Vince's Stuff: Last track event of the year: Perry Performance Friends and Family Day at ICAR

I try to make it to Carl and Perry's invitational track day at the end of every season, and when I do, it's usually the final track event of the season. Some years, I haven't had a functional car (last year, I had an overheating car that could run for a few minutes at a time) and other years, it's cold, or raining, or both. This year, the weather was perfect (sunny and cool) and I had access to the one of the most reliable track cars I've ever owned, so I was hoping to have a great day. I was not disappointed.

The RSX never missed a beat

I arrived later than usual because the boys had run a 10km race in the morning (they did great). I met up with Rob and Stéphane, the two of my car buddies I met at my part-time job in 1994. I was glad to see Rob, who I had missed at Mosport last weekend, and I almost never get to see Steph. Although we have similar cars (2000 Civic) and are always exchanging emails trying to synchronize for some kind of event, but we are neaver available, with an available car, at the same time. Anyway, we were together now!

I had re-installed the passenger seat, so with the extra 50 pounds of weight, I wasn't sure if I would be able to improve on my season-best lap time of 1:16.7. I figured with the much cooler weather, there was still a chance. In my first session, I brought Steph along as a passenger, so it was clear that with 200+ pounds of passenger, no records would be broken. Still, we had a fun time, and we were mostly passing cars. I realized that I would be among the faster cars at this event, instead of being one of the slower cars on a typical Tuesday evening. Most of the people I knew at this event were quite experienced drivers, but had not driven at ICAR nearly as much as I had in the last couple of years. As a result, I was keeping up with cars that were blowing me away at Mosport last week.

In my second session, I was alone in the car and managed to improve on my best lap time, with a 1:16.54. It wasn't a perfect lap and I knew I could go quicker. Also, I wanted to go quicker because I hadn't bothered to film the session and I thought it would be a shame not to have my best lap of the year on video!

I inhaled some Décarie hot dogs and went out again with Steph's niece as a passenger. I took out other passengers throughout the afternoon, and I can't even remember who was with me in which session. In my next session alone, we set up another "Vince vs. Pascal" scenario, but it only lasted a couple of laps because Pascal's Integra was having a throttle issue. I was then caught and passed by a brand new 911 Carrera GTS and tried to keep up with it. I ended up with my best lap of the season, a 1:16.24. I was pretty happy with this lap and came into the pits, knowing I would probably not manage another lap like that in the session. After parking, I walked over to see who was driving the 911, and it turned out to be Dave Gosselin, who had borrowed the car from its owner for some test laps. That would explain the solid driving! There were not many cars that passed me during the whole day, but I didn't mind getting passed by a new 911 with a race driver. I was glad to have captured this session on video.

In my last session, I was alone and managed another couple of laps in the 1:16's. I was satisfied with my day. All had gone well, I drove well, the car needed no maintenance and I think I surprised a few people with how fast the car was compared to some of the much more expensive or modified cars out there. It was a great way to end the track season. As I drove home, I could hear the familiar sound of dead brake pads, but I can't complain about the durability of the expensive Hawk endurance pads I had been using. I got a ton of laps out of them.

The RSX allowed me to have a great season with lots of laps. When I got home and told Alex about my day, she said "Wow, that must be the most reliable car you've ever had for the track"... my feelings exactly. In the next few days, I will change the front pads, install the winter/storage wheels, and maybe repair the exhaust leak. It's conforting to know that I will have at least one usable track car at the beginning of the 2027 season. I just have to find somewhere to store it for winter.