The Right Way To 'Carbonize' Your Car

To all DIY afficionados out there, the video I post below is worthful to watch. I think this is the best and most realistic way to wrap your car parts (or the entire car!) with carbon fiber as compared to the typical '3D carbon fiber-look' stickers. Getting the real carbon fiber parts for our car can be costly. So why not spend a little bit of money to get the kit, and take your time to put it on.

I'm just too sick looking at the el-cheapo carbon stickers being applied to the entire car without the glossy finish. That's right mate, there's no way you can clear-coat the stickers to make it look genuine as it will deteriorate over time (in other word - it'll look like shit). Nothing can beat the real thing.

Buy it here: http://www.carbonmods.com/

Goodridge Steel Braided Stuffs!

Ah....it's my first post of the year 2010. To keep the modification for Black Mamba in momentum, I decided to enhance the braking system of the car. Chris from Pentagon Enterprise made irresistable brake upgrade offer recently for the DC5 owners. The package consists of a pair of J's Racing slotted rotors, a set of EBC brake pads, EBC brake fluids and Goodridge steel braided brake hoses and the total price is pretty decent at less than RM3,000!! Since my Brembo rotors and the Endless brake pads are still good for another 20-30k kilometres, I decided to get only the Goodridge brake and clutch hoses with EBC brake fluids. After all, I'm saving up my money for Black Mamba's new brain.. :-D

The kit.

The steel braided 'fluid transfer system'.



The clutch hose

EBC DOT 4 racing brake fluid + clutch fluid

Out with the old...

In with the new....

Post-Installation Comments:

1. The clutch and brake engagement felt much firmer and stronger as compared to before. Due to the nature of rubber expanding at higher operating temperature, the brakes and clutch get 'tired', 'soft' and became less cooperative to your command after few hours of driving. With these stainless steel braided kit, you will eliminate the issues and the car can definitely withstand abusive braking behavior without any problem.

2. Ensure that the brake/clutch fluid bleeding is being done properly. It happened to me where I couldn't engage my gears at high speed just because the clutch bleeding was incompletely executed! Had to drive back to the workshop slowly to get it fixed. Costs me an hour of my precious time.

3. Costs: RM150 for the clutch hose, RM450 for the brake hose, RM140 for the brake fluids. Free installation. These prices were given during promotion so you might need to check regularly with Pentagon.

4. Where: Pentagon Enterprise - http://www.pentagon.com.my/

5. Product reference: http://www.goodridge.net/

6. Other high end options: J's Racing, Aviation Performance Product (APP), Endless, etc

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

Happy new year guys. Well, it's been almost a year I own this Integra DC5 Type-R. What can I say after 365 days of ownership of this coupe? To be honest I have been enjoying every minute driving Black Mamba without any major issues and heartbreaking problems. The car is still as tough as a nail since the first day it came out from the showroom.

Thoroughout the year I've made lots of new friends and learn new things in regards to the car. The Type-R fraternity in Malaysia is getting bigger, with more DC5s and FD2Rs being the weapon of choice. I see more DC5s in the East Coast now as compared to last couple of months. Few people that I know has sold off their EG, EK, Proton and moved on to the next level with the Type-R. It's good to see these guys talking in forums, attending meet ups for pro-active discussions and joining the track days. Competition among others are inevitable but everything are in the most healthy way, which I feel very comfortable with. No more kiddie stuffs like being emotional / depressed when losing in a race or trying to be the "king" in every aspects of modifications, etc etc etc (I don't have to elaborate further on this). Maturity has taken it's place in the community.

Whilst I was having fun with Black Mamba, I have also identified the normality of wear and tear of this car such as the faulty O2, Map, TP sensors and mechanical things such as the weak hydro mount and confusing handling setup. I'm considerably ready should any of these happen to me. So what have I achieved in 2009? 208whp with 20kg/m of torque with 2:51 timed run in Sepang (Night run, with a passanger) made me a happy man. The black RPF1 made Black Mamba looks gangster together with few other aesthetic mods. That's about it I guess. Not much has been done but surely more will come in 2010. Few things that was supposed to be done in 2009 been pending for couple of months due to time and funding limitations. With perserverance and God's willing, I hope to complete the major projects as below:

As you know, few months back I have purchased a set of DC5 Chargespeed Kouki bodykit as above photo (full photos here - http://www.chargespeed.com/english/dc5-kouki-b-1-e1.htm) it has been lying around in the paintshop for sometime. I need to raise the entrance to my house porch before I could put it on or otherwise the height will definitely destroy the entire front bumper. Better be safe than sorry right? The demo car above looks wicked with an 18 inch RPF1 but I'll just stick to 17s for now..

I've sold off my Greddy E-manage Ultimate and V-manage recently to fund for Black Mamba's new brain - the famous Hondata K-pro. With this baby installed soon, I have the strongest foundation to fine tune the engine with whatever mods being done. Can't wait for this! Although currently my car is only pumping 200whp and 19.5kg/m torque after removal of the Greddy's piggybacks, I felt the pulling power is much more stronger when the VTEC kicks in (5800rpm). Kinda strange but I kinda like it..It's just that I can't go beyond 180km/h for now. :(

Last but not least, I have purchased the Holy Grail of the iVTEC - The K24 block from Honda Odyssey RB. Hehe. The plan for this hybrid K20/K24 'frankenmotor' so far would be; 87mm forged pistons, forged conrod, and forged crankshaft. If money is not an issue (its definitely going to be an issue as I'm getting married end of 2010!) I will also get other necessary parts to complement the build such as the RBC/RRC intake, bigger throttle body, clutch set, aftermarket camshafts and so on. Nothing fancy about this build as I'm not horsepower crazy. I'm actually looking forward to navigate Turn 9 in SIC on 3rd gear with the mighty 2,400cc N/A torque. Heheh. I'll write about this build once it has started.

Till then, all the best for 2010!

Year End Retreat

There's no better way to spend your under-utilized annual leave than going to an island far away from civilization with your close friends. So that's what I did last two weeks for my year end holiday. We went to Mabul Island, off coast Sabah for the Scuba diving retreat around Sipadan and Mabul.

I just couldn't resist the temptation to dive and witness myself the wonders of the underworld so I signup for the "Open Water Diver" course. No words can desribe how beautiful the ocean floor can be..the reefs, the corals, the turtles, the sharks and everything else were simply mesmerizing. Since now I'm a certified PADI diver (after going thru the stringent underwater tests that is..Haha) I might consider diving as the secondary hobby after Black Mamba. You guys should consider this exciting (and not too expensive) hobby too..

The association: http://www.padi.com

The place: http://www.sipadanwatervillage.com/?gclid=CIGTpbjHgJ8CFQMupAodB32ZKA

The dive instructor: I seriously recommend you guys to contact Allister Lee here http://allisterlee.blogspot.com/ if you wish to pursue in the recreational diving. He's a very nice fella and and very passionate about the underwater world..Haha. He's a certified instructor with 10 years of experience under his belt and he'll guide you in the entire course..(until you pass the exams haha!)

Aeromirrors Installed

I have finally installed this new pair of mirrors last couple of weeks so here's how it looked like as compared to the OEM mirror. Obviously my rear view vision has been cut down by almost 40% with this smaller new mirrors. Had to drive around for a while to get myself adjusted to the limited view. Nevertheless, Black Mamba looks way better with this lightweight 'smaller ears'. I'll still hunt for Ganador that's for sure.

Sunset..

Photo was taken using my iPhone while driving back to KL from the East Coast. It was glorified by the 'Photonasis' software with just one touch. :)

Custom Colored RPF1s

More custom color options available in the USA for the legendary Enkei RPF1. Currently there are four colors in the market with the matte black being the latest addition in 2008. Don't you just love them?

Photos taken from http://stickydiljoe.com