SoCal Lunar Silver over black Street/Light Track build

[Y0jjimb0]

Hey everyone. I just picked up my lightly used (6.5k mile) 2025 Lunar Silver ITS with black interior. I got lucky finding the exact spec I was looking for used but decently low mileage. This will be my first Honda/Acura. I'm coming from mostly BMWs and sold my F97 X3M to pick up the De5. We no longer needed the X3M to do SUV duties so I wanted something decently quick and fun to drive while still being a practical daily that I can have a car seat in. The De5 fit the bill. I cross shopped the Fl5 but I like the less boy-racer styling of the De5. I also have an e46 M3 that is primarily a track car now, so while I will track the De5 from time to time it will remain primarily a daily. Wheels/springs/camber adjustment coming next.

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[2012Baja]

Congrats! These are fun little cars I owned a E36 M3 at one point and wish I had not sold it lol... Any way this car reminds me of it a lot even though it's wrong wheel drive. These are the last of the Dinosaurs so enjoy!

 

[optronix]

Yeah I'm always curious to hear impressions from people who have the right BMWs. The E36 and especially E46 are from a time when BMW actually cared about the driving experience and less about dominating on paper.

Definitely an upgrade over the X3M, although I know those things are fast. My wife's car is a Macan GTS and I love that for what it is - I never thought it made sense for an SUV to be able to do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds but I'm now here for it - but since getting my DE5 I hardly drive it.

Also interesting to see DE5s built out for track use. There aren't many of us... technically myself included. I'm engineering my build towards autocross. Curious to see where you'll take it, especially having the E46 for "primary" track use.

 

[Pappagray]

thats the best colopr for this car IMO

 

[gohan408]

Lunar Silver is so nice

 

[Y0jjimb0]

Thanks guys! I'm excited for it

Yeah I'm always curious to hear impressions from people who have the right BMWs. The E36 and especially E46 are from a time when BMW actually cared about the driving experience and less about dominating on paper.

Definitely an upgrade over the X3M, although I know those things are fast. My wife's car is a Macan GTS and I love that for what it is - I never thought it made sense for an SUV to be able to do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds but I'm now here for it - but since getting my DE5 I hardly drive it.

Also interesting to see DE5s built out for track use. There aren't many of us... technically myself included. I'm engineering my build towards autocross. Curious to see where you'll take it, especially having the E46 for "primary" track use.

The E46 will go down as one of the all-time great chassis IMO. I'll never sell that one. The De5 has a similar ethos in a lot of ways. The focus on balance and driver engagement puts a smile on my face whenever I hop in either of them. The E46 just requires more effort/attention, and I'm enjoying being able to throw the De5 dampers into comfort and utilize the rev match with a gear selector that requires less effort when I'm just cruising. With the track springs rates, chassis mounted shifter, and loud carbon airbox the E46 always feels like it's in 'go-mode'.

The X3M was a wild machine, and legitimately fast. It really benefitted from KW V3 coilovers. I'm glad I owned it, but I'm ready to try something new. I just don't need the fastest vehicle I own to weigh 4500 lbs.

After some serious canyon driving I think I have a plan for what I want to do with the De5. It is already a quite capable dual purpose vehicle, and I don't want to ruin it's road manners for the sake of track performance if I only take it out a couple times a year. I'm leaning towards Spoon springs, camber adjustment, and eventually getting the DSC damper module. Maybe intake/exhaust/tune eventually too. I'm going to go with PS4S tires, and maybe getting a second set of wheels with 200tw tires on them. Or I may just throw some 200tw on and street drive them, undecided at the his point. I have the wheels ready to go though:

 

[optronix]

Cannot go wrong with GT beyond. 200TW tires in LA, the only major concern you'd have to deal with is road noise. Rain or cold aren't going to be too much a factor there like they are here in Maryland but it is a very clear difference when I have my PS4S on the car vs the RE-71RZ or even the Falken RT660+ I had previously. I actually prefer the PS4S for street driving by a significant margin, even in dry and warm conditions, and it's not just the road noise. They're perfectly adequate up to about 8/10ths driving, which no one should be exceeding on the street.

PS4S in 18 though might be slightly different; you're giving up the DT1 compound that is specific to these 19" OEM tires which makes an actual difference. Many people have claimed that the DT1-specific version of the PS4S that comes OEM on the DE5 and FL5 feels closer to a Cup2 than a "traditional" PS4S from a sidewall stiffness and grip perspective- but also possibly from a wear perspective as well (but it's not hard to find a good set of PS4S takeoffs for dirt cheap...). You lose whatever benefits the "special" DT1 compound provides when you move to 18" but how much difference that makes is up to individual interpretation. They are probably even quieter in 18.

I also feel like if you had KWs on the X3, might as well make a similar move with the DE5, right? Springs on this car have an overall net negative impact IMHO. Yes, adding front camber negates that but does its own thing to screw with the dynamics of the car... and it's not like lowering on coils has any different effect on camber, roll center, scrub radius etc. etc. but at least you get a damper and spring matched to each other and you're not trying to make the best out of a compromised situation. Maybe the RSR Best-i would be a good option for the street? The DSC is a genuine upgrade but jury is still out on whether or not you can actually use a DSC controller with that setup but I don't see why not if they retain the factory ADS?

 

[Y0jjimb0]

Cannot go wrong with GT beyond. 200TW tires in LA, the only major concern you'd have to deal with is road noise. Rain or cold aren't going to be too much a factor there like they are here in Maryland but it is a very clear difference when I have my PS4S on the car vs the RE-71RZ or even the Falken RT660+ I had previously. I actually prefer the PS4S for street driving by a significant margin, even in dry and warm conditions, and it's not just the road noise. They're perfectly adequate up to about 8/10ths driving, which no one should be exceeding on the street.

PS4S in 18 though might be slightly different; you're giving up the DT1 compound that is specific to these 19" OEM tires which makes an actual difference. Many people have claimed that the DT1-specific version of the PS4S that comes OEM on the DE5 and FL5 feels closer to a Cup2 than a "traditional" PS4S from a sidewall stiffness and grip perspective- but also possibly from a wear perspective as well (but it's not hard to find a good set of PS4S takeoffs for dirt cheap...). You lose whatever benefits the "special" DT1 compound provides when you move to 18" but how much difference that makes is up to individual interpretation. They are probably even quieter in 18.

I also feel like if you had KWs on the X3, might as well make a similar move with the DE5, right? Springs on this car have an overall net negative impact IMHO. Yes, adding front camber negates that but does its own thing to screw with the dynamics of the car... and it's not like lowering on coils has any different effect on camber, roll center, scrub radius etc. etc. but at least you get a damper and spring matched to each other and you're not trying to make the best out of a compromised situation. Maybe the RSR Best-i would be a good option for the street? The DSC is a genuine upgrade but jury is still out on whether or not you can actually use a DSC controller with that setup but I don't see why not if they retain the factory ADS?

Interesting, I didn't realize the 19in PS4S were a different compound. Now I'm wondering if I should just jump to a Cup 2.

You feel like springs are a downgrade even with the DSC controller? And have you noticed increased inner tire wear with the camber you are running up front?

IF I was to ditch the stock dampers and ADS I would probably jump right to a really high-end damper like MCS. The MCSs on my e46 manage the spring so well that even with a race car spring rate the ride remains reasonable. I don't think I'd want to give up the stock ADS for a middle-of-the-road coil over damper.

I guess everything is a compromise in some way. The stock ride height is a compromise I can't live with though lol

 

[gohan408]

Thanks guys! I'm excited for it



The E46 will go down as one of the all-time great chassis IMO. I'll never sell that one. The De5 has a similar ethos in a lot of ways. The focus on balance and driver engagement puts a smile on my face whenever I hop in either of them. The E46 just requires more effort/attention, and I'm enjoying being able to throw the De5 dampers into comfort and utilize the rev match with a gear selector that requires less effort when I'm just cruising. With the track springs rates, chassis mounted shifter, and loud carbon airbox the E46 always feels like it's in 'go-mode'.

The X3M was a wild machine, and legitimately fast. It really benefitted from KW V3 coilovers. I'm glad I owned it, but I'm ready to try something new. I just don't need the fastest vehicle I own to weigh 4500 lbs.

After some serious canyon driving I think I have a plan for what I want to do with the De5. It is already a quite capable dual purpose vehicle, and I don't want to ruin it's road manners for the sake of track performance if I only take it out a couple times a year. I'm leaning towards Spoon springs, camber adjustment, and eventually getting the DSC damper module. Maybe intake/exhaust/tune eventually too. I'm going to go with PS4S tires, and maybe getting a second set of wheels with 200tw tires on them. Or I may just throw some 200tw on and street drive them, undecided at the his point. I have the wheels ready to go though:

nice choice of wheels

 

[optronix]

Interesting, I didn't realize the 19in PS4S were a different compound. Now I'm wondering if I should just jump to a Cup 2.

You feel like springs are a downgrade even with the DSC controller? And have you noticed increased inner tire wear with the camber you are running up front?

IF I was to ditch the stock dampers and ADS I would probably jump right to a really high-end damper like MCS. The MCSs on my e46 manage the spring so well that even with a race car spring rate the ride remains reasonable. I don't think I'd want to give up the stock ADS for a middle-of-the-road coil over damper.

I guess everything is a compromise in some way. The stock ride height is a compromise I can't live with though lol

Yeah you're right where I was; the stock ride height was non-negotiable but I wanted to keep the adaptive dampers. The DSC is a great stopgap, but I still feel that just as you put it- a high end coilover is the better choice. You can't escape the fact that the car feels just not properly damped with the springs on it right now, despite the DSC controller covering most of the faults.

I mention the RSR because it retains the factory ADS; I can see in my previous response I didn't call that out clearly. Personally, I'm looking hard at Ohlins R&T, or KW. I haven't actually considered MCS but I'll keep them in mind for when I decide to pull the trigger- probably pretty soon.

And as for tire wear, I haven't had any more tire wear with the camber than without honestly- EXCEPT for autocross use. I absolutely laid waste to the OEM PS4S with less than 10k overall miles, only 2 events in with the camber. It's tough to keep track with miles because I split miles between all seasons and summers (and now rotate with RE-71RZ on 18" CE28Ns), but the PS4S were toast pretty quickly with my driving plus the camber. But normal driving, the DWS06+ have held up just fine and they probably have at least 4-5k miles on them; good enough sample size to tell if they were going to wear out prematurely and they still look brand new actually. I'm running -3.5 up front.

FWIW I also destroyed exactly one Falken RT660; it was cold and the tire probably didn't have enough heat in it and the Falkens notoriously start separating anyway so maybe it was an anomaly. The Bridgestones seem to be holding up ok after two events; I have two consecutive weekends coming up so I'll re-evaluate then (they will have been rotated after the first two events).

TL;DR, I'm fairly disappointed in the springs+DSC setup (not because of the DSC, let me reiterate! It's the dampers that are the problem), and wish I'd gone straight to coilovers.

 

[Y0jjimb0]

Yeah you're right where I was; the stock ride height was non-negotiable but I wanted to keep the adaptive dampers. The DSC is a great stopgap, but I still feel that just as you put it- a high end coilover is the better choice. You can't escape the fact that the car feels just not properly damped with the springs on it right now, despite the DSC controller covering most of the faults.

I mention the RSR because it retains the factory ADS; I can see in my previous response I didn't call that out clearly. Personally, I'm looking hard at Ohlins R&T, or KW. I haven't actually considered MCS but I'll keep them in mind for when I decide to pull the trigger- probably pretty soon.

And as for tire wear, I haven't had any more tire wear with the camber than without honestly- EXCEPT for autocross use. I absolutely laid waste to the OEM PS4S with less than 10k overall miles, only 2 events in with the camber. It's tough to keep track with miles because I split miles between all seasons and summers (and now rotate with RE-71RZ on 18" CE28Ns), but the PS4S were toast pretty quickly with my driving plus the camber. But normal driving, the DWS06+ have held up just fine and they probably have at least 4-5k miles on them; good enough sample size to tell if they were going to wear out prematurely and they still look brand new actually. I'm running -3.5 up front.

FWIW I also destroyed exactly one Falken RT660; it was cold and the tire probably didn't have enough heat in it and the Falkens notoriously start separating anyway so maybe it was an anomaly. The Bridgestones seem to be holding up ok after two events; I have two consecutive weekends coming up so I'll re-evaluate then (they will have been rotated after the first two events).

TL;DR, I'm fairly disappointed in the springs+DSC setup (not because of the DSC, let me reiterate! It's the dampers that are the problem), and wish I'd gone straight to coilovers.

Ok that's helpful experience, thank you! I'm interested to hear how you like the 71RZs.

 

[Y0jjimb0]

nice choice of wheels

19s? What suspension and tire size is this?

 

[gohan408]

19x9.5 ET 45
275/35/19
Lowered on H&R

 

[optronix]

Ok that's helpful experience, thank you! I'm interested to hear how you like the 71RZs.

I really like them, there's a natural correlation with the tire and people at the top of the leaderboard with lap/autocross times. If you're interested in competitive times it's tough to argue against the RZ.

The downside is they don't fit this car in the spec I have them in lol. The "god spec" as it's called, 18x10+40, with 275 RZs rubs. It's not to the point I don't want to use them but it's annoying. I don't think the FL5 shares the same issue; I think they have more fender clearance with those cars. Also, they're loud, noticeably louder than even the Falkens were. I'm glad I have the PS4S to alternate with, but if your tolerance is high for that kind of stuff I don't really see a problem with dailying them. The grip they offer is pretty intoxicating. I'd recommend going 265 if you're not an avid AX/track rat, probably avoid most if not all of the rubbing with aggressive offset.

 

[LookAtMyHorse]

19x9.5 ET 45
275/35/19
Lowered on H&R

It looks amazing. How’s the ride quality compared to stock? I really don’t want the ride to be much firmer than stock, and I heard H&R has a spring rate closer to OEM.

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