Hi, I live in Spain, Europe, and recently I bought an American 2006 AP2, F22C. The car had been imported into Europe by its previous owner in Belgium.
As far as I know there's only another AP2 in Spain, and very few in Europe overall, you know all European cars kept the F20C, so here in Europe there's basically very little if any knowledge database for the DBW AP2, so I need to search the American forums for learning a bit. But the amount of info in s2ki overwhelms me to be honest.

Keep in mind that the abundance and level of good mechanics, tuners and so on for this kind of car is very very limited in my country, few people can afford them and even less dare to play with them, most performance cars are simply kept 100% stock so there's no market for mods and modifiers.
I myself know quite a bit of mechanics (I have the 5-year degree although I never really worked as a mechanic, and that was long ago anyway) but I don't have much practice, I know nothing about EMS tuning, all of the modern sensors or such stuff.

We are also stressed by the severe homologation regulations, every year we need to pass the inspection so any mods for street use need to be either homologable or be reversible with reasonable ease (such as Intakes and Exhausts). Well, or not visible hehehe (I'm thinking for example Hondata FlashPro re-mappings and so on).

My car is 100% stock except that it has the Toda Power camshafts, which the seller didn't tell me but I learnt by chance because I had to do a cylinder head repair.

So, with all these in mind, what can you guys advice me for improving my S a bit within reasonable costs? I would like nicer sound, sure, but if it doesn't bring any more real grunt with it I will hesitate, I'm not the show-off kind of guy, I only care about my own pleasure (well, and that of my partner but that's not for this forum hahaha).

Intakes? Exhausts? (the only Europe-homologated one is the Invidia Q300 I believe), SoS Throttle Body?, just Hondata and remapping? (are the default presets good enough?)....

Or keep the power as is and go for chassis? Rigid collars, strut bars and other chassis stiffeners, perhaps better brakes, suspension?.... I don't really care much about show-off things, I just like to push the thing hard in twisty roads, so if it handles better, brakes better, has better stability etc, for me that's as good as an engine mod. I don't care about how my car launches, I want it to perform well on nice roads.

Your suggestions and advice are really welcome and appreciated! TX !

 

A flashpro with a tune and good suspension/tires/wheels/brakes will go a long way.

 

As far as tuning goes you can pick up either a test pipe or high flow cat, along with FlashPro, and have Gernby on here remote tune for you. A lot of people on here have gone that route and have nothing but great things to say. Check out the NA section. There is a great thread on home-made intakes that produce good power. All that along with a matched throttle body should give you a healthy increase in power and be easily put back to stock within an hour or two for your inspection.

 

Fun car and the MY2006+ cars are easy to mildly upgrade with simple bolt-ons.

My personal MY2006 S2000 has a Berk 63mm high flow catalytic converter hiding inside OEM heat shields and passes emissions testing here in Ohio. Behind that is a Tanabe Medalion Touring exhaust which replaced the noisy Invidia Q300 a few weeks after it had replaced the OEM exhaust. (Internet sound clips are useless!) The cat and Medalion Touring dual exhaust register about 94dBA compared to the over-105dBA for the headache inducing Q300.

This is the hidden cat + Q300. The Medalion touring looks darn near identical.



If there is severe restrictions on exhausts the so-called UK exhaust mod may be of interest. Lots of info here. This has an advantage of allowing some sound control with different bypass pipe diameters but requires welding them in place. Again, internet sound clips are useless. And the heavy OEM exhaust remains. Possible to put a high flow cat in there if you want.

The consensus for intakes (really just air filters) here seems to be either the K&N FIPK or similar AEM "cold air intakes." There is some concern over an intake too close to the road sucking in enough water to hydro-lock the engine. The FIPK on my car is worth it for the induction noise alone and furnishes a few more horse power. This was my first mod and it caused me to seek out tunnels and long underpasses just to hear the engine. The Q300 drowned it out; still hear a bit of it with the Medalion touring.

This combination of the intake an exhaust on my car yields 221 wheel horsepower on a (conservative?) Mustang dyno. With a Gernby tune.

With the USDM ECU in your car a Gernby Hondata FlashPro tune can easily be applied. Lots of info here but basically the car is tuned on the road with a series of test runs capturing data which is then sent back to Gernby for analysis, mapping, and a new set of test tunes is sent back to run and datalog. A couple of these series and the final tune results. Load it and enjoy the 3,600rpm VTEC engagement. All this is digital data so it can be done in Toledo (Spain) or Toledo (Ohio). Just need a good stretch of road for the couple dozen special calibrations and data logging. Increase in mid range power and acceleration was amazing on my car. Car hits the rev limiter so fast in lower gears I installed a rev alarm to sound when the rpms get near red line.

Tires are the most important handling item you can fit to the car. Grip, grip, grip. The current North America darling appears to be the Bridgestone RE-71R. I'm still running "last year's" RE-11A tires but am faced with replacing them probably this summer. Decisions, decisions. Not sure what's available in Europe. The RE-71R is reputed to be noisy on the road.

Even with spirited driving on back road roads I have not (yet) seen the need for chassis or suspension changes and the OEM brakes seem very good with new OEM rotors and pads. The car stops fine without "slotted and drilled big brakes." But since I've not yet spun the car I may not be driving fast enough to tell. Performance driving course is still on my agenda.

Have fun!

-- Chuck

 

Thanks guys!

Chuck, which intake do you have, the K&N FIPK, AEM or some other CAI? I really prefer to make sure that no water can ever come in.

David C, what do you mean by "a matched throttle body" to the intake? An SoS TB? I will check about the homemade intakes but if you could post a link that would be appreciated.

So as I gather, I would perhaps do:

- the intake (easily reversible for inspection)
- Berk 63mm HFC (if I find out it does not pass the emissions test here I can always revert to stock Cat just for the inspection)
- Exhaust. I appreciate your comments about the Tanabe but the Q300 has the great advantage here in Europe that it's TUV homologated so you don't need to replace it for every inspection. Perhaps the version they sell here as Europe-homologated is a bit more restricted and quieter than the one you tested in the US and that's why it has passed the European homologation.
- Hondata FlashPro. I have no experience with it at all, I would first learn a bit how it works and then contact Gernby for an eTune if he is willing to do it for me. That sounds great and indeed I have read many praises here.
- I have also read about replacing the intake manifold gasket by some which isolates the heat from the cylinder head going into the manifold. Is that worth it and if so, any recommendations?

As tires I have currently the Continental ContiSportContact 5 in stock dimensions and I'm very happy with them as street tires, they seem to be a very good compromise between everything a sports street tire must have.


Thanks a lot to all of you!!!

 

I have the K&N FIPK. Claims "up to 7 horsepower" or similar but worth it for the sound it makes on wide open throttle (WOT).



There is nothing to "learn" about the Hondata FlashPro, it's just an interface (black box) to the engine's computer (another black box). With the FlashPro software in your laptop you can change nearly all the engine functions and seriously screw up and possibly damage the engine playing with it. Or you can get an expert, safe tune from Gernby.

Engine tuning via the ECU is a science I don't have the time to learn so I entrust my tuning to an expert. I can't see any reason Gernby won't tune your car as long as it's USDM with the right ECU (check the ECU part number on the Hondata website) and FlashPro interface. You pay him by PayPal (one time) and the diagnostic calibrations (tunes) are emailed to you to load into your ECU via the FlashPro. None of these tunes are driveable. My favorite calibration is nicknamed "Prius towing a trailer." Since you have to run each calibration from about 2000 to 8000 rpm WOT in 3d gear you need a lot of road behind you on these runs 'cuz the "trailer" is very heavy and the car takes a long time to get up to speed. Return your ECU to OEM while waiting the next batch. My tuning took three complete series and was interrupted by a couple of weeks in France and changing from the Q300 to Medalion touring.

Are the inspectors knowledgeable about exhausts to tell the Medalion Touring from the Q300? Mine passes Ohio emissions testing.

Here's the Tanabe. Photo taken to show someone my diffuser: The Invidia name plate wouldn't show if it was there. Tell the inspector you cut it off!



One nice FlashPro feature is the bluetooth interface to your smart phone or tablet. Things like Air-Fuel ratios can be displayed in real time and logged at the same time. Downloaded data logs can be displayed in several formats to view and edit on screen.

Finally don't do all these changes at one time especially if you have a dyno available at low cost. I only have "after" data. Also once all these changes are in place you will get bored and you'll think about painting the wheels pink or green or putting red (Civic) H-badges on the car. A slippery slope ...

Pre-diffuser ear photos:

Tanabe:



Q300: (note the little label tag)



-- Chuck

 

Thanks Chuck, everything very clear!

I will have a check on the Tanabe. Inspectors are probably not knowledgeable about exhausts by brand / type, they just look at the marks. The Q300's sold in Europe come with the stamped marks "ECE approved # xxxxx" so when they see that it's fine for them. If the exhaust does not have the approval marks and code they will put you in trouble (this means we have to buy the Q300 from Invidia Europe, we can not buy it from the US which is too bad because in the US it's quite cheaper than here).