Customer Reviews

Honda and Acura Performance Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was such a refreshing change over the typical import car magazine that tell you just about every performance product is great. I have an Integra Type R (and just visited the author's home page and bought a model of my car), and discovered that most anything I do to my car will probably hurt its performance. Unfortunately, I had already found that out the hard way. The car magazines make their $$ from selling ads and they are not about to dis one of their advertisers. But this guy tells it like it is. He can probably get any performance part he wants for free, so guess what ignition system he uses for his full-blown race car? The stock Honda ignition. Still love reading the magazines, though

Ancas is an excellent writer - no falling asleep at the wheel reading this one. This is an overall well balanced approach to building a Honda project car. Excellent Honda history and an honest approach. He tell you in the first chapter to throw this book away and buy a project that someone else built. Let the other guy spend all the money and take the loss when he sell it to you. Also, it seems sincere and realistic - not the hype you find in magazines: 15 hp from an exhaust! - yeah right. Ancas comes right out and tells you that with most of the new cars (Integra R/GSR) there isn't much you can do to gain power. Most of what you do will end up robbing low end torque. You should also buy the book by Pettit since Ancas doesn't go into how to port a head or build a block - but you would be nuts to try something like that by yourself anyway.

Mike Ancus did an excellent job of giving the reader a taste of what the potential of hondas really are. A lot of people with late model civics and integras are just lowering them as low as they can, putting on the loudest muffler while calling it all performance upgrades. He shows what honda tuning is all about. Displaying everything from the mildly daily driver to the wildest racers, while showing the major upgrades as they were needed. What is exceptionally nice is that Mike includes road racing hondas (cars that just don't go in a straight line for a 1/4 mile) as well as the ultrahigh hp dragsters. He also has a sense of a real world budget a quality that most authors of these types of books lack. I am an absolute honda lover, and I think anyone interested in honda tuning should have this book.

This book does a good job scratching the surface. It doesn't go into a whole lot of detail but gives the reader a very good outlook on what is available to "hop up" your honda or acura. I am definately glad I prurchased it but for people who are really into the field of import performance might want a more technical book.

This book is an excellent place to start if you're just getting started in the Honda/Acura modification hobby. But the expert and the novice will both benefit from this book.

I particularly enjoyed the brief history of the Honda automobile provided in one of the opening chapters. It covers every generation of every model, so you can get a feel for the engineering changes that were made over the course of several years.

The details of car modifications are on the Internet. An explanation of the big picture is usually not out there, though. Without endorsing any manufacturers, or recommending one modification over another, Mike Ancas deals more with the WHY-TO than the HOW-TO. I learned something on every page.

There was an issue that was not addressed in this book; how do you build the fastest, best handling, sexiest honda on the road without compromising the dependability and quality of an OEM vehicle? This book was well suited for those who own early model Hondas, but many people are entering the import scene with $15,000 to $25,000 1999 model year vehicles and they would like to know what specific companies and products will give the most performance without compromising Honda's life expectancy and reliability. This book failed to answer that question. It touched on many areas of importance to the Honda fanatic but it neglected that one question which is on the back of everyone's mind as he/she walks into a performance shop, "I want to go fast and hard, but is this going to mess up my ride." Now on the flip side, the chapters written about the history of Hondas and their handling were very good, they offered practical advice for suspension tricks as well as some interesting insights into Honda's evolution.

I recently purchased and finished reading from cover to cover in one sitting, Mike Ancas' Honda & Acura Performance Handbook. The book is well written and enjoyable to read. This was the first book I read about Honda and Acura performance modifications and I was happily surprised by it. The book is not a how-to book, but rather a very good introduction to the types of modifications that can be done, what will work, and what may be a waste of your money. I like that the author points out that a specific add-on to a specific system may not produce the desired results without upgrading other parts of the system which may now be a weak link in the chain. The book does a great job of providing a foundation of knowledge upon which to build. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a place to start.

This was the first Honda tuning book I read, and I go back to it over and over again. Mike Ancas' knowledge of the Honda Civic is absolutely amazing, as is his knowledge of performance applications.

Even though Ancas talks a lot about older Hondas and Acuras, I feel that he takes a good amount of time talking about the newer models as well (not the newest, but up to the late 90s). He answers many common questions about performance tuning and talks about the pros and cons of each and leads the reader towards the right path.

All in all, it's a great book to start out with and makes a good collection to the library of a Honda enthusiast.

I just finished reading this book and the author did a great job. Avoiding the pitfalls of previous hop-up type books and those lengthy dissertations of machine shop procedures, makes the book more enjoyable. It's a hit up here at the Honda shop. I'm not editor, I'm a mechanic and Ancas spelled it out great. ItŐs worth every penny.

THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT GUIDE TO SORTING OUT REALITY FROM HYPE. WELL ORGANIZED FOR THE PERSON WHO WANTS TO TAKE HIS OR HER HONDA FROM MILD TO WILD. IF YOU ARE JUST GETTING INTO MODIFYING YOUR HONDA OR ACCURA THE WELL SORTED AND WRITTEN CHAPTERS WILL BE A VALUABLE GUIDE. ESPECIALLY LIKED THE NO NONSENSE APPROACH TO WHAT MODIFICATIONS ACTUALLY WORK IN THE REAL WORLD. READING THIS BOOK CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY IF YOU ARE INTO STREET PERFORMANCE FOR YOUR HONDA PRODUCT.