Couple months in now with my FL5, with an ITS vs CTR ADS module comparison.

[russ240]

To be fair to the Porsches, I will add that it is much easier to drive an FL5 close to it's limit than it is a 911 or Cayman/Boxster. So on the street in particular, the Civic really has an edge of them. Civic's don't bite.

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[Noize]

And here I am in the camp of those who early adopted, then reverted and sold the DE5 module.

FL5 module in Comfort dampening is good for 95% of all the things.

DE5 comfort is too soft for me, and the other modes will still bounce in high speed corners where pavement isn’t almost perfect.

They’re just a tier apart anyway, with FL5 top stiffness not avab in DE5, and DE5 max comfort not avab in FL5.

 

[VLJ]

Jesus, some of you people need to calm down with your incessant need to correct the notion that the FL5 isn't really a FWD GT3. Seriously, you really think you need to tell us that no, our $46K Honda isn't actually on the level of a $250K Zuffenhausen thoroughbred? As if we don't already realize that, and it's going to take your strident admonishments to open our eyes to this stark reality?

News flash, no one truly thinks their Honda is a FWD GT3. Rather, they may take delight in thinking of it as their FWD GT3. It's the idea of the thing. In the same way that a GT3 is the much more highly focused, stripped down, sound-deadening removed, big wing, big brakes, no compromise 911, so too is the Type R, relative to other Hondas, or other FWD cars. No one actually thinks their FL5 has the power, handling, brakes, materials, build quality, or overall attention to detail of a real GT3. It's merely an ideological comparison. This is Honda's affordable, accessible version of that "purist" ideal.

Got it now? Can you please stop hyperventilating already, worrying that the world simply won't return to its correct axis until You, Defender of the Mechanical Truth, doth go forth into the interwebs hinterlands to shoot down any and all blasphemes against The Word.

Take a breath. Nothing important is at stake here. It's simply people having fun with their toys. Nothing more.

Man, could some of you lot possibly be any more precious and pretentious? It's downright embarrassing.



.

 

[Clark_Kent]

I think you're the one who needs to chill. You're upset because people are respectfully disagreeing with your assertion. Tends to happen on web forums. And yeah, it's still not a FWD GT3.

 

[VLJ]

Brilliant response. You even doubled down on it to further prove your point.

We are grateful.

 

[egxflash]

Funny seeing this thread pop up on the front page right now... ?

 

[VLJ]

Yep, and how great is it to know that that description so utterly irritates some people. Makes it even a bit more of a warm fuzzy now.

I think I may have to look into getting a personalized 'FWD GT3' license plate, just to make certain people's heads spin in righteous indignation.

 

[renesis]

I've owned quite a number of enthusiast cars including ND2 Miata, S2000, Mustang Bullitt, Mustang GT350, Porsche Cayman, Porsche GT4, and FL5 CTR, and have driven Camaro ZL1 1LE, Porsche GT3, and etc. on both street and track. IMHO, despite being FWD, CTR is very close to Porsche GT cars in terms of the feeling and experience you get behind the wheel. Objectively, Porsche GT cars are of course better at 10/10, but on the street and on track at 7-8/10, CTR behaves really close to GT cars. That's why I bought FL5 and I think it's the closest you can get to Porsche GT cars in FWD format. So, I would personally call it a "FWD GT3".

Attaching pics because some will say this guy is lying and never owned any of those cars

 

[optronix]

Jesus, some of you people need to calm down with your incessant need to correct the notion that the FL5 isn't really a FWD GT3. Seriously, you really think you need to tell us that no, our $46K Honda isn't actually on the level of a $250K Zuffenhausen thoroughbred? As if we don't already realize that, and it's going to take your strident admonishments to open our eyes to this stark reality?

News flash, no one truly thinks their Honda is a FWD GT3. Rather, they may take delight in thinking of it as their FWD GT3. It's the idea of the thing. In the same way that a GT3 is the much more highly focused, stripped down, sound-deadening removed, big wing, big brakes, no compromise 911, so too is the Type R, relative to other Hondas, or other FWD cars. No one actually thinks their FL5 has the power, handling, brakes, materials, build quality, or overall attention to detail of a real GT3. It's merely an ideological comparison. This is Honda's affordable, accessible version of that "purist" ideal.

Got it now? Can you please stop hyperventilating already, worrying that the world simply won't return to its correct axis until You, Defender of the Mechanical Truth, doth go forth into the interwebs hinterlands to shoot down any and all blasphemes against The Word.

Take a breath. Nothing important is at stake here. It's simply people having fun with their toys. Nothing more.

Man, could some of you lot possibly be any more precious and pretentious? It's downright embarrassing.



.

 

[VLJ]

Yep. Embarrasing.

Apt...predictable...deeply embarrassing.

 

[TW00Si]

It’s common to compare a cheaper car to a more expensive one and draw commonalities so that the cheaper car is more of a “value purchase”. Whatever it is, I think the main point of the original post is how good the ITS ADS module is and rounds out the FL5. I can’t fully agree with this even though I just swapped in one. I do see a difference and think it’s a good option to change the ride without changing the springs, shocks or other suspension parts.

 

[VLJ]

It’s common to compare a cheaper car to a more expensive one and draw commonalities so that the cheaper car is more of a “value purchase”. Whatever it is, I think the main point of the original post is how good the ITS ADS module is and rounds out the FL5. I can’t fully agree with this even though I just swapped in one. I do see a difference and think it’s a good option to change the ride without changing the springs, shocks or other suspension parts.

Honestly, I'm still not certain I will stick with the ITS module. As many have pointed out, the CTR's Comfort mode is perfectly fine for most situations, and it's essentially equivalent to the ITS's Sport mode. I think the ITS's Sport mode is less bouncy than the CTR's Comfort mode, but I am certainly willing to entertain the notion that I'm operating under a bit of placebo effect there...bias confirmation.

Other people have reported less bounciness with the ITS at equivalent stiffness settings, and I suppose I'm taking that into account in my expectations/observations. I can't say with 100% certainty that the ITS Sport+ mode is truly less bouncy than the CTR's Sport mode, or that the ITS's Sport mode is less bouncy than the CTR's Comfort mode. I think they are, but I'm not completely confident in saying it.

I may yet swap back to the CTR mode, and leave it there. I'm sure I could live it with just fine that way, knowing its Comfort mode poses no real issues in daily driving. Besides, it's always kind of fun and satisfying knowing that +R is there, as silly as it may be.

Agreed, btw, regarding the "value purchase" thing. I think most of us would rather have a GT3 than a Type R, all things being equal, but since all things clearly aren't equal, yeah, the Type R is a good value alternative. Certainly no one really thinks the two are equivalent performers. Obviously not. It is rather fun, though, knowing that up to about 7/10ths or 8/10ths aggression you can hang with the far more expensive vehicle in your relatively cheap FWD spiritual homage to the real-deal German Holy Grail.

 

[MooMoo]

I've owned quite a number of enthusiast cars including ND2 Miata, S2000, Mustang Bullitt, Mustang GT350, Porsche Cayman, Porsche GT4, and FL5 CTR, and have driven Camaro ZL1 1LE, Porsche GT3, and etc. on both street and track. IMHO, despite being FWD, CTR is very close to Porsche GT cars in terms of the feeling and experience you get behind the wheel. Objectively, Porsche GT cars are of course better at 10/10, but on the street and on track at 7-8/10, CTR behaves really close to GT cars. That's why I bought FL5 and I think it's the closest you can get to Porsche GT cars in FWD format. So, I would personally call it a "FWD GT3".

Attaching pics because some will say this guy is lying and never owned any of those cars

nice cars! Again I never driven a gt3 or gt4 so I can't really comment but I think the thing

I've owned quite a number of enthusiast cars including ND2 Miata, S2000, Mustang Bullitt, Mustang GT350, Porsche Cayman, Porsche GT4, and FL5 CTR, and have driven Camaro ZL1 1LE, Porsche GT3, and etc. on both street and track. IMHO, despite being FWD, CTR is very close to Porsche GT cars in terms of the feeling and experience you get behind the wheel. Objectively, Porsche GT cars are of course better at 10/10, but on the street and on track at 7-8/10, CTR behaves really close to GT cars. That's why I bought FL5 and I think it's the closest you can get to Porsche GT cars in FWD format. So, I would personally call it a "FWD GT3".

Attaching pics because some will say this guy is lying and never owned any of those cars

what about sound? That is part of the driving experience and we all know the gt3 (or really any p car) is pretty special and unfortunately the sound is the weakest point of the FL5

 

[optronix]

Yep. Embarrasing.

Apt...predictable...deeply embarrassing.

 

[VLJ]

And here I am in the camp of those who early adopted, then reverted and sold the DE5 module.

FL5 module in Comfort dampening is good for 95% of all the things.

DE5 comfort is too soft for me, and the other modes will still bounce in high speed corners where pavement isn’t almost perfect.

They’re just a tier apart anyway, with FL5 top stiffness not avab in DE5, and DE5 max comfort not avab in FL5.

This is the dissenting opinon that I suspect is probably the most accurate description of the differences between the two modules. No difference in bounciness, other than for the differences in stiffness along that sliding scale. I like to tell myself there is a big difference in reduced bounciness, but I worry that this is largely confirmation bias because I'm buying into what The Topher said, since he's taken both modules to the track and done a lot more comparitive testing.

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