I don't have a garage, and I got a new paint job last April. My ITR sits for days at a time without being driven, so I think it makes sense to get a cover.

What are we using, for the most part? I don't want something that will scratch or fit imperfectly, but beyond that my criteria are few. Is it ok to just get one for $20 at Advance AutoParts, or do I need to spend a good bit more than that?

 

Thats a good idea to get a car cover being that your car sits outside for days. I've bought a cheap car cover at my local auto parts store before. They have different kinds depending what you plan on using it for. ie. outdoor/indoor i believe. The cheap one's material was thin and it wasnt a very good fit considering the R's spoiler. So I ended up buying an oem cover from a fellow honda-tech member and I like the material and fit a lot better than the cheap one.

just my .02.

 

I would look into a mini storage. you can get them for under 100bucks a month. I did that when I live in SC. Car covers trap moisture and leave scratches if your car has dirt and dust on it. I have a car cover on my car, but its also in a garage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type-r-driver-2000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would look into a mini storage. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You mean another location to park my car in? Or something that will go over it?

 

Its a mini dry storage place. You can get a 20x20 for your ITR and lock it up. Those place are everywhere.

 

i have done my own tests so hopefully you wont go the cheap route.

2005 december when we had a very good rainy season in socal. good 3minute + heavy rains as i remember because i was out testing and monitoring my oem blue brand new car cover.

do not buy any oem cover your just wasting your money. i keep my car outside along with my harley. and the only true outside car cover to get if you want to keep water off the car is to get a weathershield hd (heavy duty) based fabric of car cover. harley davidson uses this for their outside covers and so does covercraft.

its breatheble, and has many layers and it will not scratch the paint. its a very heavy carcover aswell. you dont have to worry about bird stains, or anything like that either due to the outside cover it will never reach your paint.

you will be looking at $200+ for the cover. but like i said it all depends on what you want to keep off the car. oem will not keep the rain off let alone anything else

i also use a noah brand car cover aswell on sunny days when there is no rain. needless to say i take protecting my car very seriously, i have 3 covers all waiting to do their job dependant on weather.

good luck if you go cheap thats what you will get

since 9/2005





Modified by cxSHOE at 1:28 PM 3/30/2007

 

http://performance.drivewire.c....html

 

dont get the cheap-o $20 kind. they suck in just about every way possible. they let water, dirt, dust, pollen, bird ****, and everything else through the fibers. and they are impossible to clean.

i havent seen to many nice covers for the R. if you search around for corvette and porsche covers, you will find awesome covers that are form fitted, stretchy, thick, padded, and everything in between. i never understood why some of those companies didnt make one for the R. they could make a decent amount of money in the import market for sure. but they mostly seem to cater to the more popular exotic, sports, collectible cars out there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITR 00-0477 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://performance.drivewire.c....html</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is a link to Covercraft covers at a pretty decent price.

CXShoe - will these do the job?

 

For outdoor storage I'd recommend something other than the OEM car cover:

http://www.calcarcover.com

 

yea basically covercraft with the help of frabic technology from kimberly-clarke. they make the oem blue and silver covers for honda. how do i know this? well in my quest to find out where the 92-95 oem car cover came from i talked to alot of people on the true origin of this car cover since it is discontinued and that is the information i was able to gather. and buying a noah cover shows this due to the same fabric and also fabric design (there is a specific pattern on the oem covers if you look at it , it is present in all covercraft covers hence minus the insignia and its in all fabrics in majority of good covers period)

also if you buy a california car cover you will see the same fabric cover. they all originate through covercraft. i wasnt able to get anyone from covercraft to verify this and they werent too happy with all my questions either.. so lol so i can only speculate that majority of the fabrics come through covercraft and like i said with the fabric testing company kimberly-clarke (they developed the fabric and covercraft has the exclusive rights to use it)

but if you look at this link you can see the many fabrics that are made, like i said if you want liquid and other stuff to stay off the car completely get the weathershield one. the oem blue and silver use the evolution based fabric.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mugen Mike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For outdoor storage I'd recommend something other than the OEM car cover:

http://www.calcarcover.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

ExtremeWeave or StormWeave?

Lots of options, there. Thanks Mike.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cxSHOE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yea basically covercraft with the help of frabic technology from kimberly-clarke. they make the oem blue and silver covers for honda. how do i know this? well in my quest to find out where the 92-95 oem car cover came from i talked to alot of people on the true origin of this car cover since it is discontinued and that is the information i was able to gather. and buying a noah cover shows this due to the same fabric and also fabric design (there is a specific pattern on the oem covers if you look at it , it is present in all covercraft covers hence minus the insignia and its in all fabrics in majority of good covers period)

also if you buy a california car cover you will see the same fabric cover. they all originate through covercraft. i wasnt able to get anyone from covercraft to verify this and they werent too happy with all my questions either.. so lol so i can only speculate that majority of the fabrics come through covercraft and like i said with the fabric testing company kimberly-clarke (they developed the fabric and covercraft has the exclusive rights to use it)

but if you look at this link you can see the many fabrics that are made, like i said if you want liquid and other stuff to stay off the car completely get the weathershield one. the oem blue and silver use the evolution based fabric.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


i fogot the link

http://www.covercraft.com/fabr...6.pdf

 

also dont be fooled by their terminology " it keeps the rain out" and things like that.

because yes it does keep water out if applied but what they dont tell you is on a continuous rainy cycle how does it do. does it still keep the rain out after its been raining for the past 2 hours? like i said i did my own tests and stuck with what works. like i said it still goes back to what your ok with. i like my stuff completely dry.

 

Hope these pics help. Covercraft fits perfectly on my 97..i do keep my car in the garage but recently it held up very nicely on my boxter s under 8 inches of heavy snow and ice..

 

This is the OEM cover it is great no complaints here. However if you do not wash/wax your car religiously like myself you will get fine scratches on the new paint.

 

The OEM car cover is fine but IMHO no better or worse than the aftermarket ones. The nice thing about the aftermarket ones is that you have a choice of a lot of different materials, depending on your needs (outdoor/indoor, durability, cost, etc). The advantages and disadvantages of each of the available fabrics are explained pretty well on the websites where you can buy them:

Big Sky Car Cover
California Car Cover
Covercraft

Whatever you do, do NOT use a $20 generic one-size-fits-all car cover outdoors. A custom-fit car cover fits snugly around the entire body of the car, with pockets for the side-view mirrors, etc. Even in the wind, the car cover hardly moves and cannot be whipped around. With a generic car cover (e.g. "ready fit"), it doesn't fit snugly, and the excessive movement, due to wind whipping it around, can damage the finish of the car - NOT a good idea.

It's easy to tell the difference between the two, just by looking at them.

Custom-fit car cover:


Generic one-size-fits-all car cover: (at least, for outdoor use)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Generic one-size-fits-all car cover: (at least, for outdoor use)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is not a "one size fits all" as you say..This cover is specifically for the ITR. I just used it on the Boxter in a pinch.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by R59 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This cover is specifically for the ITR.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, in the photo I can't see the pockets for the mirrors, which is usually the tip-off between the cheaper covers and the custom ones.

Note that Covercraft makes two kinds of covers - "ready fit" (one size fits all), and "custom fit" (designed for the specific car)...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mugen Mike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For outdoor storage I'd recommend something other than the OEM car cover:

http://www.calcarcover.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

I use the stormweave. It fits great and also has the side mirror pockets, nice and snug w/ the wing & OEM body kit. When it does get wet, I noticed it does dry pretty quickly.

 

Personally, I went the private storage method. I have very limited space, and the ITR had to get moved. Instead of keeping it outside, I got a 10' X 15' storage place for $60/month. It's gated, locked at all times, and has a guard that verifies your ID before you can enter, so I feel safer it being there and locked up than I do it sitting outside with a cover on it. Additionally, it is semi climate controlled (it does not go below 40 degrees in winter, no cooling in summer)

 

ross, i'll add a 'third' to the suggestion for california car cover.

i myself have the stormweave as does itrbroham (for his s2000). never has it ever scratched my paint. even when the car is a little dusty, i never worry about the cover 'rubbing' and marring the paint. rest assured, if you get one, you'll be very happy.

i even use one for my miata (same type...stormweave) and it sits outside on the street. great results. even through rain and sun. ...though i can't vouch for any snow since i'm in southern california.

also, what's great about the cover is that the cover actually forms to the unique type-r wing. as seen in the above picture of the oem cover, the hatch glass is not 'covered'. but the california cover does rest on the glass. you'll see in the selection menus at their site that they do differentiate between integra and integra type-r.

feel free to im me if you have other questions. i'm so glad i have one...

kepani


Modified by kepani at 10:54 PM 3/30/2007

 

I have the OEM car cover and I believe it is the same as the gray Stormweave fabric on the California Car Cover website.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I have the OEM car cover and I believe it is the same as the gray Stormweave fabric on the California Car Cover website.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is the material on the inside microfiber like the "Stormweave" by California Car Cover?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITRbroham &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is the material on the inside microfiber like the "Stormweave" by California Car Cover?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Both the Stormweave and the OEM car cover are made of a four-layer fabric called "Evolution", made by Kimberly-Clark. The innermost layer is a softer material to prevent scratching, but I have not seen anything to indicate that it's microfiber. You can read more about it on this web page.