New Type R owner plus some mod questions

[RedCarrot]

Ever since I got a test drive in a Type R (albeit a brief and tame one) at a dealership, I was thoroughly impressed by it and had been in the hunt for one for over a year. Last week I finally landed a low milage, well sorted '24 with a healthy list of desirable mods in LA, Cali. In short, It is an incredibly engaging and exciting machine to drive - I haven't felt this much about any car that I have owned since my AP1 S2000 some 20 years ago. It is the type of cars that I want to take it out for a drive just to drive.

Below is the list of performance/suspension mods that came with the car:

-MST intake -27 Won Kuro turbo
-MST downpipe -WOT microtube intercooler
-CSF radiator
-Hondata Canflex
-Mishimoto coolant overflow
-Spoon progressive springs
-Wunderladen rear camber
-15mm front spacers and 20mm rear spacers

From the power standpoint, it was dyno'ed by previous owner at 355 whp and 327 wtq on e27, on a Mustang dyno. (I will use 91 only) I suspected it's on a conservative tune given the mods and the previous owner agreed as much. Despite the numbers I feel it is pulling really hard with very little turbo lag sub 2,500 rpm. It feels substantially quicker than my previous MK8 Golf R dyno'ed at ~365 whp and ~355 wtq (also on Mustang dyno). I am very satisfied with its acceleration but I also don't want to leave any low hanging fruits on the vine. Do you guys think there's more to be had via a more aggressive tune and/or additional easy/inexpensive mods (i.e. turbo inlet pipe etc.)? Pre owner mentioned it is currently at or near the ceiling without meaningful upgrades to HPFP and injectors.

From the suspension standpoint, I have just swapped in ITS ADS (possibly DSC in near future) and about to install Cobb RMM. In my previous cars I quite often added stiffer sway bar(s) and chassis stiffening braces (i.e. Cuzco center brace). Do you guys think they are worthwhile in the Type R? This car is mainly my errand runner (60%), canyon carver (35%) and an occasional track toy (5%). Brake pads, line and fluid will be upgraded soon; forged wheels when I free up enough space in my garage from selling previous car parts lol

Thank you in advance for your feedbacks

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[CG13]

You should have a tuner look at the tune to determine what is available with the current setup.

You can certainly add more power.

Regarding suspension — stiffer rear sway bar helps with rotation (I use the RV6) and negative front camber helps a lot if you’re pushing the car hard. I have no experience with the stiffening braces but I’d try the Spoon setup if I were going to do it. I do run stiffer motor mounts and recommend that. Tires make a huge difference.

 

[BuntaTypeR]

Talk to a local protuner and pick a target horsepower number. Build your mods around that goal. Just remember = the higher the number, the more you risk blowing your stock internals and turbo. With just bolt-ons and stock suspension (with a little aggressive negative camber), the Type R is already a great canyon carver and occasional track toy. Based on your % usage, the only things I’d highly recommend right now are upgraded brake fluid and 200tw tires (like RE-71RS).

 

[ABPDE5]

re: power... you'll probably find you need to upgrade the fuel system before asking for more. Many tuners advise against upgrading the turbo without supporting fuel mods, because while you can make an argument for upgrading the turbo on the stock fuel system (if you want to change how the car delivers power / torque), you can max out the stock fuel system on the stock turbo. The Kuro turbo is held back pretty substantially by the stock fuel system.

 

[Ph8ed4life]

Awesome, great to hear you found one! I know we had talked about them in the past, being local and all. I'm sure we will cross paths soon...what color did you get?

As far as input into your questions....free bump for you, I don't have much to add there lol

 

[RedCarrot]

re: power... you'll probably find you need to upgrade the fuel system before asking for more. Many tuners advise against upgrading the turbo without supporting fuel mods, because while you can make an argument for upgrading the turbo on the stock fuel system (if you want to change how the car delivers power / torque), you can max out the stock fuel system on the stock turbo. The Kuro turbo is held back pretty substantially by the stock fuel system.

Thank you, that's what I suspected and was told by the previous owner. I saw YT videos of other Type Rs making more than mine with just a DP and tune so I was naturally curious is all. I do appreciate the Kuro turbo nonetheless because it does feel it spools up quicker than OEM turbo.

Talk to a local protuner and pick a target horsepower number. Build your mods around that goal. Just remember = the higher the number, the more you risk blowing your stock internals and turbo. With just bolt-ons and stock suspension (with a little aggressive negative camber), the Type R is already a great canyon carver and occasional track toy. Based on your % usage, the only things I’d highly recommend right now are upgraded brake fluid and 200tw tires (like RE-71RS).

Thank you. I will approach the Type R's power goal differently given its FWD nature. I am going see how much will my upcoming suspension mods can help mitigate torque steer and then set my power goal based on that. I doubt I will ever get into the rabbit hole of fuel system - no amount of reasonable suspension mods would be able to put 400 hp/tq level of power on pavement. I was merely looking to see whether something simple like turbo inlet pipe would improve power delivery or perhaps a slight dial up in the tune. The car currently is already quite torque-steer(y) in 3rd gear.

The car currently has -1.7 F and -2.2 R camber. I would like to have -2.5 F for my overall balanced use so the control arm ball joint mod is in my near future. The Cobb RMM will be installed in couple days to help with putting power down. As for tires, I will likely stick with PS4S level tires for couple reasons: 1. Pavement condition is not great in the city that I live. 2. My favorite driving is by far canyon driving, and my nearby mountain roads climb from 2.5k ft elevation to 9.5k ft in just 25 miles. Its temperature will drop from mild at the base of the mountain to freezing near the top during the colder months - 200tw would be too dicey, and I don't want the trouble or space consumption of having/maintaining 2 active sets of wheel/tire. I might go with 275/30/18 tires though when I get aftermarket wheels

It has been 15 years since I last own a FWD (the previous one doesn't have nearly amount of power) so I am relearning its driving characteristic as I go and respect its limits.

Regarding suspension — stiffer rear sway bar helps with rotation (I use the RV6) and negative front camber helps a lot if you’re pushing the car hard. I have no experience with the stiffening braces but I’d try the Spoon setup if I were going to do it. I do run stiffer motor mounts and recommend that. Tires make a huge difference.

Thank you. Stiffer sway bar is on my short list of near future mods. I want to add it sooner but I also want to be prudent to appreciate how it currently drives and then to better appreciate how it drives after the addition.

 

[RedCarrot]

Awesome, great to hear you found one! I know we had talked about them in the past, being local and all. I'm sure we will cross paths soon...what color did you get?

As far as input into your questions....free bump for you, I don't have much to add there lol

Hey Matt! Mine is CW - looks bone stock so you won't be able to tell it apart from any other CW Type Rs. Luckily there aren't that many around

 

[BuntaTypeR]

We can mitigate the fwd traction issue by upgrading to 285 or 295 front tires, as track testing has proven that a wider front track makes the Type R significantly faster.
My tuner even adds new traction control. Also, lowering the gear ratio and installing a superior mechanical LSD will further improve its track performance. For street driving, a set of PS4S will suffice, though the RE-71RS is currently recognized as one of the fastest tire options available per gridlife fwd results. It really depends on your budget and how far you want to take it, but leaving the car stock is more than enough for everyday driving

 

[Xmetal]

Talking about stock vs mods, has anyone seen this?

 

[Higgs Boson]

I saw that earlier today, whatever the tuned FL5 had done to it could not overcome poor driving....and they were all just riding on the rev limiters the whole video. Poor representation and not one of them got the most out of their car except for, dare I say, Matt, who is typically not the best driver either.

 

[RedCarrot]

Carwow is hooligan stuff. It's entertaining to some but rarely informative.

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