to the board. This is a nice new Jazz, I am looking forward to upcoming mods. By the way, your other car seems to be a TVR, isn't it?

 

Welcome welcome gaffer

You didnt mention on Clubjazz your other car was a TVR

 

Thanx guys . Yep, it's a TVR Tuscan S mkII.

Re: The Jazz - the more I drive it, the more I start thinking of ways to add little touches here and there. I already mentioned I was thinking of either adding tweeters or better still upgrading the fronts to components, well today I was thinking how "plasticky" the gear knob feels.

Plenty of these on ebay for £17ish:


What do you think? I'd prefer a more "stock" look though, just something made of metal and weighty rather than light plastic...

....so here's a slightly more "standard" looking one (black midsection with silver top):


(here's the original for comparison)



I can wait for a bit so I'll see what comes up on ebay for around £20ish

 

I prefer the 1st one- similar to the one I had on my EP3 Civic Type R

 

Cheers .

I actually ended up plumping for the second one as it looks so similar to OEM. I do like the look of the first one and even found a red version (matching the prominent hazard light button) and a silver version (matching the dash trim) as opposed to the dark titanium one above. Problem is, nothing matches as close as that black/silver one.

Ordered it last week and it still hasn't arrived , but that's ebay for you .
I just have to figure out how to get the OEM one off when that arrives.

 

I think you just unscrew the current knob off.

Might order the 1st one in the next couple of weeks. Found a UK seller but he hasnt bothered answering my question so might just order it from the US seller on your link- think it will be around £20.

 

I would advise against getting anything from JDMHondaParts/Racerbits.

It's been 3 weeks now and nothing has been sent to me .
First they stopped responding to my e-mails, (I had already waited their "7 business days" and they'd asked me to wait 4 more......guess what, nothing arrived).
They refused a refund and then stopped responding when I asked a second time so I opened a case with eBay/Paypal.
They're ignoring that too and still haven't responded to me .

I'll wait till the weekend and then see if I can escelate the case via Paypal and get my money back. That'll teach me to not get things from the US .....I'll look for a HK or UK seller instead...

 

Welcome to FF mate!

 

Thank you

Update on the Ebay seller: he finally replied to my 6th e-mail via Paypal and said he'd give me a full refund which I accepted.......but still hasn't actually issued it yet .

Anyway, as soon as he does, I think I may go for one of these Tegiwa ones instead (UK seller):



The one on the left caught my eye a bit more actually

 

Hi there,
definitely the first. I went for an original Skunk2 but not yet installed it...
Welcome and kudos for the Tuscan!

 

Thanks for the update gaffer- I was actually about to order one from them (JDMHondaParts).

For the sake of a couple of quid, I might just order one from a UK seller.

 

Cheers guys .

Update on the refund, got it last week (at last...waited almost a month in total ).

Anyway, in the week+ since, I've managed to source an even more OEM looking one from elsewhere (that looks similar to the one I wanted originally in actual fact).

When I get time, I'll post some piccies up .

 

That would be great gaffer.

Very interested to see what you got, how it looks and where you got it from

 

welcome.. congrats on ur new fit.. and nice tvr u got there

 

Cheers.

Here's a quick piccie (sorry re:quality ) of before and after shots:

My bro got this one for me and is in 3 parts (1=nut, 2+3=knob - looks a bit like a richbrook one but has no markings on it). OEM gear knob was a simple twist off job (took about 9-10 turns from memory):

The OEM one is el-cheapo plastic that weighs 75g (I weighed it ).
This new one is about 280g all-in, so even though it's slightly smaller, it makes the gear change feel ever so slightly better imo (it's not a massive improvement unfortunately, but it is noticeably better - not in speed but in feeling and weight).

I'm still thinking I might go for that Tegiwa one anyway as it's meant to be 400g and looks "chunkier". I'll give it a few weeks and decide whether to "upgrade" or not .




Had my first fill up the other day too. Trip indicated 37.8 ave. mpg, but actual* calculated was 36.5 ........so I reckon that's not a bad figure whilst I'm "running it in" , and the trip isn't too far out either.

I'm travelling about 9miles each day to work in urban roads so my average speed for the whole journey is about 17mph and it takes 20min each way (so that's a total of 18mi @17mph taking 40min each day).
Based on that, I'm not too unhappy, but I'm still hoping that economy will improve over time (maybe with a couple of thousand miles under the belt)?






* if you have an iphone, I recommend the app Road Trip. All you do is note down your odometer reading when you fill up, then using the reciept, fill in that figure along with the price and volume filled. I decided to get to fuel light "on" (about 25 miles left according to trip) and then filled'er'up to full tank. The app will chart your mpg for that stint & overall and can be tailored to imperial gallons, £ etc...

 

Hey Gaffer,

Any better/closer pics of your gearknob?

I'm after a change as well and been looking at the DC2 ones and been offered this from a fellow member on TRO





Its an OEM DC2 Ti gearknob that he polished slightly giving it a Spoon Titanium look but I'm not too sure if I like it

If I'm honest, I prefer a brush aluminium one like the OEM EP3 but I'm tempted to get the above.

What do you guys reckon?

Gary

 

@Gary.
Here's a slightly bigger pic, but it's take via iphone so it isn't the best (sorry).


Anyway, your choice looks FAR better, i'd go for that one or the tegiwa one I was contemplating above

 

Thanks for the pic and reply Gaffer.

I'm just going to go ahead and purchase the above.

If I dont like it, I could always sell it on

 

Got mine yesterday and I really love it!!

The gear change is some much nicer 8)





Will also post this on my build up thread