Lude Generation

I finished some interior upgrades in time for Japfest this year. I've been meaning to share but kept forgetting. I appreciate they won't be to everyone's taste.
I also fitted some blue seatbelts from a CRZ (pretty much a straight fit) but you can't see them in the photo.

Steering Wheel change is cool. As you say, those other interior changes might not be to everyones taste - but it's your car.
Don't think I saw that lude (will have to check back through my photo's). Where was it parked?

wurlycorner wrote: ↑

Wed May 28, 2025 12:54 pm

Steering Wheel change is cool. As you say, those other interior changes might not be to everyones taste - but it's your car.
Don't think I saw that lude (will have to check back through my photo's). Where was it parked?

Thanks I wanted a new wheel, and one that was more modern and had an airbag but not too modern looking. It wasn't an easy swap though, I don't reccomend this wheel (CRV) as a swap, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

The interior wrap looks better in person. Originally I was just going to cover the wood effect with some kind of black wrap, but I'm a big kid really so I just thought sod it lets go for something out-there.

I missed the original show ticket deadline for Japfest but someone offered me a ticket so I snapped their hand off, much to the pleasure of my teenage son. I was in with mostly civics and subarus quite far out at the edges.

far better than wood trim
I wonder what other honda steering wheels are a straight fit on a 5th gen?

vanzep wrote: ↑

Wed May 28, 2025 8:54 pm

far better than wood trim
I wonder what other honda steering wheels are a straight fit on a 5th gen?

Thanks vanzep. I'm pretty sure that the EP3 and S2000 steering wheels are an easy fit, where you just have to cut the notch for the steering sensor. FN2 wheel might fit also. Airbags can be tricky though, it might have the same connector or you might have to swap the explosive between your old wheel and the new one, if it fits. The only thing I checked with the CRV wheel was the number of splines, I had to do a lot to it to make it fit.

I believe the 8th Gen civic wheel will fit (FN). I managed to find an eBay listing for one with such a decent picture you could count the splines - which I then purchased.

However, further inspection reveals the airbag module in the 8th Gen civic is a dual charge type (it has 2 charges, a smaller one and larger one, and the 8th gen civic ECU will work out on the severity of impact which charge to fire (or both). The prelude is a single charge type (just 2 pins) so I have not fitted it. It may be possible to mix and match but I never got around to removing the existing steering wheel to check if the charge module can be mounted behind the steering wheel cover.

I bought the 8th Gen civic wheel from a top spec auto model, simply to get all of the buttons so I could have volume controls etc. The steering wheel doesn't quite match the interior however so may not end up fitting it at all.

Scott560 wrote: ↑

Thu May 29, 2025 9:15 am

I managed to find an eBay listing for one with such a decent picture you could count the splines - which I then purchased.

...the airbag module in the 8th Gen civic is a dual charge type (it has 2 charges, a smaller one and larger one, and the 8th gen civic ECU will work out on the severity of impact which charge to fire (or both). The prelude is a single charge type (just 2 pins) so I have not fitted it.

Lol I did the same, counted the number of splines on grainy ebay pictures.

The charge modules are probably not interchangeable, I found that the Prelude one is bigger than the dual charge one in the CRV wheel so I couldn't swap them. After a lot of research (where most advice is to leave the airbags well alone) I decided to swap the connectors over. In part I made this decision because there are plenty of people driving with aftermarket steering wheels that don't have airbags. I don't recommend that anyone follow what I did.

I also wired up the buttons to the cruise control and a bluetooth control unit that I've put in the back of the steering wheel, so my buttons are functional.

I really like the FN wheel but it does seem a bit too modern compared with the prelude interior for what I like. I've seen photos online where someone has made the swap and it did look good, it's just not for me.