Rating the Civic

 It seems like the season has been over forever (when in fact I was last on track only a few weeks ago). Based on my last track session of the year, I have a pretty good opinion of the Civic. The car is not that many seconds off the lap times of much more expensive and powerful cars. I think that, even 20 years after the car was built, the Civic EK is still an excellent choice when trying to build an affordable and quick track car. When I think of the cars that are passing me at ICAR, like Golf R’s and various Porsches, most of them, even used, cost 30 000 $ or more, before you add track modifications. Other cars that are faster may not cost much more than my car, but they usually arrive at the track on a trailer. My car can probably be duplicated for about 8 000 $, which makes it an excellent value for a pretty quick and (mostly) reliable track car.

In my last sessions, the car was working well and the handling was really confidence-inspiring. Here is how I rate the Civic, as it presently sits, as a track car:

Steering: 8/10

The steering is really quite good. The car has the OEM manual rack from a base-model 1996-2000 Civic, so it is not a converted hydraulic rack, like many people use. Steering feel is excellent, but the ratio of the rack is not that quick. It is 10 percent slower than the ratio of the hydraulic Civic rack and 20 percent slower than the Integra rack. This is not really an issue at most tracks, as I can still make it through all corners without repositioning my hands on the wheel. At parking speeds, the steering is really heavy, but not so much as to make the car unusable. My Acura RSX steering wheel is smaller than the OEM Civic wheel, but not so small as to make the steering effort unbearable.

Transmission: 10/10

With the torquey H-series engine, the current gear ratios and final drive are perfect. It feels I am always where I want to be in the rev range. Since the rebuild, there are no grinds and since installing the H-series, I don’t really need second gear on the tracks where I drive. The feel of the shifter is also precise.

Brakes: 10/10

I really have nothing bad to say about the 11-inch brakes: they work, lap after lap. The pedal feel is excellent, the feedback is excellent, I rarely lock up and when I do, it’s clearly because I misjudged something. The pad wear (current pad is Hawk DTC-60) is not excessive. I love the current brake setup.

Turn-in: 7/10

This is where my Civic seems just not to be as sharp as other Honda products. I don’t know if it’s a lack of camber or something else, but when I go into a corner behind a heavier modern car, I expect to be able to catch up in the corner, and it just doesn’t happen. The front end doesn’t bite hard on turn-in after you apply the steering input. I have to try to solve this, probably by having other drivers try the car and make suggestions.

High-speed stability: 9/10

At high speeds, I feel that as long as I don’t lift of brake in the wrong place, the car will go where I want it to, and will understeer before it oversteers (when the tires are up to temperature). I feel I can lean on the car and that the grip will hold.

Acceleration out of corners: 8/10

This category has improved since we changed the engine. I know people who install aftermarket limited-slip differentials claim massive improvements, but I feel that my car pulls out of the slower corners just fine with the standard Acura LSD, and that the available torque is transferred into acceleration without issue. I think that for a front-wheel-drive car, it gets out of corners pretty effectively.

Mechanical grip: 7.5/10

This is another category where I feel the car could be improved. The series of right-handers at ICAR that make up almost three quarters of a circle will allow any car to demonstrate its mechanical grip, no matter how long it takes the car to stabilize after the initial corner entry. I find that my car basically keeps up with the other cars on the track, but at the same time, I wonder why a light car like mine with decent tires is not making up ground there.

Driver comfort (on track): 8.5/10

I think that the seat position in relation to the steering position is just fine. The lack of power steering reduces comfort somewhat, but I can live with that. I think I might need to modify the pedals to have an ideal placement for heel and toe.

Driver comfort (on the street): 6/10

It’s OK for a track car to score only 6 out of 10 as a street car. My old 2002 Civic would have scored 9 out of 10, but lost so many points in the other categories. The car is generally unpleasant on the street in the city because of the stiffness of the suspension and the lack of power steering. The main problem, however, is the noise. The exhaust is too loud. On the highway at 115 km/h, the RPM is at almost 4400. It’s unpleasant. The radio (with its 2 speakers) is just loud enough to drown out the engine sound. I think that quieting down the exhaust a bit is one of my top priorities. I have bought a new resonator, but Pat has not had time to install it yet. I think once this is taken care of, I will have achieved a decent level of comfort. The clutch is an OEM style and is easy to use. The steering wheel is a leather Acura one, and it is also just fine. The seat in comfortable once you have dropped in, and I still have the OEM seat belt. 

Usability (on the street): 7/10

The car does not scrape the ground, even on speed bumps, so it is actually usable if I need to run errands or something. In other words, it's still somewhat usable as a (2-seater) car. Also, the car does not have too many externally visible modifications, so it doesn't attract attention from police... except for the loud exhaust. which I hope to address.

Affordability: 10/10

There are cars out there that cost less to build than my car and that are quicker, but not that many. This car is cheap, in so many ways. When I ruined the engine this spring, it was sad, but it was a 500$ engine, and we replaced it with a different 500$ engine. The tires are 15-inch, so they’re cheap. The brake discs are super cheap OEM Mini parts. The pads I use are not that cheap, but they last a long time. You don’t need to use fancy oil in the engine. Basically, there are no expensive parts on this car, and the items I would like to improve will not require any expensive parts.

Reliability: tentative 9/10?

My goal this year was to drive the car as much as possible and see if it could be made reliable. Many things happened. The last issue seems to be the vtec cutting out. Once that is solved (hopefully by changing a couple of wires), the car should be running trouble-free, as most of my Hondas have in the past. The last couple of times I went to the track, I did multiple sessions without anything major breaking, and I drove home. The car is so simple that literally, after my last session of the day, I change no settings, I just pull the harnesses out of the holes and load up the car. I didn’t even adjust the tire pressures for weeks in the last half of the season. This is exactly what I wanted: put in gas, keep the oil topped up, and drive, drive, drive!

So let's hope for a great 2021, with lots of track time. If the car is reliable, I hope to be able to work on improving my driving and then improving the car even more... Spring can't come soon enough!