What is a good first mod?

[Chilly613]

As others have said, take some time with your car and drive it. Don't just mod just to mod. Figure out what you want based on your driving and your needs. Its not gonna be the same for everyone. I will say though, for a manual car, the shifter cable bushings and shifter base bushings are a good start. They make the shifting feel even better than it already is.

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[Clark_Kent]

PRL rear motor mount is the best bang for the buck IMO. completely transforms the way the car drives. thought about doing the PRL HVI but not sure it's worth it for minimal gains. and obviously a tune would be great if you don't mind voiding your warranty.

I've used motor mounts and torque dampers in the past and there is a material gain; however, there are tradeoffs that cannot be ignored. There is increased NVH with the inclusion of a motor mount. On a vehicle that already is further to the right on the NVH spectrum, the addition of more could be a non-starter for some.

The modification path ultimately comes down to use case and budget. The tolerance for aftermarket parts is also in the consideration set. The reality is some of these parts are not of great quality, fitment can be shaky, and customer service questionable. Just things for the OP to contemplate as they chart off on this mod path as a first timer.

 

[cryptolime]

I've used motor mounts and torque dampers in the past and there is a material gain; however, there are tradeoffs that cannot be ignored. There is increased NVH with the inclusion of a motor mount. On a vehicle that already is further to the right on the NVH spectrum, the addition of more could be a non-starter for some.

The modification path ultimately comes down to use case and budget. The tolerance for aftermarket parts is also in the consideration set. The reality is some of these parts are not of great quality, fitment can be shaky, and customer service questionable. Just things for the OP to contemplate as they chart off on this mod path as a first timer.

i've switched between OEM and aftermarket a bunch and i find the increased NVH to be worth it. it's such a drastic difference in driveability.

 

[Shingo Shoji]

Wow, thanks so much for all this advice. This is really good to hear. I guess the main driver is to make it my own, but I can do that with some of the simpler mods suggested and new wheels/wing when the budget allows. Really appreciating the support on this thread. Great to see people genuinely helping one another.

 

[Shingo Shoji]

I don't think a $50k daily driver is the place to start learning how to mod. Just a thought.

Fortunately these cars are so good from the factory that there isn't an overwhelming need to mess around with them. So my suggestion would be to either keep things very simple, or find a good shop to do the work and just enjoy the end result. The aforementioned coolant reservoir, or an intake is a tolerable place to start if you have some experience doing work on cars. A cat-back exhaust should also be relatively straightforward, assuming you have the facilities to get under the car easily. Brake pads are a good thing to learn to DIY too. But that's about as far as I'd take it, and I have experience working on things. Coilovers would be the absolute limit for me, personally. I wouldn't even mess with springs because there's potential for disaster if you don't have the right tools or don't know how to use them...

But IMO doing your own work if you don't have pre-existing experience is just flat out foolish to me. You've already alluded to the sense you get of potentially "ruining the car"- so I'd be curious to peel back the desire to want to do it yourself. If it's out of some sort of sense of accomplishment, go buy an old project car already out of warranty. You may find that actually working on cars isn't as fun as it may seem lol... there's a ton of frustration involved but some folks get a sense of "high" when the work is completed, and I get that. You may be one of those folks. Or if you have a friend or two that are always down to hang out and work on cars that's a HUGE bonus (especially if they know what they're doing)... But it's just a path to pain trying to "figure things out" on a car you use for transportation. Even something as simple as an intake- I think I just saw on the Integra boards someone stripped out a screw on the MAF sensor and was freaking out and took a couple days and a couple trips to Harbor Freight to figure out. Not my idea of fun.

If it's just because you want to "make it your own", then a far better course of action would be to get the work done by people who do it for a living, or at least have done similar things many times before. Just my .02 from lessons learned the last time I went down this route on a brand new car. I even had a shop do the work and I still felt like I ruined the car. FWIW.

This is great advice and what I needed to hear. I guess it is making it my own and being able to contribute to discussions at cars and coffee meets. Your advice confirms my hunch that it's better to rely on those that have experience and built a career around working on cars. Finding a good tuner in our town is going to be hard though. So hard to know who is actually good.

 

[Shingo Shoji]

It's a car, just like any other. The good news is that it's a Honda, so it's very easy to work on.

I suggest LED rear blinkers and reverse lights, performance air filter, shifter cable bushings, shift knob, shift boot, and things like that. Cheap and easy to install.

More serious mods like exhaust, downpipe, and tuning would be next... these may require more professional help, like a tuner or garage, depending on the tools you can access.

Enjoy your car dude

Thanks for the suggestions. LED blinkers etc is definitely going to be my next project then air filter but I might stop there and get help with more serious mods.

 

[Shingo Shoji]

Spend some time with the car and note what you feel that the car is lacking, and then research mods to address those concerns. I would recommend against modding just for the sake of changing something or because of a random suggestion.

Great advice. I've had mine for a year now. Put my deposit down when there was only camo footage of the CTR on the Ring and was plesantly suprised that it turned out to be an epic car. I feel like the one thing after a year I'd like to change is a performance filter for more noise, exhaust and a solution to the bounce in the ride on bad roads.

 

[MKC]

Best first mod without voiding your warranty:

A’PEXi Exhaust :

K&N intake :


Ground wire mod :


I did the exhaust first since I couldn’t stand how quiet the stock one was.

Enjoy your new ride!

 

[Tickle]

Great advice. I've had mine for a year now. Put my deposit down when there was only camo footage of the CTR on the Ring and was plesantly suprised that it turned out to be an epic car. I feel like the one thing after a year I'd like to change is a performance filter for more noise, and exhaust, and a solution to the bounce in the ride on bad roads.

Best of luck...

There will be no general consciousness as to what is best. I do think a game plan is smart and in the long run, will save you time money, and effort. Some changes are not completely a benefit.

Production/cost limitations when making a car like this provide opportunities to make small upgrades that may total a better experience.

Of course, many will see it differently and wish to increase power significantly. The choices are yours.

 

[optronix]

This is great advice and what I needed to hear. I guess it is making it my own and being able to contribute to discussions at cars and coffee meets. Your advice confirms my hunch that it's better to rely on those that have experience and built a career around working on cars. Finding a good tuner in our town is going to be hard though. So hard to know who is actually good.

You are 100% correct, and honestly I should have mentioned something about this... I'm in the same position right now. Even if I wanted to do something to the car, I don't want to do it myself but I haven't found anyone I trust to do the work either. I also haven't looked very hard, but you're not wrong, you don't want to just hand your car over to just anyone. These boards should be able to help with that too, but to date I'm still looking FWIW.

 

[TypeOne]

This is great advice and what I needed to hear. I guess it is making it my own and being able to contribute to discussions at cars and coffee meets. Your advice confirms my hunch that it's better to rely on those that have experience and built a career around working on cars. Finding a good tuner in our town is going to be hard though. So hard to know who is actually good.

Contact JDMYard in Australia, they're the best Honda shop in the country.

 

[TiNuts]

My first & only mod, so far, is Type R valve stem caps. ?

 

[hhkb]

My first & only mod, so far, is Type R valve stem caps. ?

Sheeeeeeeesh ?

 

[Shingo Shoji]

Contact JDMYard in Australia, they're the best Honda shop in the country.

Googling now. Thanks so much.

 

[cryptolime]

My first & only mod, so far, is Type R valve stem caps. ?

at least they aren't RGB

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