[suhaas307]

Brilliant! New shocks and brake-pads should tighten up your Accord. Expect the on-road behaviour to sharpen a tad. Are these the kind of brake-pads that tend to squeal under light braking? Performance oriented pads generally do, I'm told.

[Akshay1234]

KONIS INSTALLED

So after finally getting the Konis for my car, I had to get them installed. I asked Jignesh/Viper to get it done. He agreed, but it took a couple hours longer than expected. To be honest, I was apprehensive about the install, whoever would have done it. I was expecting some squeeks, or rattles or something feeling loose. But damn, when I got the car there was no noise at all. The full suspension was infact feeling much tighter.

I hardly had a 10km drive, on okayish roads, and at speeds upto 60-70kmph. First let me mention that the Koni's are on the medium setting, this is just initially. I will use it for a few days and then decide if I want them softer. So over little bumpy roads, the ride is less jarring, and the car feels more composed. The stock suspension could not handle the 50 profile tyres, but the Konis sure can. The car overall felt smoother. But over a few sharp bumps I could sense a little stiffness.

Cant comment on the high speed stability, or handling since I couldnt test either. Will update about those soon. Need to get alignment done.

Thanks to GTO, mods, Dbhpians for whatever help you have given me.

Also got the Hawk HPS pads installed all around. As of now the brake pedal has less bite than stock, because the pads are still bedding in. Once a few 100 kms are done I will see their characteristics.

Converted my K&N back to the short ram intake since the monsoons are coming up, didn't want the CAI sucking in any water. The sound is louder, and more shrill now, compared to the muscle car like sound of the CAI.

More updates next week when I am back from Goa. I wish I was driving down.

See Y'all.

[Akshay1234]

Just got back into town. Im planning on taking the car out for a spin tonight, so hopefully will have more impressions to give you guys.

Also forgot to mention that I got the horns changed to Hella Black Trumpets.

I wish I had driven down. The roads in Goa are brilliant. Not even a single pothole, nice curves, marked speed-breakers and scenic. Man oh man. I had to do with driving a Gypsy there with a couple of friends and that was a nice experience too. Except when I got back to Bombay I drove the Punto and when braking I slammed the brakes way too hard and almost got rear ended. That was thanks to the non-assisted Gypsy brakes.

[Akshay1234]

Just got back from a shortish spin. I managed to take the car over all sorts of paved roads.

The result - Im happy.

Konis
The shocks are on a medium setting, and I am planning on softening them a bit. At speeds upto 25-30, on uneven roads the car feels a little, I don't know how to describe it, jiggly(?). But the bumps are much better absorbed.

Once speed is a little higher, the ride smoothens out a lot and it seems to ride as well if not better than stock. The car certainly seemed to be driving around much better.

Hit a pothole or a very sharp bump, and it could be felt in the car quite a bit, I think due to the medium setting.

At higher speeds, took it upto 130 the car certainly feels more planted.

And now the little bit of handling that I could test - It makes a HUGE difference to the body roll. The car seemed quite flat while taking the corners I usually take at higher speeds than usual.

Was the spend worth it? Well to me honestly it was worth it, since I got a good deal. And my car seems to be improved. Are they better than coilovers? Dont know, some say coilovers are better and some say shocks. Someone who has experienced both in the same car should be able to tell.

The only thing im going to do is to adjust the shocks for a little softer ride.

Hawks
Now about the Hawk pads. I still can't comment, since the brake pedal seems dead. Actually a little worse than stock. lol. But I've run hardly 40km since they were fit on. Im going to give it till at least 100-150km before commenting on the performance, its too early to tell just yet.

The V6
The car itself is running flawlessly, as a Honda should. Two major gripes I had with the car are hopefully sorted out. After the last engine oil change the engine has gone ballistic, the way it pulls. Also I changed the K&N back to the SRI and put on a new conical, so that the old one could be cleaned at home. I will put the old conical back on after the monsoons when I change it back to CAI.

Coming back to SRI there is certainly a difference in the top end. I don't know why but the car goes a few kmph more in each gear. The sound is less muscle car like than the CAI but louder and more shrill.

After almost 1.5 years of owning it, and driving about 9000km I think it was absolutely worth it. Who cares about mileage, I drive to enjoy.

[hiren.mistry]

Congrats Akshay. Hows the ride height now? Same or has it changed?
I hope its easy to adjust the Koni Yellows.

Cheers

[Akshay1234]

The ride height is the same, though the Konis do have different levels where you can attach the springs, so in effect it is possible to lower or raise the car with the shocks.

Update On Hawks

Now after driving about 200km on the Hawk pads, I think they have pretty much broken in, but there still may be a bit left to do. And most importantly, contrary to what many said, there is no squeaking or more noise than stock. Yes, the brakes squeaked once after I used the car after a day but after applying the brakes twice the squeaking went away.

Now let me comment on the braking difference. For about the first 5 minutes of driving the car there is no brake feel, and the pedal feels very spongy. You have to push the pedal more than normal to get the car to stop. After those 5 minutes when the brakes are warmed up a bit the pedal feels like stock and at normal city speeds, say upto 70kmph the brakes are just like stock (which BTW were perfectly fine at city speeds).

At higher speeds, above 100kmph the stock brakes really were not that effective for a car of this size and weight. You would press the pedal but the car would not stop where you expected it to, and would go further. Now with the Hawks, this is a whole different experience. The brakes seem really effective, moreso at higher speeds maybe due to them getting even more warmed up. The brakes seem as good as my Puntos brakes now, which is a biiiiiig jump from the stock Accord brakes. Even at 160+ speeds (Don't ask) the car slows down reasonably quickly.

Also with the stock brakes after a few minutes of spirited driving they used to develop some brake fade, but with these the braking just gets better and better as the brakes get hot. Seems to taunt me to keep testing the braking power

So now with the better handling and better brakes the car seems much more complete.

[theragingbull]

Akshay, I have always loved your V6! Now I can safely get a ride in your car at 160+ speeds Coming to the Koni shocks, have they affected the handling in any way?

[Ace F355]

Lovely upgrades I must say! Was the price difference significant compared to Konis bought in India? How does the car feels on handling front? Lets have some pics to add some crispiness to the thread and care to make a video of growling K&N SRI?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by theragingbull

Akshay, I have always loved your V6! Now I can safely get a ride in your car at 160+ speeds Coming to the Koni shocks, have they affected the handling in any way?

Of course. The shocks have made the handling waaaay better. The car now is quite flat while cornering. The body roll has reduced quite a bit. I think if I add strut bars the body roll will be completely eliminated.

But they are on the medium setting right now, Im going to soften up the shocks, because the ride is a bit stiff now and I want it a little softer. So the handling wont be just as good as it is now.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Lovely upgrades I must say! Was the price difference significant compared to Konis bought in India? How does the car feels on handling front? Lets have some pics to add some crispiness to the thread and care to make a video of growling K&N SRI?

Thank you buddy. Well to be honest, I think I might have saved myself about 10k by buying them in the States.

Well the handling is pretty damn sharp now, and I think it feels as nimble as a Civic now. Corners can be taken at some pretty good speeds, and the body roll is reduced.

Pics? Certainly, give me a couple of days. Ill take a video too, but I don't know how that will sound since the car is limited to 4000 rpm in N or P. I guess ill have to ask someone to record it while I'm driving.

[Akshay1234]

Heres a quick list of what all I've spent totally -

The car - About 11.5 including octroi etc
Rims and tyres - 70k
Lights - 17k
Tints - 10.5k
ICE - 75k odd
K&N - 10k
Konis + Hawks - 36k

Daamn, that total comes up to Rs218,500 only for accessories.

Also the shocks were on the hardest setting, and not the medium. I've adjusted the front shocks to a little softer than medium and boy the ride has improved a fair amount over the craters in Mumbai roads. The rear shocks are tough to get to, so will adjust those in a few days.

I am also going to send my car to Honda just for a check-up before the monsoons. Its done just about 16,500kms now. Wondering whether to send it to Arya Honda this time or to try Apex. Im familiar with the Arya people but then they always leave something dirty, and last time even caused scratches. The follow up on that has been terrible from them.

I want to give the car to Mazda Motors to touch up whatever is possible and to get the car detailed inside and out. Its quite swirled up now, but there are repairs in the building so ill have to wait for those to finish so there is less dust all around.

These mufflers look very interesting.
XForce. Performance Mufflers, Exhaust Systems & Accessories. About the Varex™ remote controlled Sports muffler.
At the press of a button they can be made silent or loud. These would be perfect for me, the only issue is the price which adds up to 750 Aussie Dollars (which BTW are worth more than USD now). I'm trying to find a good deal on these.

Thats all for now. Ill take pictures when I get around to adjusting the rear shocks.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Daamn, that total comes up to Rs218,500 only for accessories.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

This morning, I decided to sit down and calculate how much I have spent on my Shark so far! Some numbers...

Price for the Stock car - 6.5 L
Refurbishing Exterior/Interior - 13,000
Custom Headlights/Tail lights - 26,000
Rear Spoiler - 6,000
Goodies (including K&N Typhoon) bought from Canada/USA - 25,000
New rubber on all 5 wheels, Yoko A Drives - 25,000
Sunfilms (Llumar) - 7,600
Alloy painting - 5,000
Side Step Garnish - 2,200
Reverse Parking Sensors (Blackcat) - 3,500
Body kit (purchase, painting and fitting) - 18,000
Misc - 10,000

Grand Total - 7.9 L

Include the 40K major service to this and it becomes a full fledged 8 Lac rupees car!

Moolah spent for fuel so far (for 10,000 kms) - INR 53,000

Satisfaction of owning such an awesome and beautiful car ~ PRICELESS!!!

To put the things in perspective, here is the cost break up of what I have spent on my Civic after the purchase!

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Thank you buddy. Well to be honest, I think I might have saved myself about 10k by buying them in the States.

Well the handling is pretty damn sharp now, and I think it feels as nimble as a Civic now. Corners can be taken at some pretty good speeds, and the body roll is reduced.

Pics? Certainly, give me a couple of days. Ill take a video too, but I don't know how that will sound since the car is limited to 4000 rpm in N or P. I guess ill have to ask someone to record it while I'm driving.

Good work on buying the Konis in the US, then! I think once you play around with various settings, you will get to the sweet spot with precise balance of handling and ride quality!

One suggestion for taking K&N video - Do not record the video in a stand still car! My observation in my car is that K&N sounds best while the car is on the move!

[hiren.mistry]

This is just lovely. 10K is quite a packet saved.
The Koni's seem to have totally transformed the handling of the car, and all for the better.

Seeing this perhaps I might also go in for Koni sports. There is one available on TBHP classified for 20K.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

One suggestion for taking K&N video - Do not record the video in a stand still car! My observation in my car is that K&N sounds best while the car is on the move!

The accessories make the car a whole lot more fun. Ill take the video while the car is in motion, but I wont be able to angle the lends towards the speedo. Or maybe a 0-100 will be allowed here.

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

This is just lovely. 10K is quite a packet saved.
The Koni's seem to have totally transformed the handling of the car, and all for the better.

Seeing this perhaps I might also go in for Koni sports. There is one available on TBHP classified for 20K.

See how much those Konis have run. If not much then it might be worth picking those up since you are getting them at half price of what they retail here. I can give you an adjustment cap since that package does not come with one.

[valapad]

Akshay,Hawk hps available in mumbai ?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by valapad

Akshay,Hawk hps available in mumbai ?

Yes they are available. I think N1 Racing distributes them though the prices are off the hook