Yeaitsahonda’s FL5 Ownership Journal

[yeaitsahonda]

Those wheels look nice. Are they 18”? How do they feel compared to stock?

Yes they’re 18”x9.5” with 265/35R18 Falken RT660s. I haven’t driven enough to feel any differences yet. Should be putting a couple hundred miles on them this weekend and will let you know how it feels. Here is a pic of the new wheel/tire beside the OEM. Easy to see the extra sidewall.

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[Robert.C]

Got the track/autocross wheels and tires on this week and washed all the damn pollen off tonight. I really like how similar these wheels are to the OEM ones. She’s all ready for my first autocross in over a decade this weekend. Test and tune format with light rain all morning should give me plenty of time to figure out where I’m going and then have the afternoon to see what the car can do.

They look great; at a glance, they look OEM.

 

[yeaitsahonda]

The first autocross in the car went great. Took 3 or 4 runs before I knew where the course went but after figuring that part out it was awesome. The course was set up on an unused kart track so there was one spot where it was fastest to drive right through grass that added a nice fun factor. Now I’m more excited to go to an actual points event to see how I can do. The fastest time I saw while working the course was a Porsche GT4 that did it in 43.7s. My best was 45.3 so felt pretty good to be that close. Here’s a video of my best run.

 

[Kfo_cpa]

That’s awesome. What drive mode were you in?

 

[yeaitsahonda]

That’s awesome. What drive mode were you in?

I kept it in +R so I could turn VSA completely off. It felt like to be fast the car required to be thrown into the tight corners to get it to rotate. I don’t think it would let that happen with VSA on. I tried doing the pedal dance to turn VSA off so that I could do a run with the shocks in comfort mode but I couldn’t get it to work.

 

[CTRifecta]

I'm about to track the car for the first time in a few weeks, and wanted to know if it's critical to swap the stock brake fluid out? I believe I'll have 7 20min sessions

 

[TypeRD]

I'm about to track the car for the first time in a few weeks, and wanted to know if it's critical to swap the stock brake fluid out? I believe I'll have 7 20min sessions

I think it depends on the course and how much you need to use the brakes. I’m no Mario Andretti, but I’d probably swap the brake fluid for peace of mind. Think of the consequences ; Your brakes might fade and you could wreck.

 

[yeaitsahonda]

I'm about to track the car for the first time in a few weeks, and wanted to know if it's critical to swap the stock brake fluid out? I believe I'll have 7 20min sessions

Like TypeRD said, IDK if it's a necessity for the first time out in the car but it's cheap and easy enough that I'd probably do it if you have time before the event. If you don't just pay attention to the brake pedal and if it starts to feel soft adjust accordingly.

 

[yeaitsahonda]

Womp Womp. Went to back the car out of the shop this morning and got an extended crank followed by the check engine light. Code is a P0369. I just messaged the dealer yesterday about getting the seat recall fixed. I need the car the next couple of weekends so I doubt the dealer will be able to do anything with the check engine light by the time I’m able to get it in there. Google found some hits of FK8 owners with the same issue but it seemed like every one that got the code just cleared it and it never returned. I couldn’t find a post where somebody had it checked out and fixed.

 

[mmdct]

same extended crank for me, twice. i depressed the start button each time, tried again, and had a good start.

no fault lights and no obd codes, temporary or stored. i will call my dealer to see if there's a TSB.

 

[yeaitsahonda]

same extended crank for me, twice. i depressed the start button each time, tried again, and had a good start.

no fault lights and no obd codes, temporary or stored. i will call my dealer to see if there's a TSB.

I just checked TSBs on the program we use at work. Nothing there but it might take a while for them to get it from Honda if there is a new one. My light went away on its own after two more starts so I'm not gonna do anything about it this time. If it happens again I'll take it to the dealer. The car had been at work for a week or so and I was only starting it to move it in and out each day. Possible that the battery got a little low from that and caused the issue during cranking.

 

[mmdct]

I just checked TSBs on the program we use at work. Nothing there but it might take a while for them to get it from Honda if there is a new one. My light went away on its own after two more starts so I'm not gonna do anything about it this time. If it happens again I'll take it to the dealer. The car had been at work for a week or so and I was only starting it to move it in and out each day. Possible that the battery got a little low from that and caused the issue during cranking.

my dealer had nothing in their system either. no trend or pattern yet, but in both cases the car had not been sitting more than a day between drives

 

[yeaitsahonda]

Took the car to the first points event for the DC Region SCCA Solo series. Walked the course 4 times and still missed a gate on my first run. It got better from there though. After the third run I was leading the B Street class but a Corvette was getting faster. After run 4 I still had the lead but our best runs were only a few hundredths of a second different. For the final run I focused on being smooth and carrying momentum and cut .4 seconds off my time and was able to stay ahead of the Corvette to get the win in BS. Finished 30th in PAX though so obviously still have a lot to learn about this form of competition.
One guy driving a Si with the same Falken tires mentioned that he runs tire pressures pretty low. 28F and 32R. I had mine at 38 all around. Wondering if the lower pressure would help? For next time I might lower the front but keep the rear high to help get some more rotation going.

 

[mmdct]

nice vid and congrats on the win... good stuff!

i did autocross for two seasons in my gti and it's not for me. not enough seat time though the social aspect is good.

i had my third track day at Thompson last Thursday... good session. i improved my time by .8 seconds in a shortened event. a gti and s2000 went home on wreckers... uggghhh. the drivers were fine.

ambient was 78 and track temp was 96. oil temp reached 251 before i backed off to cool down to 240.

what's a good max oil temp? do we need a cooler? i plan to change the oil every 3 events to avoid degradation. is that enough?

i also want more front camber. an fk8 owner said DON'T do ball joints. the factory ones are too difficult to remove.

maybe camber bolts? plates? thoughts?

I'll update this with my video... came out good. i resolved my sound issues.

stay tuned and please let me know your thoughts about oil temp and camber...

 

[CTRifecta]

nice vid and congrats on the win... good stuff!

i did autocross for two seasons in my gti and it's not for me. not enough seat time though the social aspect is good.

i had my third track day at Thompson last Thursday... good session. i improved my time by .8 seconds in a shortened event. a gti and s2000 went home on wreckers... uggghhh. the drivers were fine.

ambient was 78 and track temp was 96. oil temp reached 251 before i backed off to cool down to 240.

what's a good max oil temp? do we need a cooler? i plan to change the oil every 3 events to avoid degradation. is that enough?

i also want more front camber. an fk8 owner said DON'T do ball joints. the factory ones are too difficult to remove.

maybe camber bolts? plates? thoughts?

I'll update this with my video... came out good. i resolved my sound issues.

stay tuned and please let me know your thoughts about oil temp and camber...

Regarding oil, 250 isn't bad but good idea to back off . Were you on stock brake pads/fluid? If so, any brake fade?

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