1223

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. Yesterday I bought my Integra Type R. The ITR has been on my "want to own" list for a while and I keep a lookout for cars that come up for sale. I found this car in Seattle - 1 owner, 57k miles, clean title - and moved quickly. I live in the SF bay area, so after a positive inspection at a Seattle shop I committed to the car. My weekends aren't looking great this month so I said F it, and took work off yesterday to fly up and retrieve the car.

Ideally I would have done this over a weekend, on a scenic route, and with my copilot, but the goal was to get the car home and be at work Wednesday morning. Here are some photos from the exhausting 13-hour drive.



This is right after I picked up the car. The owner was a true enthusiast - he did not want to have to sell the car, and said that he was sick to his stomach all week. I promised him that I would take good care of his baby.



The car has some high-quality aftermarket parts. H&R coilovers, Brembo big brakes, Mugen twin-loop exhaust, Toda header, B&M short shifter, VAFC2, AEM intake, and some other things I'm forgetting.



Along with the car I got all of the stock parts that he had removed, except for the header, which couldn't be found. We were able to fit everything in the back... barely!



What's a great thing to do with a low-mileage car? Put 800 miles on it on your first day.



I've never been to Washington state or to Oregon before, so I enjoyed the scenery. Like I mentioned, unfortunately I was going for the quickest route possible, which meant a straight shot down I5.



Sorry if these suck, it's hard to drive and photograph safely.



Traffic in Portland was a nice opportunity to get acquainted with the clutch.



Hello hipsters



I started running out of daylight after only about 5 of my 13 hours.



I'm just going to assume that the drive was beautiful, since I couldn't see anything. At those hours on a Wednesday morning it was basically me and the big rigs.



I forgot that I couldn't pump my own gas in Oregon. I stopped for dinner at Dairy Queen (because why not) in Sutherlin. There was a kid, probably 16, wiping down tables. "Is that your Integra man? It's awesome!" And just like that, my first-ever compliment on the ITR.



Final gas stop, about 3 hours from home. By this point I was surviving on beef jerky and I was concerned that my right foot was going to fall off.



I finally got home at 3:45am, just about 24 full hours after I had woken up to get to the airport. While exhausting, the trip was a success - the car runs like a top, I got 32-ish MPG, and I didn't have to talk to any officers.

Some impressions about the car; this is the first Integra I've ever driven:
- I thought that header + exhaust would sound awful; the car sounds awesome
- The short shifter may be too short for me. I thought my Miata was a short shift... this is like 5mm between gears. Will put the stock one back in and see which I prefer
- Great visibility and controls / information layout
- The car is too low as it sits. It looks cool, but slamming across every expansion joint in the state of Oregon got old pretty fast
- VTAK. I know about it, I've heard the jokes, but damn. Addicting

I look forward to getting to know this car. It will be in good company with my E30 M3 and my Mazdaspeed Miata. I'll post updates and such in this thread.

TheRedMouse

I saw this car on autotrader! i mapped out my trek back and since i'm from Chicago it would of taken me 2 straight days of driving. I wanted that car but couldn't get anyone to go with me to keep me awake for the drive back, awesome find!

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

A long drive Im sure that was now well worth it. Good job on not talking to the fuzz on such a long trip, esp with those tailights. Cops love those tail lights.

- Toda + Mugen = all day. Wait until you dont have a ton of **** in heR drowning out sound
- You will get used to the gear box depending on how much you drive heR. The stock setup is not bad at all, so its user preference really.
- The wheels/tires and suspension all need to be adjusted IMO. Too thin of tire, and what looks like a more "show style" rim is killing your ride/road comfort. Are those 17"? ITR is best fit on 16" with a much meatier tire. Once you get a better wheel/tire combo, from there adjust your suspension accordingly.... That being said, what suspension is she running??
- Im sure it sounds and feels great at crossover with the headers and exhaust... I saw you noted it has a VAFC... .... From looking at the car, I'm hoping he put it in as a "ooohh look at this electronicyy thingy" and didnt mess with the tune. Do you know what ECU its running or if it has been tuned? Do you have any ignition upgrades? A properly tuned ITR is as addicting as the bud light twins....

You have a FANTASTIC setup, especially with all the stock parts. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE PUT THE STOCK TAIL LIGHTS BACK IN.... ... thank youuuuu.... But she looks great and clean, and I'm sure you will be enjoying heR for a very long time to come.

Keep heR parked safe, (garage, garage, garage) and welcome to the community. Check out IntegraTypeR.org as well and update yourself in the registry.




and of course pics of sed E30.... Im a sucker for that girl

BlackAckeR

Congratulations - you sound like a real caR enthusiast. She looks like she was taken very good care of, but keep it safe considering your location.


Paint still looks incredible!

RTW DC2R

Nice

I flew out to LA from NYC one time to buy an S4 Avant. Brought my snowboard gear with me, grabbed the car and hopped on the road, stopped in CO to shred for a day, and made it back to NYC in a total of 3 days. It was rushed but it was fun.

CODDINGTOWN

Congrats! Looks great.

1223

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Suspension: I agree. 17 is bigger than I want for ride quality, dynamics, and appearance. The constraint is the big brakes - I haven't done research, but the owner said it took 17" wheel to clear them. If I was on stock brakes I would have already put the stock wheels back on. Coilovers are H&R so it's quality stuff, but I may go all the way back to stock. I searched for a Brembo fitment thread and couldn't find anything... I'd be okay with good-looking 16s if they cleared. I don't love the wheels at the moment.

VAFC: Why the sad face? The owner said he never adjusted it. VTEC is at 5700, and the controller seems to just show real-time throttle and things. I plan to remove it. The car has an AEM fuel rail and FPR, am I going to take a performance hit if I go back to stock? I think ignition is stock, and no mention of a tune. I kind of wonder if the parts installed at the moment are even doing anything without engine management to tell them to do something?

Lights: Amen. I already tore the aftermarket ones out haha. Question: the aftermarket lamps had a silicon sealer around them where they met with the body that I had to cut through to remove. Is there sealer there from the factory, or did the installer just want to avoid any moisture getting back there? Not a bad idea I guess, but there is a foam gasket anyway.

I have some other newb questions, let's see... the AEM intake makes a weird whistle noise at maybe 30% throttle. Is that normal? I forget what else, I'm sure I'll remember later.

Here's my M3. Stock, clean title etc, 130k miles.



I think I will call my cars "push" and "pull."

Seedc2

iTrader: (1)

I enjoy seeing posts like these. First off congrats on your ITR, it appears you have found yourself a very nice example that has been well kept and maintained.

The owner may be correct in regards to running 17" wheels to clear your Brembo's. I am certain they would fetch a pretty penny under the classified section here, possibly return to stock or if you so desire, fancy some spoon twinblocks

AEM intake is known to have a whistle, so no worries there.

I am in love with your E30 M3, unfortunately prices are out of my range now and trending to continue in that direction. Been looking to get into a E46 M3 instead :D

Any photos of the bay on both cars?

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

Yea get rid of those things. They are serious overkill. Again, more of a "show" item. Most likely wont clear 16" depending on offset of wheel. The bigger issues with the wheels is the thin tires. You are feeling every seam of the road! Its killing your ride feel. Pull that front end apart, remove and sell the Brembo kit for enough to get you back to stock and either a stock ITR caliper, or even Spoon blocks. It's going to make a SERIOUS difference in not only comfort, but performance.

Are the H&R's adjustable? Not just ride height, but pre-load, and/or dampening?


Sad face bc most of the time these are put in, it means they thought it would be cool to change VTEC engagement, or adjust mapping... WITH NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING... (Hey.. i admit... i did it once too... once) LOL.... Fuel rail and FPR are again "show" engine type dress up.. Unless you have a built setup (which it seems you do not) the stock FPR and rail can more than handle anything your throwing at it with your current setup.


They as you said prob tried to seal those POS bc they are so damn prone to leak. Should be fine with just putting stock lights back in as long as their gaskets arent all cracked and rotted.


Yes! It happens to all of us. Its just the right amount of flow and throttle body opening that it creates a whistling tone.

The ///M looks amazing! Would love to own one some day, even if a beat up example. Track the hell out of it!

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

oh oh oh... i almost forgot...

What is this piece of Carbon??

xtoplinex

iTrader: (6)

Wow, very nice pick up. And that E30 M3... Just wow.

94rs-turbo

iTrader: (6)

Congrats on pickup and nice M3!

1223

It's a CF-finish parcel shelf. Blocks the hatch area when the trunk is closed. I prefer the stock one, so I'll sell it.

Thanks for the good advice everyone. My first challenge real challenge is going to be passing SMOG to get the car registered. Am I correct to assume that the header is not CARB approved?

white rocket

Amazing feel-good post. Congrats on the purchase. Truly a fine example. Low mileage, one owner, clean title and no permanent mods. Great find, especially in today's market. I'm pretty jelly right now. Ha!

Ditch the wheels for sure. 17's are too big for the DC chassis IMO and the tires end up being too thin. The brakes will most likely require a 17" wheel to clear. There was only one Brembo set-up that I've seen that cleared a 16" wheel and I doubt it's the one you have. The calipers, while amazing and high quality, are complete overkill. Personally I would go back to the stock wheels and brakes and sell those and recoup some $$$. The AEM rail and FPR aren't any benefit and only for show. Nothing wrong with them at all though and they aren't hurting anything. The VAFC is kind of an old school piggy back system with minimal features. I'd ditch it just to be safe based on reasons DC2-Prod mentioned.

The AEM intake is fine for now but you could change to a CT Engineering icebox or ball out with a Mugen intake in the future. The Toda header and Mugen TL are both amazing pieces so congrats on those being included with the car. No need to ever change those.

Ditch the meatball tails . I'll definitely be following so please post updates

And dat E30 M3 doe!! I could talk for days about those fabulous machines. Congrats on having one as they are not cheap or easy to come by nowadays. Pretty much the most collectable car right now besides air cooled P-cars.

1223

Update today - always busy with work but made a bit of progress.



Went back to the stock tails. Much better



Increased the ride height in the front. Brembos are sexy, too bad I'm going to remove them. The car has 25mm spacers up front... weird



First wash and went back to the orange turn signals, as I prefer the look



Not pictured: removed the OBX pedal covers and a wonky CF e-brake handle.

Next up: figure out how to get it to pass SMOG.

Bitanga

CongRats! Solid pickup. I'm from SF Bay Area as well. Hope to see you around!

Bently_Coop

Wow. Such a nice ITR pickup. All the parts too. Solid M3 as well.

JDM_JNKY

iTrader: (4)

What a dope back story to a clean R. Congrats on the purchase.

Seedc2

iTrader: (1)

Nice update!

I had my 2001 ITR smogged yesterday and to my surprise I discovered that vehicles newer than 2000 are exempt from emissions test portion, meaning the car no longer goes on rollers and no tail pipe sniffing.

Only two inspections are performed, functional and visual. Smog only took about 10 minutes to complete. Maybe you can slip a 20 to pass visual

1223

I appreciate the knowledge and compliments.

Regarding SMOG: I'm digging through the PO's receipt folder and comparing it to this thread. AEM intake is CARB approved; Toda header is not, no surprise there. The PO mentioned that he had installed a different cat, which is not a good thing, but I found the receipt and it's a CarSound unit, which appears to be CARB approved as well. The exhaust behind that doesn't affect the emissions system and the tester won't care. It looks like I need to pick up an OEM header or one of the CARB-approved ones and I will be good to go.

exotik4doorcivic

Wow great pickup! I'm in the Seattle area and just recently got a black 00 itR

I've done that drive down to San Francisco before but it was in my eg sedan. This was back in February a few years ago and going over the pass I was required to wear chains. One broke off and messed up my fender. Glad you were able to go during the fall.

white rocket

OEM tails and corners made a WORLD of difference . Congrats on getting it back to it's former glory!

Rallyblue2015

Nice car.. How much you paid?

redGSRguy

Nice to see another Bay Area Type-R. The AEM whistle drove me crazy but the V2 is one of the top performing intakes for the motor.

If you need to tune that VAFC my tuner in San Jose can take care of you!

feck

Gorgeous R Magnus. A real beauty and all the better for the changes you've already made. I too agree with the rest as far as the brakes go. Sure they look cool, but stock is more than enough(or you could go for the Spoon upgrade which are very nice). Gives you more wheel choices too and the car will be far more comfortable a drive without the elastic band tyres you have now. Well… as comfortable as an R gets.

Way back in the day when those cars were new, the very first left hand drive car I ever drove was one of them. Fantastic car. IIRC she had very similar Recaro seats to the Integras(EDM/JDM)? My own car at the time was a Ford Capri and it had Recaros too so that's why I noted it.

Actually and just my humble, but the only other "upgrade" I'd do to your R is source a set of JDM/EDM Recaros, maybe throw in the JDM Momo steering wheel(they come in airbag and non airbag versions) and titanium gear ****. The North American market really got shortchanged on the interior bits and bobs(to bring the original price point down I presume?).

PS great photos of the trip.