It's rare that I am ready to roll right at the beginning of the track season and it's also quite rare that there are even any opportunities to hit the track before May, but somehow, it all worked out this year. ICAR decided to begin the season of evening lapping on April 23rd, and I really wanted to attend, since my Civic has been sitting in the driveway, pretty much ready to go, for about a month.
The forecast was calling for rain at some point in the evening but I hoped I could get in some laps on a dry track. I loaded up the car and headed north in the early afternoon, stopping at Perry Performance to pick up some new axles and some oil for the M3. I arrived at the track a bit after 4:30 pm and prepared the car (unload my junk, drop tire pressures, add a drop of oil, install the camera and external GPS unit, place the harnesses). The 5:00 pm session was for the beginner group, but the second session was to be intermediate (advanced drivers can run in intermediate too). Carl dropped by and we chatted a bit. He asked what I had done to the Civic over the winter, to which I answered "absolutely nothing". Still, I saw no reason why the car should not be reliable. I just hoped the tires still had some grip left in them.
There were not that many cars, fewer than 10 in my group. I headed out behind an Audi TT-RS and there was a vintage Corvette behind me. As I headed, I was taking it easy. My best lap last year was a 1:14.7, so I was hoping to be in the 1:16's at some point. The car felt fine, although I went into the chicane too fast on my first lap, and understeered badly. I was slowly building speed and it took me until lap 9 to go under 1:18. My best lap was my 10th one, a 1:16.91. I never caught the TT, and I think the only car that caught me was a Cayman GT-4. I was mostly alone out there. I knew I was not driving in an optimal way and that there was clearly time to be gained. As I came in at the end of the session, Carl came by and told me I should go straight out again in the advanced group. I had already unbuckled my harness and shut off my camera and timing app, but I realized he was right, so I got ready again and headed straight back out.
I was pretty much alone out there. Still, it was nice not to have to warm up the tires again. The car felt good, I felt I could lean on it more and more. I was in the 1:15's after 3 laps and in all, I managed 4 laps in the 1:15's out of 12. It was still not clear to me whether I should be downshifting to 3rd gear for the chicane. Also, for some reason I was tapping the brakes after the chicane, before the fast right-hander, when I was only lifting last year. Still, I was doing well in some sectors, with a new personal best top speed of 136 km/h before the chicane. I was also flat on the gas in 4th through the little left-hand kink before the first hairpin. I realized that if I set the steering wheel at the correct angle, it's very easy to get hard on the gas through that little corner. Although there were not really any other cars to chase, it was a solid session. I could tell I was a little rusty, but I was only 0.8 seconds off my best time from last year. I think that if I drive well, I should be able to go quicker. I don't know why I didn't stick around for more sessions... maybe because it really looked like it was going to rain. Anyway, I think that next time, I will try to take a look at the data between sessions to see if there are any areas where I am not quite up to my usual speed.
I know I sound like a broken record, but when I drive the Civic back home on the road, usually stopping to run an errand or get a snack, I'm astounded that it's still just a car, and despite being quite quick on track, it can still be driven around on the street like a normal car. I know it's modified, but there are no fancy parts on the car... the coilovers are the ones that came with the car, and they are not anywhere near "high end" components. The tires were bought used for 50$ each. The one expensive item was the roll bar, but it's a safety item and is really well made (and custom-made). The engine was a bit complicated to install, but it would cost less than 1500 $ to replace. All in all, I am still really happy with the Civic as a budget track car that is not slow.
Here is a video including my best lap of the evening:
Spring is really here now... Tuesday night lapping at ICAR starts next week (it's supposed to rain though) and the Civic should be good to go as is, in that it's in the same state it was at the end of the Mosport event last fall. I got lucky yesterday when someone posted a pair of 949Racing 6UL 15x9 wheels for sale in the same colour as my 15x8 wheels. I have always wanted an extra pair in case I broke one, so I am pretty excited.
I had wanted to install summer tires on the STi, but there is a 3-week wait for an appointment at the local garages (I can't swap wheels myself, since I don't have a second set of mounted wheels). I gave up looking for a good deal on some used STi wheels and decided to just park the car on winter tires and start daily driving the M3. We went to Deschaillons last weekend and I swapped cars there, leaving the STi in the barn. The M3 started right up when I installed the battery. All it needed was for me to change the right caliper, which I suspected was not fully disengaging. When we got back home, I replaced the caliper myself. What should have been a 1-hour job took me almost 3 hours. Why? 1) One of the wheels was very hard to remove because someone overtightened two of the wheel bolts (not sure if it was Canadian Tire). 2) One of my two jacks didn't work anymore, so I had to find spots to place a jack stand then jack the other side 3) I could't remember how to place the retaining clip on the caliper so it fell off during my test drive, and I had to look for photos on line to confirm what I was doing wrong 4) The new caliper required an 8mm wrench on the bleeder screw and I didn't have one, and it took a lot of looking around to confirm this. I used an adjustable wrench instead 5) I struggled to get the slider pin on one side to engage so I could tighten it... Anyway, I learned a couple of things doing a job I had never done before on the BMW! A test drive (where nothing fell off) confirmed my guess that the caliper was not fully releasing and one of the pads had worn much more than the other as a result. I installed a rebuilt caliper and some inexpensive Pagid pads, and the problem seems to be fixed. There is no more vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds, which I am pretty sure was being caused by the pad contacting the disc even when I wasn't braking.
The M3 is so engaging to drive. I drove it for over an hour last night, with no traffic, when I went to get the used Civic wheels. I have to admit that it feels a bit slow in a straight line now that I have gotten used to the Subaru, but the M3 has the advantage of being so much quieter on the highway. It's quieter in the city now too since the old pads that often squealed at low speeds (some performance model that Carl had sold me). The next thing to tackle is an annoying rattle in the passenger-side door, but I just did some research and I think I know how to address it. I know I complain a lot about small items on the car (and the two other cars), but it's just so close to being the perfect driving experience that I think I can get it there! Anyway, a night-time blast to the North Shore was a really pleasant experience, and quite different to what it would have been with the STi or the Civic. All three cars are engaging, and I realize that that is what really counts as far as driving enjoyment goes. As I get older, I care less about acceleration and outright performance (for a street car, not for a track car!) and I just want to enjoy my time behind the wheel whenever I have to drive somewhere.
Never seen one before: Ineos Grenadier
Sti and a wall
Saw this DS a couple of times recently
M4 is like a German Mustang
Back when AMG's had 6.2 liter V8's
How about a V10?
Nice flat green Defender
The new 5-series is so boring it could be mistaken for a 10-year-old Camry. The first ugly 5 -series ever
Ready to swap places
Quick wash (with no hose) before heading back to Montreal
Nice 90's Prelude on Enkei wheels
Yes, that is the same FL5 as last year, in the same spot
As is common in Montreal, the weather has been really variable this Spring. In early March, it felt like an early Spring. Then the weather returned to normal and we somehow ended up with a massinve dumping of snow two days ago on April 4th.
We travelled to Cuba for a week at the end of March, which was really nice. We stayed at the same hotel as last year, and our favourite tennis instuctor Jorge was there to help the boys further improve their game.
We only ended up skiing once this season, and it was the same for skating. The days with the best conditions for skiing or skating didn't really correspond to our availability.
I got the Civic out of storage just before the trip, in between snow falls. I had to hack out a parking spot from the crusty pile of snow at the bottom of our driveway. I drove it to my CEGEP on Wednesday, the day before the massive dumping of snow. It was completely buried in snow the following day. I hope to get the M3 out of the barn as soon as possible and slap the summer tires on the Subaru.
Here are some photos that will illustrate the crazy variations in Spring weather:
