Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Great info for improvement on some of the CRZ's sluggishness. Thanks! :thumbup:

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

wow this is one hell of a crz, very well rounded!

do you have plans for suspension?

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

i purchased one of the two 36AH models at the bottom of this page :
http://www.shoraipower.com/c-1-batteries.aspx

i understand i went too big, the stock is 24AH, mine is 36AH
I think the car can run on whaterver model of battery is suitable for 1.5 Liter 4 cylinder in line motorbike engine.

with mine i can let the lights on overnight, it starts like a breeze in the morning (tested)

I feel very confident and comfortable with stock (only the brakes needed upgrade with the Spoon pads)

I i would upgrade i would ask for best Tein product, and i would aim for the softest and as high as possible ( -10mm ) settings.

My city has a lot of stiff bumps, anything lower would be simple destruction of the car under panels ( i use it daily )

for track maybe -20 mm and stiffer setting, but it would be incomplete without both bars and semi-slicks. ( suspension - bars - slicks all 3 are to be setup together, otherwise this is almost useless -except for looks)

if one wheel touch the body while braking or turning, and you are thrown away off track, with damage.

The lighter and slighly wider track (+10mm) OZ did a great job for me, to pass curves and bends much faster with less braking.

the Yoko NEOVA AD08 have so much grip that this is not funny anymore (on dry), next set i will go back to the much much more fun CONTI.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

woah i am not a fan of CRZs but damn yours looks nice! id honestly think about buying one if they came with a k20 and it looked like yours.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

I agree that the engine performance is a difficult point :
the performance with a stopwatch and the "pleasure driving" felt performance are two completely different worlds.

without going up to the K20 and his 150tq let's do a real world comparison.

A friend of mine use a beautiful EK4 civic, rated 160hp and almost 115tq.
on this base he has some aftermarket parts (only engine, intake exhaust and a hondata work on it) so i don't know his actual numbers. anyway weight less than 1000kg. vs the CR-Z 1200kg.

I drove the EK4 (stalled it also...) and the noise and the rage from 5500 to 8000 rpm is making me think "wow this is a race car, this is much much fun !"

Then on the track with street tires, i simply destroyed him. Of course the CR-Z is a little less fun with things ending at 6200 rpm. (better not going up to 6700 as you will be punished by a throttle closed for half a second, ruining the upshift)
Better shifting early with this engine, the low grunt is huge ( 140tq from 1000 rpm )
My upgrade of the intake manifold plenum gave me a lot of 3000rpm torque (removing the hole that exist with stock)
Overall when battery is depleted peak torque is 122tq at 4500 rpm.

Out of the corner i have advantage whatever wrong gear i am in.

However at the end of a straight line, if he keeps his revs above 5000, the EK will catch up no problem.

Using a little VSA kept me way faster in all and each corners.

CR-Z is a sleeper on country road, very very pleasant to drive the more bends the more fun.

With Spoon front brake pads I feel I can outbrake a '93 911 or at least carefully planning my trajectory and braking dosage while he struggle keeping track while braking and everything smokes and wobble on the Porsches side.(no joke)

This is another kind of pleasure, you can feel the CR-Z fly ( with the proper oil 0W20 or 0w15 ) after 10 hours of winding roads, your back will be ok.
And the smile there.
It is smooth and responsive, you can have a fast pace, concentrate on less braking and less acceleration.

The harder you will go up the rpm the less rewarding it will be.

At part throttle it is absolutely wonderful.

There are no high rpm, yes you'll think it need a little more power, but still this is another kind of pleasure to drive.

if in 2009 i had read this very post, this one right now; Impossible to understand.

it is only by daily driving it for a while that you'll find out if you can understand this car or not, if you mind and mood is compatible with it or not.


Anyway put power curves of the CR-Z next to those of the average K20 (on the same graph)
and you will see an engine that almost can't stall, and both power and torque curves are way above K20 from 0 to 5000 rpm.
but for CR-Z to beat K20 you need a shorter final gear. (and that fucks the whole purpose of the CR-Z to be a green car)

The new ZF2 is coming with more WATTs but i am so happy with mine i won't change in a while.

=> seen this ? http://www.flickr.com/photos/alollin...51094328/show/

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Since you track, I highly recommend the new Cusco center mounts when you get around to get coilover or upgraded shocks, to lock that stupid rubber piece from moving around.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

About that matter, if one day i want to make the suspension upgrade,
where do i find the rate and hardness of stock springs and dampers, so that i choose something a little harder and a little lower but not loose too much compfort.

i don't find this detail spec.

=> like going Cusco Street Zero A @ -20mm

For the moment with all stock I feel only the need for a rear stabibar (as in Europe this bar is not present as opposed to Japan where it is mandatory.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

When I see pictures that remind of my dreams, I realize dreams do come true :truth:

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Here are two video updates of our road trip in August 2013 through Nurburgring and Norway !



and also my first
lap at Nurburgring Nordschliefe:

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Congrats on making the HT newsletter :) :thumbup:

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Your crz looks awesome! Digging your interior, and the wheels! Forget that hater on youtube from 2 weeks ago lol. I think they match great.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Thank you very much !

My wife's ride is crasy : (look bottom for the interior)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alollin...7632514334490/

we even found the matching parking lots !!

there is only one problem : when i must drive it (my clutch is gone on the wite one, waiting for HKS delivery), i feel ... gay!

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

sweet mods. Like how the interior came out.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

I felt the first version of the grey leather interior was fragile.

So i purchased the cloth interior version, then choose a thick blue leather.
It is durable, and the price it cost me was almost equal to the price difference btw Luxury (leather + glass roof) and the GT (cloth, opaque roof)

after 3 years and 80 000 km the leather is still almost perfect, i'm very hapy with it.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

About suspensions... i have seen so much bad work making the car unstable at speed, that i fear very much of doing it.

The only little problem of the stock setup is a little too much body roll.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Your CRZ looks fantastic and I'm quite jealous of your trip to the 'Ring. Once you've been to a track day all you want to do is go back. Keep up the good work.

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

that was not a track day, it was just "tourists rides Nordschliefe"

for those you should avoid Sundays and Saturdays as there is a lot of vehicles.
the day after (a Monday) we had the track for ourselves, it was like heaven (not green hell)

yes, i will go back !!

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Looks good

Re: My CR-Z light tuning, video.
 

Update :

- a set of new Yoko ADVAN Neova AD08R tires in 215/40R17 (-6mm ride height)
- a set of camber bolts in front (-1°)
- BC-Racing suspensions setup (-22mm ride height -1° negative camber more on all 4 corners)
- HKS exhaust header and T1R secondary cat delete = no cat.
- exhaust ceramic coated + DEI whrap on header.
- Mfactory short final gear
- Mfactory LSD track pack
- RC6 CL-Brakes front pads

firs track day to test that on October 10.

power gain obvious from 4K up to 7K from exhaust header. (i had to add 7% fuel to keep up with the increased flow)

the car is now much more capable, a little more difficult to drive slow...

it really wants to explode out of corners, i was surprised to see how the LSD reacts, it pulls inside of corner helping to turn at faster speed and deletes wheelspin.

the gearing is now way more useable :
2nd is now ideal out of hairpin
3rd is perfect out of most corners

I love it, love the evil sound it now farts at each downshift like bam bam !

with no cat :


with secondary cat on :