Operation Storytime: Nobody Likes the Tuna Here
11-30-2015, 02:57 AM
#333
Registered User
Thread Starter
Powerhouse Amuse Hood, Street Version (Dry Carbon)
A few months ago I ordered an Amuse hood, and it arrived over a month ago! So when I was visiting for Thanksgiving I took the time to get it installed with the help of a couple of good friends, Chris, Areen, and Tom.
Of course for starters, I had to drive down to SoCal. The plan is to get everything painted down there as well.
Moment of truth
I had never experienced dry carbon before, this was definitely a new experience for me.
The carbon has its own texture to it, and as you run your hand along it, especially at an edge, you can feel the weave. It's almost "rough" in a sense. The plan is to paint it, but only the exterior while leaving the inside portion unpainted.
Time to install the hood
It fit perfectly on the first mounting attempt. It has room to move 1/16th of an inch or so towards the drivers side, but we figured the body shop is taking it off to paint it anyway so it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to adjust it. But other than that, it was a simple plug and play type of deal. I'm astonished at the perfection of the piece and how well it fits, right out of the box. I was surprised Amuse still had the mold for the hood in the first place, but to have a brand new carbon piece fit that well when they made the mold close to 15 years ago, it's pretty impressive.
Another thing that stuck out to me was the effort put into lining up the weave between segments. There is a portion in the front of the hood that is 3 pieces, and there is a slight line that goes from the hump to the front of the hood - this line while it's visible when you look at the weave it's perfectly lined up between pieces - definitely takes a lot of work to pull off and is a testament to the level of detail put into the product.
Overall I am extremely happy with how it all worked out. The hood looks awesome, and when stationary you can see the heat from the front of the car shimmering at the hood opening. Pretty cool!
Lastly, it's astonishing how light the hood is. 7lbs approximately, and it's amazing how light it is when carrying it, but also when opening and closing the hood there is a total lack of resistance especially compared to the stock hood.
I will be updating tomorrow on a few other parts we installed at the same time!
A few months ago I ordered an Amuse hood, and it arrived over a month ago! So when I was visiting for Thanksgiving I took the time to get it installed with the help of a couple of good friends, Chris, Areen, and Tom.
Of course for starters, I had to drive down to SoCal. The plan is to get everything painted down there as well.
Moment of truth
I had never experienced dry carbon before, this was definitely a new experience for me.
The carbon has its own texture to it, and as you run your hand along it, especially at an edge, you can feel the weave. It's almost "rough" in a sense. The plan is to paint it, but only the exterior while leaving the inside portion unpainted.
Time to install the hood
It fit perfectly on the first mounting attempt. It has room to move 1/16th of an inch or so towards the drivers side, but we figured the body shop is taking it off to paint it anyway so it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to adjust it. But other than that, it was a simple plug and play type of deal. I'm astonished at the perfection of the piece and how well it fits, right out of the box. I was surprised Amuse still had the mold for the hood in the first place, but to have a brand new carbon piece fit that well when they made the mold close to 15 years ago, it's pretty impressive.
Another thing that stuck out to me was the effort put into lining up the weave between segments. There is a portion in the front of the hood that is 3 pieces, and there is a slight line that goes from the hump to the front of the hood - this line while it's visible when you look at the weave it's perfectly lined up between pieces - definitely takes a lot of work to pull off and is a testament to the level of detail put into the product.
Overall I am extremely happy with how it all worked out. The hood looks awesome, and when stationary you can see the heat from the front of the car shimmering at the hood opening. Pretty cool!
Lastly, it's astonishing how light the hood is. 7lbs approximately, and it's amazing how light it is when carrying it, but also when opening and closing the hood there is a total lack of resistance especially compared to the stock hood.
I will be updating tomorrow on a few other parts we installed at the same time!
11-30-2015, 10:47 AM
#339
Registered User
Thread Starter
Mugen Intake + ASM Radiator Plate
I've thought about intakes for a long time, but the reason why I had held off on buying one for so long was because I hadn't decided what direction I wanted to go in terms of N/A or FI, but ultimately decided for now to go with N/A due to California smog requirements... Boo hiss.
Anyway, no install is complete without food.
A friend already unboxed the intake for me, so here it is in it's glory:
As mentioned before, I bought it new directly from Mugen. Luckily they had a few in stock.
I wonder what this says...
Stock box removed
Installed!
As an FYI, while Mugen gives you measurements for where to drill holes for the plate that mounts to the cross member, I suggest test fitting the intake first and marking where the holes should be rather than measuring - at this point we've tried both methods and the test fitting method seems to work better and have a better fit.
It's a pretty painless install!
For the record, corgi's make really good garage helpers. Usually.
Sad moment, but I had to drop my car off to get it painted. It'll be done in a month though, so the wait shouldn't be too killer.
I have never owned an aftermarket intake before, and I guess I wasn't sure what to expect, but the difference between stock and aftermarket is pretty crazy. The induction noise in general is a lot louder, and it seems to have a bit more grunt in the lower end. On the other end of the spectrum, vtec is very pronounced and definitely keeps to the vtec stereotype of "waaaaaaaaaaaBWAAAAAAAH" I definitely wasn't expecting it. Butt dyno says there is an increase, but I installed an exhaust at the same time so I'm not sure which one made the most difference, but I definitely know the Mugen intake has some gains and they seem to be noticeable. I love the sound too!
I've thought about intakes for a long time, but the reason why I had held off on buying one for so long was because I hadn't decided what direction I wanted to go in terms of N/A or FI, but ultimately decided for now to go with N/A due to California smog requirements... Boo hiss.
Anyway, no install is complete without food.
A friend already unboxed the intake for me, so here it is in it's glory:
As mentioned before, I bought it new directly from Mugen. Luckily they had a few in stock.
I wonder what this says...
Stock box removed
Installed!
As an FYI, while Mugen gives you measurements for where to drill holes for the plate that mounts to the cross member, I suggest test fitting the intake first and marking where the holes should be rather than measuring - at this point we've tried both methods and the test fitting method seems to work better and have a better fit.
It's a pretty painless install!
For the record, corgi's make really good garage helpers. Usually.
Sad moment, but I had to drop my car off to get it painted. It'll be done in a month though, so the wait shouldn't be too killer.
I have never owned an aftermarket intake before, and I guess I wasn't sure what to expect, but the difference between stock and aftermarket is pretty crazy. The induction noise in general is a lot louder, and it seems to have a bit more grunt in the lower end. On the other end of the spectrum, vtec is very pronounced and definitely keeps to the vtec stereotype of "waaaaaaaaaaaBWAAAAAAAH" I definitely wasn't expecting it. Butt dyno says there is an increase, but I installed an exhaust at the same time so I'm not sure which one made the most difference, but I definitely know the Mugen intake has some gains and they seem to be noticeable. I love the sound too!
11-30-2015, 11:02 AM
#340
Registered User
Thread Starter
ASM 70mm Single Exhaust
This install went super quick so I don't have many pictures...
I picked this up from a good friend who is switching out to a more baller exhaust setup. We try to keep parts in the family, so when he decided to switch it up I jumped at the chance.
My only other aftermarket exhaust was my Greddy SE Dual, so to compare the two isn't really fair because the ASM exhaust is in a different league, but it does go to show how good the Greddy SE is, because in comparison it's still a very good exhaust.
In terms of tone, the Greddy is deeper and more "boomy" while the ASM sounds more tuned and refined, and has a specific tone. I'd say the Greddy is halfway between a bass and a tenor, while the ASM is halfway between a tenor and a soprano.
The ASM is louder, but is still fairly quiet especially for a single. I drove around the neighborhood and I could only be heard as I got pretty close, and I couldn't be heard a block away even though I was WOT so to me, that's really good news that it's not so obnoxiously loud you can hear it 50 million miles away like some other exhausts.
While it was previously installed on a friend's S2000, I was surprised at how well it fit the moment it was bolted up, especially with the stock rear bumper - it fits really well in the exhaust opening. I'm excited to see it with the ASM 04 rear bumper because they go really well together.
It's a really nice exhaust. It's enjoyable to listen to and has a great tone and is like music when WOT- and I'd say the Helmholtz resonator eliminates a lot of drone as well.
This install went super quick so I don't have many pictures...
I picked this up from a good friend who is switching out to a more baller exhaust setup. We try to keep parts in the family, so when he decided to switch it up I jumped at the chance.
My only other aftermarket exhaust was my Greddy SE Dual, so to compare the two isn't really fair because the ASM exhaust is in a different league, but it does go to show how good the Greddy SE is, because in comparison it's still a very good exhaust.
In terms of tone, the Greddy is deeper and more "boomy" while the ASM sounds more tuned and refined, and has a specific tone. I'd say the Greddy is halfway between a bass and a tenor, while the ASM is halfway between a tenor and a soprano.
The ASM is louder, but is still fairly quiet especially for a single. I drove around the neighborhood and I could only be heard as I got pretty close, and I couldn't be heard a block away even though I was WOT so to me, that's really good news that it's not so obnoxiously loud you can hear it 50 million miles away like some other exhausts.
While it was previously installed on a friend's S2000, I was surprised at how well it fit the moment it was bolted up, especially with the stock rear bumper - it fits really well in the exhaust opening. I'm excited to see it with the ASM 04 rear bumper because they go really well together.
It's a really nice exhaust. It's enjoyable to listen to and has a great tone and is like music when WOT- and I'd say the Helmholtz resonator eliminates a lot of drone as well.