Unity Performance Humza's FL5 Build Thread

[Unity Performance]

I bought the Dream seat covers from you. They do serve a purpose but the fit isn’t great and it isn’t breathable so not good for long drives. I leave the passenger side on but I like mine without.

The fit will always be a little loose, that's intentional for the ease of install and removal. As for the material I would say that it's just closely knit enough where it stops spills from going through and getting soaked into the seat. I ran these on my FK8 for 3+ years, including two 1K-mile each way trips to Tail of the Dragon, and I didn't find the material uncomfortable. They did save me on multiple occasions including leaving the window open while parked and it started raining, and a another time when I spilled an energy drink in the seat - both times the rain and drink didn't seep through.

Point being they're simply functional. I know there's Hypersuede ones out there which fit well and look nicer, but I've seen posts about about color bleed and some tears so I'm less inclined to try them out.

I own an E90M3 and followed a similar ethos to build a car following BMW M CS. The words "Racetrack optimized + everyday suitability" spoke to me

I'm hoping to do something similar with my FL5 as well. Can't wait to see what your vision of that is vs mine!

That's a great illustration! Congrats also on owning one of the best modern-retro performance sedans I've always loved them, and would love to own one day an E90 M3, single hump, slick top, manual, with cloth interior. Stripper spec with driver focused mods.

So let's say baseline is somewhere between M High Performance and M Competition. Getting to M CS without spilling to CSL should be doable. Stay tuned

 

[Unity Performance]

The Acuity and Hybrid Shifters have spoiled me over the years, so I had to skip past the upgrades to the stock shifter, and go right to Acuity. One our last FL5 we had Hybrid, so I'm mixing it up on this one with Acuity's. Not having to remove the entire console makes the overall install easier.

Settings chosen:
- Standard Pre-load Spring
- Shifter Body moved closed to Driver
- Height setting 2/6
- Narrow Gate Spacing
- Medium Throw

Hybrid Shift Boot Collar in Stainless Steel. Mixing it up again with Hybrid this time since I've had Acuity Collars in the past - either is way better than stock. I like how Acuity's can be flipped upside down to either accommodate a narrower or wider shift knob base, but I'm vibing with Hybrid's design that's more spread out. Also one thing I wasn't looking for or expected was that the slight play between shift rod and collar produces a metallic ping each time I shift and it rings faintly like a gated Lambo/Ferrari shifter - not as loud as those but enough for the ears to catch it. I'm a sucker for mechanical sounds and solid haptic feedback things, so it's a weird quirk I'm really enjoying! You can hear it in some of the shifts in the video below.

Trying out the Skunk2 weighted shift knob - we have a large collection of display knobs that the guys and I rotate through so I felt like trying this 440g unit out. Not bad either!

Skunk2 Knob Link

Acuity Shifter Link

Hybrid Collar Link

 

[Unity Performance]

@Thusee adopted the car in early September as I went offline for a bit to welcome my daughter into the world

Here’s a number of installs he performed at Honda - he’s a certified tech if anyone needs work done on their cars.

Steering Wheel swap. Our Flat-Bottom wheels are pretty well known already - this one’s the Carbon variant without a Center Ring, and Grey Stitch. There’s 3 other variants, and we’re exploring the possibility of made-to-order wheels as well with the customer choosing material, stitching, ring or no ring etc.

Direct swap, no codes. Non-heated only. Link.

 

[Unity Performance]

H&R Sport Springs. 0.8” drop all around, not much stiffer than stock for an OE+ look and feel.

Again, thanks to @Thusee for the install! Initial install picture from early September, then some shots I took recently.

No rub at all in any conditions. I don’t intend on switching these out for a long time, as it was always the plan to run H&R’s.

Link to H&R Springs

 

[derbo904]

That's a great illustration! Congrats also on owning one of the best modern-retro performance sedans I've always loved them, and would love to own one day an E90 M3, single hump, slick top, manual, with cloth interior. Stripper spec with driver focused mods.

So let's say baseline is somewhere between M High Performance and M Competition. Getting to M CS without spilling to CSL should be doable. Stay tuned

That will be fun! I have a white slicktop 6MT double hump, it actually allows for a CarPlay module to "modernize" it up. Right now both cars are competing for which will be the primary track car and the backup track car. haha.

 

[Unity Performance]

That will be fun! I have a white slicktop 6MT double hump, it actually allows for a CarPlay module to "modernize" it up. Right now both cars are competing for which will be the primary track car and the backup track car. haha.

Good to know that a module can modernize the headunit! That’s a great two car solution

If I were in your shoes I’d make the car that’s got cheaper consumables the primary track car.

 

[Unity Performance]

Swapped over from the factory 20mm Rear Sway Bar to the Progress 22mm one. This one’s the adjustable one that comes packaged with spherical end links, but I’m close to certain they would cause some NVH from having spherical suspension parts in past, so we went with our tried and true beefier aluminum Accord OEM End Links.

I’ll contact Progress to see if they can create a sell a SKU for the adjustable RSB without forcing the end links purchase. Currently you can only purchase the non adjustable unit without any end links. The price of the adjustable rsb ends up being a lot higher otherwise.

You can feel the rear end is planted and wants to rotate more eagerly with the front end. I’ve had nearly all the bars on my car’s over the years, each serve the same purpose, with slight variations in design.

Special mention to the Ultra Racing Rear Torsion Bar up there as well, quick and easy 2-minute install. It contributes to overall chassis stiffness, I had one on my FK8 for 3+ years as well. Most likely will end up swapping for Cusco or PRL for no other reason than trying out a different brand on this car for chassis bracing - UR is great otherwise.

Link to Adjustable RSB

Link to non-adjustable RSB

Link to Ultra Racing Rear Torsion Bar

 

[derbo904]

Good to know that a module can modernize the headunit! That’s a great two car solution

If I were in your shoes I’d make the car that’s got cheaper consumables the primary track car.

Absolutely! At the moment, the E90M3 is already prepped for track days with MCS 2WNR, and AP racing brakes so for the time being..it's this one.

I do think long run the FL5 might be cheaper just due to maintenance on a 15yr old. But the upfront costs to make a reliable FL5 for track seems to be a good amount of parts!

Brake fluid, Brake pads, Camber arms/plate, Coilovers, 18s/200tw tires,Radiator, oil cooler, tray.

 

[Unity Performance]

Absolutely! At the moment, the E90M3 is already prepped for track days with MCS 2WNR, and AP racing brakes so for the time being..it's this one.

I do think long run the FL5 might be cheaper just due to maintenance on a 15yr old. But the upfront costs to make a reliable FL5 for track seems to be a good amount of parts!

Brake fluid, Brake pads, Camber arms/plate, Coilovers, 18s/200tw tires,Radiator, oil cooler, tray.

Top tier racing upgrades on the M3 already

And you’re right about the list of mods needed to push the FL5 on track. As this thread goes on I'll see what I can pick and choose to improve cooling on my car. I have all the access to cooling parts but whether it’s NEEDED for my intended use is the question.

 

[derbo904]

I'm considering the WOT trifecta of parts: Dual oil cooler, PWR Radiator with Trans cooler, and cooling undertray. Seems like the undertray is no brainer!

 

[julianobl]

I'm considering the WOT trifecta of parts: Dual oil cooler, PWR Radiator with Trans cooler, and cooling undertray. Seems like the undertray is no brainer!

Highly recommend. Go for the quadfecta (just add his new intercooler offering to the mix)

 

[Unity Performance]

I'm considering the WOT trifecta of parts: Dual oil cooler, PWR Radiator with Trans cooler, and cooling undertray. Seems like the undertray is no brainer!

Jason’s brought some great offerings to the market, and he backs it up with his track testing! Have to check our stock levels, I believe we have some oil coolers and radiators left from our last order with him.

I have to speak with him about the micro-tube intercoolers he shared this week, that’s a first for this platform.

 

[silversurfer2282]

Been wanting to install the rsb with spoon collars. I went with your suggestion with accord endlinks.

Swapped over from the factory 20mm Rear Sway Bar to the Progress 22mm one. This one’s the adjustable one that comes packaged with spherical end links, but I’m close to certain they would cause some NVH from having spherical suspension parts in past, so we went with our tried and true beefier aluminum Accord OEM End Links.

I’ll contact Progress to see if they can create a sell a SKU for the adjustable RSB without forcing the end links purchase. Currently you can only purchase the non adjustable unit without any end links. The price of the adjustable rsb ends up being a lot higher otherwise.

You can feel the rear end is planted and wants to rotate more eagerly with the front end. I’ve had nearly all the bars on my car’s over the years, each serve the same purpose, with slight variations in design.

Special mention to the Ultra Racing Rear Torsion Bar up there as well, quick and easy 2-minute install. It contributes to overall chassis stiffness, I had one on my FK8 for 3+ years as well. Most likely will end up swapping for Cusco or PRL for no other reason than trying out a different brand on this car for chassis bracing - UR is great otherwise.

Link to Adjustable RSB

Link to non-adjustable RSB

Link to Ultra Racing Rear Torsion Bar

 

[Unity Performance]

This is the big one - SDI E-CLIK Active Pro! I've had all the suspension upgrades you can think of since 2018, this is genuinely the one that's excited me the most. TLDR: Humza geeks out over an active suspension management system.

Having lived with this for over a month, I can't go back to stock ADS or DE5 ADS swaps after this. I've ordered a DSC unit to see how that compares, but this post will solely focus on SDI. There's so many layers of adjustability to unpack with this, and the only reason I feel it didn't take off is because the video with HPJ's car was more of a marketing promo exercise, not a technical how-to. People would get past the $,800 USD price tag if they understand how much control you gain over the factory suspension, and the improvements as a result of it

Install: 1-2 hours. SDI has a great write-up, you can view it here. LINK

Background...SDI offers these controllers for mostly off-road application, but decided to take a swing at Honda's FL5. I think more of us would have known about them if they focused on the sport car segment already like DSC did/does. Sometimes SDI even have to develop new dampers since the factory ones don't have the desired range of adjustment built into them or those cars didn't come with any electronic dampers. SDI discovered that the FL5 has quite a large range, but Honda's capped it on both ends.

If we can use 0-100 as a scale, 0 being the softest setting and 100 being the softest, here's how the FL5 and DE5 ADS rank subjectively.

FL5
Comfort: 25
Sport: 50
+R: 80

DE5
Comfort: 20
Sport: 45
Sport+: 70

There's debate whether the dampers do or don't adjust with the FL5/DE5 ADS as you apply throttle, brake, or when the car pitches/dives. or rolls. Even if the FL5/DE5 ADS does offer that, let's say it's +10 / -10 at the very most.

SDI said well we can give you 0-100, that's the easy part. Here's what else we'll give you (read the bullet points as 3rd person):

• you will get 4 profiles (Comfort, Sport, Individual, and +R), and you can independently set up each one. The SDI unit will remember each setup, and it links up to the factory toggle switch so you don't need to reach out and fiddle with our gauge each time.
• you can independently give the fronts and rears their own 0-100 setting in increments of 10. You want a super responsive front end, with a looser rear end - dial up the front, soften up the rear. You want a softer front, and a lively rear end like an AP1 S2K - dial up the rear. soften the front
• you can let us (SDI) handle it in Auto mode, and based off throttle and brake position, steering angle, pitch and roll we will set each corner up.
• you can adjust the reactivity of each of the above metrics to tell us (SDI) how quickly or slowly and how much we should adjust those increments of 10. We can go 0-20 in a corner, or 0-100 in the same corner depending on how you set up each profile.

Back to first person...does that sum it up how I think it does in my head? When I bought the system I thought it was just taking a 3-way setup, and turning into 10-way - just like coilovers I've had in the past. It's so much more than that.

When you have the reactivity set up higher you can be cruising down the street at a low setting, swing the car suddenly into a turn, and feel the dampers on the outer side assisting you through that turn much more than any feedback the DE5/FL5 ADS provided, even with VSA setup grabbing the rear brakes. If someone's driven an AWD performance car with great torque vectoring, that's what this feels like now.

I've made a video showing how to navigate the SDI's menu and explaining the setup:



Here's some photos from my install. I reckon it can be done in an hour if you're rushing, and removal should be 30 minutes to an hour as well if you're parting out the car - no cutting, nothing is permanent.

You're not limited to installing the gauge there, you can leave it in the cup holder for all that matters. I've also seen this being made by one of the guys on a Facebook FL5 page, this would be my personal choice on place to mount it and I've asked OP to see if he wants to share the file so that I can 3D print it.

We've had two very different customers buy the SDI unit from us in the past 30 days. One has a DE5 with RSR i-Active Coilovers, front and rear Spoon Sway Bars, Rigid Collars, Upper and Lower Camber Arms etc. The second customer has a completely stock suspension FL5.

I'm looking forward to feedback from them, and I also welcome any Toronto area FL5 owners to hit me up if they'd like to test drive my car this month before I store it for the winter.

If I can make it to WTD 2026, it'll be a great opportunity to test this system out, and 100% next season we'll put our time attack driver, Imran, behind the wheel to set some laps with the stock ADS plugged in, and then followed up with the SDI plugged in, since the harness can be swapped over in seconds. Won't shock me if Imran pulls an extra 1-2 seconds on our local track (TMP) where a stock FL5 manages 1:21's.

Hope I didn't bore you to death, I get excited about things that work well As much as I own and operate the brand where we sell parts, this is still my own car that I itch to get out and drive, and have fun with when I can. Between home/new-dad life, and managing Unity I don't get the same time and freedom I had a couple years back, but heck when I can just grab those keys and go out for a blast I'm in my element!

Ps. you didn't hear it from me but Honda/Acura are testing out SDI on a DE5 as well.

 

[Unity Performance]

Funny how this update makes it to the build thread last, but it's made the rounds on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit already!

CW was never going to fly with me, so I was planning this wrap even before the car's delivery. KPMF Blue Black Iridescent went on, and it's come out even better than expected! The color shift in different lighting is stunning, and the best part is that it looks like a color that Honda could've offered on the car as well

Then I walked in I definitely had my jaw on the floor! The orange side marker jumped out as an eyesore so I asked the guys to wrap that over with Black, and I'm so glad I did because now it looks complete!

Still need to add tint, and deciding on a set of 19's to run for next season