Underdog’s PWP Type S

[Underdog]

Hey everyone, glad to be here. Last night I picked up my new ‘24 ITS in PWP. I bought it for MSRP at Grieco Acura in Seekonk, MA, and they gave me a great trade on my ‘19 Accord Sport 2.0T 10AT. I miss the blue paint of my Accord, and kinda wish I had held out for an Apex Blue, but the white does look sharp for sure and I like the white/black/red color scheme.

Planning on some PPF right away, followed by some 18” wheels with all seasons to get me through the winter. Will probably have to wait on tint and ceramic coating until next spring/summer, to give the bank account a rest. Over the winter I will likely do little things like a Fumoto valve at the break-in oil change, maybe a drop-in filter, and stuff like that.

I also have an ‘06 Subaru Legacy GT 5Mt that I’ve owned since new and modified to the gills. I’m still active over on the LGT forum with the same user name. I went with the ITS because it combines most of what I love about my Legacy with what I liked about the Accord. Certainly there are some things each car does better than the ITS, but it really is a complete package right off the showroom floor.

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[Underdog]

Here are some pictures of the Legacy. That build thread can be found here - it spans 18 years but I tried to put links in the first post to make it easier to navigate.

 

[Tw1stedlog1k]

Welcome! Hope to see you on the road soon!

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Welcome!

As a former wrx and sti owner, I'll tell you that you'll find a lot less understeer on this platform! 10x fewer rattles as well.

I always wanted a legacy gt spec B but they got too rare to track one down for me years ago. Looks great and great job keeping it in such good condition!

 

[optronix]

Certainly there are some things each car does better than the ITS, but it really is a complete package right off the showroom floor.

Name them.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Underdog]

Welcome! Hope to see you on the road soon!

Thanks man! Saw some pics of your ABP and it looks awesome. Might break my heart to see that blue in person. Haha

Welcome!

As a former wrx and sti owner, I'll tell you that you'll find a lot less understeer on this platform! 10x fewer rattles as well.

I always wanted a legacy gt spec B but they got too rare to track one down for me years ago. Looks great and great job keeping it in such good condition!

Thanks! Detailing was my first hobby when I purchased that car, and I like to think it's paid off. In addition to the Legacy I also had an '09 Outback XT with the same motor and 5MT. Great cars and lots of fun.

Name them.

Welcome to the forum!

Legacy - AWD FTW. 35:65 center split with DCCD and helical LSDs at both ends of the car. Even the stock setup with open front diff and viscous center and rear diffs was a beast in the snow, which was much more of an issue where I used to live. As the car sits now the Legacy has more power... 350whp at 21PSI on 93 octane with very mild timing. The turbo would be even happier at 26PSI but the setup is octane limited and there is no E85 within a convenient distance.

Accord - vastly more interior space... my kids could walk across the floor behind the front seats. They had rear vents and usb outlets for their devices. The dash layout and materials, while very similar to the ITS, felt a touch more upscale. The instrument cluster in sport mode was better looking and maybe less cluttered (still messing with the ITS settings). The 2.0T + 10AT was just a great combo... cruising at 1,500 RPM and then punch it and it would just take off with no hesitation. Brand new I paid less than half of what I paid for the ITS. Also the remote start was pretty nice on cold days.

But at the end of the day the aftermarket for the Accord was pretty much just power mods, basic suspension bits, and cheesy aesthetic stuff. No shock options outside of budget price-point coilovers or bagging it. In retrospect I could have gone with the Touring model which had active dampers, but I don't think that would have sharpened up the car enough to keep me happy long-term.

So like I said, the ITS brings it all together and then some. Love the car and looking forward to learning lots from the owners here!

 

[Wolfman]

Ha saw yout reddit post, I said welcome there but welcome here!
I too was a former wrx sti owner.
Like the white tho!

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Thanks! Detailing was my first hobby when I purchased that car, and I like to think it's paid off. In addition to the Legacy I also had an '09 Outback XT with the same motor and 5MT. Great cars and lots of fun.

That's funny! I had a wrx and forester xt. I miss them both in some ways, but they were absolute rattle traps. Starting the fxt in winter I had to hold the door cards down because otherwise they'd vibrate the door switches loose. The way power came on in the wrx and sti was very fun in a jekyl and Hyde kind of way, but for daily driving that super high turbo threshold gave you that feeling of "foot down... Waiting, waiting, waiting, induction NOOOOOOIIISSE, finally some power".

The its also has this issue of a high threshold but it feels much more linear because vtec. It's funny though, so many years on and people still constantly confuse turbo lag and turbo threshold. The its has very little lag compared to the subarus, but threshold is still high because of turbo size and design.

 

[Tw1stedlog1k]

PWP looks amazing in person, pictures really don't do the flake justice. Plus the red interior *chef's kiss*.

I've been spotted a couple of months ago by another member, we met up afterwards and traded cars for the afternoon, coincidentally he also had PWP lol. I'll be in the South Coast (Fall River) this weekend for a friend's wedding, maybe we'll spot each other on the road!

 

[optronix]

Thanks man! Saw some pics of your ABP and it looks awesome. Might break my heart to see that blue in person. Haha



Thanks! Detailing was my first hobby when I purchased that car, and I like to think it's paid off. In addition to the Legacy I also had an '09 Outback XT with the same motor and 5MT. Great cars and lots of fun.



Legacy - AWD FTW. 35:65 center split with DCCD and helical LSDs at both ends of the car. Even the stock setup with open front diff and viscous center and rear diffs was a beast in the snow, which was much more of an issue where I used to live. As the car sits now the Legacy has more power... 350whp at 21PSI on 93 octane with very mild timing. The turbo would be even happier at 26PSI but the setup is octane limited and there is no E85 within a convenient distance.

Accord - vastly more interior space... my kids could walk across the floor behind the front seats. They had rear vents and usb outlets for their devices. The dash layout and materials, while very similar to the ITS, felt a touch more upscale. The instrument cluster in sport mode was better looking and maybe less cluttered (still messing with the ITS settings). The 2.0T + 10AT was just a great combo... cruising at 1,500 RPM and then punch it and it would just take off with no hesitation. Brand new I paid less than half of what I paid for the ITS. Also the remote start was pretty nice on cold days.

But at the end of the day the aftermarket for the Accord was pretty much just power mods, basic suspension bits, and cheesy aesthetic stuff. No shock options outside of budget price-point coilovers or bagging it. In retrospect I could have gone with the Touring model which had active dampers, but I don't think that would have sharpened up the car enough to keep me happy long-term.

So like I said, the ITS brings it all together and then some. Love the car and looking forward to learning lots from the owners here!

Great response. We're gonna get along great. No, I'm not being sarcastic- I love people who can fully articulate their points, and who actually make sense! I may disagree with you from time to time but just know we can still be friends (some people have a hard time with that part).

For example, call me crazy but I actually consider AWD a downside. Mostly because weight, but for my primary use case for what I'll just call a "driver's car", all-wheel drive usually combines all the negatives of front-wheel drive, adds more weight, and gives you the added benefit of... driving in the snow? Straight-line traction, sure- but I'm just not interested in drag racing anymore. There are exceptions of course- 911 Carrera 4S/GTS/Targa and Huracan Performante come immediately to mind- but what do those cars have in common? The engine isn't in the front.

All this to say, I'm very glad the ITS is not all-wheel drive. I would almost certainly have passed on this car if it was- part of the magic of this car is the fact it weighs 3100 lbs.

I figured you'd say the Accord is more practical, and you're definitely not wrong. But I wouldn't take an Accord anywhere near a race track, and it isn't necessarily an "inspiring" thing to drive on a backroad- but yes otherwise an Accord is a nearly perfect "car", for all intents and purposes that doesn't involve "intentional driving".

Do you have any plans to do motorsport-y things in your ITS?

 

[Underdog]

I'll be in the South Coast (Fall River) this weekend for a friend's wedding, maybe we'll spot each other on the road!

Yeah that's not too far from me but I'll be traveling this weekend unfortunately. Enjoy the wedding!

Great response. We're gonna get along great. No, I'm not being sarcastic- I love people who can fully articulate their points, and who actually make sense! I may disagree with you from time to time but just know we can still be friends (some people have a hard time with that part).

For example, call me crazy but I actually consider AWD a downside. Mostly because weight, but for my primary use case for what I'll just call a "driver's car", all-wheel drive usually combines all the negatives of front-wheel drive, adds more weight, and gives you the added benefit of... driving in the snow? Straight-line traction, sure- but I'm just not interested in drag racing anymore. There are exceptions of course- 911 Carrera 4S/GTS/Targa and Huracan Performante come immediately to mind- but what do those cars have in common? The engine isn't in the front.

All this to say, I'm very glad the ITS is not all-wheel drive. I would almost certainly have passed on this car if it was- part of the magic of this car is the fact it weighs 3100 lbs.

I figured you'd say the Accord is more practical, and you're definitely not wrong. But I wouldn't take an Accord anywhere near a race track, and it isn't necessarily an "inspiring" thing to drive on a backroad- but yes otherwise an Accord is a nearly perfect "car", for all intents and purposes that doesn't involve "intentional driving".

Do you have any plans to do motorsport-y things in your ITS?

Totally hear that and agree with your points in general about AWD. The car in stock form was 3,300-3,400lbs and with the differential setup I mentioned previously it was prone to understeer due to the 50:50 split (to your point - given that it was a front-heavy car) and slow-acting/easily overwhelmed viscous center and rear diffs. Great for driving in winter conditions, which was much more of an issue for me back in 2006 when I lived in central MA on the NH border. The current layout however is a different animal, and much better oriented towards endless traction on tarmac. It's hard to describe the feeling of AWD clawing you through a corner versus FWD pulling you along. The setup is rear-biased now, and with the DCCD controller I can either control the center lock manually or by map in automatic mode. Power-on oversteer is an actual possibility, and that's something FWD can never touch.

I've lived on the south coast of MA for the past decade and the winters are ever milder. The Accord replaced my old Outback wagon because I knew that the days of needing AWD and dedicated snow tires were over. The Accord was great for relaxed driving but definitely boring for those of us who like feeling engaged in the driving experience, and like I said - really no viable paths for improving the suspension or chassis which was the limiting factor, IMO. Curb weight on that car was only 3,377lbs, which for the size I thought wasn't too shabby. Anyways my wife has a '19 Accord EX with the 1.5T and CVT, which is the family road-trip car. It has a curb weight of 3,199lbs, and is a great car for her. In fact she got her Accord first, and it impressed me so much I went looking for the 2.0T. Funny enough, her car is also Platinum White Pearl, so now we have two of them.

The 3,219lb curb weight and front LSD were big attractors to the ITS for me, among many other features like the 6MT, adaptive dampers, BBK, etc. I am not planning to do any motorsports with the car but would enjoy taking it out for a HPDE. Mostly I just want to drive it, keep it clean, and make little tweaks to improve the car over time.

 

[Underdog]

This past weekend I picked up the Integra from PPF & tint. Went with XPEL Ultimate Plus film (full front end, plus rockers and side sills), and XPEL XR ceramic tint (45% all around, 70% windshield). The work was expertly done by Kickin’ Customs in Raynham, MA.

Next up: I’m looking at some DWS06+ tires for the stock wheels, and picking up a set of copper accessory wheels for the summer tires. Been back and forth with myself a few times on this - considering 18” wheels or other aftermarket options - but my Accord did great on 19” A/S for 5 years so may just go this route to keep fitment common between setups. Then if I ever add spacers (TBD) it will result in the same stance for both.

Lastly I need to grab a set of Tuxmats before the crappy weather arrives. I had OEM all weather mats in the Accord and they were great, but for the money the Tuxmat looks like it offers better coverage and a nicer look and feel.

After all that I’ll just be focusing on getting it detailed and sealed. Eventually I’ll go with a more aggressive spoiler and some other little aesthetic tweaks, but my LGT needs the brakes refreshed, and my bank account needs to recover.

 

[Underdog]

Finally had a free Saturday to work on the car. I installed my new wheels and, and did my first oil change @ 1,225mi.

Wheels are OZ Leggera in 19x9.5 e51, wearing 275/30 DWS06+ tires. The combo weighed ~46.2lbs. Edit: my stock wheel/tire combo came in at 51.0lbs, so this is a wider tire with a hair more sidewall, 18mm wider track, and 4.8lbs of weight saved per corner. I also saved $100 total on the tires versus the 265/30.

During the oil change I installed a Fumoto F106SX valve - there was tons of room to position it how I liked. In the final orientation, pointing down and towards the passenger side, it doesn’t stick out much past the pan, leaving almost 1” clearance to the undertray. While it drains I have plenty of room to drop the filter over a catch pan.

I used a new OEM filter and 5.5qts of Castrol Edge. Cut open the original filter and it was clean. Hit all the exposed suspension hardware with a light coating of Fluid Film for rust prevention.

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