Back on Track

[Victorofhavoc]

Hi all! I just got an its a couple weeks ago and replaced my VW GTi. The gti lasted in my driveway for almost 7 years and that's longer than any other previous car has. The its was the first car I've driven in the last few years that made me want to sell my vw, and that includes a massive laundry list of cars. I'm a NASA track instructor but also do some private instruction and occasional racing.

Right now, I'm waiting on some parts the dealer owes me (carbon mirrors, spoiler, Alcantara wheel, day 1 alignment) and polishing the car in prep for ppf and ceramic! This car won't hit the track until I have the ppf done, then it's game on for the days I'm just instructing and not racing! I'm also working with Chris at lathewerks on a custom knob that should hopefully be ready in a few weeks.

So far it's a wonderful car and a blast to drive! No it's not a German car when it comes to interior quality or general thoughtfulness in build, but it drives incredibly well. I'm looking forward to the coming years of driving with it and learning it through!

If anyone is in the Kansas city area and looking to get on track, please feel free to reach out! Ozark International is our newest track out here and it absolutely rocks! I've talked to the owner several times, my race mechanic is his race team's crew chief, and I know the folks that built the track. I highly recommend coming out and seeing it in person!! Here's a video of OIR when it was still pretty fresh, and with limited rubber on the surface grip still wasn't huge. It's even faster now!

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[optronix]

Congrats on the purchase, I approve of the color.

You're making me want black emblems.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Congrats on the purchase, I approve of the color.

You're making me want black emblems.

It's a great red!

I'm looking at options for a winter wheel and can't decide if I want bronze, black, anthracite, or silver. Apex has some decent options, and I like their products!

 

[PRDE5]

I approve the color also, I thought about getting the black emblems, but for me I would have to eliminate all the rest of the chrome on the car. I haven’t found a black emblem for the wheels, also black chrome the exhaust tips.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I approve the color also, I thought about getting the black emblems, but for me I would have to eliminate all the rest of the chrome on the car. I haven’t found a black emblem for the wheels, also black chrome the exhaust tips.

That's an easy solve actually!

There are emblem painters you can find on Etsy that will do the work, or you can find a paint shop local to you. I've done quite a bit of painting and I keep a few lvlp guns around, so something like that is a 1hr job I can do in the backyard.

For the black chrome tips, you can reach out to vibrant or summit and they can help you find some. I personally like some of the rasp reduction of resonated exhaust tips and am considering doing the mbrp exhaust with some resonated tips (because I hate the mbrp burnt and carbon options) from vibrant (ark branded).

 

[optronix]

It's a great red!

I'm looking at options for a winter wheel and can't decide if I want bronze, black, anthracite, or silver. Apex has some decent options, and I like their products!

I absolutely love my Apex VS-5RS in Satin Bronze. I was leaning strongly towards Volk G025 in Dark Amber/Clear but could not find a set in the appropriate size/offset I wanted (19x9.5 ~+45), and would have also jumped at the opportunity for a set of Advan GT Beyond in Hyper Black (more of a dark chrome/silver to my eye honestly...). The intent for the Apex was for them to be temporary but man, I love the way they look on the car. I realize I must now get it lowered, but I don't think I'll be moving off these anytime soon.

Even a very dirty pic from this past weekend:

I approve the color also, I thought about getting the black emblems, but for me I would have to eliminate all the rest of the chrome on the car. I haven’t found a black emblem for the wheels, also black chrome the exhaust tips.

https://awe-tuning.com/products/awe-exhaust-suite-for-de5-acura-integra-type-s

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I had the vs5rs on my gti and loved them! Ceramic coating them was key for brake dust from the ferodo ds2500 pads. They're still in my garage! They also fit the vw dynamic center caps and matched super well in anthracite. Those are the centers that stay level as the car drives, and it's a silly but nice thing. I've had people in $200k cars stop me to ask about the caps, lol.

I personally don't want to go too far off from factory offset unless it's to account for wider wheels. I was looking at their vs5rs in 18x10.5 to squeeze on a 285 or 295, but I can't argue with the ec7 for a winter wheel and it comes in the right offset (58) on that one.

I gotta say though, you're swaying me towards bronze, so there might be some 18x9.5 et53 sm10rs in this car's future .

Looks like I'll be doing ppf Monday. Kavaca ceramic coated film in the "track pack" plus rear valence.

 

[bpebler]

Beautiful color. I hope to try out that track next year also! We have a nice camper lot right off the lake there that we often go to, but live about an hour west of St Louis.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Beautiful color. I hope to try out that track next year also! We have a nice camper lot right off the lake there that we often go to, but live about an hour west of St Louis.

If you come out to a NASA event, let me know! I'll probably be there!

That grey looks fantastic in person! I test drove a grey one before the red one.

 

[bpebler]

If you come out to a NASA event, let me know! I'll probably be there!

That grey looks fantastic in person! I test drove a grey one before the red one.

I will absolutely reach out! Thanks!

I like the contrast of the liquid carbon and how it changes hue so much, but if I wasn't concerned about standing out on the road and had enough patience to wait beyond the preorder, then PRP or TEP would've been my choice. I also wanted the red interior which severely limited my options, but oh well.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I will absolutely reach out! Thanks!

I like the contrast of the liquid carbon and how it changes hue so much, but if I wasn't concerned about standing out on the road and had enough patience to wait beyond the preorder, then PRP or TEP would've been my choice. I also wanted the red interior which severely limited my options, but oh well.

I wanted tep on white, but that seems to be the rarest color combo. I searched almost every dealer across the country and found a few tep on black, but that was it. Coincidentally, I had a hard time finding prp anywhere and my local dealer had two.

The black interior has some added benefit for me with a 4 year old and 3 week old that ride in the back, but I'd be a sucker for a red on white if they made one.

Also, I gave my son the Enzo test while taking him to daycare and he shouted "RED!" at me, so I called the dealer back that day

 

[bpebler]

I wanted tep on white, but that seems to be the rarest color combo. I searched almost every dealer across the country and found a few tep on black, but that was it. Coincidentally, I had a hard time finding prp anywhere and my local dealer had two.

The black interior has some added benefit for me with a 4 year old and 3 week old that ride in the back, but I'd be a sucker for a red on white if they made one.

Also, I gave my son the Enzo test while taking him to daycare and he shouted "RED!" at me, so I called the dealer back that day

A friend of mine has the TEP/white - it's a clean looking interior for sure. I also have 2 little ones & have had a black interior in everything for ages, so I had to change it up. I destroy anything that's white unfortunately, always have my hands in something. But I do still love the black with red stitching! I still don't understand why they couldn't combine a few different color combos.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

A friend of mine has the TEP/white - it's a clean looking interior for sure. I also have 2 little ones & have had a black interior in everything for ages, so I had to change it up. I destroy anything that's white unfortunately, always have my hands in something. But I do still love the black with red stitching! I still don't understand why they couldn't combine a few different color combos.

Yeah I don't get it, either. Also, why aren't my rear windows auto up/down in 2024? My gti had it, and rear vents... Lol

Our perforated leather in our q7 has taken a beating from my son's crumbs. I have to do serious twice a year deep cleans

 

[ITS_320]

Welcome and congrats on the car! PRP was my first choice with LSM being my 2nd. I ended up with an LSM car late last year.

Every time I see the red ones I find myself second guessing.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Well I finally got the car all polished up and 98% perfect before going in for ppf. Unfortunately, and sadly, my ppf person broke her ankle so she can't make tomorrow and will be delayed a week. The good news is that she's not handing it off to one of her employees, but she's planning to do it herself. I hope she has a speedy recovery though; ankle injuries can be a nightmare.

The plan is film for bumpers, fenders, hood, a pillar, roof section, rocker panels, and valence.

Planning to do tint as well and originally I wanted 25% fronts and rear with 5% side, but I might do 25% all around.

I polished the car out and unfortunately from the dealer there were just too many holograms and swirls. In some places I had to do 4+ passes of compound and in one area I could someone took out etching and burned in with an orbital polisher. That area had slightly less clear coat than the other side, but the area around it was within the same variance as the other side. It's really annoying, but I'm accepting it as dealer lot dumbness and moving onward.

The car is now 98% perfect in paint. There are 3 paint defects on passenger fender, front passenger bumper cowl, and driver door. A pinhole (probably from dust in the clear coat during cure), a tiny splotch under the clear, and a small eyelash sized imperfection that formed a clear coat divot. There is also marring . On the driver rear quarter panel, above the fender flare, there is a pall point pen sized 4 inch impression. I'm annoyed by this, but I also polished out a good chunk of this area and it's not noticeable unless you're as ocd as me about it...

It's not the first new car I've owned with paint defects, but it's certainly the first with the most amount of variation. Granted, these are things I spot checking over every inch of the paint as I detail, not things anyone could spot from 2ft away... Except for the marring .

Lots of orange peel in the clear coat as well. There is a lot of clear coat though. I'm measuring 5.9 to 6.1mil in most places. A few are in the 4s,but that's on top of the rear hatch near an edge. Those areas are usually thin. The hood with the burn in was 5.6 to 5.7. I took it to 5.5 to 5.6 to clear it.

So far pretty good though! Looking a lot more clear than off the dealer lot and depth is fantastic! This is an awesome red!! Zero visible swirls, scratches, or etching in the sun now. Adam's advanced graphene is now on every panel not getting ppf.

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