New 5th Generation Honda Stepwagon

[KimiR]

On 3/28/2020 at 3:03 PM, Heartlander said:

Collected my dark red Stepwgn Spada yesterday.

Had been happily driving my compact hatch till my wife complained about needing to drive 2 cars to eat breakfast on weekends because cannot squeeze into one. Very first world problem haha. So the process to change started last Saturday when I went to test drive the Serena which impressed me with the drive, but got smitten when saw a black Spada in a PI showroom. Also looked at the triplets but really turned off by the very dated cabin and van-like rear, despite hybrid variants selling at lower price. Signed the agreement on the following day and got the COE 3 days later.

Was abit mixed feeling as quite sad to bid farewell with my previous ride as it was still serving me very well. But on the other hand I am quite excited also as this is the first time I am getting a car of my choice without doing compromise with consideration of other family members. In fact my wife and all 4 kids all hated this car design, while I love it very much for its waku waku door, 1.5T turbo engine that can do century sprint of 8.x seconds, fully collapsible 3rd row that can be done by 1 finger, full suite of Honda Sensing Safety package. Serena was the primary choice at first but then disappointed to realise that the local version is totally stripped of its safety features, and even the SE was struggling with both hands to stow the 3rd row seat, meaning its strongest point is being AD product and FC of 16km/L. But I rationalize by thinking whether I want to be shiok every time I drive the car, or only once very 1 to 2 wk when I pump the petrol, so eventually the choice was clear haha. I am not that put off by PI/AD factor since I have owned a Vellfire from PI before. Yah another reason Serena that put Serena at bad light was that someone drove it up Genting and as the motor was not getting enough power from its battery being charged by the puny 1.2L engine, the car was only able to move at 40km/hr. I am not sure I will drive my car up Genting, but good to know it can do so quickly haha.

Anyway coming back to this Stepwgn Spada. I was not able to do test-drive before buying so was glad that everything had been as read and expected after collecting it. The car did not feel heavy despite being 1700kg. Moving off was effortless, and cruising lagi easy just need to depress the accelerator slightly and can go 100km/hr really quickly. The suspension also more towards soft and comfort, so going over hump will not feel the jarring sensation, much better than my current compact hatch. The interior is so spacious and look modern with nice LED illuminating the cabin. As for FC, would be happy if can get 10km/L which is whatI am getting with cprevious compact hatch, which is well below what other Stepwgn owners are getting, so should be easily achievable haha.

The only issue with getting this car had been the timing, as everyone is  expecting the economy to take a beating and COE going south in next few months. But I reckon that if I have a car that need to sell, it will also be getting a laosai price tag by then so not going to have much difference if I am to get the ride now.  Anyway buy already not going to think too much haha. Hope this ride can serve me well as with other previous rides I have. Not going to say keeping this ride for next 10 years as cannot keep the promise so far with previous rides. If anyone need any info on this ride, I would be glad to share. Perhaps can PM me if want privacy haha. Cheers.

Drove up Cameron Highlands with a 1.5T Spada fully loaded. No lack of power. CG high but can corner quite well. Still have to drive carefully as this is a family car. I drive within speed limits in Singapore and am lighted footed, my FC is about 15km/l and 1 single tank can do on average 650km. 80% highway. FC suffer in Malaysia, usually around 11km/l as can go 110kmh but sometimes need to go higher to overtake. I have gone to KL and Kuantan without refilling. The biggest issue I have with Spada is the lack of spare wheel, only have repair kit.

[stepwgnRP3]

Blitz FLD boost meter DIY install 2018 Honda Stepwgn Spada RP3.

Hello. Putting it out here for anyone interested in DIY install. Took me 2 nights of roughly 3 hrs each to complete it (I was taking my time). Toughest part was removing the OEM vacuum hose since it was hard to see directly (I will get into it later).

Here are some following websites which are useful (mostly in Japanese, I just use google translate):

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/2662246/car/2232716/5403982/note.aspx

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/2662246/car/2232716/5403998/note.aspx

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/317928/car/1973827/5212712/note.aspx

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/317928/car/1973827/5212713/note.aspx

The item number is 15201 which comes with an electronic boost sensor, wiring, T-connector, zip ties and vacuum hose. For the Stepwgn RP3 and RP4, the primary (upper) and secondary (lower) can display: RPM, speed, throttle, or water temp. The needle obviously shows the boost. For me, my primary display is water temp and the secondary display is throttle.

On the live unit, make sure you select communication OTHER THAN ISO CAN (OFF).

For the dimming function, I soldered the yellow wire to an add-a-fuse tap and tapped on the Illumination fuse number 25 on the driver side fuse panel (RHD), as shown as the top add-a-fuse in the pic (the bottom add-a-fuse is for my blackvue power magic ultra battery).

The meter itself gets power from the OBD2 connection. On the OBD2 connection wire, connect blue to blue and orange to green. 

I then taped and zip tied the live unit on top of the aircon opening right next to the OBD2 port (left side of footwell), with the rest of the wiring (meter wiring, illumination wire, and the OBD2 connector wire) tucked and zip tied to existing OEM wiring behind the plastic covering below the steering wheel.

Now that the easy part is done, next off is to tackle the trickier steps!

There is a large circular rubber plug which is seen above the brake pedal. Pop it out carefully using a flat screwdriver (might need some force). I then used a metal clothes hanger and bent it so that it has a slight curve and taped the electronic boost wiring to the end of it. Put some lubrication on the clothes hanger and wiring and then gently poke it through the firewall. Once it is pulled through, I cut a small hole on the rubber plug and push through the small connector beginning of the wire, re-install the rubber plug, then connect to the live unit, with the wiring zip tied and tucked behind a plastic covering on the left of the footwell.

I have seen other people guide the wire through same opening as the cable for opening the hood. This seems a bit more difficult for me so I choose to pass through this rubber plug.

I zip tied the wiring to a thick OEM wiring loom. I fixed the electronic boost sensor to the left of the engine bay, using zip tie.

Next, you need to remove the OEM vacuum hose. This is the trickiest part. It is hard to see directly, so I put my phone on a selfie stick and asked my assistant (wife) to hold it. Remove vacuum hose with needle pliers, with twisting motion. I also used a flat topped screwdriver to help push the end of the vacuum hose off. The following 2 pics shows where the OEM vacuum hose is located.

Unfortunately, the rubber hose included in the kit is kinda too short, so I ordered Samco silicone vacuum hose with internal diameter (bore size) 4mm, wall diameter 2mm (total diameter of the whole tube is 8mm) from Demon Tweeks. I used the T piece included in the kit, zip tied, reconnect the samco tube. Connect the extended tube to the electronic boost sensor.

Make sure all wiring is not loose. Test drive. OEM boost for the Honda Stepwgn RP3 L15B engine is 0.7-0.75 bar. Here is my video clip of the opening and closing sequence 

Hope this is useful for anyone out there. Have fun!

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by stepwgnRP3

[stepwgnRP3]

Newbie here so I don't know how to re-edit my own post. 

I forgot to mention I routed the boost gauge wire along the side of the dash. I didn't want to drill holes in the dash so I fixed the wire with 2 wire holder sticker thingy. You can't see the wiring when seated. You can see it on the small side mirror though but it's not that obvious.

Also, you should remove the air intake box before removing the OEM vacuum hose so you have more space to work with. 

[stepwgnRP3]

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt, Noblesse diffuser and TaoBao side skirt DIY install 2018 Honda Stepwgn RP3.

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt is very well made and fits perfectly. Install is straight forward with double sided tape and screws included. The only issue is my Kakimoto exhaust is in the way of the screw. I was lazy and didn't want to remove the exhaust so I simply drilled another hole. I ordered it unpainted so had to paint it before install. 

Noblesse diffuser. Quality is good. It came with a 3M primer thingy which is supposed to make the double sided tape stick better on the diffuse. I recommend using it because the rubber weather strip does not stick well on to the diffuser. Initially, fit was also perfect, but after a day, there was a small gap so I used a Permatex black silicone and filled in the small gap. Looks good now. Maybe there wouldn't be a gap if it was installed by a professional. An important tip: the red reflective lights is not completely in the centre on mine, so make sure it is in the middle before sticking. There is an option of either LED lights or reflective stickers. I choose reflective stickers because there is less work involved. Haha. I also ordered it unpainted and had to paint it before install.

There isn't much aftermarket side skirt available for the RP3. I wanted something simple. I found a universal side skirt on TaoBao. Quality is ok. It came with screws. I added 3M double sided tape for auto use just in case.

 

[ferrytales]

2 hours ago, stepwgnRP3 said:

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt, Noblesse diffuser and TaoBao side skirt DIY install 2018 Honda Stepwgn RP3.

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt is very well made and fits perfectly. Install is straight forward with double sided tape and screws included. The only issue is my Kakimoto exhaust is in the way of the screw. I was lazy and didn't want to remove the exhaust so I simply drilled another hole. I ordered it unpainted so had to paint it before install. 

Noblesse diffuser. Quality is good. It came with a 3M primer thingy which is supposed to make the double sided tape stick better on the diffuse. I recommend using it because the rubber weather strip does not stick well on to the diffuser. Initially, fit was also perfect, but after a day, there was a small gap so I used a Permatex black silicone and filled in the small gap. Looks good now. Maybe there wouldn't be a gap if it was installed by a professional. An important tip: the red reflective lights is not completely in the centre on mine, so make sure it is in the middle before sticking. There is an option of either LED lights or reflective stickers. I choose reflective stickers because there is less work involved. Haha. I also ordered it unpainted and had to paint it before install.

There isn't much aftermarket side skirt available for the RP3. I wanted something simple. I found a universal side skirt on TaoBao. Quality is ok. It came with screws. I added 3M double sided tape for auto use just in case.

 

thats a huge exhaust pipe which makes it look kinda hideous..

[Heartlander]

4 hours ago, stepwgnRP3 said:

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt, Noblesse diffuser and TaoBao side skirt DIY install 2018 Honda Stepwgn RP3.

Vary Garage front lip spoiler and rear side skirt is very well made and fits perfectly. Install is straight forward with double sided tape and screws included. The only issue is my Kakimoto exhaust is in the way of the screw. I was lazy and didn't want to remove the exhaust so I simply drilled another hole. I ordered it unpainted so had to paint it before install. 

Noblesse diffuser. Quality is good. It came with a 3M primer thingy which is supposed to make the double sided tape stick better on the diffuse. I recommend using it because the rubber weather strip does not stick well on to the diffuser. Initially, fit was also perfect, but after a day, there was a small gap so I used a Permatex black silicone and filled in the small gap. Looks good now. Maybe there wouldn't be a gap if it was installed by a professional. An important tip: the red reflective lights is not completely in the centre on mine, so make sure it is in the middle before sticking. There is an option of either LED lights or reflective stickers. I choose reflective stickers because there is less work involved. Haha. I also ordered it unpainted and had to paint it before install.

There isn't much aftermarket side skirt available for the RP3. I wanted something simple. I found a universal side skirt on TaoBao. Quality is ok. It came with screws. I added 3M double sided tape for auto use just in case.

 

You from Hong Kong?  Our typical Steppie owners here are not so techie to do what you have done haha. Most are only concerns with maintenance issues.

[stepwgnRP3]

7 hours ago, ferrytales said:

thats a huge exhaust pipe which makes it look kinda hideous..

Hello. Yes it is kinda big. Haha. It’s Kakimoto GTbox 06&S exhaust. I choose this one because the sound is better than the HKS one in my opinion and cheaper than the mugen. 

[stepwgnRP3]

5 hours ago, Heartlander said:

You from Hong Kong?  Our typical Steppie owners here are not so techie to do what you have done haha. Most are only concerns with maintenance issues.

Hi there. Yes I’m from HK. How did u know? Lol. 
I wanted to post on the Japanese minkara website but they needed a local japan tel number to register. 
There are 1 or 2 HK Stepwgn forum but it’s all in Chinese (my Chinese is not that great, I grew up overseas). 
I stumbled on this forum, it’s in English, it’s free to register, based in Singapore (kinda close to HK I guess) so here I am. Haha.

My hope is that someone on this planet may find what I write here useful. Cheers. 

[Kangadrool]

How does this tall car corners? Does it feel floaty and hair-raising leaning pisa tower when taking expressway exit bends?

[Heartlander]

6 hours ago, stepwgnRP3 said:

Hi there. Yes I’m from HK. How did u know? Lol. 
I wanted to post on the Japanese minkara website but they needed a local japan tel number to register. 
There are 1 or 2 HK Stepwgn forum but it’s all in Chinese (my Chinese is not that great, I grew up overseas). 
I stumbled on this forum, it’s in English, it’s free to register, based in Singapore (kinda close to HK I guess) so here I am. Haha.

My hope is that someone on this planet may find what I write here useful. Cheers. 

There are always silent majority here who do not post often but are benefiting from excellent contribution like yours. Please keep it coming and share more of your mod history with us haha.

One of the picture with car number plate gave your location away haha.

[Heartlander]

25 minutes ago, Kangadrool said:

How does this tall car corners? Does it feel floaty and hair-raising leaning pisa tower when taking expressway exit bends?

Taken from the honda Steppie website:

https://www.honda.co.jp/STEPWGN/webcatalog/performance/driving/

Comfort and peace of mind in various scenes every day.‎

‎Honda's original low center of gravity design, which is hard to get wobbly in curves.‎

‎By lowering the center of gravity position of the car, it realizes excellent steering stability that is hard to wobble even when driving at curves or high speed.‎

Compare to Vellfire which was a shock when going over multiple humps at an angle at carpark gantry, the Steppie handles it much much better due to lower CG design. The lower seating height definitely helps. The car is heavy at 1700kg and with low CG design, not so affected like the rest of minivans when it comes to cornering. I have done cornering at similar speed with my B180, difference is there definitely there but not that much, but you will not surely feel the car is toppling over haha. But of course it is still a tall family car, so not really wise to do that.

 

[Watwheels]

For those who install a boost gauge I can tell you there's nothing much to see. LoL...the peak boost usually will be very brief. The turbocharger is tuned for efficiency not performance. You will see that there isnt much movement from the gauge. 

[stepwgnRP3]

On 6/8/2020 at 9:54 AM, Heartlander said:

There are always silent majority here who do not post often but are benefiting from excellent contribution like yours. Please keep it coming and share more of your mod history with us haha.

One of the picture with car number plate gave your location away haha.

Thanks for your kind words. I just installed the Blitz Power Con. I will write up the install here tomorrow!

[stepwgnRP3]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:54 AM, Watwheels said:

For those who install a boost gauge I can tell you there's nothing much to see. LoL...the peak boost usually will be very brief. The turbocharger is tuned for efficiency not performance. You will see that there isnt much movement from the gauge. 

Hello. The reason why I installed the boost gauge is because I was planning on installing the Blitz Power Con (small piggy back ECU which raises boost). Having a boost gauge can quickly tell me if the Blitz Power Con is working or not. I have just installed the Power Con and boost has increased to 0.9-1.0 bar compared to original 0.75 bar. Below is a quick clip of the boost gauge. As you can see, there is quite a lot of movement.

 

[QQDreamer]

anyone install the auto tail gate? if yes where to install and how much?

[Heartlander]

2 hours ago, StreamRSZ said:

anyone install the auto tail gate? if yes where to install and how much?

For my case not really necessary due to the innovative Waku Waku gate. I have very rarely need to open the tail gate as the side door serves its purpose very well for those grocery runs. The wide access angle and low floor height really handy. Sorry not able to advise on costs involve.

 

[stepwgnRP3]

Blitz Power Con install DIY 2018 Honda Stepwgn Spada RP3

Blitz Power Con is a simple piggy back ECU which increases boost from 0.75 bar to 1.0 bar and increase 20ps (according to Blitz's website) by simply plugging into 2 pressure sensor (1 main and 1 sub sensor). I choose this because it is easy to install, fully reversible, a healthy increase in power and not expensive. Sure, this is not the best way to tune a car, but for a family car, it's more than enough for me.

I have already installed the Blitz Carbon Power Air Cleaner which makes the install of the Power Con even easier since I only need to remove 2 bolts and unplug the air mass sensor and the air filter comes right off. For those with the OEM air box, there are more bolts and clips to remove.

It took me about 1-1.5 hrs for the install. I am sure I can reduce the time to 45-60 mins next time.

1) According to the instructions: Turn off car, put the key at least 10m away from the car and wait for 15 mins before unplugging the pressure sensors. This is to minimise the check engine light.

2) While you wait for 15 mins, you can remove the air box. In the instructions, it tells you to remove a bunch of things to install the Power Con (such as the windshield wipers and loosen the brake fluid tank). I didn't find this necessary. I only removed my Blitz Air Cleaner.

3) There are 3 connectors coming from the Power Con module. Black connector connects to the main pressure sensor (behind the engine). White connector connects to the sub pressure sensor (front of engine). Wrap both of these connections with electrical vinyl tape. The 3rd plug is a smaller black connector for the optional Blitz Thro Con product I believe. If using the Power Con only, then there is a plug which loops with this connector and then wrap with electrical vinyl tape.

4) I placed the Power Con module on top of the fuse box cover (right upper side of the engine bay). Take out the fuse box cover. For ease of removal in the future, I used 3M velcro tape to tape the Power Con module on to the fuse box cover.  I also drilled 2 small holes on opposite side of the fuse cover to pass through a zip tie for additional security. The space is quite tight but you can gently lift up the plastic on top of the fuse box for a bit of extra space.

5) Find the main pressure sensor. It is located behind the engine. The pic below shows the sensor circled in aqua color. The vacuum hose circled in red is used to install a boost gauge.

Use a phone, with selfie stick if you like, to find this sensor and remove the plug by pressing on the tab and then pulling it out. Surprisingly, this plug was removed with ease. Plug this into one of the plug from the Blitz harness, and then insert the plug from the harness to the sensor to complete the loop. Zip tie the harness to the adjacent hose. In the pic below, red arrow shows the sensor and the aqua arrow shows the zip tie on the harness.

Below shows another view of the zip tie, the harness and the hose.

I zip tie the harness in 3 additional places. 2 on to existing hoses and 1 on the hole which is used for the OEM air box. If you need to re-install the OEM air box, you need to find another place to zip tie the harness. Below pics: red arrow is the site of the main pressure sensor, aqua arrows shows the site of zip ties.

6) Identify the Sub pressure sensor. This is easily seen to the left of the battery. Space is tight here. I found it easiest to remove the plug with my right hand reaching the plug on top and my left hand from the bottom. Complete the loop and zip tie the harness to secure. 

I also zip tie this harness to the hole used for the OEM air box together with the main pressure harness.

I then placed the 2 harnesses and placed it on top of the OEM air duct as shown below.

Make sure nothing is loose, turn on the car and enjoy! My check engine light never went on. My blitz FLD boost gauge shows boost increased from 0.70-0.75 bar to 0.9-1.0 bar. See link below. Power is  definitely noticeable and smooth. Without the Power Con, the power felt like it hit a brick wall early on, whereas after the Power Con, it feels like the brick wall has been pushed back and power has been freed from 2000 to redline. Even my wife noticed the difference!  All in all, quite a good purchase and thanks for reading!

 

[stepwgnRP3]

Honda leather shift knob. Part number 08U92-TAA-010. I got it from here : https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/parts-conveni/ag-01928.html?sc_i=shp_pc_search_itemlist_shsrg_title

Looks much better than the plasticky cheap original knob. Very easy to install. Took me 3 mins. I turned on the car, put it into N so that you can easily reach the 2 screws at the back of the knob. When the 2 screws are removed, as you pull out the whole shift knob out, lightly press on the silver knob so that it won't fall out. The silver knob should easily fall out and there will be a long spring inside. Reinstall the spring and the silver knob to the new shift knob, press lightly on the silver knob and then put back into the stick, and finally screw it in. Done!