NSXavier's / PrecisionRS's FL5 Build Thread

[NSXavier]

Hello all. I recently joined the FL5 family and as with any car I buy, it's only appropriate that I start a build journal for it. I had been searching for an FL5 and was considering buying a new 2025, however, it seems that dealerships are still playing their stupid games with ADM's and add-ons. I had been in contact with a dealership out in Ohio who had agreed to sell me an incoming 2025 SGP Type-R at MSRP. I had placed a deposit on it and after that; I was ghosted by my sales representative. It was because of their lack of communication that I didn't feel 100% with the deal and had begun searching the preowned market. A few popped up in my search query and I had taken a look at a few of them. I eventually landed on a 2023 Sonic Grey Pearl CTR with 9k miles on it. One owner car, enthusiast-owned, bone stock with a clean carfax, autocheck and VIN status inquiry. I performed my own PPi and drove the car home that day.

A bit about myself; I am an Automotive Service Technician by trade and I work for a high-volume ACURA Dealership in the Washington DC metropolitan area. I am the lead Technician and Shop Foreman and I also owned a DE5 Integra for a very short period of time when they first launched. The purchase of the FL5 CTR comes at the heels of forming my own Business- Precision Repair Solutions, LLC; which offers Private Client style automotive service, repair and custom installs specializing in ACURA, Honda and the PORSCHE 997 Platform. I bought the car for the purpose of promoting my business by way of social media content creation and advertising... but make no mistake; I do absolutely LOVE this car.

I'm on YouTube and Instagram as @NSXavier and my IG business page is @Precision.RS.LLC. Link to my website: PrecisionRS

The goal for the FL5 is to modify it my way and document the process through this thread and YouTube. I hope to meet new like-minded people on this forum. Below are some photos of the car in bone stock form.

@ The selling Dealership

Road Test & about to go on the lift for the PPi

Interior

In the wild

Thirsty

@ home with her German sibling.

And this is how she sits now. I had the windows tinted with 20% film.

The first round of modifications are set to arrive this coming week and I will update the thread as they get installed. I also plan to make more YouTube videos so feel free to subscribe to the channel for FL5 content.

Here is a link to the VLOG I made buying the car


And here is a link to the most recent video I made which showcases the installation of a TSP downpipe on a Client's FL5



Cheers

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[NSXavier]

Had some time to work on the car today. First order of business for me is to get the car sitting right. I chose the popular Swift spring option to hold me over until I decide on a proper coilover setup / roll center correction kit / arms etc etc. I’ll probably run the car like this for the next year or so. Surprisingly, the swift springs ride very nice.

I am downsizing wheels to 18’s and should look proper when all said and done.

 

[ABPDE5]

Had some time to work on the car today. First order of business for me is to get the car sitting right. I chose the popular Swift spring option to hold me over until I decide on a proper coilover setup / roll center correction kit / arms etc etc. I’ll probably run the car like this for the next year or so. Surprisingly, the swift springs ride very nice.

I am downsizing wheels to 18’s and should look proper when all said and done.

Glad to see you back on the platform! (And to see you've started your own business -- congrats!) You were a good resource the first time around, and it was unfortunate we lost you for a bit.

 

[NSXavier]

Glad to see you back on the platform! (And to see you've started your own business -- congrats!) You were a good resource the first time around, and it was unfortunate we lost you for a bit.

Thank you! I’m really glad to be back. These cars are so damn good. Sneak peek for you all.

 

[NSXavier]

I mounted the new wheels and tires up to the car. I think it turned out pretty nice!

BBS RE-V7
18x9.5+45
Yokohama ADVAN V601
275/35/18
Swift Springs

now that I have it sitting correctly I can move my focus to other things.

 

[FL5alive]

Looks great!

 

[JCZ5]

Which all season floor maps are you using. I do like the high coverage you have. Heard about tux mats, but the are on back order with the tariffs.

 

[NSXavier]

Which all season floor maps are you using. I do like the high coverage you have. Heard about tux mats, but the are on back order with the tariffs.

They are wethertech front & rear mats and a custom rear cargo liner. Came with the car.

 

[NSXavier]

Had some time to throw the car on the alignment rack and get her dialed in. Surprised to see the drop didn’t throw the measurements too far off target parameter. I was able to get everything in the greens and yellows. I was mostly concerned about getting the toe dialed back into spec and didn’t really care too
much about camber so long as the values from left to right matched each other closely. Bonus is having the camber measure out in the yellow and not having any value in the red.

Can’t say why only the values on the right are off … maybe uneven weight distribution as a result of a rack that isn’t 100% plumb.

Overall happy with how the alignment came out though.

 

[NSXavier]

Swapped out the black BBS center caps for red ones and I paint corrected and ceramic coated the entire car. Fun weekend.

 

[NSXavier]

Forgot to post this up when it dropped but I made a vlog about the suspension wheels and tires

 

[Clark_Kent]

The BBS wheels look great, thanks for sharing.

 

[optronix]

About the suspension- you didn't mention if you pulled the strut tower pins, so I assume you did not. It does appear your camber on the right is substantially different from the left, and that is mildly interesting... mine were pretty much locked at -1.5 front, -2.5 rear after the drop on Eibach Pro-kit springs, but I've seen others who report similar discrepancies right:left.

I feel like I might be the only one willing to die on this hill because I don't really see too many others talking about it, but for me the camber settings after the springs install nearly ruined the car for me. That sounds dramatic, and it is if all I did was drive on the street- I'd even argue the car felt a little more "planted" on the street after the drop and I didn't really notice any negative side effects at first. However, I'm not what I'd call an "avid autocrosser", but I do enjoy the occasional jaunt around cones in a parking lot. Typically I can hold my own at my local PCA auto-x events, finishing in the top 1/3 and occasionally battling for a top 10 spot (on the OEM PS4S no less!), but that first event after the drop had me questioning my purpose in life. I sucked, and the extra camber in the rear causing the car to push more was apparently no small factor in why...

I dealt with that for the winter months, but had EVS tuning ball joints installed in March, and I had it set to -3.5 in the front. What a difference that made. The car feels amazing now, and I can notice it on the street (although admittedly turn in can be a bit... sensitive at times and took a bit to get used to). But I've had it out to now 3 events and can confidently state the ball joints are a 100% necessary addition for anyone who plans to drive the car in anger after a drop.

I still have yet to figure out some of the finer points, for example my first event was ~40 degrees and wet and I struggled to keep the car from snap oversteering. Careful what you wish for, right? But I don't really count that event, as it hasn't been a problem since... but I am still trying to figure out tire pressures because the camber seemed to have changed the calculus on everything I thought I knew with how the car came from the factory. I used to have to basically put the tires to the point of exploding with ~40-42 PSI front ~48-50 rear (hot) or the tires would roll over on themselves. Yesterday I kept dipping until I got into the mid-30s front and it felt ok. Rear I left over 40 because I did occasionally run into understeer but I'm still figuring that out, as my times got slower in my later runs so I think I'm still missing something. But I feel competitive again and the car is actively more fun to drive in all conditions IMHO.

All this will probably change again when I finally upgrade my tires to 200 TW so there's that too.

Anyway, figured I'd chime in with my experiences. Hopefully you can get out to a local autocross/trackcross soon and I can actually meet someone in person on these forums.

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