Bense's 2006 Accord V6 6MT Sedan - BenseBuilt Close-ratio J-series transmission

Hi there, some of you may know me from my time spent on Honda-Tech.com, where I have been an admin since 2006 and manage the transmission forum. 

This is my 2006 Accord Sedan V6 6MT.  It has nearly 300k miles on it. I have reverse engineered Honda / Acura transmissions more than anyone else, and this is my test mule for the prototype J-series transmissions that I have been building. It is also my daily driver. The car is mostly a Frankenstein and I've got a lot of Accord hybrid parts on it.

Here is my close-ratio transmission. More information can be found about it here. It is comprised of some FK8 parts, some AWD TL parts, and some other parts. I also have an MFactory LSD in it. This is the first of its kind and it completely wakes up the J-series engines. Right now I only have the stock J30A5. I will be installing a J35A8 in it. I am currently working with the guys at HTS (Honda Tuning Suite) to get J-series supported. I plan on using HTS to tune my J35A8. 

More info to come

CH3A

I applaud your skill level.  Kudos my man.  

I'm a fan.  Also you really do have the same car as me.  Give it a year and see which one is faster around CMP?  Only half joking

What up Bense! Good to see you here. 

Glad you're working with the HTS guys. It looks like they're doing impressive stuff. I'll be using HTS for my challenge CRX in 2021.

This has my interest. Good work!

A while back I made a chart that showed which was the most cost effective weight reduction. I then colorized the column of $/lb with a color gradient to help illustrate which items should be prioritized, and I followed suit Accordingly. (pun intended).

The 2005-2007 Accord Hybrid has some parts that are aluminum, that are otherwise steel on my car. It has the 2004-2008 Acura TSX rear suspension knuckles, and Honda made a unique set of caliper brackets so that it could utilize the larger 11.1" rear rotors that they later used on the 8th gen Accord (non-hybrid 7g rear rotor diameter is 10.2"). Even with the larger rotor,  and the larger, steel caliper brackets, the Accord hybrid rear knuckles weigh 6.2 lbs less on each side. This was the first thing I changed on my car, while I was still sorting out some of the stuff for my custom transmission. I had to also get a 2006-2007 Accord Hybrid VSA / ABS Module because the magnet in the Accord Hybrid rear wheel bearing is different than non-hybrid Accord. 

Steel Accord with 10.2" rotor:

Aluminum Accord Hybrid with 11.1" rotor

Aluminum bling!

After my second session of laying on the garage floor on my back while I wrestled with the heavy ass steel Accord front subframe to get it reinstalled after swapping my transmission, I sought out an aluminum TL front subframe. I had been under the impression that I needed to get one from a 6MT TL, so I did. However, I then realized that this was not necessary. I made this chart to show which ones can be used for a manual transmission Accord.

It should also be noted that while everything lines up and bolts up perfectly, some of the bolts on the TL subframe are a little bit longer, and you will need to grab them when you're pillaging a TL in a junkyard. The front lower, inner, rear control arm bolts have nuts + large washer on the TL. Whereas the Accord subframe has steel nuts welded in place.

I picked up both bumper beams. Turns out that the 2005 Accord Hybrid rear bumper beam will not fit my car. I need a 2006-2007 Accord Hybrid rear bumper beam. Oh well at least the front one fit!

I had been waiting for a non-wrecked Accord hybrid hood. After contemplating the best way to transport the hybrid hood from the junkyard, I realized I was being dumb, and I proceeded to remove the hood from my car, and drove to the junkyard without a hood on my car like a jackass. I wasn't able to tell a difference in how it drove before with the aluminum subframe, but after I put the aluminum hood on my car and drove around for a day or two (my initial plan was to remove it once I got it home and put the stock hood back on until I painted the hybrid hood), I could tell a big difference in how my car initially turned into curves.

In early 2017, I stripped a Rotora big brake kit from a 2003 Acura CL-S 6MT (along with everything else off that car). The rotors were worn and looked then, but for $8/each I figured I'd pick them up. I went to buy some new brake pads for the calipers and they were like $175/set! I did some research and wound up buying a set of pads for a 2004 Jaguar XKR. About $35/set from Rockauto. -- Despite the fact that they "fit", I still had to thin the pads down a bit because Rotora specifically made this caliper narrow so that you would be forced to buy their proprietary brake pads. 

Obviously, I didn't do that, and just used a bench grinder to resolve this. I ran these on my 2001 Accord before it was totaled.

I installed the calipers on my '06 Accord last summer. This past Janurary, I noticed that they were beginning to crack..

Closer view..

I reached out to Rotora, and they wanted $420 for a pair of rotors! Pfffffffffft.

Turns out, the Brembo website allows you to search by dimension. After a bit of research, I ordered a pair of 2018 Mini Countryman rotors from Rockauto for $27/each. I then spent $24 ordering a set of aluminum wheel hubcentric rings 67.0 -> 64.1mm. Once I received them, I sanded them down...

Now that's more like it..

Rotors are held in place by the normal force that is exerted by the wheel when you torque the lug nuts down. It is not held in place by the shear force exerted by the wheel studs. Therefore, because the Honda Accord's wheel hubs are hubcentric, these rotors fit perfectly and they are not eccentric (oh but I certainly am!), and they ride true.

I then used a half inch, stainless washer, along with a grade 8, 7/16" washer between the caliper brackets and the calipers. I also had to replace the 25mm long, M12x1.25 bolts with ones that are 30mm. (I wasn't sure if I would need more than 30mm, so I ordered fully threaded 35mm, and figured I would cut them to lenght). Initial testing entailed me using those thick stainless washers that you can see here in the picture. They have since been shortened properly.

Strongest brakes I've ever driven.

Birthday present to myself...

Transmission has since been rebuilt and I'm shipping it out to a customer today.

Here is a plot of my gears vs stock. Horizontal units are km/hr. 

The stock J-series gearing is atrocious. Pretty much all OEM Honda gearing is awful except S2000 and 1g NSX 6MT. Even the 5MT 1g NSX Type R has awful gearing, and is wider ratio than the regular '91 USDM 5MT NSX gearing. 

Integra Type R gearing is awful. 1998+ JDM Integra Type R gearing is even worse. JDM DC5 Integra Type R gearing is ehhh decent. Everything else is absolute trash.

When I drive "aggressively" and quickly upshift, my transmission just goes into gear like its supposed to. It actually takes some getting used to because you realize that all the other times when you've "shifted fast" you did so by having to forcefully slam the shifter around, forcing the transmission to go into gear. 

Not the case with this. It pulls like a CVT.

Bense said:

I had been waiting for a non-wrecked Accord hybrid hood. After contemplating the best way to transport the hybrid hood from the junkyard, I realized I was being dumb, and I proceeded to remove the hood from my car, and drove to the junkyard without a hood on my car like a jackass.

That's great! "No pickup, no problem!"

Yep!

Loving this. 

Oh man I've got to update this. Imminent J37A2 and some other cool stuff. 

I need to find out if 4g TL subframe bolts up to 8g Accord. If I can confirm this, then that will translate to a few other things that will effect my build. 

Bense said:

I am currently working with the guys at HTS (Honda Tuning Suite) to get J-series supported. I plan on using HTS

This is no longer the case.