After spending some time researching how to improve the CL9 Accord Euro’s handling, I concluded a thicker rear sway bar will do just the trick. With not much out there, I reached out to Whiteline and was advised they are now reproducing parts for the older Hondas. Talk about timing.
14mm vs 18mm.
The new rear sway bar is now 2 point adjustable. The inner hole has an effective rate of a 20mm bar while the outer hole is the rate of the 18mm bar.
Whiteline sent through the bar and not long after, I made the drive down to Top One Auto for the install.
The standard 14mm rear sway bar.Disconnecting the stock part from the sway bar link.The passenger side muffler was removed to make the install easier.Bolting in the bar with the supplied bushings.The adjustability gives the best of both worlds.The Whiteline Rear Sway Bar for the CL9 is now installed.
I could immediately tell the difference after a few corners leaving the workshop. Turn in has significantly improved making the car more nimble. I can’t wait to see how it will feel at Wakefield, especially after setting a base time in this car not too long ago.
The Whiteline Adjustable Rear Sway Bar for the CL9 Accord Euro is targeting a December release with an RRP of $240.
Many times in the past when looking to replace tyres, I have looked at various makes and models of tyres on international websites and had always been disappointed to find out that they aren’t available locally. Well, finally one of the tyres have become available – the Bridgestone RE-71R. I was lucky enough to try them out at Sydney Motorsport Park fitted to my 1991 Honda NSX.
This tyre is an “Extreme Performance Summer” road tyre. Basically, think of it as the closest thing to a semi-slick or R-compound tyre without being quite as compromised when used on the street. The tyre has large central tread grooves so it is quite capable in the wet. I was also really impressed with how quiet these are on the road.
I had the tyres fitted up locally in Tamworth and headed towards Sydney on the fresh set of RE-71Rs. Something that stood out to me on the highway was how direct the initial turn-in feels. Almost zero tread squirm and a very natural feel and feedback through the steering. It is confidence inspiring and very good considering the tyres hadn’t even scuffed in yet!
I used the first track session to get a bit of a feel for the car and tyres, as well as finding my lines. It had been a while since I had last been out on SMSP. After an easy out-lap, I started to push the car a little harder through some turns and wow. The grip levels and steering feedback were already impressive and I hadn’t even scratched the surface of what these tyres can do. After pitting in, the tyre pressures were about 3-4psi too high. So I dropped them to around ~30psi hot in preparation for session 2.
About half a lap into session 2, the extra grip from the drop in tyre pressure was obvious. These RE-71R tyres just grip and grip and grip! It seriously felt like a sticky set of R-comp tyres were fitted. If I didn’t already know that these were a street tyre before going out on track I wouldn’t have believed it at this point. The turn-in felt sharp and predictable, the mid-corner feel was awesome and almost no steering corrections were required once set in the corner. It was simply brilliant. The RE-71R has a stiff sidewall which is really evident by how the tyres feel even at the lower pressures.
Session 3 was a longer session allowing me to run around 8 hard laps before coming back in. I couldn’t believe that the tyre didn’t go ‘off’ or become greasy like basically every other street tyre I have taken on track before. These tyres feel like the grip level and stability is maintained even after pushing pretty hard for 7-8 laps. I was starting to find the limits of my brakes before the tyres feel like they were losing any performance.
On my trip back to Tamworth I got to test the RE-71R in the rain. There was some heavy rain and the road surface had some standing water which the RE-71R had no issue at all with dispersing. Usually, I would be quite nervous in the same conditions on an R-comp semi slick tyre, as I have encountered hydroplaning before in similar conditions. I found the tyre noise interesting in that smooth sections of hot mix tarmac, it made a noise similar to duct tape being peeled off. Not really noticeable unless the window was down, but interesting nonetheless! Otherwise, the noise from the RE-71R is not unbearable, as it is more of a low-frequency noise and not intrusive. Despite pushing them in corners, I couldn’t make them squeal at all as you’ll see from my in-car video below.
The NSX can be a tricky car on the limit. With its neutral handling behaviour, it can transition rapidly into oversteer with little warning. This only occurred once or twice in my 4 sessions on track, mainly due to me provoking the car by getting on the throttle hard out of turn 2. Even when the slide began it was very progressive and easy to manage, I was impressed.
With around 1,500km on these tyres now, I can confidently say that these are the highest performing street tyre I have driven on. The only thing left to assess is their lifespan! I’ll be sure to follow up with a progress report on how they are wearing as they get a few more kilometers on them.
A crisp autumn morning, blue skies all around, chilled vibes and some clean Hondas is an easy way to sum up June’s ClubITR x CRX SA meet. Check out the coverage and reflection here.
We’re approaching winter and what better way is there to warm ourselves up with burgers & fries. For ClubITR’s NSW May meet, we organise the location with Holy Heffa and they certainly delivered in providing one of their signature burgers. Check out the coverage and reflection here.
ClubITR WA held their first meet of the year. It was a great night filled with nice Hondas and of course good food from Short Order Burger Co. Check out the coverage and reflection here.
We recently held ClubITR’s first meet of 2017. Over 80 cars and even more people attended. Quality food thanks to Superior Burger and chilled vibes all ’round. Check out the coverage and reflection here.
The ClubITR crew in Radelaide ended the year with a meet mixed in with blue skies, great company and food from Bunnings’ infamous fundraising BBQ. Check out the coverage and reflection here.
The WTAC lap record was reset once again with an amazing time of 1:22.19 by the MCA Suspension S13 Silvia. The front wheel drive record was also broken by everyone’s favourite Honda CRX driven by Rob Nguyen with a time of 1:27.61. It was a good time for ClubITR members to catch up with those who flew or drove from interstate to attend and even race! Check out the coverage and reflection here.
Round 2 of the ClubITR hoodie order was ready and we had the perfect place for dinner and apparel pick up. Brewristas! Check out the coverage and reflection here.
