The Civic has become reliable again!

Thanks in large part to my friend Pat, the Civic is back to being reliable. As I had committed to instruct at a BMW driver education event at Tremblant on September 10th, I really wanted to try the car on track before that event. As I had been away on Monday the 3rd on a family trip, my only chance to get on track before the event was to try the car at a Wednesday night at ICAR.

I hadn't been back to ICAR since my crash there last year. Pat decided to join me and we headed up to the track together in the Civic. We were occasionally getting a check engine light on the way up there, but it turned out not to be anything important, probably something to do with the idle.

By the time I got on track, it was around 7:30 pm and getting pretty dark. I was driving tentatively and getting passed a lot... it was hard for me to see the best line on track with the fading daylight. Still, the car was reliable and I was satisfied. Pat went out for another session in the car and was several seconds per lap faster than me. I guess he's not afraid of the dark! He dropped me off at home and left with the Civic so he could perform a bit more work on it: he was going to finish installing the catch can and swap the new muffler back to my old one in an attempt to make the car a bit more quiet.

He brought the car back to me on Saturday and I didn't drive it until early Monday morning for the trip up to Tremblant. The check engine light came on a couple of times, but by the time I was halfway there it was off and it would not come on again all day. The noise level on the highway was indeed reduced by the muffler swap. The forecast had been for rain, but it looked like the rain would only come in the late afternoon and I would have access to some dry track. On my last day at Tremblant in July, it had rained so much that even the drive to and from the track had been scary. It would be my first time at Tremblant in the dry with this Civic and I was very curious to see how the car fare in comparison with my previous Civics.

I arrived just in time for the instructor's meeting at 8:15 and had a few minutes to set up the car (basically, check the oil level and tire pressures) before my first session at 9:00 am. The cars on hand were extremely varied, but there were many, many Porsches, especially Caymans and Boxsters.

I took it relatively easy in my first session, but my data shows I managed a 2:06 on my last lap. My best lap with my previous Civic was a 2:03, so I hoped to manage a similar lap with this car, or at least a 2:04.

My second session was cancelled due to a Subaru catching fire after some kind of mechanical failure. There would be other cancelled and compressed sessions during the day, due to an Audi TT-RS losing a wheel and an unfortunate crash by an instructor.

My former student Joe wanted to ride along with me in my second session, and I happily obliged. Of course, the lap times are slower when you have a passenger. The car was performing reliably, but I did not have quite the confidence to carry big speed into the faster corners like I used to with my old race car. As a reference, I had managed a best lap time of 1:58 in the past with the 1.8 liter engine in the race car, and a 2:02 with the 1.6.

My students were driving two completely different cars: a Honda CRX with an LS-vtec engine, and a brand new Audi RS5. The CRX was a nicely set up car and the driver did well with it. The driver of the RS5 was really a novice when it came to track driving, but he made excellent progress throughout the day. The RS5, to me, was an extremely boring car for the track. It had lots of power and grip, but felt heavy and disconnected. There was virtually no engine sound from the twin-turbo V6. I imagine it makes a lovely street car, but it's not a track car.

My last session turned out to be my best. I was getting more confident with each lap when a Fox-body Mustang entered the track ahead of me. I thought I would pass it right away, but even on its warmup lap, it was not going slowly. I ended up following that car for the rest of the session, and my lap times improved, as I eventually hit a 2:02.9. I was happy with that, and happy not to be the absolute slowest car in the instructor group (I don't think I passed anyone all day).

I would have had access to one more session at 4:30, but it had started to rain a bit and I preferred to end the day on a high note (and be back in time for dinner with the family). The ride home was without incident or traffic and I parked the car, where it still sits ready for its next event. I look forward to seeing if I can improve on my best lap time at St-Eustache now that the engine seems to be making its full power. Stay tuned!

Different approaches, similar results! 

Super rare in North America: BMW Z1

The Mustang I chased for several laps... fun times

The Civic Type R in its natural environment.

This R8 V10 passed me often

This 280Z looked great and was not slow on track

Same thing for this lovely Corolla GT-S

One of the lovely Porsches on hand

A rare 1M

The Z1 with its roof and doors down

My Civic, resting between sessions

A tale of two breakdowns

On Saturday, I got the call from my mechanic Pat telling me the Civic was ready to be picked up. He had welded up my broken header and rebuilt my sketchy distributor with parts we both had laying around. I convinced Alex to come with me to the South Shore to pick up the car and we headed home in separate cars. The check engine light was off for the first time in months. Suddenly, as I was about to get onto Champlain Bridge, the engine just died, while I was driving. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to restart it, but there was nothing I could do. I called Pat and he told me that the igniter in the distributor must be old and must have overheated. I called a tow truck and waited for a tow home. When I got home, the car started right up, as Pat had predicted it would, since the overheated components had cooled down.

Flatbed tow #1

I had a brand new ignitor at home (from the 2000 Civic I sold to Carl), so I figured I could do the repair myself. My intitial plan was to change the ignitor without removing the distributor, so as not to affect the timing. However, I was unable to loosen the screw holding the rotor in place so I couldn't access the distributor's internal parts. I marked the position of the distributor and brought it into the house to work on it on the kitchen counter. I had a lot of trouble getting the screw out, but managed after a while. It was tight and on the verge of stripping by the time I managed to get it off. Several other small screws were also hard to remove, but I managed. I put everything back together in the dark, even dropping and finding the tiny ignition coil spring, and the car started right up. I was pretty self-satisfied and happy I would be able to go to Monday night lapping.

Imagine my surprise when the motor conked out again Monday on the way to the track… I was on the highway and managed to coast to the nearest exit. I had to stop at a red light and then get help to push the car around the corner to safety. I was on a small side street and had some tools with me, so I figured I would take a look at the distributor in case something I had installed had come loose. Everything was intact… I called Pat and he was quite surprised the car had died again… I decided to wait an hour to see if the car would start after a cooling off period. During the wait, I did some online research to see if it was possible that the coil had failed this time, and not the ignitor… It seemed like it might be the coil. Of course, I didn’t have one on me, but Pat did, so I called CAA and had the car towed from Ste-Thérèse to La Prairie, which is a pretty long way (50 km). This was my second tow in 3 days! Luckily, we hit no traffic at all and I was at Pat’s before sunset. Even after all this cooling off, the car would not start. We changed the coil and the car started right up. We decided to drive around as much as possible to see if it would die again, but it didn’t, despite over an hour of driving around. We plugged in Pat’s programmable ECU to see of there were any error codes, but only found a code related to idle speed, which we could ignore. So now, I guess that I will only know if all is well when I next head to the track. As I’m going away Labour Day weekend, I will probably go to ICAR next Wednesday to do some testing. Stay tuned!

Civic is in the shop

I went back to the track Monday last week and had a good time with the Civic, but it was clear there was still some kind of misfire or something going on. After struggling to change the throttle position sensor on the throttle body, I decided it was simpler to just buy a whole used throttle body than to try to fix the one I had. After installing it on the car, the check engine light was still on. The car felt OK, so I took it to the track as is.

I managed a best lap of 1:02.74 and the setup of the car felt right. I also took out one of our members' girlfriend for a few laps. She seemed to enjoy it. I feel that there is still some top-end power missing. Since I've eliminated the TPS issue, if there was one, I am thinking it's a spark/distributor issue. Also, there was clearly some kind of exhaust leak by the end of the evening. As a results, I dropped the car off at Pat's last Thursday so he could look into these issues. He immediately noticed that the header was cracked, but said not to worry, as he would weld it back up. As for the distributor, I brought him most of a used one and I hope he can replace whatever needs replacing.
He still has the car and I'm waiting to hear from him. Hopefully he can solve the engine issue quickly and I can be back on track Monday.

Here are some photos from last Monday. Thanks to JAG for the photos.

Despite some hiccups, the Civic is performing on track

Since the super wet Wednesday at the track at Tremblant, I managed to get to two Monday nights at St-Eustache. The little hesitation when I get on the throttle was still present, even though I didn't have the problem of the engine cutting out at certain RPM. I also changed the driver door after a pleasant trip to Kenny U-Pull. It was like hunter for treasure looking for a red Civic door in decent condition. The one I got was not bad. The window still needs a bit of help to seal properly, but it is a huge improvement. It took me almost an hour to change the stupid door lock, but only 10 minutes to change the actual door, once I got the fender off.

New door coming up!

I felt I was driving well on the first Monday, and I got in a lot of laps, but I couldn't even break into the 1:02's. I managed a best of only 1:03.5 and decided I would take the car to Pat's before my next time on track to see if we could figure out what the problem was.

JAG photo of the Civic at St-Eustache

Civic in action

Pat hooked the car up to his laptop and found codes for the throttle position sensor and the distributor. By unplugging the TPS and plugging it back in, something improved. I ordered a new one and will rebuild my distributor with parts I have from an old one to see if that will get rid of the problem.

I went back to the track Monday. In my first session, I could not even get into the 1:03's. The best I could do was 1:04.6, which was pretty depressing, considering I had managed a 1:02.7 in the spring. Where would those 2 seconds come from? A quick look at the lap data indicated I was probably down on power. It was very hot out, but I was still perplexed. Imagine my surprise, then, when on my warmup lap in the second session, I clocked a 1:03.9, followed by a 1:02.48 and a 1:02.50. I was really astounded. Those turned out to be my best laps, as the tires seem to only deliver for a couple of laps before the performance drops off slightly.

It took me a while to improve on my times from the spring, but I finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction. It seems totally realistic to drop into the 1:01's with some cooler weather. Can the car go even faster than 1:01? I hope so, but that would require shaving off another 1.5 seconds, which is a tall order. Stay tuned...

Other than that, I bought the cooling fan parts I need to fix the M3 at Adriatic Auto... they seem to be able to fix any European car there... there was even a Tatra parked out front! I just have to budget the time to do the repair.

Rare RS4

Not so rare AMG GTS

Spotted at Kenny U-Pull... I think there is a decent chance this was my father's old Jaguar XJ6L... they were very rare in Quebec, especially in brown. It was listed as a 1977, and my Dad's was a 1976, but still...

First spot of a Tatra... ever!

They also had this lovely BMW 850 Csi

I see this AMG almost every day in our neighbourhood

The last proper Jaguar saloon in my book...

Rare 190e 2.3-16 at Tremblant

The M3 still looks good after a wash!

Becoming rare: 993 turbo

Nice colour for this TT-RS

I still like the relative subtlety of the current M3

Nice Integra Typr R clone at St-Eustache (sunroof is a giveaway)

The Civic in its home element

There is a lovely variety of cars at St-Eustache this year

Super-clean Toyota 4Runner

Rare yellow M3

Nice clean Alfa Spider Quadrifoglio

Rat-rod VW bus

Nice Defender 90 in the neighbourhood

Super rare Celica GT4... I used to want one of these so bad!

Rare but weird... Chrysler TC by Maserati, with whitewalls and spoked wheels!

Wettest track day ever at Tremblant

Yesterday I attended the wettest track day I’ve attended, ever. It rained all day, non stop, sometimes at a medium rate, sometimes heavy. It also rained the whole way there and I arrived at Tremblant later than planned, just as the instructor meeting was beginning.

The drive to Tremblant was nerve wracking… I have almost new tires on the Civic, but still the car was hydroplaning on certain sections of highway 15, due to massive water accumulation in the ruts that have formed over the years. I guess it’s a combination of wide tires and a light car, because when I rode with my students in their much heavier BMW’s, they did not seem to hydroplane as much.

Anyway, the unloading and preparation of the Civic, although quick, already left me soaking wet. As I headed out for the first session of the day, I could not help to laugh as I very slowly made my way around the track. I didn’t set up any data acquisition or the camera, because it was pointless in such terrible conditions. There was so much water on the track that it was impossible to avoid deep puddles and rivers, no matter what line you took. It was not like regular wet driving… there was hydroplaning every single lap… I’m not exaggerating.

After 2 full sessions and the lunch break, I headed out again in very heavy rain. After 2 laps, I came in. I wasn’t having any fun and I didn’t see the point of continuing. I spent about 45 minutes trying to get my driver side window rolled up (they make you run window down at that club, no negotiation. I was comically wet by this point. When I got some help and finally got the window up, I decided I was not doing this again and loaded up the car. My students were running solo and doing well, so I got permission to leave early, and I was home before dinner.

Windows closed, but water still getting in...

How did the car perform? The ECU problem never came up. The car felt stable. It takes on massive amounts of water in these conditions, I think through the floor, firewall and trunk. I don’t think it’s a major issue, I don’t plan on ever using the car in such conditions again, as I don’t see the point. I just want to go drive the frikkin car in normal conditions for once, not 35-degree heat, not massive rain storms… I guess I just have to be patient.

Civic ready to head home

Here is what I remember about the extreme wet line:

River across the track coming up to turn 2. Just drive straight through with wheels straight. Luckily, turns 2 and 3 had no water accumulation. 

Apex of 5 full of water, use the outside half of the road. 

Lots of standing water before and after turn 6.

Turn 7 is fine, but after the turn, you have to keep to the right of the track to avoid huge amounts of standing water. As you approach 8, there is so much standing water that there is no way to avoid it. This was the scariest part of the lap.

Decent grip in turn 8. On the run up the hill to 9, there is another river running across the track and you will probably get wheel spin. I decided to time my 3-4 upshift with this area, and take my time shifting. After that, the left side of the track allows you to continue full throttle. 

After the hump, there is a big patch of standing water just before the braking zone. I usually lifted before that patch, then braked in the usual braking zone. 

Turn 10 is pretty normal, except there is a big puddle right at the apex, so leave a few feet from the dry apex. 

Turn 11 and 12 have good grip. 

Before turn 13, there is a massive amount of water on the track. The braking zone for 14 is fine, as is the corner. There is a lot of water at paddock bend, and the regular apex is submerged. After the bend, you can accelerate decently well before the big, early lift for turns 1 and 2.

Back on track... no improvement on lap times, but still a fun time

As I like to do, I got an early start on my way to St-Eustache for Monday night lapping. As soon as I hit the road, I noticed that my steering wheel was way off center. I pulled over to check if my tie rod ends were damaged (from the car hitting the brick wall the other day) and they looked fine. I guess that my alignment shop forgot to properly center the steering wheel and that I somehow did not notice on the drive home, which seems strange, but I could find no other explanation.

Anyway, since I was in St-Eustache early, I decided to stop at Canadian Tire and get a Torx T30 scredriver bit so I could remove the airbag, which would allow me to remove the steering wheel with a 19mm socket (same as my lug nuts, so I had the right tools in my bag) and put it back on straight. This worked pretty well, although it's still a tiny bit off from being dead straight.

Civic at rest

By the time I got to the track, it was hot... like 34 degrees. I checked the tire pressures and waited for my session. 

When I finally hit the track, the first thing I noticed was that the new steering ratio was slow... 4 turns lock to lock instead of 3.6 is noticeable. All my steering inputs had to be modified to take this into account, so it was hard for me to establish whether I liked the improved feel of the manual steering rack. I took it easy in the first session, and just barely dipped into the 1:03's at the end of the session... not great as far as beating my goal of 1:02.7, but at least the car felt solid and predictable. Also, I wasn't the slowest car out there, far from it. Maybe everyone's lap times were affected by the heat? One positive is that the exhaust seems a bit less loud now that it's got a nice coating of carbon in it. It's annoyingly loud, but not deafening anymore. No one mentioned anything about the car being near the sound limit, and it doesn't knock anywhere on the chassis.

I was called in a bit before the end of the session to instruct a student. This was his car:

Huracan Performante

One of three on hand that evening!

I got to drive this beast for a couple of laps to show the student around. It is lovely: smooth power delivery, very confidence inspiring, sounds amazing, even when you shift at only 6000 rpm. The student liked to rev higher than that. He was doing pretty well by the end of our session. The car is really fast, even on a small technical track. The steering ratio was very quick, which made it tough to get back to the Civic!

I did get back into my car and went a bit quicker, with a 1:03.6. I couldn't imagine shaving off another second in these conditions. I was getting more used to the steering rack, although I had to plan my inputs for the really tight corners and really move my hands a lot. I don't know if this will have been the right choice of steering rack. At least I still have the old one if I change my mind. I noticed that on some occasions, the engine would sputter when I got on the gas. I think it's an electronic issue, since the check engine light has been on since I got the car back from Pat's (in the past, it came on once in a while, but mostly stayed off). 

In my last session, things were going well and I think I would have improved on my lap time had the sputtering issue not worsened. At one point, the engine would not rev at all past a certain RPM. I don't know if the extreme heat was an issue... Anyway, the best I managed was a 1:03.5. 

I'm trying to figure out a way to see what the electronic issue is, but it's unlikely I can fix it before my next track day at Tremblant in one week. Hopefully it won't hurt the car's performance too much. 

Ready for the drive back home

Back from vacation

Last Thursday we got back from our trip to Paris and Estonia and it was back to work the next day for both of us. It was a great trip, we all had fun, I loved Estonia, we all loved Paris... More details to come.

The day we left on the trip, my Civic rolled down the driveway into the neighbour's stackable garden bricks. I was able to put the bricks back, but it really ruined my front bumper. When I got back, one of the first things I did was take the bumper cover off and do what I could to make it hold together. It doesn't look as bad as it did, but now there is one more thing on the list of small repairs to be done.

I will finally get to try the car on track tonight and see how it feels after all the repairs Pat made to the car. I really hope I can improve my lap times... there are people with similar cars who are 2 seconds per lap faster than me... It's going to be hot, but I will be disappointed nonetheless if I don't improve on my best times right away. Stay tuned...