Acura Reviews

I ordered this book and the High Performance Honda Builders Handbook Volume 1 and I highly recommend that book rather than this. Poorly written book but it does have the basics in it. And yes I returned this book back for a refund.

Being a ameteur tuner, I bought this book and learned so much. Every question I had was answered regarding B series and even more! It doesnt go insanely into depth about some things mentioned in the book, but it goes into depth where its needed. It even gives you suggestions for OEM part swaps to gain hp for less money. excellent buy... a must have for any honda enthusiast!

Mike writes a great book about performance and every step of engine modification. He goes in great detail, though somethings need to be read twice to understand, and goes from basics on how a engine works to customizing your own tubro system. This book is great for beginners of pros to the art of imports. A great read and a lot of fun. :D

Personally i own a 89' integra and have really found the information given very helpfull and easy to follow

I've never read this book, nor would I, but I am curious about its authorship. I had no idea Mary Shelley was so passionate about the Acura Integra.

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

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.

Mike Ancas' Honda and Acura Performance Handbook is an excellent introduction to Honda/Acura performance mods. This is not a how-to book, but rather a great introduction to the types of modifications, what works, and what may be a waste of money. I like the fact that the author points out the importance of considering the sum of the parts of each system when upgrading as opposed to just bolting on certain brand name parts and expecting serious performance increases. I would highly recommend this book as a great beginning to anyone just starting out.

This book is excellent for the Honda enthusiast. It is a little out of date. And maily suited to Honda N/A (naturaly aspirated)performace, although it does have some info on turbo setup's. The information in this book is mainly gathered from the racetrack s so it is fairly informative. It mainly covers Honda's from the 80's civic, crx, integra, prelude. I recomend this book for honda owners that are looking for some N/A performace tips.

I have an 1995 Integra GSR and it is probably the most modified car besides the Honda Civic. However, this book has more information for civics. It wouldn't bother me as much, except it tells how to make a civic into essentially, what a GSR is. For example, it shows how to install a short throw into a Honda. However the Integra already has a short throw. There are other mods too, but those are just common sense (Intake, headers, and exhaust, etc.) Another thing that I really don't like, is that it tells you how to make your car only good for drag racing. I would appreciate information telling how to make a good fast car that is also street legal. THis is an OK book for beginners and may be a better one for people who intend to race their car on the track only, but for me, its not worth it.

I have a basic model Honda Civic hatchback and I wanted to start making modifications to it for racing applications, but I didn't know how to start. This book provides a great base for those without Honda tuning or modification knowledge and points them in the right direction. Although limited in technical aspect, the author makes up for it by providing good examples on how to get modification accomplished (go to a pro). I would have liked to see more road racing applications covered in the book rather than drag racing.... A great compliment to other Honda tuning books!

This book cleared up a lot of things for me. The method of tuning of Hondas and Acuras was explained in great detail. It helped me get a good idea of what to do first. Also, it includes short features on some specific Honda and Acura tuners. Maybe the most helpful of all, however, was the features on the technical aspects of many not as well known modification parts. Now I know what the difference between driving, fog, and spot lights is. It also includes sections on performance wheels and tires, and how to build the perfect Civic. The book was a great overall look at Hondas and Acuras, without using too much over-tecnical lingo. You don't even have to own an Acura or Honda to enjoy it. I am fourteen years old and I loved it! I would reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in car modification.

Coverage of the Vigor is, at best, an afterthought. Not much usable information here. If you want Vigor documentation, this isn't it.

Coverage of Integra and Legend is better, and more typical of Chilton's manuals. Not bad. Not great.

Very good book to own for anyone with an Acura vehicle. Buy this book to keep your Acura in excellent shape and a ride that will last over 300,000 miles.

The book was somewhat helpful at times, but after using this book for a while I decided that I needed to break out the wallet and just buy a HELM manual ..., and I'm so glad that I did. If you have a Sedan legend this may be more accurate, but with my 1994 Legend Coupe it was really far off in many places and it's instructions are very vague. ...

I don't really have much to say but I think this is a great book to do your own reairing at home. I haven't try other book but this is a great book to have if you own a honda motor vehicle.

Get a Helms Manual....they're much more detailed!

I purchased this book with the intention of having a thorough reference guide for my 2000 TL. I was quicklly disappointed and surprised when 95% of what I referenced was not available, or lacked so much detail that it offered no assistance at all. This book may be a gem for integra owners (most of the examples and instructions are integra focused) but TL and RL owners beware, and take a peek at it in the stores before you commit. You could be highly disappointed.

This review had the info I was looking for. Even though I am not a mechanic I could follow the pictures.

...but that could be because I don't know too much about cars. I suppose you could get more out of it if you're a pro...
In most cases, there are better directions (including diagrams, exploded views of parts, etc.) on lots of different online sites. The 96-00 Civic is one of the most modified cars around today, and there are a thousand sites with the info you need. This manual wasn't even helpful with wiring the optional cigarette lighter/ashtray console. It's okay to have it along with the real instructions, but don't try to use it as a replacement. If you're thinking of buying this because you want to tinker with your car a little bit... don't..

The devil is in the details and this book simply lacks the details. It's not a bad deal if all you want to do is change brake lining and replace broken bulbs -- but thats about all it's good for.

It is not an acceptable reference for heavy duty repair. If you want to overhaul your engine, get the genuine factory service manual from Helms. The mechanical manual alone is expensive, but it contains more useful and accurate information than anything else out there.

So if you want to do it right, get the real factory service manual. If all you want to do really light duty stuff like brake pads, oil changes, and removing seats so that you can get a vacuum in there to clean out french fries, this book will work.

Simply put, Alldata sucks. I'm an ASE Master Technician. Alldata has given me fits in the past. I won't use it. If you want the best and don't like wasting time, in my experience (10 + yrs.), get Mitchell repair manuals. I just clicked on this site to see why an employer would buy it as mine did...you get what you pay for.

The CD liner congratulates you on purchasing the most comprehensive collection of automotive repair informationavailable today. If you consider a total of 20 lines of information on how to remove a V8 engine comprehensive then you won't be dissapointed. If however you were looking for the one source describing all manner of repair information then you are better spending your money elswhere.

The TSB are usefull even if they are very short and poorly scanned (The pictures look like an old photocopy)

The help desk cuts you off numerous times and if they decide you have been on hold too long they even say goodbye before cutting you off.

My advice is to spend the money on a Chilton or Haynes manual (or any other of your choice). In the past I have complained about Haynes. Never again.