This post takes a deep dive into the Jazz/FIT Rear Beam Spherical Bearing Pivot kit.
To make the right choices, itâs important to know what you need and how the system you want to change actually works.
Thatâs why we use track data, driver feedback, and benchtop engineering to guide our decisions on modifications.
The slides and short clips of this post show our current thinking on the Jazz/FIT twist beam pivot bushes.
Next, weâll get feedback from drivers from the development car with the spherical pivots installed.
If the feedback is good, weâll commit and bring them through as a production Honed product type.
Hope you find it interesting!
Before our latest effort to reduce weight on the GE8, we managed to cut 2kg just by installing one of our booster delete kits.
This modification replaces the overly sensitive, assisted braking with a more direct, linear feel. Your leg effort matches the stopping power in a 1:1 way.
The main idea behind our kits is that they change the pedal ratio. This keeps the maximum effort you need to press the pedal at a reasonable level.
Where this setup really stands out is in making it easier to trail brake and use left foot braking when you need it.
A must have in our opinion when taking a commuter car and using it for motorsport
It's been tough to keep tight-lipped about this development, but now that we have a set in a car and have driven with them, we are confident enough to post about them. In the near future, we'll do a full-depth post with the theories and reasons for developing such a product (as well as lead time, etc.). In the meantime, get fizzed about more cool Jazz/FIT parts.
Throughout the week, we pulled 34kg out of the GE8!
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions; they were very helpful.
Weâve now got the weight of the car: 15kg less than when it weighed with no cage, small brakes and wheels.
Pulling the curtain airbags out was a pain; the entire headlining has to come out (ideally, do this before getting a half cage!)
The rear door windows didnât weigh as much as we hoped, coming in at only 2.2kg each. While there is a little saving changing these to plastic, itâs a lot of effort, and we had an issue with the tint reacting with the plastic, resulting in a ton of small bubbles, which donât look the best.
The electric mirrors only weigh 1.1kg, so there is not a lot to be gained from them (in terms of weight), as it turns out.
The only thing left we havenât done but intend to is change the steering wheel to a non-airbag one, and weâll do that next week.
We are keeping AC and the full HVAC system for now.
While we wait for the big cams to show up for the AH Civic, weâre moving ahead with the EFI conversion. There are three main parts we need to change from the old carb setup: the intake hardware, the fuel pump, and the wiring. Todayâs quick update is all about the intake.
We have sourced an OE intake manifold (which had to come from Germany), and the basic concept is to use mostly K20 OE parts where we can. So we have a K20 throttle body (mounted upside down) and K20 fuel injectors.
The throttle body needs a custom adapter, but thatâs easy enough to sort out.
To get the right fuel rail, we used EFI Hardwareâs made-to-order service. They made one for us in just a couple of days, which we really appreciated!
This manifold has a lot of extra ports left over from all the vacuum nipples the old black box of doom needed. The next step is to block or weld them all up.
We do offer a range of suspension products for the 03-08 Honda Accord & TSX (CL9). The foundational product is our adjustable front camber arms, featuring a unique tooth-style fixed-increment adjustment that can't slip like conventional aftermarket camber arms. But the CL9 front suspension also has two other weaknesses, one being that the knuckle can contact your coilover when the suspension compresses, and the second being the vertical-axis compliance bush in the lower control arm. We have solutions to improve both of these shortcomings as well. You can find all the motorsport products we have for the chassis on the CL9 vehicle category page at honeddevelopments.com.
This week's GE8 update is that we got a half cage fabricated and installed by @grubby_21fab
Our priorities for the cage were weight minimisation and provision for harness mounting. Itâs a very basic design, but itâs exactly what we asked for and couldnât be happier with it.
The last time we weighed the car, it was 976kg (2151lbs), and since then we have added weight with the larger front brakes, larger front rims and the cage.
So we put it back on the scales this week, and itâs ballooned up to 996kg! (2195lbs). We want to get it back down to at least its 976kg weight. If we could go even a little further than that, it would be great.
The last image lists the weight-saving ideas we currently have. If you know of any we havenât listed, let us know!
We have restocked our 5-stud Rear Hub Nut Kits. They are a cost-effective solution for safely converting 4x100 Honda Civic & Integra trailing arms to 5x114.3 hubs.
While it is disappointing that the rear beam of the GE8 can't have its alignment tuned with shims, it's still a great platform with a ton of modability.
Back in December at Calder, we had both the FD2 and the FN2R on track, and Grant was able to drive both cars back to back. The FN2Râs sliding caliper front brakes just couldnât match the pedal feel and fade resistance of the ex-996 Brembo fixed calipers and 320mm discs we use on the sedan.
So when we got the chance to pick up another set of calipers, we went for it. Now, the FN2R Civic has the same front brake upgrade!
You can use our HDP23-03 Caliper Mount Kit to install this front brake setup on any Honda with the DC5, RSX, EP3, CL9, FD2, or FA5 chassis codes. It even works on DC2Rs if youâre running 17-inch wheels.
Compared to other options, the benefits are
* Large pad compound availability
* OE Caliper robustness (& worldwide spares availability)
* Cost-effective discs
Another instalment in the saga of this D16a3 engine and trying to make it happy.
Ever since we became aware of the method of measuring your valve lift vs crank angle and graphing it in Excel (thanks again @tmc_developments ), we have been meaning to do this with the D16a3. The HKS cams we got for it didnât come with any paperwork, and we really didnât know for sure what they were.
And so we spent a few hours this week with the DTIs measuring the valve lift. We 3D printed a little foot for the DTI to help it get under the cam and onto the top of the retainer.
We found that the cams in the motor are indeed pretty mild, both in terms of lift and duration.
We want this motor to have its power band in the 5000-8000 range; we want a camshaft combination with ample duration.
We have now ordered CatCams 2500415 cams, which are significantly more aggressive, and we will install these along with converting the engine back to EFI.
Hopefully, this new combination gets along well!
