Back on Track

[Victorofhavoc]

Recently I've taken a few longer drives in the car before coming to sudden stops, and I noticed the car seems extremely lethargic during this time. For the first 1/4mile or so after a stop the car really doesn't feel like it wants to move and seems like timing is being pulled. It's also the time where I'm most likely to notice some small misfires. I thought I was going crazy, until one of my passengers noticed it.

After weather cooled recently I also noticed and felt the car pulling a bit better to redline. Where it used to start running out of breath around 5750rpm or so, on cooler mornings it kept pulling linearly to 6400rpm. It made me think about the intake design. I think it's the root of the misfires I've felt and horrible timing pull feeling right off the line after interstate drives. Over the weekend I got the car pretty hot, then pulled off the check out that weird intake rectangle. It was way beyond hand touch hot. That giant aluminum heatsink might be helping keep some heat out, but it's also not doing anything for sustained heat build. The racecar version of the car avoids the entire weird intake plumbing and runs a filter into the bumper/headlight.

Obviously we need headlights for the street, but I'm thinking a titanium pipe wrapped in some gold foil, an intake elbow wrapped in gold, a turbo blanket, ceramic spraying the heatshields, and possibly a downpipe wrap at least at the head would help mitigate a lot of these issues. Now to find time to try...

Sponsored

 

[Underdog]

I thought I saw video of someone opening that plate on the inlet pipe to reveal it's strictly a Helmholtz resonator. It is unfortunate that it's so damn close to the heat shield, and I think you're right on that an aftermarket pipe will open up a much needed thermal break.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Chris is teasing me with progress photos finally! Can't wait to get the finished product!! I also have the acuity stage 1 shift kit (the gates and throws I think are perfect, but it needs some firmness), I have the door puddle lights to install, and I have a giant roll of Alcantara to wrap some things... Again, finding time for things has been very tough recently.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I just did the entire hatch and wheel well area with kilmat and aggfoam. Most areas got two layers of foam, and some got three. I dropped an ear bud behind the rear seat cushion, so then decided to do the rear seat area as well. They added a bit of sound absorption material in the wheel well and under the seats, but certain areas like the floor just echoed due to the thin sheet metal there.

I plan on doing the doors soon, and then will do the b pillars.

 

[StingertimeNC]

Nice, let us know how it works out.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I've been driving the car over some snow, ice, and general winter yuckiness this week. Unfortunately one of my kids brought us norovirus, so when I could finally go play in the snow it was gross out. I did take the audi out on blizzaks when we got the initial 18" or so. That was a hoot with the traction control off.

The sound deadening has helped the rear end feel tighter, quieter, and just better in every way. It was WELL worth the effort and cheapness. Obviously exhaust noise and pops are dampened a bit with the windows closed now, but the general interior volume and sound system response are way better. Interestingly, my seat belt rattle has also greatly dampened. I am properly excited to do the doors! I'll plan to do them when I do the silly puddle lights.

Can I feel the added weight? A little. But it's the same weight as a bag of dog food in the trunk, so it's not terrible. The good news is adding weight to the door should bring the balance back to where it should be since it's weight between the axles.

 

[ABPDE5]

I've been driving the car over some snow, ice, and general winter yuckiness this week. Unfortunately one of my kids brought us norovirus, so when I could finally go play in the snow it was gross out. I did take the audi out on blizzaks when we got the initial 18" or so. That was a hoot with the traction control off.

The sound deadening has helped the rear end feel tighter, quieter, and just better in every way. It was WELL worth the effort and cheapness. Obviously exhaust noise and pops are dampened a bit with the windows closed now, but the general interior volume and sound system response are way better. Interestingly, my seat belt rattle has also greatly dampened. I am properly excited to do the doors! I'll plan to do them when I do the silly puddle lights.

Can I feel the added weight? A little. But it's the same weight as a bag of dog food in the trunk, so it's not terrible. The good news is adding weight to the door should bring the balance back to where it should be since it's weight between the axles.

I rode in the back of one of these cars recently, and there was a lot of road noise and echo / resonance. It was substantially worse than when sitting up front; it drowned out a lot of the audio system, and it made following conversation upfront taxing. I have to imagine that the interior acoustic characteristics back there are amplifying any rattles, etc. that exist elsewhere.

I'm not sure I'll do the floor / doors, as they should require a lot more effort in terms of dis / re -assembly, but I'd like to do the hatch and under the rear seats.

Any estimate as to how much material you used? (I think you mentioned you did multiple layers of the foam... I'm really just looking for an estimate re: sq. coverage / layer -- i.e. how much kilmat did you need?)

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I rode in the back of one of these cars recently, and there was a lot of road noise and echo / resonance. It was substantially worse than when sitting up front; it drowned out a lot of the audio system, and it made following conversation upfront taxing. I have to imagine that the interior acoustic characteristics back there are amplifying any rattles, etc. that exist elsewhere.

I'm not sure I'll do the floor / doors, as they should require a lot more effort in terms of dis / re -assembly, but I'd like to do the hatch and under the rear seats.

Any estimate as to how much material you used? (I think you mentioned you did multiple layers of the foam... I'm really just looking for an estimate re: sq. coverage / layer -- i.e. how much kilmat did you need?)

Yeah I stuck my phone in the back one day and saw peaks of 95dB and a pretty constant 85+, so for the safety of my kid's hearing and my own mental sanity, I had to turn the echoing down.

You know, I though the back seats would be a pain, but they're literally one bolt behind the rear left seat and two clips under the front of the cushion. In fact you can get under there without even removing that bolt since the bolt only holds in a u-rail that's attached to the cushion foam. The hatch area, the hardest part was pulling the inner fender carpeting/garnish. It's stiff and can't be totally pulled without pulling the rear seat outer garnish. However, you can just turn it out of the way with a bit of force and it will still be fine. That keeps from having to pull a trim piece which has a permanent plastic clip (must be replaced and has to be knocked out with a hammer and pin - why the ever loving F did they not use a bolt for this?? It's what my vw, audi, BMW, Nissan, and subarus have all done. Pretty sure the Ford and Chevy did too.)

Make sure you remove the hatch lights and the latch cover before pulling the plastic!

I think the doors might be easiest actually, but we'll see. They're just one bolt and a bunch of green clips (go buy some extra greens first with any of these projects). Also, I once again found broken clips with no evidence of the broken piece, which means it didn't happen when I pulled it. This piece would never have been removed for the badge install, which leads me to believe it was likely broken at factory, and someone took the time to pull it apart to remove the broken pieces, but didn't put a fresh clip in. Go acura qc go.

I used about half a box of the kilmat and one box of the aggfoam, with another two or three sheets of aggfoam coming from a second box. The boxes were 36 and 55sqft respectively.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I totally forgot about this clip! This was one of my first 3 times taking the gti out on track. What a truly fantastic car in so many capacities. I really wish we could have gotten the clubsport model in the US.




The integra has a bit more steering feel, more lateral grip, and a better alignment from factory. Setup the same, the Integra is definitely faster as a package, but it's not quite as darty and communicative as the gti.

 

[StingertimeNC]

yeah baby! Go GTI.

 

[ABPDE5]

I really wish this platform wasn't so large. I appreciate that they kept the weight down and that, as a result, it doesn't feel like a big car when driving it, but the long wheel base does make it less playful at lower speeds, and when you see it parked next to a GTI, etc., it just looks huge.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I really wish this platform wasn't so large. I appreciate that they kept the weight down and that, as a result, it doesn't feel like a big car when driving it, but the long wheel base does make it less playful at lower speeds, and when you see it parked next to a GTI, etc., it just looks huge.

That's part of why I got into it. I needed more room in the back for two kids where I wasn't crammed while driving. The two inches of legroom over the gti feels massive, but the lack of true hatch of wagon shape hurts a lot for headroom.

I agree it's large though. Wheel base is a major component of it.

 

[ABPDE5]

That's part of why I got into it. I needed more room in the back for two kids where I wasn't crammed while driving. The two inches of legroom over the gti feels massive, but the lack of true hatch of wagon shape hurts a lot for headroom.

I agree it's large though. Wheel base is a major component of it.

Yep! Objectively, it's a plus, and the car actually weighs very little considering the occupancy room it provides, so one could argue there's really no penalty for it.

I just love small cars -- the way the cabin feels (for the driver), and the way short wheel bases rotate.

 

[s219]

The car definitely feel/drives smaller than it is. I didn't notice how ginormous it really is until I pulled into my garage after I drove home from the dealer.

 

[s219]

There are a lot of good observations about build quality in this thread. I will say I am disappointed in the quality of my 2025 ITS after owning many Hondas and Acuras over the years. It has really dropped off compared to the old days.

I love the way the ITS drives -- great old school Honda sharp steering and flat handling feel, and the shifter is wonderful. All high points of the car that make it a joy to drive. The engine, meh, it is good on power/tech but can't hold a candle to the sound, feel, and emotion of classic Honda NA VTEC engines. It's downright appliance-like in many ways. I've said before, this engine could be strapped to an automatic transmission and get put in an SUV and nobody would think it was special.

My biggest gripes are paint quality, rattles, and road noise.

I have a 20 year old S2000 that has better clearcoat even after all those years of wear and tear. The clearcoat on my ITS is loaded with nibs, solvent pops, and other pits from poor application and curing. From 10 feet away it looks nice and shiny, but get up close under LED shop lights and it looks hideous. And that is not even griping about the orange peel. In some spots, the orange peel is so bad that it has its own finer orange peel!

The interior rattles are really annoying, especially since some are consistent, some show up here and there, and others emerge randomly then go away. I can't remember any new vehicle I have owned in recent memory -- any brand -- that was this bad. It's certainly not befitting of an Acura.

That said, not everyone is attuned to quality issues when it comes to squeaks, rattles, or paint. I suspect many customers are oblivious and lead a happy life (being an engineer, I am cursed from the get-go). I spotted paint issues on every ITS I looked at, including peeling paint where the bumper covers rub against the rear quarter near the tail lights. Dealer staff were completely oblivious until I pointed it out and told them I was not going to buy that car.

Road noise is something I think is an inherent problem with the structure of the vehicle. Easy to blame the stock tires, but while they may be a source of noise, the structure clearly amplifies and reverberates any source of excitation. What really made it obvious to me was comparing to my 2020 BMW M2 Competition. It has previous generation Pilot Super Sport tires, which have much worse NVH than the newer PS4S tires on the ITS. As some folks know, BMW stripped out all sound insulation from the M2, and even took out driveline bushings in order to tighten up the driveline and reduce slack. Despite having worse tires, no insulation, and rigid driveline mounts, the M2 Comp feels like a vault in comparison to the ITS. To me that points out some fundamental differences between a last-gen BMW 2-series (which likely was engineered around 2010) and the current Civic platform.

Not trying to pile on gripes here, but I do agree with @Victorofhavoc that it sours the ownership experience on what is otherwise a great driving car. I go into every car purchase with the intention of keeping the car a long time and in this case my gripes with the ITS dampen that quite a bit. I was planning to invest in another set of wheels/tires and other mods, but my thought now is to give the car 6-12 months of ownership before I decide it's a keeper.

And just because no car is perfect, I will point out that the M2 Comp has a lifeless shifter, numb steering, and dull initial handling feel, but I've only ever gotten pure joy from that car, and I think the high level of quality on that car is the baseline. Doesn't hurt to have all that power and intoxicating acceleration in every gear either, but the fact of the matter is that nothing about that car has caused me to gripe. I can recognize the shortcomings without getting heartburn.

Sponsored