NOLAcivic's Daily friendly EJ8 build.

[blandsarcasm]

Decided to take another look on the market for a JDM CTR steering wheel and I finally found one. Scooped it up for $300 shipped on ebay. Offered $265 and it was accepted with $35 shipping. Can't wait to get this in my car. I have the same wheel in my integra and I love the feel and the look.

Nice scoop! I have the non srs model in my integra and love it.


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[NOLAcivic]

Woke up a little early before heading to work and did the steering wheel installation. This is my favorite OEM steering wheel. I have it in both my Integra and Civic.

 

[mportedcivicsi]

They are nice, but I do like the AP1 far better And the retention of the cruise buttons on the AP1. But the CTR is clean.

 

[NOLAcivic]

I was on the fence with the AP1. I found one also 300 shipped in good shape. BUT! I don't have cruise control so it wasn't a problem for me.

Next mods on the chop block are a GSR inake cam, Skunk2 adjustable cam gears, E85 and retune. Then the plan is to get the LHT treatment after I finish with my integra build. For looks I'm going to get 1 of my TE37's I got fixed and then powder coat them and swap them on in place of the rotas.

 

[NOLAcivic]

I did swap on the Rota Subzeo's from my integra since it's going to slicks. I got some red lug nuts as well to add some style I guess to the outside. I'm hoping to have the TE37's fixed up and installed soon. I'm thinking about going with white, mag blue, or bronze/gold color. Just not sure what to do. I got the paint to paint the black trim on the exterior so the body will be one color. I'm not a huge fan of dark wheels. I need some color suggestions. I want a color that is clean and not super flashy b/c this is the daily.

 

[mportedcivicsi]

Yeah, the CC buttons not being needed make the CTR nice, but the smaller diameter of the AP1 wins all!!

Being I'm so anti Junk2, I'd get different gears, but sounds like a nice plan there

Wheel color, I HATE mag blue. White is nice, but it can get old. Matte colors are pretty timeless, I think. A matte silver or light gun metal would probably be where I'd go. SBC RPF1's are just awesome and the finish can be replicated pretty close with powder. If they made a 15x9 SBC RPF1, I'd be all over it...haha.

 

[NOLAcivic]

RPF1 are my favorite wheels. Right now I have ROTA Subzero's in a gunmetal finish with a polished lip. They came on my integra when I bought it. Figured I would use them until I get a forged wheel (The TE37's) I honestly don't really like silver for the color of my car. I wish I still had my red car man.

 

[blandsarcasm]

Yeah, the CC buttons not being needed make the CTR nice, but the smaller diameter of the AP1 wins all!!

Being I'm so anti Junk2, I'd get different gears, but sounds like a nice plan there

Wheel color, I HATE mag blue. White is nice, but it can get old. Matte colors are pretty timeless, I think. A matte silver or light gun metal would probably be where I'd go. SBC RPF1's are just awesome and the finish can be replicated pretty close with powder. If they made a 15x9 SBC RPF1, I'd be all over it...haha.

I'm on the opposite side of the fence when it comes to the ap1 wheel. I've never been the biggest fan but I love the srs ctr/itr wheel. I always thought the ap1 and ctr/itr wheels were the same diameter though. I've never even bothered to measure my itr wheel but it feels the same as my 350mm momo. I love the sbc rpf1's as well especially the 15x8 +28.


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[NOLAcivic]

I agree. I didn't think the wheels were vastly different in diameter as well. IDK the wheels just feels perfect for my build. The s2000 wheel is nice but I liked that I could use a wheel that came for the most part factory for the Civic. There is a guy on EBAY (at least he sells them on there) that modifies the s2k wheels and redresses them using the stock air bag. I think he also does the CTR EP3 wheels and the RSX (ITR) wheel.

 

[mportedcivicsi]

Matter of preference. I have had both and sold the CTR that came in my wife's first Si nearly immediately as it just wasn't for us. Hardly different than the Si wheel to us, spec wise. Obviously its far different cosmetically. But the AP1 is a little smaller and I've really enjoyed it. I only removed mine to help with getting in and out of the car now. The removable wheel will help a lot.

Airbags, the AP1 and AP2 v1 were plug and play. The AP2 v2 (06+) were the change that didn't work with the system. I'm not up on the EP3 and RSX to say how they differed. But I didn't have my system active very long when I was running the AP1 wheel. The bag in the wheel was the only part of the system in the car for a long time. I freaking hate SRS crap...lol.

 

[mportedcivicsi]

As to sizing, I forget the size of the AP1, but I know it was slightly smaller than my old Spoon Monte Carlo. People are generally familiar with those...

 

[99SiRCoupe]

Great Build

 

[NOLAcivic]

Hey everyone, It's been some time since the last update. Not a whole lot has changed. Everything has been running pretty smooth. I decided I needed to fix a cam cap bolt hole that was striped out. While I was in there I figured I would get around to putting in the skunk2 cam gears and drop in the GSR intake came and keep the ITR exhaust cam. I'm going to order a AEM 340lph pump so I can go ahead and get to the E85 tuning. I also cut my valve cover to expose the cam gears so I can see the timing marks easier. I plan on bringing it to the track soon and also get it on the dyno and get it fully dialed in.
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