This car is great :)

[Dark Blue Mark]

As a lot of you may know, I decided it was a good time to sell my Evo 8 even though I didnt really want to. My aim was to get a car I could track and get a good £4500 change from the Evo. It was the DC5 or the S2000 and having had an S and not being sure I could find a good one within my budget, plus the niggles they have - I ended up with a DC5.

Now I thought it was quite a good car and was going to be a bit of a compromise and a bit of fun on track.

After owning it a few weeks and giving it a very good bedding in and working out how it drives all I can say is - what a car.....

Its just so fun to drive! Dont take that as the Evo wasn't fun to drive as some people tar it with, the Evo was great fun, but this is bloody awesome fun. When you get some open space, some twisty roads and a few roundabouts its like driving a race car

The handling / chassis / gearbox are all as id expect them to be having owned an S and DC2. The pedals are very well spaced for heel toe driving and the Recaro's are very huggy. The diff is very predictable and really does need it.

The noise from the Spoon and intake is bloody great too.

What im still very impressed with is the torque it has. I can recall the figure but I know its quite high on VTEC, but under that it really pulls quite hard, even from 3000 rpm.

Im fairly sure that in my view, its quicker than the S2000 in a lot of situations too, which will upset some but having owned both I really think it marginally is. That extra 20 bhp at the crank is pretty much cancelled out by the drivetrin loss, but factor in the weight loss, extra torque and different gearing and it makes for a great package. On top of all that the MPG is more than I was getting from the S, and obviously the Evo.

On the negative side, I cant really think of any in all honesty! Im never one for rose tinted glasses but its a struggle. Getting used to FWD again has been interesting, but ive grasped that again. I thought I was going to pissed off with the lack of power / torque coming from 386 bhp but that hasn't happened. I guess owning VTEC's before helps, as some struggle to adjust...

I plan to take it to the Ring in August and am busy collecting mods to make sure that goes well! I cant wait to see how it does - it will be driven as intended too!

All in all the car has really grown on me and im very very chuffed with what I though was going to be a quite nippy / fun car.

But yes I will have another Evo when I can stretch to it again!

 

[Wardy7]

Nice one mate, great to hear it has exceeded what you were thinking it was going to!

Cheers
Wardy

 

[matt b]

Please that you like it mark, iv had 2 now 8) along with the S, DC2 and 2 Ep3's :lol: and in all honesty the DC5 is my favorite by far!

I get the EVo bug every 6 months but have never taken the jump, are they really that expensive the run and maintain even if you use a specialist like MAD etc for service? How does one compare with the S lets say?

 

[bazza]

Glad you are enjoying it Mark :wink:

I get the EVo bug every 6 months but have never taken the jump, are they really that expensive the run and maintain even if you use a specialist like MAD etc for service? How does one compare with the S lets say?

Below is a service document I put together some years ago.
Expect main stealer prices to have risen by now!

http://driversbriefing.com/evoservice.pdf

My service bills for road use based on a standard Evo VI were around £800 a year. This includes brake pads etc but not tyres.

As soon as track days are on the cards expect this to be multiplied by 5 or 6.

2 track days and you will have gone through:

1 x Pads
1 x Set of tyres
Lots and lots of V-Power :|

Our old Evo VI was being used everyday and was costing us around £600 a month to run (1000 miles a month roughly) + finance/loan etc.

Personally, I would say don't bother. They are falling in price, chavs are getting hold of them and the marque has gone down the pan.

Before you know it Evo VI's will be under £9000. :? :?

There are a number of specialists such as MAD, AMS, NR Autosport etc who offer better prices and service costs over MMC.

The main thing that costs money with Evo's is tuning. It is easy to unlock more power but the cost of doing this is high and then the running costs start to sky rocket. Clutches is the main one with a swap costing between £850 and £1000. 5 or 6 launches running 350+ bhp and 300+ lb/ft of torque and its bye bye clutch.

Upgrade the clutch to a twin plate etc and the stress is high on the gearbox and diff. Again, don't expect a bill for under £1500 for either of those.

 

[PORTHOS]

Gorgeous GORGEOUS cars!

Thanks for the write up fella, VERY insightful. A friend of mine has the EVO FQ300 and even he says that the Integra is most likely his next car due to running costs and feel etc.

... and now I want a blue one even more, :lol:

 

[matt b]

Thanks for the input bazza 8)

 

[Andywilkinson]

Only been driving mine a few days but looking forward to getting the balls to push it that little bit further everyday

 

[bazza]

Thanks for the input bazza 8)

Welcome.

 

[vtidan]

Nice one Mark. She's a beaut! The only thing that I found negative with going from an S2000 to a DC5 is the torque steer, but Im getting used to that now. 8) performance wise I would say that the DC5 would leave an S2000 around the twisties especially in the wet. But in a straight line IMO an S would just slightly pull ahead on it.




EDIT: The steering was another negative but now Im used to the extra weight and slight lack of feel its actually not that bad.

 

[Dark Blue Mark]

Thanks all

Yup I had the same thoughts Dan - I like the stering now, and can tell when the torque steer is coming when exiting flat out from a bend on Vtec but ive adapted my driving very slightly.

Any pics of yours? Any mods planned?

 

[vtidan]

Mine has a Spoon filter and Mugen twin loop at the mo but Its currently up for sale as I could do with a diesel. If it doesnt sell then its no hardship really as I'll just use it less. Future Mods? Not sure really. Where would one start? K Pro? :?

 

[Zero7]

Kpro and breathing will make a big difference to the mid range punch.... Glad your enjoying it Mark, they really are a lot of fun...

 

[Rob-DC2]

Nice write up,

Nice and sunny today may take the roof off

Rob

 

[Dark Blue Mark]

LOL Rob

That pic of yours looks really smart. Got any more?

I swore never to buy a black car again though!

 

[Rob-DC2]

heres some pics, got to be white or black,

Not mine hehe but i was made to take it london 8)

 

[Dark Blue Mark]

Holy shit!

How were you "made" to drive it?!

I presume you took some detours and picked up some top class birds?

Is it insanely fast?

 

[MilanoChris]

Glad to hear your enjoying the car, Mark.

 

[Rob-DC2]

The car was errm quick

Sports ECU's Sports Cats and Rear Mufflers,

Here it is a week later -

 

[vadhert]

Nice colour mark.

I agree with the driving aspects coming from an s2000 but it does seem to be insanely fast in this car and great round corners.

After having rwd cars for the last few years it felt a bit strange, but I must say after 2 months ownership im in love with mine.

The LSD in the s2000 would catch me out going uphill on white lines if the road was wet and Im glad to say that element of 'white knuckle' driving is still there in the ITR.

Going to give it some clay bar treatment this weekend I think.

Enjoy.

8)

 

[Dark Blue Mark]

Rob, I have seen that Lambo twice in Bmth this weekend, driven by a blonde bit of stuff. I waved at it

Vad, im still impressed with how damn fast it is, given a open space. Do you notice the vast torque difference too? Its got a lot more torque on paper, but the extra weight loss on top of that seems to make it really nippy below VTEC. Get some pics up!