mustclime

OK, for starters, what is a type-r? Its a totaly ballanced car.....Its not a k20a motor or a set of red recaros, Its not a lip kit or even a badge. Its a totaly ballanced car. The first time I ever was in a totaly ballanced car, it was a 1983 rabbit gti. It wasn't st00ped fast(0-60 in 8.2 seconds), It didn't have st00pid grip (.85 gees)....But it just felt "right", Thats what a type-r is supose to be. So how do you make one for yourself? Well The first thing is to try to find out what honda did to make a type-r and come up with a plan to duplcate that. We all know about the k20a.....220 crank hp....no trick in getting that. I have always thought of the motor as the hart of a car but the suspension and brakes are the sole.
Soooo....
Step 1...put togather a 190-200 whp motor. Jrsc, swap, cam and bolt on the heck out of an a3....what ever....its not that hard.
Step 2...Light weight wheels and stickie tires.....at least 215mm wide tires.

Ok, before we look at step 3, watch these 2 vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKDq71o_HoU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anFqXfClsBA
watch the with the sound up, watch them with the sound down...THERES A LOT OF INFO THERE. First some basic info, the type-r was changed in 04 in the ep3 and 05 for the dc5, Thats the type-r that we want to try to copy. The dc5 was the "hotter car" so thats also the one we want to copy. In 05, the dc5-r got counter wound strait rate ft springs with different dampers.....thats a big differance, the early dc5-r/ep3-r had progressive springs. If you choose to get real dc5-r struts and springs, get the later ones.....or get the aspec kit, I am 99% sure they are the same parts. The type-r had a 25.4mm hollow front far and a 22mm solid rear swaybar. The dc5-r also had brembo brakes. These required several changes, the first being 60mm offset wheels to keep the track the same because the fat calipers required the hats on the disks to be taller so the rim would clear them. To maintain the scrub raidious, the lca's has to be 10mm wider, the wider lca's were made out of al to make the stiffer and lighter, the swaybar mounting points were different than the stock lca, so the swaybar is not the same. A lot of people know this and more than a few have just bolted on a type-r suspension.....but something was missing...bracing....
Look at these braces from the 05 dc5-r catalog....

braces, going from ft to rear......al bumper brace( Weight saving and stiffer) I have never seen one of these....
front brace......


Thicker wall thickenss so it much stiffer.....these can be ordered from acura, just order the 05 type-s brace....
strut tie bar.....

the 05 dc5-s and the 05 dc5-r have the same peace....not much use on a ep3 but I am putting it out there.
then there is the under seat brace and the rear strut tower brace....



the under seat brace reduces twist in the car, If you think the car does not twist, you are wrong. The under seat brace, and the center peace for the strut tower brace can be picked up through jdmland and the strut tower gussets can be ordered from the acura dealer( 05 dc5-s).
Then there is the lower brace.....this can covered in any number of peaces, the type-r has the same brackets as the type-s, as far as I know, they are the same peace but the brackes are not in place on the ep3 so pick up an aftermarket peace that ties the rear lca's mounting points togather.
And lastly there is the dc5-r al bumper support....I have never seen these parts.
Step 3....Pickup an a-spec kit or a type-r suspension kit and some dc5 tierod ends. Then pick up an 05 dc5-s front brace and rear shock gussets from acura and the center brace and underseat braces from a importer. Pick up a type-r rear sway. A pair of mugen f lca's are not required but they would not hurt but remember you will need a type-r ft sway with them.
Step 4....brakes....lets face it, the ep3 is under braked, I storngly suggest a bbk and some nice pads in the rear.
the last thing is weight....You want to know where the most weight reduction in the type-r was....the seats and sunroof......well, a sunroof is a tough deleat but you can get the seats....
Step 5...change out the seats, between that and the weight you loose from lighter bolt ons like a cat back and lighter wheels, you will be close.
Step 6...lsd....all fwd cars need one to be really fun.

there you have it....a usdm type-r. I have everything but the seats and the type-r lca's. I have to say the cars is a hoot to drive, very gti like.

Ok, now on where to get some of this stuff....for the front brace, shock gussets and if you have a dc5 the upper srut towerbrace....you can get them from acura....I used these guys....

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...p/mws/home.jsp


front brace...74230-s6m-j00
if you have a dc5...strut tower brace.....74180-S6M-L50
If you have a ep3...rear strut gussets... 74671-S6M-J00,74672-S6M-J00

for the under seat brace, the type-r ft sway and rear strut tower brace you need to go to jdmland.com...for the type-r ft lca, you need to go to kingmotorsports and get the mugen ones( the have megen bushing and sleeves so they will fit on the smaller lower balljoints.

josh's ep3

Once again... good info

Question, wouldn't aftermarket pieces that go in the same places achieve the same thing? Strut tower bars, tie bars etc?

mustclime

Not really, any time you have one bolt holding everything togather like most braces out there, you get flex. Noone that I know of makes a upgraded front brace or the under seat brace. Not blingie enough for the rice boys....I put each of the braces on one at a time....I felt the improvement with each.

josh's ep3

Oh I see.

Seeing how you seem like you're in the sharing mood You have any part numbers layin' around, or is that our job

mustclime

added..............

mannydc5

Good stuff..