Spoon Imports!

[T666YPR]

If some of the regulars want some JDM Spoon parts ordering please let me know.Just ordered my Taka Kaira stuff,yet to order my jap Spoon stuff.If you want anything let me know-and if I'm throwing my money down the toilet,stop me pronto.Going to order in the next couple of days,
Simon

 

[DC51VTC]

Simon, I know you had a drink last night but how on earth do you expect anybody to be able to judge whether you are wasting your money if we don't know what you're spending it on? :? Come on m8, get it together :roll: :wink:

ps. Any news on your BIG delivery yet?

 

[T666YPR]

Throttle body 48000
4:2 Manifold 72000
B-Pipe 35000
N1 Muffler 38000
& Bits
Duty,Shipping And Vat
2:1 Pipe was cheaper from Taka Kaira(24000 as opp. to 38000Spoon)
Cars just been SVA'd and waiting for plate Yeehar!!
Big night last night,I feel well tender today
:?

 

[jonster]

Hi Simon,

I don't think I posted a reply to you before but I just thought I'd give you my 2 cents worth. I've had my DC5 for over two years now and I've been reading a lot about how to mod the K20A. I've done a few mods so far and the best gains I've had are from fitting a Mugen Sport (twin loop)exhaust and having a Hondata ECU remap. I've wondered about a de-cat system and running an N1 exhaust but from what I've read the gains are minimal for the cost and you become too loud for most trackday. The Mugen Sport (cat-back) exhaust I have is no louder than the stock. It does have a slightly more fruity note and is light.

The above combination produces 205 wheel horse power on mine (aprox 240 engine hp). The Dyno was done at Abbey Motorsport. If you look at what Trung has done on his Civic K20A (by looking at the link on his signature and looking at his Abbey dyno runs) you see we have the same power but he has added quite a bit more. I'm not sure if he has a Hondata map but his costs must be more than I've spent. I really appreciate that he posts his Dyno charts for the mods he's done because it helps us all.

I really think, from what I've seen/read, you can't really improve much on the stock Type-R exhaust header. Why don't Mugen sell one?

The only thing that I'm not completely happy with on mine with the Hondata ECU map is that there is a slight power drop when the VTEC hits at 5k with light throttle. I gather this is down to the map being designed to work with a cold air in-take. Mike (MJ Type-R) had the same setup as me at one point but with a Mugen air box and has told me he doesn't have this problem. He has also made his own custom ram-air duct on hit front grill to channel air in to his Mugen. This must help things too.

I really wouldn't buy a Spoon throttle body. They only take the stock TB and taper bore it out slightly. What use is the having your old one gathering dust out of the engine anyway. I've got Barwell (see link from Spoon Europe web site) to taper bore mine for under a couple of hundred quid including the labor to remove/fit it. The reason for doing this was to alleviate the power drop I described above from the Hondata map. It did help a bit but it hasn't cured it entirely. I didn't feel any significant power gain from this but the trottle response improved slightly. I'm running a Spoon replacement filter in the stock box too, but this has made minimal difference.

The other thing I firmly believe in is making the car lighter. I've posted about this before but I'm still convinced results are worth while.

In summary if I were you I'd buy the following :-

1) Mugen Sport exhaust (good power gains, quality finish and not too loud)
2) Mugen Air-box (not huge power gains, but benifits other mods like TB bore and Hondata map. Improved trottle response too)
3) 5Zigen air intake duct or make an equiv. ram-air duct like Mike.
4) Hondata ECU map.

My next mods are definately a set of track only wheels. I keep melting my Goodyear Eagle F1's on the track so, I want to get some light 15's and run half-slicks.

I wan't to order a 5Zigen air intake duct from Taka Kaira, so it would be good to share shipping costs. Possibly a Mugen intake too.

I've also been toying with getting the head ported and pollished (intake and exhaust) to help the car breathe even more. Barwell claim this should be good for about 20BHP but will cost £1500 + VAT to do. So I'm not in a hurry. Looking at Stanwan's dyno on Trung's site looks like this supports the increase.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Jon

 

[Trung]

Hi Jon

I haven't seen you post for a long time. I thought you left the planet. :lol:

Anyway, I currently do not have Hondata ECU flash because Im waiting for the Programmable K-series ECU to be released.
I have looked at various dyno charts with Hondata flash and it does give hell a lot torque improvement.

The Toda manifold did give less power than I expected but thats because its designed for highly tuned K20a engine ie, Toda camshafts, valve springs etc... Its all part of the tuning stage progress so these modifications cannot be compared directly.

Oh BTW, don't forget that the K20A in your DC5 has wilder cams and higher compression (220ps) whilst Euro EP3 K20A2 has only 200ps on 95ron fuel to begin with :!:

As in stock tuned, you can only fully benefit from a race manifold if you do track driving as you constantly stay at high revs. Since I had the Toda manifold installed doing busy town driving became less easy so I advise not to fit a race manifold if you dont plan to go on trackdays.
BTW, Mugen is suppose to bring out a manifold (I have photos in my gallery :wink: ) but I believe its part of the Mugen Power pack and has a CAT built in so its suited for street use.
I assume the Mugen Sports exhaust (twin loop) is also more of a street type exhaust hence why it only has a 54mm mid pipe as King MS told me it increase the mid-range.

If you looked at my dyno graph in comparision to Abbey MS old setup, you'll notice the Mugen airbox gives good power at low revs which is good for town driving.

I am really looking forward to the Hondata Programmable K-series ECU as it will fine tune my engine with the current set up.

Jon
I would really appreciate if you can post your Dynapack dyno graphs as its interesting to see the torque curve since you have the Hondata flash.
BTW, do you want to come to Rockingham trackday on 21st Feb? Its only £100 which is almost pocket money.

Thanks

 

[T666YPR]

Hiya jonster, thanks for the post.
I've ordered the 5Zigen intake from Taka Kaira,they are out of stock 'til 1st week in april(38000 yen)I E:mailed Barwell but they gave me no reply but have not yet ordered the majority of Spoon parts.In an original post way back some people said that the twin loop Mugen was good so I might still change this.Throttle body will cost in the region of £350 (not fitted)so if Barwell get back to me I will consider this.Agree totally with making the car lighter,though if I lost a couple of pounds myself it would help matters. From the good reports about the Hondata from Mike's posts,I really want to get this done too at the next opportunity(When is Doug next over?).I was hoping that the standard airbox with the Spoon drop in combined with the 5Zigen intake would work quite well.Not seen anybody try this yet so if it don't work-my fault!Has anybody tried the Spoon header yet;Trung has posted about the Toda and it looks well nice-I've not seen any results for the Spoon so I'm shooting in the dark.
If you would like one of the 5Zigen intakes then give us a shout,though it looks like being a bit of a wait(price is going to be about/or just under £295 delivered to UK)
Still, a lot to do and loads of time to do it!
Once again many thanks from me for everybodys contributions
P.S. Can anyone tell me which Spoon rad cap I need-is it D or F?
And I haven't even got the car yet :? You watch me go and make it slower/or blow up/turn into a pumpkin...etc :wink:
P.P.S. With the above set up,exhaust wise,will I need a solution to the "no cat" warning light issue?

 

[T666YPR]

P.P.P.S.Roger Clarke Motorsport are nearest to me so I might give them a shout

 

[jonster]

Hi Guys,

Bloodyhell!! You guys stay up late judging by your post times

Firstly, Trung. Yeah, I've been quite quiet for a while. Been working like an idiot for a company that doesn't pay me enough. I've been out of the country a lot hence, only scan the forum from airport Internet boothes.

I hear what you are saying about the differences in UK Civic R and the JDM DC5 R. I agree with all your points. You know a lot more than I do about what mods can be done. There are so many combinations of what to do on the K20A on both cars so I was trying to keep it simple and give Simon my experience so far. I was just suggesting the most efficient cost/benifit for getting more power out of the stock JDM DC5 R and keeping it steet drivable.

I love taking mine on the track, but I like to use it everyday (town driving) too. I just got back from a cracking session at Bedford yesterday (the one Mark K posted about on Thursday). I only passed once and I was up against a lot of Powerstation modified Scoobies amongst other beasts. It was actually a 993 Porsche 911 who I was having good scrap with but my tyres gave up (too hot/melting) on me and I spun off for the first time ever. I must get some track tires. I did pass him ealier in the day.

I'm sorry to hear the Toda affects the town driving. I presume there is a loss in low-end torque? Hopefully the right ECU map will sort this out for you. I didn't realise you had such an extensive library of exhaust systems on your web site. Fantastic!!! I think I'll hold on for the Mugen header with cat as my preferred choice.

Rockingham sounds tempting. I'll give it some thought (check with the missus if I can go). It would good to have a chat about mods sometime even if I can't make this.

Can I email you a scan of my dyno chart? It would be better to put it on your site.

Simon, It's a hell of a lot of Money for the 5Zigen considering it's just a lump of plastic. It is the most tidy solution compared to getting a custom one made. Cheaper than the Mugen intake and bumper solution too. I really can't say if the Spoon drop-in combined with the 5Zigen and TB bore will do the job. The combined cost is getting close to the Mugen intake which may work on it's own. The Mugen does try to have a ram-air front to it but I don't know if you can only use it with the Mugen bumper. I just don't know.

I'm not sure about the Spoon header. I've been thinking about just getting just the 2-1 section ie to by-pass the cat to see that gives more power. I'm worried it might reduce the low-end torque though. Are you aiming to be a track only monster or keep it street drivable?

I've got a Spoon rad cap and it's a 'D'

Cheers guys,

Jon

 

[T666YPR]

Hi all,
Would that Mugen manifold take care of the engine light issue as it has the cat?Can't find it for sale anywhere for DC5,do you know how long before it's available?
Intending to use the car on road & track but probably only half or a dozen times pa on track.I was hoping to get same brand all through for pipework and if I lost a little on road midrange I won't mind too much.Then again if I can get the Mugen set up,the reverse is true.
As regards the Mugen airbox,once the 5Zigen comes I could compare at one of the future meets if they are compatible.That way I'm only shelling out for the Spoon drop in without having to change airbox.
I'm sure to post any results from some of the combo's for future reference.
Late night posts come courtesy of working 'til 2am weekends :wink:
Once again thanks for the help people
Simon

 

[Trung]

Mugen have not released any further information on the manifold.

Jon
Interesting thing though was that I didnt loose any low end torque & power shown on this dyno run:
(dotted lines = Toda manifold)

I lost some instant response when I do 'stopping & starting' in town driving due to the reduction in back pressure.
The dyno run was done in 4th gear so it might not reflect the same situation. :!: I'm not sure because Im no dyno expert.

Can you email me a scan of your dyno chart to trungon@yahoo.com and state the mods that was on the run.

Thanks

 

[SJ_Skyline]

Moving this one to engines, exhausts and induction etc