Lust’s Street & Track FL5 Build

[Lust]

Hey everyone,

For those that don’t know me, my name is Michael. I picked up a 2025 FL5 a week ago and will be slowly building it up to be a high level dual duty car. The goal will be to set some really fast lap times, look good, and still have some comfort for the street. I have a bit of experience having owned 2 FK8s in the past and used to be fairly active on the CivicX forums. I’m really excited for this project and will share with the community my thought process behind the build path. Stay tuned as I’ve got a lot of exciting stuff planned for power, cooling, aero, suspension, brakes, and aesthetic mods.

Modifications

Engine | Exhaust | Transmission

• Hondata Flashpro
• Antigravity 40Ah Lithium Battery
• Eventuri Carbon Intake System
• Eventuri Carbon Turbo Tube
• Fujitsubo Authorized RM+C Titanium Exhaust
• Fujitsubo Front Pipe
• PRL Charge Pipes
• Radium Engineering Coolant Expansion Tank
• Radium Engineering Oil Catch Can PCV Side
• APR Carbon Fiber Cooling Plates
• Spoon Valve Cover
• Spoon Carbon Plug Cover
• Spoon 1.35bar Radiator Cap
• Spoon Oil Cap
• Spoon Radiator Hose Set
• Acuity Instruments Short Shifter
• Acuity Instruments Shifter Cable Bushings
• Wunderladen Rear Motor Mount

Suspension | Brakes | Wheels | Chassis

• Volk TE37 Saga 18x10 +40 Magnesium Blue
• Nankang CR-S v2 265/35/18 Tires
• Project Kics R40 Lug Nuts
• Paragon 355mm 6 Piston Big Brake Kit ENP Coated (PA015)
• Paragon 340mm Rear Rotor Kit
• Paragon R7 Front Brake Pads
• Paragon R5 Rear Brake Pads
• Whiteline 26mm Rear Sway Bar
• Whiteline Adjustable Rear Sway Bar End Links
• SPC Forged Rear Upper Camber Arms
• Wunderladen Rear Toe Arms
• Cusco Front Strut Bar
• PRL SRS Subframe Collar Kit

Aero | Exterior | Cosmetics

• Mugen Front Lip Spoiler
• Mugen Side Garnish
• Mugen Rear Under Spoiler
• Varis Arising 1 Evo Carbon Cooling Bonnet
• Voltex Type 4B Swan Neck Wing
• Xpel Fusion Plus PPF on front clip
• Xpel XR Ceramic Tint
• OEM Door Visor Set

Day one

Sponsored

 

[Toppyjai]

Hope that you took off the aftermarket FK8 parts before you sold it. Congratulations and Good Luck to you on your new ride. "Build that car!"

 

[Lust]

Hope that you took off the aftermarket FK8 parts before you sold it. Congratulations and Good Luck to you on your new ride. "Build that car!"

Parting it out made me never want to build a car to that level again lol. Somehow here I am doing the same thing a little more than 2 years later.

 

[Lust]

Parts are slowly starting to arrive. Today we got the Eventuri Carbon intake system, PRL charge pipes, and Acuity shifter cable bushings all installed. I wanted to get the shifter installed today but unfortunately ran out of time.

The Eventuri system is extremely impressive. I ran the FK8 kit and had no doubts about the FL5 kit. In my opinion it is the best intake system on the market. Independent testing has shown that it creates significant usable power. The other thing I like about the intake is that it’s completely carbon fiber. Not only does it look good, but it’s great at keeping air temps down. The carbon acts as a barrier against heat compared to other metal inlet designs that act as a conductor for heat. The inlet being one piece is also important for reducing turbulence and providing smooth / clean airflow to the turbo. The Eventuri makes some really cool induction noises which makes it rewarding to drive the car in boost

The PRL charge pipe kit is more of a reliability mod. On the old FK8 platform it was common for the coupler on the throttle body to tear from repeated heat cycles on track. I figured I’d just knock out this install now while the battery, airbox, and most of the charge pipe is off during the shifter cable bushing install. The charge pipe kit should also help provide more stable boost pressure and potentially even keep IATs down.

The Acuity shifter cable bushings help reduce a bit of slop or rubberiness found in the factory bushings. You can tell the difference immediately with just the upgrade alone. Shifts feel more precise and smooth. It’s most noticeable going from 1-2 and 5-6. Acuity describes the feeling as the gear lever “dropping in” and that’s a good description of it. These bushings do add a little bit of vibration back into the shift knob, but I only notice it if I’m really paying attention. Overall I think this is a must do mod if you’re looking to improve shift quality and feel in your Type R.

I did do a vlog of the installs today, a first for me. Hopefully I can have that edited soon for you all to join in on the journey of the build. Huge should out to my good friend Calvin at AZN Autohaus in San Jose, CA. He’s helped me on several builds including my old FK8 and we’re going to be running it back on the FL5. If you’re local to the area and need work down, Calvin is the man. Another thank you to Luigi at LMTLS Auto for quickly getting us these parts.

 

[Lust]

Vlog is up for the Eventuri, PRL, and Acuity install!

 

[PNEUMA]

I will have to look at mine to see if there is pushclip on the right and Phillips screw on the left.

I can tell you that the Phillips screws on the metal undertray, on both my FL5 and Accord Touring were BRUTALLY tight (couldn’t pop some loose with the proper JIS driver)! So much so that I had to use an impact screwdriver with Phillips bit. One smack and they loosened. On all of those screws I put a small amount of antisieze, since they live under the car in the elements.

So I would say that Honda tightens those undertray screws gorilla tight on all cars YMMV

 

[Lust]

I will have to look at mine to see if there is pushclip on the right and Phillips screw on the left.

I can tell you that the Phillips screws on the metal undertray, on both my FL5 and Accord Touring were BRUTALLY tight (couldn’t pop some loose with the proper JIS driver)! So much so that I had to use an impact screwdriver with Phillips bit. One smack and they loosened. On all of those screws I put a small amount of antisieze, since they live under the car in the elements.

So I would say that Honda tightens those undertray screws gorilla tight on all cars YMMV

Good to know we weren’t the only ones with this issue lol. A few other owners chimed in and said the screw on the driver said was normal for them too. Such a weird design not being symmetrical.

 

[ttccnn49]

Have you installed the paragon caliper yet? I think they just started their black friday sale

 

[apl360]

Spoon valve cover installed? Would love to see a pic! If it’s possible

 

[g0al3d]

I just ordered the Acuity Instruments Short Shifter, skipped the bearings since I feel like this is something that would probably make little difference on new bushings (but probably makes things much better after having the car for a few years). So will be very curious to hear how it all feels once you have both on the car.

 

[Lust]

Have you installed the paragon caliper yet? I think they just started their black friday sale

I haven't installed the calipers yet. Just waiting on brake lines from HEL. Highly recommend Paragon as I've used their products on my FK8, 718 GT4, and now the FL5. Seems like a no brainer since they're running a sale now!

Spoon valve cover installed? Would love to see a pic! If it’s possible

Not yet, the valve cover just shipped out today! I think it's gonna look awesome with all of the carbon pieces inside of the engine bay. I'll definitely post some pics when I'm done.

I just ordered the Acuity Instruments Short Shifter, skipped the bearings since I feel like this is something that would probably make little difference on new bushings (but probably makes things much better after having the car for a few years). So will be very curious to hear how it all feels once you have both on the car.

The shifter bushings actually made a noticeable difference even with the stock shifter. I highly recommend the bushings. I drove the car with the bushings + stock shifter installed for a week and I will say that it increases both ends of the shifter feel spectrum. When shifts are smooth, they feel like a hot knife cutting through butter. When shifts are more notchy, I can feel more of that notchy-ness. Hopefully that makes sense. This isn't necessarily a bad thing or an issue caused by the bushings, since they're doing their intended job of improving the shifter feel. My suspicion is that the clutch is not disengaging on a consistent basis causing the notchy shifts. When I depress the clutch I can really feel the engine / transmission rock from the amount of play given by the RMM. The other culprit is probably the clutch hydraulics. I'll try a bleed first then possibly go into an upgraded master or slave cylinder to aid with clutch engagement.

I installed the stage 4 shifter this past Sunday and that further improved shifting feel and smoothness in the car. I adjusted the shifter in a way that reduced tension in the shifter cables and this resulted in easy gear selection with little effort. It doesn't produce the shortest shifts but that's not what I'm going for personally. Comparing this version to my old FK8, it feels like this version is a bit softer in centering forces and results in an easier daily drive. It still feels very precise, almost like a bolt action sniper lol. I highly recommend.

 

[g0al3d]

by chance did you upgrade the clutch line to a SS braided guy? In the past making that change has had a huge impact on clutch feel and performance (on other cars). Also curious about the shift delay valve thing? seems like that thing might be an issue if you are looking to for best feels and do everything yourself mode.

 

[Lust]

by chance did you upgrade the clutch line to a SS braided guy? In the past making that change has had a huge impact on clutch feel and performance (on other cars). Also curious about the shift delay valve thing? seems like that thing might be an issue if you are looking to for best feels and do everything yourself mode.

Clutch hydraulics are completely stock right now, but a braided line does sound intriguing. I used to run a modified CMC on the FK8 and that helped a lot with shifting consistency, but the FL5 seems to have a redesigned CMC. I'll probably buy a modified slave from JSR to see if the CDV delete improves shifting consistency.

Sponsored