The 2016
track day season is over. What can I say about the Civic after its first
season? The car did not disappoint… it has been reliable, pretty quick, and fun
to drive. I chose this car because I wanted all these qualities on a very low
budget. After one season, it looks like I made the right call. Here are my
thoughts on various aspects of the car:
How fun is it to drive on track? 8/10
Just from driving on the street, I could tell that this Civic was not slow. The car is fast enough in a straight line that you can’t really enjoy all its power on the street without greatly exceeding the speed limit, except maybe when getting onto the highway. From the first laps I drove the car on the track, I could see that power was not going to be an issue. In the corners, the car felt very tall in comparison with Civics I have owned in the past (it really is much taller). However, as it had no tendency towards oversteer, I was able to drive it with confidence from the very first day despite the fact that the whole car felt less stable than my previous, lower-slung cars. As with my previous Civic, achieving a good lap time came down to getting the front end to grip in corners so you can carry good speed. How fun is this? Managing understeer in a FWD car is not the most fun thing in the world, which explains why the car does not get a higher score in the “fun” department. However, having a car that tends toward understeer, for me, makes me less afraid to push the car harder on tracks where I am less comfortable than St-Eustache (like Mosport or Tremblant), which is quite fun. How challenging is the car to drive? On a track like St-Eustache, I don’t think the challenge is that great. I think I have gone about as fast as I could with the current setup, and that I achieved this level after maybe 4-5 events at St-Eustache. If the car were set up with a tendency to oversteer, it might be more fun and more challenging on tracks I know well, but at the same time, it would be less confidence-inspiring and I would hesitate before pushing the car hard.
How fun is it to drive on track? 8/10
Just from driving on the street, I could tell that this Civic was not slow. The car is fast enough in a straight line that you can’t really enjoy all its power on the street without greatly exceeding the speed limit, except maybe when getting onto the highway. From the first laps I drove the car on the track, I could see that power was not going to be an issue. In the corners, the car felt very tall in comparison with Civics I have owned in the past (it really is much taller). However, as it had no tendency towards oversteer, I was able to drive it with confidence from the very first day despite the fact that the whole car felt less stable than my previous, lower-slung cars. As with my previous Civic, achieving a good lap time came down to getting the front end to grip in corners so you can carry good speed. How fun is this? Managing understeer in a FWD car is not the most fun thing in the world, which explains why the car does not get a higher score in the “fun” department. However, having a car that tends toward understeer, for me, makes me less afraid to push the car harder on tracks where I am less comfortable than St-Eustache (like Mosport or Tremblant), which is quite fun. How challenging is the car to drive? On a track like St-Eustache, I don’t think the challenge is that great. I think I have gone about as fast as I could with the current setup, and that I achieved this level after maybe 4-5 events at St-Eustache. If the car were set up with a tendency to oversteer, it might be more fun and more challenging on tracks I know well, but at the same time, it would be less confidence-inspiring and I would hesitate before pushing the car hard.
Lap times: 8/10
Before turning
a single lap with the car at St-Eustache, I tried to predict what lap times I
could achieve with my setup. Taking into account that the best lap time I had achieved with my old Civic was 1 minute flat , which was at least as powerful and 350
pounds lighter, I was thinking I should be able to hit 1:03 to 1:04 for the new car. In the end, I
managed to get down to 1:01.8, on two separate days, on (very aggressive) street tires, so I
can’t say I’m disappointed. However, I am competitive by nature, and my fellow
ASE Lapping Club instructors are almost all faster than I am. Most of them are
in the 59-second range, and some are in the 56's, and even those with relatively modest Civic builds are
faster than I am. I guess I hadn’t thought too much about what it would mean to
bring a 2700-pound Civic to the track. The car is much more comfortable and
quiet on the street than any Civic I have ever owned, but it is really much
heavier. I started out the season on very good 205/50/15 tires on 6-inch-wide
wheels and I could tell that the car would benefit from something wider. Later
in the season, I switched to 8-inch wheels and 225-width tires, and the improvement
was minimal (which may be due to the compound of the Hankook tires, which is
less aggressive than the Bridgestones). Running a 205 or 225 tire had always
been enough in the past, but with a heavy car like this, I think I need
something wider, or much stickier, at least in the front. I have checked out
the sizes being run by heavier Hondas, like mine or S2000’s, and people seem to
be running 245 or 255 width. There are very few tire choices in 245-40-15, but
a few more in 17-inch sizes, which would mean selling my wheels to get another
set. I will try to borrow a set of 245’s or 225 real race tires on 9-inch rims for a
session or two to see what difference it makes as far as lap times. I have been using RaceChrono all season to gather date on the track, and when I
analyze my lap times and cornering speeds at St-Eustache, it’s hard to see
where I am losing time to the faster guys, specifically. I think that what I
need is more front end mechanical grip, and more traction accelerating out of
the slower corners. The latter issue can be helped with a limited-slip
differential. I have already purchased a whole 2008 Civic Si transmission and
am waiting to hear what condition it’s in, but at the very least I will have an
LSD in my 5-speed tranny for next year, although most likely I will end up with
a workable 6-speed unit.
Affordability:
9.5/10
The only
reason I am not giving the car a perfect score is that its tendency to eat
front tires meant that I could not make it through the season on a single new
set of tires as I had planned to do. This added about 750$ to my season
expenses, which is a lot, considering how low the other running costs have
been. The brake pads don’t last very long either, but I bought 4 sets of pads
for 200$ from the same guy who sold me the suspension. I ended up using 3 of
those sets. Other than that, not a single item has broken or failed on the car,
I have never been left stranded and have not had to carry out a single repair
on the car at the track. All I do is occasionally add oil and put in gas, while
rotating tires to even out their wear. Driving the car on track is really very
simple: I get to the track, empty out my stuff, remove the spare tire and check
the oil level and tire pressures. I did not adjust the shocks once all season.
I can literally be on track within minutes of arriving at the track, and I am
rarely the slowest car out there. Could I have bought a faster car with the
money I spent on this Civic? Probably (it would probably be some lighter Civic or a stripped out Miata), but I
don’t think the car would have been as reliable. My old Civic was clearly not
as reliable and left the track on a flatbed more than once. I have limited time to attend track events now that I have kids, as well as limited time to work on the car myself or travel to and from my mechanics. So the fantastic reliability of the car has really served me well and any items that I modify in the future have to maintain this
Weaknesses
As I
mentioned above, the weight of the car causes excessive wear on the brakes and
front tires. The limited-slip differential may help with tire wear. I can’t
really reduce the weight much, or at all, without compromising the usability of
the car. Eventually, I plan to upgrade the brakes with brakes from a different
Honda. There are bolt-on 11-inch and 12-inch front disc options to replace my
10.2-inch discs. The 12-inch option involves changing wheels to a 5-bolt pattern, which I hope to avoid.
Goals for
2017
I really, really want to somehow achieve a sub-one-minute lap time at St-Eustache. That would be a first
for me, in any car. While anybody can throw money at a car to make it faster, I would like to achieve my goal with as little extra expense as possible... and I think I can do it with only a few changes. I need to shave about
2 seconds off my lap time of 1:01.8. I already plan to have a 6-speed LSD transmission
installed, which should help at St-Eustache, where there are two slow 50 km/h
corners that require strong acceleration on exit. The installation of this tranny is surely worth a few tenths, maybe more if the better gear ratios help acceleration. I also plan on getting the
car tuned by Synoptic once the new exhaust line is installed. This should net a
few hp and maybe some torque. Hopefully these changes, combined, should shave a second off
my lap time. How can I shave off yet another second? I think I can do so by temporarily reducing the car's weight by about 50 pounds (I could lose 5 to 7 pounds myself too), by removing the passenger and rear seats, then
installing some 225-45-15 Hoosier race tires in the front (Carl must have a set lying
around), on some borrowed 15x9-inch wheels if possible. On a cool day, this should be enough… shouldn’t it?
I find it encouraging that you were able to achieve such good lap times despite your car being heavier.
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