8GCC [MLK] + S'pore Honda Civic FD Club lunch and test drive

It was one fine weekend sometime last month, Benny called us out for some famous Hainanese Chicken Rice ball lunch at Batu Berendam. We had some Singapore FD owner and companions coming down in a group in a heavily modded FD. Found out later that it was actually Justin a.k.a. Icebear from the Singapore Honda Civic FD Club (www.civicfd-sg.com). They were supposed to meet up with us on the night before, however, another friend of theirs was involved in a tragic mishap, when his hood suddenly flipped open while driving along the PLUS highway, smashing into the windscreen.

From 8GCC were Benny + GF, Hanne + wife, Ah Wei, Ah Kit and Wai Yee. Missing on that day were Zurin, Napiioo and "Cikgu" Fandi ()

Wai Yee and I arrived early, so we managed to pull together 3 tables in reserve for our big group.

After lunch, we assembled in front of Team Cafe (which, it seems, is now closed down, unfortunately). In all, there were 5 FD's on the scene:-

1- Justin's FD had some serious mods in, which I hear include piggyback ECU's. Don't know the exact detail - either Benny / Hanne will provide details on this.

2- Hanne's black FD is without any new mods from our previous encounters - then again, I could be wrong. Need his input here also. Anyway, since he's already on a piggyback ECU and modded exhaust, I can't imagine what else he would have added....

3- My FD is focused on comfort - maximum soundproofing plus full Autofoam treatment. To offset the rather soft characteristics of the stock suspension, I've swapped my stock shocks for Koni FSD's. Still on stock 16" rims, though. NCT5's replaced with Yokohama DNA dB501's, which are super quiet, but cornering grip will lose out to more dedicated performance tires. I did augment my braking system with Stainless Steel Brake Hoses, which did a lot to reduce the spongy brake pedal during hard braking.

4- Ah Wei's stock FD2R. Nothing changed, except for the HU. Then again, the FD2R is so damn close to perfect, what else would you add? Well, maybe something to remove that 180kph speed limiter....

5- Benny's FD was the official safety car for this outing, serving as carrier for the 3 ladies and fragile cargo, who would not be participating in the "test drive" session coming up shortly.

So, the agreement was:-

Hanne take Justin's FD
Justin take Hanne's FD
Benny take my FD
I take Ah Wei's FD... in the passenger seat, with the expert driving his own car

With cars and drivers set, next up - the 4 FD test drive Field Report....

Benny and Hanne will post their comments, and I'll post my views on what it's like riding shotgun in a 225HP 6MT FD2R!

Sorry for the delay - as you all should know, I just became a father on Election Day....