A perfect evening at Calabogie

Two satisfied customers

I have barely driven the RSX since I bought and I am leaving for Italy on Tuesday for our 6-week family trip. The clutch was fixed a week and a half ago but there was no track night at ICAR last Tuesday for some reason. As a result, I was a bit desperate to find a track event to attend. The only one I could find that fit my schedule was a track night at Calabogie. Was it worth it to drive three hours each way to drive for two hours on track? With a 40% chance of rain? My buddy Rob was willing to join me so we decided to go for it. Was it a risk to travel that far with a car that has come back from its last two track nights on the back of a tow truck? Yes, but I felt good about the car being reliable after the last repairs (clutch, cooling fan) and in the worst-case scenario, I could ride home with Rob and figure out the car later.

Rob and I met in the West Island at 1 pm, aiming to get to Calabogie around 4. We had to register and be at the driver’s meeting at 4:40. The format was simple: open pit lane from 5 to 7 pm. No sessions, come in when you feel like it. We arrived at the track on time, I emptied the car, checked the oil, dropped the front tire pressures to 25 psi, and installed my GoPro with my new stiffer mount. That was it. The other cars were the usual mix, from Miatas and Golf R’s to Corvettes and GT3’s, some street and some race. My goal: to drive as much of the two hours as possible (I even brought extra fuel, because I was pretty sure the car can’t run for even close to 2 hours on a tank). As far as lap times, I expected to be several seconds faster than I had been in my only session with the car at Calabogie, 4 weeks ago, on all-season tires, when I had managed a 2:45. I now had almost new Nankang CR-S track tires, so I hoped to get down under 2:40. My lifetime best was a 2:32. I have the data file on my phone, but the date of the file is wrong, so I don’t know when I ran that lap since I have had RaceChrono… maybe in Choo’s Civic in 2021 after I destroyed my own engine at Calabogie? I know I also hit 2:32 in 2013 with my old race car running in the SPC class, on the official street tire of that series. Anyway, I was wondering if it was realistic to shave 6 seconds off my time of 4 weeks ago, but I was feeling confident.

Officially, there is no lap timing with this group. I respect that, but I also wanted data about my laps (and to try out my new/used Dragy Pro GPS receiver), so I decided to start the Racechrono app and leave my phone in the glovebox. It would record data, but I wouldn’t see it while driving.

I brought my tools and my fuel jug to the pit lane and headed out. From the beginning, there was a slight pulsing in the brake pedal, but otherwise the car felt really nice. I wondered whether I should have changed my aging brake rotors before the event, but what was done was done. Fortunately, the pulsing gradually went away over my first laps. The track layout was still fresh in my head. I was catching some cars, others were catching me… I felt I was right near the middle of the pack on lap times. After a few laps, I was caught by a NA Miata that appeared in my mirrors unexpectedly. Even with a passenger, it was quicker than me. When I pointed it by, I could see that the car’s corner entry speed was impressive. I tried to pick up some hints and, according to my data, I immediately dropped a couple of seconds on my best lap. When I finally looked at my watch, figuring I must have been getting close to the 20-minute mark since I hit the track, it was closer to 30 minutes. I came in for a short break, even though I was feeling fine. There were several others also on a break in pit lane. I didn’t check tire pressures, I didn’t check the oil, or anything… I was happy with the car, the temperature needle hadn’t budged. I opened the glovebox and checked my phone and was very happy to see I had a best lap of 2:35, a whopping 10 seconds faster than I had run on street tires. I was really happy with this, and didn’t care whether I beat that already very satisfying lap time during the remainder of the evening.

I headed back out and had some fun exchanges with some GR86’s, race Miatas and Golf R’s. One of the GT3’s kept blowing by me, but most cars took a lot of time to catch and pass me. When I came in for my second break, I checked my lap times and the best was a mid 2:35, so no improvement. I didn’t mind. Rob was there, and we chatted. He was having trouble with his GPS receiver and wasn’t sure about his lap times. I told him to just use the one in the phone, at least he would have some data, just a few tenths less precise. He said “Is it possible I’m running 2:35’s?”. I have known Rob for over 30 years, so I didn’t feel bad telling him “It’s possible, but I don’t think so…”. Rob’s M3 is like his baby… he just doesn’t push the car like he used to push his Hondas in the old days. The car is in mint condition… everyone wants to buy it if he ever sells it, and he never will. That’s fine, I respect that, and that M3 can definitely go faster than my RSX… it’s a faster car to begin with, and it’s got more modifications than the RSX, although his BFG G-Force Rivals are less grippy than my Nankangs. It’s just that the way he chooses to drive that car, in a way that it will never crash or even deteriorate, is not conducive to fast lap times. Anyway, to settle the matter, we decided to head out together. I let him lead, and I could immediately see that I was much faster in the slower sections and a bit faster almost everywhere else. The M3 pulled away a bit on the straights, but that was about the only edge he had. After a couple of laps, I was ready for the point by, but he wasn’t giving me one! I kind of forced the issue at one point, pulling out beside him at the beginning of the front straight, and he got the message and lifted. After another lap, he had disappeared from my mirrors. We later calculated he must have been running about 2:43. I was having a great time. Eventually, my GoPro battery died. I guess that is one thing I could technically have planned better… I could have had a spare battery or camera in the glove box. Also, I should have brought some drinking water, although it was only about 17 degrees, so I was not that thirsty anyway.

With about 25 minutes to go, I was debating whether I should pit again, when I noticed the fuel gauge was at about 1/8th. I came in and added fuel for a final run. All was going well and time was flying by. One of the best features of this format is that you could push the car from the first lap, since everything was already up to temperature. I ended up clocking my best lap in this session, a 2:33.29. I don’t remember one lap feeling better than the others… I guess things just came together on that lap.

I got so many laps, it was beautiful. I was comfortable in the car, I had time to think about a lot of things that I am often too busy to think about: Am I gripping the wheel with a light touch? Where is each corner worker station? Am I rev-matching everywhere I can? How can I optimise this corner? Is it worth driving on the rumble strip here? It is so liberating to just drive and not constantly be worrying about the car.  The event ran so smoothly, no one misbehaved, everyone gave timely point-bys (except maybe Rob!)… I just got to focus on having fun. For the first time in a while, I had completed an event with no stains on my clothes or dirt under my fingernails.

Indeed, Rob and I were both super happy about the way things had gone. The weather had remained lovely during the whole 2 hours. We grabbed the included snack (egg rolls or something fried, surprising choice but tasty) and quickly packed up the cars for the long drive home. It was so easy, given that we had minimal tools and no spare wheels. We stopped for a burger and gas in Ottawa. Rob mentioned something that I have said before: "You know, I'm not even jealous of the guys who show up in GT3's". Indeed, when our own cars perform so flawlessly, we are getting what we really want: a useful tool to participate in the hobby we love. As I have said before, I get envious when I see people with reliable cars when my car is broken and unable to turn laps. I'm not envious of anyone when my car runs so well.

On the last leg of the journey, I drove through some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen, which added to my travel time, but the car and I dealt with it, and I was home before midnight. Looking back on the day, I really can’t see how it could have gone better.

What, in fact, makes a great event at the track? Roughly, in decreasing order of importance: no one in our group gets hurt, no one crashes, no major failures on the car, being with friends at the event, lots of track time, minimal time working on the car, the car performing well, the driver performing well, great weather, minimal flags, courteous and competent people on track with you, getting it on video, gathering lap data. All of these elements were present here, which is probably why things worked out so beautifully.

When I think about it, so many things could have gone wrong with our plan: the car could have refused to start at a crucial time, the brake vibration could have got worse, not better, the overheating issue could have not been solved, the serpentine belt could have shredded itself, the weather could have been a disaster, something totally new could have broken at the track, etc. None of those things happened, and instead, we ended up with a perfect event. In the circumstances, I don't feel so bad going six weeks with no track time. 

Here is a video, it doesn't include my best lap, but still cool (I'm happy with my new camera mount):

Choosing our parking spots

Minimal preparation needed on out cars

Usual mix of track cars

The car survived! No tow truck needed today,

First part of the drive home, no rain yet.

A quiet Harvey's in Ottawa

Rob wanted some 94 octane

RSX is fixed, but no lapping at ICAR this week

BG was right, the RSX needed a clutch. He did not have time to do it, but fortunately for me, the neigbouring garage, called Garage Patel, had time to do it. I brought them an Exedy clutch bought from Carl and the car was ready a couple of days later. They even removed my non-functional a/c compressor. I couldn'to do it since the subframe was in the way. 

When I picked up the car, it would not start on the first try. So there were still two issues to deal with: the fact that the car took several tries to start sometimes (starter dying?) and the non-functioning radiator fan. I hatched a plan to use the switch from the yellow aftermarket light bar to make a manual fan switch. Rob came over and confirmed to me that it was safe, since there was a fuse in the circuit. I now have an on/off switch under the dash for the rad fan, which should help keep temperatures in check (mostly on the road). As for the starter, I will see if someone has time to do it in their spare time during my summer trip. The car is ready to try on track, but for some reason, there is no Tuesday night lapping at ICAR tomorrow. I will be leaving on our summer trip next Tuesday, so my only other chance to get on track is to fund an event this weekend. There is evening lapping at Calabogie on Saturday, I may go if the weather holds up. 

We squeezed in a short trip to Deschaillons last weekend and I pulled the M3 out of the barn to start using it. It started right up and we brought it back to the city. The Subaru is a great car, but the a/c doesn't work and I don't feel like dealing with that right now. The M3 just needed a valve changed on one tire, but it should be reliable as-is. It is, as always, a pleasure to drive.

Oh, the yellow Civic is sold, for 2600 $. A young couple bought it. I had to lower the price a bit because the condition of the floor had deteriorated over the winter. I guess there was a water leak somewhere I hadn't noticed. I gave the buyer several of the parts I had too, so there is a bit more space in the basement. The RSX has to be reliable now, there is no more backup track car!

Bye Gold Civic... we had some good times together!

Barn switchover to the summer car

Perfect car for dealing with road work

RSX looking "OEM Plus"

M3 fresh out of the barn

New AMG GT

RSX fresh from its clutch job

Early 911 in the neighbourhood

Surprised to see Kosei K1 wheels on this Corolla

Nice modified GTR at BG

Purosangue at Ferrari Quebec

Suprising colour for this Roma

Lovely 928 GTS at EK Automotive

And three Ferraris

Plus a 996 GT3

Cool JDM Legacy GT Wagon at Ikea

Clean classic Saab 900

Burnt headlight?

Huracan #1

Huracan #2 Sterrato

Huracan #3

New Mini Cooper JCS, I like the single center exhaust

E28 528e

Polski Fiat at BG!

Older STi

Badass looking VW bus

A mostly successful evening at ICAR

 

OK, the RSX left ICAR on the back of a tow truck again, but only after I managed to get a whole bunch of laps in. Here is the story of my up and down day last Tuesday.

I headed up north much earlier than last time and avoided traffic. As I was parking at the library where I planned to work in the afternoon, I suddenly lost all power steering assist. I popped the hood and saw that the rubber hose going down from the reservoir had popped off the hard metal line it was slid onto. There was no hose clamp on the rubber hose, so this might have been the reason. There was power steering fluid everywhere. I drove to Canadian Tire and bought a 2$ hose clamp and another 35$ bottle of power steering fluid. I clamped the hose on and filled up the reservoir and all seemed ok at first, but I realized that the serpentine belt was not fully seated on the (now wet) pully. I went back in the store and bought another serpentine belt tool (mine was at home!) and tried to reposition it. When I started the car, after a few seconds, it would slide over until the edge of the belt was over the edge of the pulley on the power steering pump. I decided to just drive it like this and I just bought a spare belt in case I lost this one on track. By the time I got to the track and checked, the belt was properly seated. OK then! I was ready for my first session! 

I set up my GPS and camera and waited for the first green group session. It was pretty warm, about 27 degrees. The car felt decent. I guess I thought the brand new Nankang CRS tires would feel grippier than they did. Also, I guess I thought I would also put down better lap times. My best with the EK Civic was a 1:14 and with the yellow Civic, a 1:20. I figured the RSX on good tires would hit 1:17's. It took me most of the session just to get down to 1:20. I thought the car would be significantly faster than the yellow car, and so far, it wasn't. Even with the new radiator, the temperature would slowly increase throughout the session. I am pretty sure the radiator fans are not working and I will have to address that soon. The green group was full of GT3's and other Porsche's, and a couple of race cars, so I was pretty much driving alone and getting passed a lot. 

JS and his buddy Robin showed up with their Civic sedans. I was a bit jealous of them for running in the yellow group, where most cars seemed to be in the 1:16-1:20 range. I went out again in the next green session and got down into the 1:19's. At the end, I was caught by a Nissan Sentra Cup car and managed to almost keep up with it, which was more fun. I was driving OK, braking deep into the corners, maybe with occasional help from the ABS. The "cheap" track pads I installed were OK. They did not have a lot of initial bite, the the pedal remained hard. When I got to the pits, the power steering hose popped off again! I had not placed the clamp properly and the stupid tube slid off again. Again, there was fluid everywhere. I burnt my knuckle as I took the time to really place it perfectly. I refilled the system with the generic bottle of fluid I had. I was not happy about this mess. 

I decided to switch to the yellow group so I could run with JS. By this point, Robin's Civic was out of commission with a soft brake pedal. I headed out behind JS but I could not really keep up. He was driving well. I would catch him when he got stuck in traffic. We were mixing it up with a couple of NB Miatas and a surprisingly quick Mazda 2. Performance-wise, this was the right group for my car. I managed several laps in the 1:18's as the weather was starting to cool and the sun was setting. It was a fun session. 

I was more relaxed by this point. The car had done 3 sessions, the water temperature was under control and the car was performing consistently. I planned to do the 4th session with JS and we headed out together in near darkness. I was a bit slower in the dark, but I was able to keep up with JS this time. This felt like old times, "battling" with friends on the track, swapping positions with them, burning through a whole tank of gas in one evening. At one point late in the session, I came out of a corner, got on the gas, and there was no drive. I pulled over and turned on the hazards lights. The ICAR truck towed me in. I figured it was an axle or a clutch. 

Here is a video of the last laps of the evening. The image is shaky because I used a not very stiff extension on the GoPro mount:

My evening was over a few minutes early. JS and Robin came over to see if they could help, but there was nothing to do but call roadside assistance. I waited alone at the track until almost 11 p.m. and rode in the tow truck to Auto B.G. in Côte-des-Neiges, then walked the 5km home from there (I had missed the last metro of the night). The end of the night was not great, but I had had a fun evening, despite the setbacks. I have to understand that this almost unmodified RSX is just not that fast, but it's fast enough. There are other cars setting the same lap times (and some of them are a lot more modified than mine). Even though the brakes were not 100% to my liking, I did find myself leaning on the car with confidence, until the tires let go, so I don't feel I am holding anything back. In other words, the RSX is close to being a useful track tool to run a lot of laps (after having driven to the track in comfort!). 

B.G. called me the next day and I told him what to look at. He will take a look when he car. He thinks it's the clutch, I still think it's an axle. I wasn't planning to go to ICAR this coming Tuesday, so there is no urgency. To be continued...

JS's Civic

RSX beside a GR Corolla

Quick K24 Civic I had seen at Tremblant

Robin's Civic

Spectator's Z06

GT3RS, GT4 and GT3

The green RS was nice

A couple of lower budget options

GT3's were common, V8 Supra in the background

I finally got to do some laps on a track!

RSX at Calabogie

It took a while, but I finally got to do some laps on a track. I had the coilovers installed on the RSX a couple of weeks ago and decided to take the car to ICAR on Tuesday May 19th to try it out. I had not yet bought or installed track tires, but I was content to just drive on the all-season tires that came with the car. I left early to beat the traffic heading north, but still managed to get stuck in it in Laval. Worse yet, the water temperature began to climb in the traffic jam. I pulled off the highway and headed to a close-by Canadian Tire where I bled the radiator and headed back out on the road... this did not make me confident that the car would stay cool on the track, and it was over 25 degrees outside. Anyway, I arrived a bit before the track opened and was surprised to see Honda employees there with a lovely first generation Integra built into a replica of a 1980's IMSA race car. I chatted with the Honda employee and he told me about the nut and bolt restoration. The car even had period correct 14-inch Mugen wheels. They also had an early NSX on hand. I think their presence had something to do with the F1 weekend, as I heard Lance Stroll (whose team uses Honda engines) say he had been to Mirabel to drive some cars in the days before the F1 race. Little did I know that seeing these cars would be the highlight of my evening... After buying my lap ticket, I went out to the car and started it. I noticed I had no power steering and the alternator light was on. I parked and looked under the hood and saw that the serpentine belt was broken. This meant no power steering or alternator or water pump. Not only could I not get in any laps, I would not even be able to drive home. I packed up, and drove down the street to a propane business and called a tow truck from there (in case the towing company refused to come get a car at a track, which had happened to me before). I waited about 90 minutes for the tow truck, watching track cars drive by to and from the track. The first attempt to drive the RSX on track was a bust. 

I ordered a serpentine belt from Carl and when came the time to install it, I simply could not get it on. I even bought a special flat long wrench to ease the tension on the tensioner, but it tool all my strength to get the belt on. When I started the car, it sounded terrible. The first culprit was the a/c compressor pulley, which was starting and stopping (probably what caused the belt to fail). I needed the car to go to the race school at Calabogie so I decided to buy a shorter belt and bypass the a/c pulley. I did some research online and ordered the proper belt on Amazon for next day delivery. When the belt arrived, I installed it easily (thanks to my special wrench). Unfortunately, the power steering pump was now making a lot of noise and the assist was spotty. I decided to bring the car to Calabogie anyway, even with the semi-functional power steering. 

The drive to the track was actually quite pleasant. I was comfortable in the race seat and listened to podcasts in the relatively quiet interior. The school itself went very smoothly. Looking at the weather forecast, I realized that my only chance to get some laps on a dry track would be Saturday at lunch. I headed out right at the beginning of the lunch break, and on my sighting lap, there was still one worker on track tending to something. He was not happy to see a car on track. I went into the pits and waited for the official go-ahead to head back out. The car felt fine from the start. The all-season tires squealed, a lot, but there was decent grip on the brand new pavement. I managed to do a session over 20 minutes long. I was keeping a close eye on the water temperature and it was creeping up slowly. At one point, I was caught by Oktay in his new Subaru BRZ Ts, and after I waived him by, I was able to mostly follow him as I shaved 4 seconds off my previous best lap (yes I drive faster when I'm chasing someone!). I decided that good lap (2:45 flat) would be my last and came into the pits. I have video of the lap, which is not great, because the camera's view is partially blocked by the rear-view mirror. I have ordered an extension arm for my GoPro mount to get a better view in the future. The car worked well on track. The handling was good, so was the power. The performance seems not too far off of the BRZ, which is a brand new "budget" sports car, so that's encouraging. 

Since I got back from the school, I ordered and changed the radiator and the power steering pump. When I moved the hood latch out of the way to install the radiator, I accidentally unhooked the end of the hood release cable. When I closed the hood, there was no way to open it again. I spent 3 hours trying tricks from YouTube videos and swearing until after midnight trying to manually release the catch with a metal rod. The next day, I finally managed after almost 2 more hours. What a nasty job! When I called JS about it, he told me that when his release cable broke, he just cut the latch and now uses hood pins! Anyway, all this was finished only last night. The one thing left to do is install the track tires I picked up from Carl yesterday and the car should be ready to try again on track.

The Friday before the race school, my friend Henri and I went to the F1 practice day. We had fantastic seats right in front of the Ferrari pits. The weather was perfect, sunny but not hot. I decided to take my bike so I could get out of there quickly and I was surprised to see that there was literally only one other bike in the bicycle parking area (there seemed to be room for more than 100)! Anyway, I texted Henri when I got home, and he was almost home too, having taken the metro. In all I probably saved 5 minutes. 

I still haven't been to the country house so I still haven't taken the M3 out of the barn. I also found out that the air conditioning on the Subaru does not work. One bit of good news: JS managed to fix the yellow Civic by tightening a loose bolt at the bottom of the front left shock, and changing both tie rod ends for RSX ones. I picked it up yesterday and it drives just fine. It sure feels slow after driving the RSX in the past few days. I guess it's time to put up an ad to sell it!

Different generations

Cool colour for the new RS3

Ioniq 5 N

Nice spec Bentley

A lot of carbon fiber

Illusion room at the M.C. Escher expo

No, Oscar is not taller than me for real

Very clean C4 Vette

GT3 on a dealer plate in St-Laurent

E46 M3 in Rosemont

Same Lotus Emira

Mad Max Ford Falcon!

No, this is not my car... it's an automatic base model in excellent shape

So many Urus around this year (I saw 5 yesterday)

From the same era

Subtle spec GT3 Touring

Rare Lexus LC500

Cool Triumph Spitfire with a hard top

VIP style early Lexus LS400

Ready for ICAR?

Beautifullu restored first generation Integra

And a lovely NSX

Bad photo of what seems like a real Audi S2

First tow for the RSX

Basile family cars at my dad's residence

Ferrari pit action

Great day at the track

The only bike at the end of the day

Carl with his green flag at Calabogie

I didn't go out on track again on the Sunday, when it rained

Passed the sound test with ease!

Student's Supra

Sti similar to mine (this one is newer)

Lovely AMG

Fiata and Elantra N

V6-swapped RX8

Nice mix of cars, as usual

Some more budget friendly options

Watching the Canadiens in the playoffs at Calabogie

Oktay's BRZ Ts

Adam's cool RX7 race car

There were 6 GT4's and 3 C8 Corvettes

Brand new GT3 in my group

Instructor Marc sold his GT3 and bought this lovely F430

Still come cool cars in Montreal the day aftert the Grand Prix, including this rare Bentley Azure

Probably the same GT3 Touring again

Milos was a festival of Urus's (Uri?)

This 80's 911 looked brand new

Hours to get this stupid hood open after I accidentally disconnected the cable

Subaru sleeps outside for once

Another LC500, this one on cooler wheels

This M4 on my street looked brand new

Yes, it's back and ready to sell!

The last step to make the RSX into a capable track car: Nankang CRS tires