Vince's Stuff: New fastest lap at St-Eustache and another tow...

For the first time in a long time, I have made it out to St-Eustache's Monday night lapping three Mondays in a row. Now that the Civic finally seemed reliable, it was time to go after my best lap yet with this car. In my last post, I mentioned that I managed to reduce my best lap time from a 1:02.4 to a 1:02.1 and that the next logical goal was to hit the 1:01's. Well, I'm happy to say that at my very next outing, I managed to hit a 1:01.73. This is my best lap yet with this Civic, and better than the best I had achieved with the 2002 K24-powered Civic (1:01.8). As a reference point, with my old 2000 Civic race car., my best laps were a 1:00.08 with the 2.3 liter engine, a 1:00.5 with the 1.8 and a 1:01.2 with the 1.6 (using race tires). Looking at the data, I can see that what is lacking compared to the lap times of the old race car is top speed, not cornering speed, which is surprising, given that this engine is supposed to make more power than the 1.6 did in the old car. My cornering speed is still lower than my fellow instructors in their modified Honda's, which I will have to address, but I can no longer complain, having looked at the data, that my current Civic is slow in the corners compared to my previous cars.

Indeed, in my most racent sessions, I have managed to brake less and enter corners carrying more speed, leaning on the car more as I gain confidence in it. As I have mentioned before, being strapped into my seat with a harness also increases confidence.

In the session following my best lap, the car developed a serious steering problem at one point. I pulled over and eventually limped back to the pits. Adam Miller helped me diagnose the issue as being a damaged passenger-side axle. I decided to try to drive the car home as-is, but the faulty axle snapped on the higway, leaving me stranded. Had I taken the small roads, I would have been able to use my Canadian Tire roadside assistance to get the car to Pat's. Instead, I ended up having the car towed only to my home, to keep the towing charge under the maximum amount that Canadian Tire would reimburse. The next day, I called Canadian Tire for a second tow to get the car to Pat's and he quickly replaced the axle.

The following Monday, it was cold and a bit rainy, but when I got to the track, it was 99% dry. I hoped to again improve my lap time, but it was not to be. I headed out behind my new nemesis: the K20-powered Celica (he is always there Mondays and is at least one second per lap faster than me), but only managed a 1:02.2. Still, I wasn't the slowest one on track anymore and I passed a couple of other cars. In my second session, I managed a 1:02.0 and in my third, a 1:02.3. I can't explain why I wasn't quicker, the car felt fine and the cold air should have been helping me make more power. Still, I wasn't that far off my best times.

So what will make the car faster? It's hard to tell... everything seems to be working fine. I have to decide if it's worth having this engine tuned to make optimal power, or if I'm better off saving that part of the budget for an engine upgrade. I'm confident I can make it through this season with the current engine, as long as I keep adding oil. Other than that, I can remove a bit more weight (like the non-functional a/c), but that's about it. Now that I can hit the 1:01's, I am feeling better about the car's overall speed. I am very satisfied with the way the season is playing out. The car is pretty reliable, confidence inspiring and easy to drive. It's not even that bad on the road on the way to the track... the a/c may not work, but the radio does!

I just have to find a way to get out to one of the big tracks (Calabogie, Tremblant or Mosport) before the end of the season.