I have a '99 Acc LX MT. I drive 250-400 miles a day as a contract courier for a pathologist (170K miles since purchase). I bought the car as a workhorse w/ 42k on it 2 yrs ago. Just put $3000+ into engine rebuild and clutch. Don't want to get rid of the car because I know it well and it is in great shape outside of the mileage. Got 2000 TL seats off eBay (to match interior) at a great price and installed last week, very comfortable. Almost bolted in. All I wanted was the comfort of the driver seat and got carried away. It turned out really well. I would like to carry it a little farther and make the car I love more comfortable and just a bit nicer.

Anybody have EX or EX V6 interior parts to get rid of? Type F (tan) interior leather door inserts? Woodgrain trim? Aluminum trim? Stock keyless entry parts? Stuff you have replaced in favor of aftermarket parts.

I have a 98-02 automatic climate control head unit that I am looking to get rid of as well. too cmplicated too install in an LX. Trade?

 

Get better shocks, adjustable shocks that will give you a really soft ride. Depending on what wheel size you have you could upgrade to a larger brake disc and do a rear disc swap. (A 17" rim would easily house 13" brakes, if you have the 15s you could swap in 11" discs. I know for the 94-97 Accords the V6 and wagons had 11" rotors.) Aluminium trim looks tacky, if you want to go upscale looking get wood grain. Paint the moulding to match the car. Get better tires for less road noise. Get a better audio system since you drive a lot.

 

Top notch touring tires on light weight (less weight = less unsprung weight, which improves ride) but durable alloy rims will improve ride, noise and handling over a cheaper alternative. Aftermarket shocks could be installed and adjusted/tuned for improved ride instead of handling. Might be able to find softer spring rates as well.

It's very possible with aftermarket shocks to use a softer spring rate, but still have a car that is handles safely in emergency conditions. You just need a shock with adjustable hgih and low speed compression and rebound. Most only adjust 2 of the 4.

 

I go through tires so quickly I wouldn't want to go much larger than 16". But I don't reeally know anymore. Do tires still become prohivitively expensive at 17" (at least they used too, I buiilt two CRX's before i got married, had kids, and got "serious" as my wife would say.) I buy my tires through tirerack.com at the moment (usually get michelin MXV4's).

I agree that aluminum looks tacky, but its better than black plastic, thats why I mentioned it. Would like some nice woodgrain but what i have seen from Honda leaves a little to be desired. Any suggestions?

I ahve more to ask but have to leave. Thanks

Which shocks?

 

I hated those Michelin tires.
Once I had to buy new tires, I've been stuck with buying Falken Ziex 512's.
Those tires are great.

 

I would suggest the 01-02 EX-V6 6 disc CD changer, a satellite radio tuner, and new shocks if you haven’t by now. Along with the leather door panels and armrest. I went the OEM route and bought CL Type-S, which are a bit firmer and handle better than the original shocks but still offer very good ride comfort. Since they’re Honda I know they’ll last for at least 50k miles, unlike aftermarket brands which you can never be sure of. Aside from that there’s not a whole hell of a lot you can do…I found a 02 Coupe V6 gauge cluster (with the silver graphite face with red needles instead of orange on black) on ebay for real cheap and bought it.

And how did your engine die so quickly?

Edit: The MXV4's are terrible dude. Goodyear Assurance Tripletred are the best all-seasonals you can buy right now. They don’t have nearly the response and control of the max performance tires I’ve owned (Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, Potenza S-03, Dunlop SP9000, Yokohama ES100) but they’re amazingly close. Even more shocking is that they’re unbelievable in the snow.

 

I have the woodgrain trim for the doors if you're interested.

 

True...when i bought my car it came with 4 new ones on it, and a spare rim, and two tires in the trunk....plus the donut tire as well.

All 6 tires had to be replaced in about 9 months. Granted i drove from where i live since i came home every weekend (110 miles each way) and i drove alot when i was home.

Then i got a set of MXV4 Plus and havent had a problem since

 

Which aftermarket shocks do you reccomend for a slightly softer ride without sacrificing stability?

 

I think my engine was badly maintained before I bought the car. Fourth Honda, first major problem. If I add it all up I had 550k relatively trouble free miles on two accords and two CRX's before a major mechanical problem. Car #3 (CRX) had a ton of aftermarket on the engine and no problems.

Thanks for the advice.