Jules enjoys some quality time in the race car while it sits in our garage
Thanks to Carl and Alex, I was able to attend a lapping day organized by and for Club Civic Quebec. Except for a couple of laps in a student's car this past spring, I hadn't driven on a track for a year. At the same event last year, I had achieved my personal best lap ever in the Civic (under 1:00.1). Was it realistic that I would break that record? Not really. Although Carl and Sajan have carried out work on the Civic to make it more reliable, they did not try to add any performance. Sajan told me that they had used the car recently at St-Eustache and were lapping in the 1:01 range. The car was wearing some pretty old Hankook RS3 tires, which would be the limiting factor as far as the car's performance went. The other limiting factor would be the driver, who might be a bit rusty!
The Civic is ready for action
My goal for the first session was to ease into things and get down into the 1:02 range. After a few laps, this was achieved. However, at one point, the car snapped into oversteer just after the entry to the carousel. I headed off track on the inside, and quickly reentered the track. Unfortunately, the grass is not level with the track, and this involved hitting the equivalent of a curb at a decent rate of speed. The result was a flat tire and a dented wheel (sorry Carl!). I limped back to the pits and installed my only spare (luckily, it was the same model of tire and the same size and offset wheel).
In the next session, I was taking it easy in the carousel, yet the same thing happened again (without the flat tire). In the following sessions, I simply took it very easy at that portion of the track. After a while, the issue seemed to have resolved itself (Pascal theorized it might be a sticking brake caliper). There were six sessions available to us, but I hoped to have a good fifth session, then call it a day, so I could be home early enough to make dinner.
In the last session, everything finally came together. I had several good laps, there was no weird oversteer, and I managed a best lap of 1:00.7. Of course, I could have driven more smoothly and maybe knocked off a couple of tenths, but I knew that it was not realistic to break my record with these tires. I packed up the car satisfied with my day.
I still love the Civic. It's hard to imagine a different newer Civic becoming my track car. There were several really nice 2002-2005 EP3 Civics and some 2006 and up Si's. The owners of these cars had spent a lot of money, and they just didn't seem as fast as Carl's car. The fastest Si was supercharged. That is a very expensive modification. I drove a student's Si sedan with several bolt-on engine upgrades, and it just felt very sluggish. I guess it was a bit of an eye opener: newer cars are heavy, and they need a lot more power to feel quick and generate good lap times.
I don't need all that stuff that makes a car heavy in my Civic. Yami, one of the instructors, was lapping in 1:01.5 in a 90's Civic hatch with a non-vtec 1.8 liter. It seems the number one option for me, as far as my next track car goes, is to hope Carl will eventually sell me back my old Civic... I think with the right tires, the car can do the magic 59-second lap (and maybe even 58, in the right conditions).
I was watching the 1997 movie "Cop Land" (still liked it after 18 years) and it reminded me how many mediocre cars there were on the road and in production in the 1990's. Not only were the new cars pretty bland, but I was reminded how hard it was to buy a decent used car on a budget. I remember combing through the classifieds trying ot find a decent Honda or VW, and I'm not even talking about GTi's or Si's. When I found a 1987 RX- 7 Turbo II for 5000$, I bought it. The particular one that I bought was not at all reliable and was expensive to keep running. It was also a gas guzzler. Still, it was not like I could have had a decent CRX or something for the same money. I remember looking at a lot of overpriced cars before pulling the trigger on the RX-7. Today, things have really changed. There are so many good cars available for as low as 3000$ and some really quite nice ones for 5000$. I guess the main reason used cars are so much better is because new cars got so much better in the last 15 years.
On another note, I came across a couple of cars in the past few days that I would have to categorize as pure enthusiasts' cars. There are cars that enthusiasts love, like BMW M3's, but I know there are quite a few people who buy M3's because they are at a BMW dealer and the salespeople convince them that they need the "top of the line" 3-series, which happens to be the M3. BMW has clearly sold a lot of M3's (many of them convertible) to non enthusiasts over the years. There are some cars, however, that really only an enthusiast would buy. We were visiting friends at a campground last weekend and, among all the SUV's and minivans, I stumbled across a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR with aftermarket mudflaps. Now you know the owner of this car is an enthusiast. There is really no doubt. There are other cars like this. Somebody may buy a Porsche 911 to show off (maybe even a GT3), but who buys a Nissan GT-R for that reason? I have never driven a GT-R on the street, but I bet it is an unpleasant experience on a day-to-day basis compared to a Porsche 911 Turbo. Driving a Honda S2000 on the street is not terribly pleasant, but some non-enthusiasts surely put up with it. These same people would not be able to live with a Lotus Elise. So to the people who choose these cars, I salute you!
Unexpected spot at a camp ground...
A non-enthusiast might drive an STi, but only an enthusiast will pick the Lachute Performance LP400, then wrap it orange!
I had seen a couple of AMG GT's on the road, but I just got to see one up close for the first time. It is a great-looking car. It looks more impressive from the rear than from the front. Still, I don't find it has the presence of the SLS. This probably has to do with the extreme width of the SLS. The GT is more "normal-sized". Also, I can't imagine buying an AMG without the 6.2-liter V8...
Other cool spots around town:
Tastefully restored VW Golf Cabriolet
Immaculate late 1990's Mini
You know an enthusiast lives here: super-clean E36 BMW and 1970's SL out back wearing a 1970's license plate
Uncommon colour for this old Saab
The best way to present a 90's Mustang: lowered, with Cobra R wheels
Another pretty clean BMW, this E30 325e (automatic though)
Very cool and well-kept Toyota camper from Texas
Another hazard of parking on the street: a wind storm may drop a huge branch on your car
This is one of those cars I didn't like in my youth, but I like them now
More subtle than ever: dark grey on black!
I don't love these wheels, but I love these Vantage's. When will they become affordable for people like me?
