Wifes new car CR-Z EX 6mt

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FLounder

power hungry
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Well, not brand new... its 2011 with 35k miles, in excellent shape. We really like it so far, big upgrade over the old 03 RSX base 5 speed she had. Got a 5 year/100k warranty with it too.

Looking into upgrading the DRL to LEDs, and shes already missing the bass from her old car (10" kicker comp in a big ported box). Id like to figure out how to upgrade the stock 8" sub so as to save the space in the hatch. Also will likely upgrade the wheels in the future, but thats not a priority. Also, it didnt come with floor mats, so will be picking up some soon. Maybe a couple other light modifications in the future....

Cell phone pics, and it was dirty from driving in the rain, but here she is.


 
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Yeah i think its the exact same car, EX 6 speed without nav. Hopefully he will be along to offer some advice about upgrading stuff.
 
Don't bother doing anything to the car short of a supercharger. All a CAI will do is cost you fuel. A K&N filter only saves fuel, it doesn't gain power in these cars, and it only saves fuel if you clean it regularly.

As far as LED DRLs, you'll need to buy "switchbacks" for it, and add in the resistors so it won't freak out with the lower load on the MCU. They cost about $45/ea all said and done.

Tint and better brake pads is about all you need. Honda has really done a good job with the CR-Z, it's an econo-car that dreams about being a sportscar.
 
Oh, right, the Subwoofer. Take the stock sub out, and fill the cavity with poly stuffing, replace the sub. The sub-magnet has a screw in the back, so you'll need to take the sub box out completely. Then cut the highs and mids in the radio settings by 1dB. If you boost it, it'll just distort and flat-top.

On the CR-Z forum there's a guy who sells foam soundproofing kits. It's closed cell Neoprene cut in the shapes needed for the doors. I think I paid $70 for it, and it made a HUGE difference in the sound quality.

There's almost no sound-proofing in the car to keep weight down, so keep that in mind when upgrading audio. The noise floor is pretty high to begin with.
 
Thanks for the input! Definitely been browsing through the crz forum pretty hard for the last week, saw a few posts by you. I like the RSX wheels on there.

Im think about getting a little more wild with the subwoofer... there was a thread where the guy modded the stock sub enclosure and added an aftermarket sub and an amp to push it, im leaning towards going this route. My wife like lots of bass, probably just because she is used the 1000 watt setup she had in her RSX. Im not going to lie, i like it too... i have a pretty nasty stereo in my Xterra, highs that make your ears ring, and bass that will make a water bottle dance in the cup holder lol.

About the intake, did you try different setups on your car or did you just research the shit out of it and come to the conclusion about the fuel economy? Not trying to be a smartass at all, just interested to learn, particularly from real world experience.
 
I had a CAI for a couple months. I sold it to a local kid after I saw a consistent 4mpg hit on fuel economy. I even reset the ECU, relearned the idle, re-trimmed the fuel adjustment with a HIM system, and still took a 3.5-4mpg hit. The car is just so damned "smart" that it keeps retuning to keep the fuel economy, rather than gain power.

Probably the single largest change you can make to the car is getting rid of the CDV, which I've documented pretty well on both the Fit and CR-Z forums. There's a guy who makes a HUGE profit on welding up the CDV on the OEM CMC, and I was warned not to step on his business, because he was a paying vendor... But, since B isn't that big of a dick: just buy a pre-2003 Honda Civic Si CMC, and swap that in, no assrape required.

I find the stock system to be pretty flat and balanced, but then again, it's been a long time since I had a 1200W amp with a 8" sub in a bandpass box. :D
 
Yeah, Thread Necromancer strikes again, lol.

Anyway, since we're here...I figured at this point there'd be more of these out there that had been K-swapped, essentially building a more modern CR-X? That never really took off like I thought it would...
 
Yeah, Thread Necromancer strikes again, lol.

Anyway, since we're here...I figured at this point there'd be more of these out there that had been K-swapped, essentially building a more modern CR-X? That never really took off like I thought it would...
yea sadly the Kseries Insight and CRZ never took off :(
 
The CRZ isn't as cool as everyone thought it would be. It's kinda like a fiero, but doesn't catch on fire.
 
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