We just got back from our 6-week trip to Italy (and Geneva) and there is much to catch up on. The trip was lovely, although the weather was hot. We covered almost 5 000 km in our rental car, a new Opel Corsa (gas, manual) without any issues. We were supposed to have a Fiat Panda, but the one they gave us had a problem with the rear seatbelts and seat, so they handed us the key to this Opel instead. I'm sure the Opel was a much better road trip car, but I have still never driven a panda.
We picked up the car in Rome and made the 5-hours drive to our apartment in Genova. A few days later, we visited Geneva for a few days (Alex had a conference, see separate post for the car-spotting) and after another stint in Genova, we drove to Florence (another conference). We also made the 2-hour drive to see my cousin and aunt in Monaco (see separate Monaco car-spotting post), and I even managed to attend race events at Italy's two most iconic race tracks (I will make a separate post for this as well!). We met with friends, saw the leaning tower of Pisa, and hit the beach a few times as well. We ended the trip passing through Siena and spent our final day in Rome. It was an awesome trip, but I'm glad to be back to enjoy the second half of summer in Montreal. Here are some of the cars I spotted in Italy.
I don't know why I like the Punto Abarth so much, but I do!
Audi RS4 Avant
The newest Honda Jazz is popular among taxi drivers
The new Renault 5 often comes in nice bright colours
View from our building in the evening
British racing green classic Mini
The Red Bull Cerro Abajo downnill mountain bike race was in town... crazy stuff
Someone was using this beautiful early WRX as their wedding car
I saw very few Renault RS cars
Mint condition Autobianchi A112
Properly used Discovery
Very clean 70's Fiat
Another Punto Abarth
The Canadair water bombers were in action every day
NSU Prinz
A double rainbow in Genova
I don't even know this Honda, the Logo
Surprised to spot this Supra in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere
Never sold in Canada: Mk.3 Golf GTi 16v
993 half on the sidewalk
Italy's Miata
Off-road spec Suzuki Jimny
Faded paint on this Alfa 145
Seicento Sporting looks sharp
Lancia Fulvia at a garage in Florence
Lovely manual XJS
This 205 GTi 1.6 needs paint
Another new retro Renault: the Clio
Lovely 106 Rallye on Speedline wheels
Ranger Raptor, not common in Europe
There seems to be a crossover version of the Jazz as well
Old E-class wagon on BBS-style wheels
Older Jimny
I saw a few of these chop-top 500's
Gordini Twingo
A 993 in Annecy
Focus RS on our way back to Italy
Clean E36 in our neighbourhood in Genova
Clean E30
Chinese SUV, halfway between an Land Cruiser and a Defender?
Tastefully modded Civic EG sedan near the Old Port
The sporty version of the Alfa Mito?
Lovely Clio 16v in our neighbourhood
Aston Martin in Santa Margherita
Rope doors open!
Yes, another Punto Abarth
I still love the look of a Brera
Yet another off-road-themed Jimny
Oscar puts his touch on the leaning tower of Pisa
Modern Cayman tucked under a building in Pisa
Aston Martin in Pisa
Monaco plated Phaeton at a supermarket
A newer Autobianchi
A Chrysler Neon in Italy? I didn't know they sold them in Europe
Delta, but not Integrale
Another off-roader, a 2-door Land Cruiser
One of my favourite Abarth 595 colours
Two SUV's on Chinese plates in the Old Port
Main piazza in Siena
A clean Alfa 75 in Rome
Satin black RCZ
... and a satin black M5 wagon
Coliseum at night
Military vehicles at the train station in Rome. Notice the drip pans under each one!
I have barely driven the RSX since I bought and I am leaving
for Italy on Tuesday for our 6-week family trip. The clutch was fixed a week
and a half ago but there was no track night at ICAR last Tuesday for some
reason. As a result, I was a bit desperate to find a track event to attend. The
only one I could find that fit my schedule was a track night at Calabogie. Was
it worth it to drive three hours each way to drive for two hours on track? With a 40% chance
of rain? My buddy Rob was willing to join me so we decided to go for it. Was it
a risk to travel that far with a car that has come back from its last two track
nights on the back of a tow truck? Yes, but I felt good about the car being
reliable after the last repairs (clutch, cooling fan) and in the worst-case
scenario, I could ride home with Rob and figure out the car later.
Rob and I met in the West Island at 1 pm, aiming to get to
Calabogie around 4. We had to register and be at the driver’s meeting at 4:40.
The format was simple: open pit lane from 5 to 7 pm. No sessions, come in when
you feel like it. We arrived at the track on time, I emptied the car, checked
the oil, dropped the front tire pressures to 25 psi, and installed my GoPro with my
new stiffer mount. That was it. The other cars were the usual mix, from Miatas and
Golf R’s to Corvettes and GT3’s, some street and some race. My goal: to drive
as much of the two hours as possible (I even brought extra fuel, because I was
pretty sure the car can’t run for even close to 2 hours on a tank). As far as
lap times, I expected to be several seconds faster than I had been in my only
session with the car at Calabogie, 4 weeks ago, on all-season tires, when I had
managed a 2:45. I now had almost new Nankang CR-S track tires, so I hoped to get
down under 2:40. My lifetime best was a 2:32. I have the data file on my phone,
but the date of the file is wrong, so I don’t know when I ran that lap since I
have had RaceChrono… maybe in Choo’s Civic in 2021 after I destroyed my own engine
at Calabogie? I know I also hit 2:32 in 2013 with my old race car running in
the SPC class, on the official street tire of that series. Anyway, I was
wondering if it was realistic to shave 6 seconds off my time of 4 weeks ago, but I was feeling confident.
Officially, there is no lap timing with this group. I respect
that, but I also wanted data about my laps (and to try out my new/used Dragy
Pro GPS receiver), so I decided to start the Racechrono app and leave my phone
in the glovebox. It would record data, but I wouldn’t see it while driving.
I brought my tools and my fuel jug to the pit lane and
headed out. From the beginning, there was a slight pulsing in the brake pedal, but otherwise the car felt really nice. I wondered whether I should have changed my aging brake rotors before the event, but what was done was done. Fortunately, the pulsing gradually went away over my first laps. The track layout was
still fresh in my head. I was catching some cars, others were catching me… I felt
I was right near the middle of the pack on lap times. After a few laps, I was
caught by a NA Miata that appeared in my mirrors unexpectedly. Even with a
passenger, it was quicker than me. When I pointed it by, I could see that the
car’s corner entry speed was impressive. I tried to pick up some hints and,
according to my data, I immediately dropped a couple of seconds on my best lap.
When I finally looked at my watch, figuring I must have been getting close to
the 20-minute mark since I hit the track, it was closer to 30 minutes. I came
in for a short break, even though I was feeling fine. There were several others
also on a break in pit lane. I didn’t check tire pressures, I didn’t check the
oil, or anything… I was happy with the car, the temperature needle hadn’t
budged. I opened the glovebox and checked my phone and was very happy to see I
had a best lap of 2:35, a whopping 10 seconds faster than I had run on street
tires. I was really happy with this, and didn’t care whether I beat that already
very satisfying lap time during the remainder of the evening.
I headed back out and had some fun exchanges with some GR86’s,
race Miatas and Golf R’s. One of the GT3’s kept blowing by me, but most cars
took a lot of time to catch and pass me. When I came in for my second break, I
checked my lap times and the best was a mid 2:35, so no improvement. I didn’t
mind. Rob was there, and we chatted. He was having trouble with his GPS
receiver and wasn’t sure about his lap times. I told him to just use the one in
the phone, at least he would have some data, just a few tenths less precise. He
said “Is it possible I’m running 2:35’s?”. I have known Rob for over 30 years, so
I didn’t feel bad telling him “It’s possible, but I don’t think so…”. Rob’s M3
is like his baby… he just doesn’t push the car like he used to push his Hondas
in the old days. The car is in mint condition… everyone wants to buy it if he
ever sells it, and he never will. That’s fine, I respect that, and that M3 can definitely
go faster than my RSX… it’s a faster car to begin with, and it’s got more
modifications than the RSX, although his BFG G-Force Rivals are less grippy
than my Nankangs. It’s just that the way he chooses to drive that car, in a way
that it will never crash or even deteriorate, is not conducive to fast lap
times. Anyway, to settle the matter, we decided to head out together. I let him
lead, and I could immediately see that I was much faster in the slower sections
and a bit faster almost everywhere else. The M3 pulled away a bit on the
straights, but that was about the only edge he had. After a couple of laps, I
was ready for the point by, but he wasn’t giving me one! I kind of forced the issue
at one point, pulling out beside him at the beginning of the front straight,
and he got the message and lifted. After another lap, he had disappeared from
my mirrors. We later calculated he must have been running about 2:43. I was
having a great time. Eventually, my GoPro battery died. I guess that is one
thing I could technically have planned better… I could have had a spare battery
or camera in the glove box. Also, I should have brought some drinking water,
although it was only about 17 degrees, so I was not that thirsty anyway.
With about 25 minutes to go, I was debating whether I should
pit again, when I noticed the fuel gauge was at about 1/8th. I came in and
added fuel for a final run. All was going well and time was flying by. One of the
best features of this format is that you could push the car from the first lap,
since everything was already up to temperature. I ended up clocking my best lap
in this session, a 2:33.29. I don’t remember one lap feeling better than the
others… I guess things just came together on that lap.
I got so many laps, it was beautiful. I was comfortable in
the car, I had time to think about a lot of things that I am often too busy to
think about: Am I gripping the wheel with a light touch? Where is each corner
worker station? Am I rev-matching everywhere I can? How can I optimise this
corner? Is it worth driving on the rumble strip here? It is so liberating to
just drive and not constantly be worrying about the car. The event ran so smoothly, no one misbehaved,
everyone gave timely point-bys (except maybe Rob!)… I just got to focus on having fun. For the first time in a while, I had completed an event with no stains on my clothes or dirt under my fingernails.
Indeed, Rob and I were both super happy about the way things
had gone. The weather had remained lovely during the whole 2 hours. We grabbed
the included snack (egg rolls or something fried, surprising choice but tasty)
and quickly packed up the cars for the long drive home. It was so easy, given
that we had minimal tools and no spare wheels. We stopped for a burger and gas
in Ottawa. Rob mentioned something that I have said before: "You know, I'm not even jealous of the guys who show up in GT3's". Indeed, when our own cars perform so flawlessly, we are getting what we really want: a useful tool to participate in the hobby we love. As I have said before, I get envious when I see people with reliable cars when my car is broken and unable to turn laps. I'm not envious of anyone when my car runs so well.
On the last leg of the journey, I drove through some of the heaviest
rain I’ve ever seen, which added to my travel time, but the car and I dealt
with it, and I was home before midnight. Looking back on the day, I really can’t
see how it could have gone better.
What, in fact, makes a great event at the track? Roughly, in
decreasing order of importance: no one in our group gets hurt, no one crashes,
no major failures on the car, being with friends at the event, lots of track
time, minimal time working on the car, the car performing well, the driver
performing well, great weather, minimal flags, courteous and competent people
on track with you, getting it on video, gathering lap data. All of these elements
were present here, which is probably why things worked out so beautifully.
When I think about it, so many things could have gone wrong with our plan: the car could have refused to start at a crucial time, the brake vibration could have got worse, not better, the overheating issue could have not been solved, the serpentine belt could have shredded itself, the weather could have been a disaster, something totally new could have broken at the track, etc. None of those things happened, and instead, we ended up with a perfect event. In the circumstances, I don't feel so bad going six weeks with no track time.
Here is a video, it doesn't include my best lap, but still cool (I'm happy with my new camera mount):
BG was right, the RSX needed a clutch. He did not have time to do it, but fortunately for me, the neigbouring garage, called Garage Patel, had time to do it. I brought them an Exedy clutch bought from Carl and the car was ready a couple of days later. They even removed my non-functional a/c compressor. I couldn'to do it since the subframe was in the way.
When I picked up the car, it would not start on the first try. So there were still two issues to deal with: the fact that the car took several tries to start sometimes (starter dying?) and the non-functioning radiator fan. I hatched a plan to use the switch from the yellow aftermarket light bar to make a manual fan switch. Rob came over and confirmed to me that it was safe, since there was a fuse in the circuit. I now have an on/off switch under the dash for the rad fan, which should help keep temperatures in check (mostly on the road). As for the starter, I will see if someone has time to do it in their spare time during my summer trip. The car is ready to try on track, but for some reason, there is no Tuesday night lapping at ICAR tomorrow. I will be leaving on our summer trip next Tuesday, so my only other chance to get on track is to fund an event this weekend. There is evening lapping at Calabogie on Saturday, I may go if the weather holds up.
We squeezed in a short trip to Deschaillons last weekend and I pulled the M3 out of the barn to start using it. It started right up and we brought it back to the city. The Subaru is a great car, but the a/c doesn't work and I don't feel like dealing with that right now. The M3 just needed a valve changed on one tire, but it should be reliable as-is. It is, as always, a pleasure to drive.
Oh, the yellow Civic is sold, for 2600 $. A young couple bought it. I had to lower the price a bit because the condition of the floor had deteriorated over the winter. I guess there was a water leak somewhere I hadn't noticed. I gave the buyer several of the parts I had too, so there is a bit more space in the basement. The RSX has to be reliable now, there is no more backup track car!
Bye Gold Civic... we had some good times together!
Barn switchover to the summer car
Perfect car for dealing with road work
RSX looking "OEM Plus"
M3 fresh out of the barn
New AMG GT
RSX fresh from its clutch job
Early 911 in the neighbourhood
Surprised to see Kosei K1 wheels on this Corolla
Nice modified GTR at BG
Purosangue at Ferrari Quebec
Suprising colour for this Roma
Lovely 928 GTS at EK Automotive
And three Ferraris
Plus a 996 GT3
Cool JDM Legacy GT Wagon at Ikea
Clean classic Saab 900
Burnt headlight?
Huracan #1
Huracan #2 Sterrato
Huracan #3
New Mini Cooper JCS, I like the single center exhaust
OK, the RSX left ICAR on the back of a tow truck again, but only after I managed to get a whole bunch of laps in. Here is the story of my up and down day last Tuesday.
I headed up north much earlier than last time and avoided traffic. As I was parking at the library where I planned to work in the afternoon, I suddenly lost all power steering assist. I popped the hood and saw that the rubber hose going down from the reservoir had popped off the hard metal line it was slid onto. There was no hose clamp on the rubber hose, so this might have been the reason. There was power steering fluid everywhere. I drove to Canadian Tire and bought a 2$ hose clamp and another 35$ bottle of power steering fluid. I clamped the hose on and filled up the reservoir and all seemed ok at first, but I realized that the serpentine belt was not fully seated on the (now wet) pully. I went back in the store and bought another serpentine belt tool (mine was at home!) and tried to reposition it. When I started the car, after a few seconds, it would slide over until the edge of the belt was over the edge of the pulley on the power steering pump. I decided to just drive it like this and I just bought a spare belt in case I lost this one on track. By the time I got to the track and checked, the belt was properly seated. OK then! I was ready for my first session!
I set up my GPS and camera and waited for the first green group session. It was pretty warm, about 27 degrees. The car felt decent. I guess I thought the brand new Nankang CRS tires would feel grippier than they did. Also, I guess I thought I would also put down better lap times. My best with the EK Civic was a 1:14 and with the yellow Civic, a 1:20. I figured the RSX on good tires would hit 1:17's. It took me most of the session just to get down to 1:20. I thought the car would be significantly faster than the yellow car, and so far, it wasn't. Even with the new radiator, the temperature would slowly increase throughout the session. I am pretty sure the radiator fans are not working and I will have to address that soon. The green group was full of GT3's and other Porsche's, and a couple of race cars, so I was pretty much driving alone and getting passed a lot.
JS and his buddy Robin showed up with their Civic sedans. I was a bit jealous of them for running in the yellow group, where most cars seemed to be in the 1:16-1:20 range. I went out again in the next green session and got down into the 1:19's. At the end, I was caught by a Nissan Sentra Cup car and managed to almost keep up with it, which was more fun. I was driving OK, braking deep into the corners, maybe with occasional help from the ABS. The "cheap" track pads I installed were OK. They did not have a lot of initial bite, the the pedal remained hard. When I got to the pits, the power steering hose popped off again! I had not placed the clamp properly and the stupid tube slid off again. Again, there was fluid everywhere. I burnt my knuckle as I took the time to really place it perfectly. I refilled the system with the generic bottle of fluid I had. I was not happy about this mess.
I decided to switch to the yellow group so I could run with JS. By this point, Robin's Civic was out of commission with a soft brake pedal. I headed out behind JS but I could not really keep up. He was driving well. I would catch him when he got stuck in traffic. We were mixing it up with a couple of NB Miatas and a surprisingly quick Mazda 2. Performance-wise, this was the right group for my car. I managed several laps in the 1:18's as the weather was starting to cool and the sun was setting. It was a fun session.
I was more relaxed by this point. The car had done 3 sessions, the water temperature was under control and the car was performing consistently. I planned to do the 4th session with JS and we headed out together in near darkness. I was a bit slower in the dark, but I was able to keep up with JS this time. This felt like old times, "battling" with friends on the track, swapping positions with them, burning through a whole tank of gas in one evening. At one point late in the session, I came out of a corner, got on the gas, and there was no drive. I pulled over and turned on the hazards lights. The ICAR truck towed me in. I figured it was an axle or a clutch.
Here is a video of the last laps of the evening. The image is shaky because I used a not very stiff extension on the GoPro mount:
My evening was over a few minutes early. JS and Robin came over to see if they could help, but there was nothing to do but call roadside assistance. I waited alone at the track until almost 11 p.m. and rode in the tow truck to Auto B.G. in Côte-des-Neiges, then walked the 5km home from there (I had missed the last metro of the night). The end of the night was not great, but I had had a fun evening, despite the setbacks. I have to understand that this almost unmodified RSX is just not that fast, but it's fast enough. There are other cars setting the same lap times (and some of them are a lot more modified than mine). Even though the brakes were not 100% to my liking, I did find myself leaning on the car with confidence, until the tires let go, so I don't feel I am holding anything back. In other words, the RSX is close to being a useful track tool to run a lot of laps (after having driven to the track in comfort!).
B.G. called me the next day and I told him what to look at. He will take a look when he car. He thinks it's the clutch, I still think it's an axle. I wasn't planning to go to ICAR this coming Tuesday, so there is no urgency. To be continued...
