After the successful test at Sanair last week, I expected smooth sailing at ICAR and I was not disappointed. I got the bracelet for my usual green group, and I headed a bit after 6pm for my first session. I was by far the slowest car out there and it was hard to get a clean lap at first. I had rode passenger with JS Labelle three weeks prior in his modified Civic of the same generation, and he had managed a 1:19 with me in the car. I hoped I could get close to that, maybe hit the 1:20's. The car felt good. After a couple of laps in the 1:24's, then some 1:23's, I hit the 1:22's for the last two laps, with a 1:22.18 as my best lap. It was not clear whether I should be in 2nd or 3rd gear for the long hairpin before the right-hander leading onto the front straight. In my best lap, I left it in 3rd, so I guess that's the way to go... when in doubt, use the higher gear, right? Also, I never got really comfortable in the chicane, and my minimum speed there (87 km/h) was 10 km/h slower than the best laps in my old car. My minimum speeds in most other corners were not too far off the old car, sometimes only 1 km/h slower. So there is time to shave off. I think my goal with this car should be a 1:20.
I switched to the yellow group, hoping to mix it up more with the traffic, but even the cars that looked like they would be slow (old Corolla, Mazda 2) were faster than me. Still, I was just glad to be out there doing laps. The 2001 Civic is not a horrible track car...mine only has coilovers and tires and it's quite fun. I was not jealous of the other cars, since I was finally in a reliable car that could click off a bunch of laps with no issues. The engine uses no oil whatsoever, the fuel economy is remarkable (I used half a tank in three sessions) and the car can run on 87-octane. The biggest issue now, and really the only modification I hope to make to the car, is the driver's seat. I think the over all track driving experience will be greatly improved with a race bucket seat. Maybe I'll find a cheap used one over the winter.
I went out for a third session in total darkness and I was 4 seconds slower per lap. I don't know the track well enough to go fast in the dark, and, driver excuse, my headlights are fairly useless in the darkest sessions. After my last session, I headed over to Yannick Lupien's place in Mascouche to pick up some more used tires from his SPC race Mini. He gave me 5 tires for 100$! If the black Civic is ready soon, there will be enough tires to run both cars at once.
I'm just happy that the car seems to be fully reliable. It makes me feel better about the big expense (relatively big, considering the cost of the car) of replacing the engine. I'll be heading to Tremblant to instruct this weekend. Last time I was there, I had the gold Civic and it overheated constantly. Hopefully I'll get in a few good sessions!
I made a short video of my best laps.
And here are some photos:
This mild-looking Corolla was way faster than me
Hoods up, everyone
Beautiful FD RX7, don't think it finished its session though.
Really nice GTR
ICAR's own 911 GT3 RS's, 992 and 991
These three German cars were parked in front of my spot
After confirming that the Civic still overheated on track, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy another engine. I had been trying to avoid this option to save money, but it would have cost several hundred dollars to fix the old engine (which had 278 000 km on it) and that didn't make a ton of sense when you can buy a fresh Japanese-market engine for 1300 $. I went to Osaka JDM, who had the best price. My plan was to bring the engine to JS so he could install it in his spare time. When the guy at Osaka said it could be installed in one week for 500$, I decided to go that route instead. It took a little more than one week, and they called me to tell me I should put in a new clutch (231$ unplanned expense), but I got the car back on Tuesday, after a total of 11 days. I had them put the dead engine in the passenger area (I had removed the passenger seat for this) and drove off. From a seat-of-the-pants perscpective, it felt like there was more power than the old engine. There was no opportunity to go to ICAR Tuesday (I had other commitments, but also, it was cancelled because they were cleaning up after their big air show). I figured my best option was to head to Sanair, where they also had occasional lapping nights on Thursdays. In fact, it was their last lapping night of the season.
I loaded up the car with the usual gear, and a bunch of fluids, hoping to be ready for any eventuality. I spend the afternoon in St-Hyacinthe, less than 15 minutes from the track. They have a lovely library on the Yamaska river where I was able to work with my laptop.
View from my spot in the library
Civic viewed from the library
I headed to the track nice and early and started chatting with some of the other drivers. I met Nick, who was planning to do some shakedown laps in his vintage racing Mini. This was no ordinary Mini... it was chopped (in the 60's!) and the roofline was almost comically low. He was hoping to take it to a vintage race weekend at Tremblant in a couple of weeks. The other cars were pretty much what you would expect at a grassroots event in Quebec: Hondas, BMW's, Miatas, Toyota GT86's and a couple of luxury sports cars.
I hadn't been to Sanair in about 10 years, but it's not a super technical track. I didn't have my usual GPS receiver as there was an issue with it, so I would be using the less precise GPS of my phone to time my laps. It's not like I needed high precision. I remembered the lap being about 1 minute (actually, low 1:01 with my old Civic with the H23 in 2014, on dead tires) so I was curious to see what this car could do. I was chatting with the guy parked beside me with a second-gen Integra (roll bar, Porsche calipers) and he said he was in the 59's.
I asked about the rules (windows down, point-bys to pass, passing only on the straight) and got ready for my first session. Contrary to ICAR, you don't need to wait for your group's session: there are no groups and it's open pitlane. This was a new experence for me. I realized why people were so chill all around me, since there were 4 hours of available track time.
I went out for my first laps and the car felt really good. The handling was predictable. I didn't feel I was struggling to stay comfortable as I had my Schroth 4-point harness. The straight was bumpy and my helmet was bouncing off the ceiling, so I decided it would be better to recline my seat a bit for my second session. My first laps were in the 1:12 range. I was trying to figure out if it was worth it to use 2nd gear in the slower corners (it wasn't) and whether I could take the high speed kink flat out (I could, easily). By the end of the session (well, I decided when the end was, as there was never a checker), I was down into the 1:08's, my last lap being a 1:08.01. Even with only 127 hp, the braking zone at the end of the straight was intense. I was using brake marker 4 to have a bit of margin for error. I saw the faster cars braking at the 5, since they had a much higher top speed. I set as a goal to run 1:07's in the second session. I checked the oil level and it hadn't moved. Nice!
During the break, I chatted with the Mini guys. They were having overheating issues and weren't on track. I went out again after a few minutes and was soon in the 1:07's. I was mostly being passed by the others (that white Integra was indeed much faster than me) but I did pass a couple of cars. My best lap of the session was a 1:06.35. I figured I could dip into the 1:05's. The car felt really good and I was having fun. There was a ton of brake dust on my front wheels and I knew I was gradually destroying my "performance" street pads.
My third session was uneventful, with a bunch of laps in the 1:06's. I had a breakthrough on lap 17: I realized that on the before last corner before the straight, it was better to leave a car-width beside the apex cone than to try and get close to it. Until then, I had been fighting to get the car to the cone for no good reason, tightening the corner for nothing. This resulted in a 1:05.75, and I decided to pit in.
My fourth and last session was the most fun. I ended up mixing it up with some other cars (Miata, TSX) and the extra motivation resulted in my best laps of the night, back to back 1:05.36's. I made a video of these laps. I could feel the brakes fading (the pedal was still firm) so I pulled in. It turned out that there was no more material left on the pads... the wear was even worse than I thought. I won't be buying those pads again. Even if the pads had been fine, I think four sessions were enough. The sun had set and I didn't really feel the need to drive on the track in darkness. Open pit lapping is kind of awesome!
I packed up and drove home, braking as little as possible so as not to ruin my discs (the handbrake was useful for this). I am fully satisfied with how the evening went. Although it was not as cheap as I had hoped to get on track with this car, I am happy with the result. The car feels comfortable and confident on track, and it's not as slow as I expected it to be. I have ordered another set of street pads (Bosch, this time) to see if it's possible to drive this car on track without 200$ race pads. I hope the car stays reliable, so I can head to a few more events before the season ends. Stay tuned!
The video:
I was able to keep up with this Miata, which was satisfying
That white Integra was quick
Another nice Integra
Check out the brake dust
Honda was the most popular brand
The "official" car looks a lot like my other Civic will look
I got to the trrack there super early, despite heavy traffic. I prepped the car as usual for the track and headed out in the green session (the third group, after red and yellow, so after 6pm) and after two laps, the temperature started to climb (although slowly). I could see some white smoke in the mirror (less than at Tremblant). I decided to keep driving until the temperature was really high, since my plan is simply to replace the motor now that I know it's not reliable on track, but I was shown a meatball flag after three laps and had to pit it. I figured it was because of the white smoke, but the attendant told me it was because I was wearing a seatbelt and harness at the same time (I have to choose one or the other) and because my brake lights were not working... what? The session was a bust, again. I didn't even get any reliable data, as my external GPS was not working (since fixed, I think, bad contact to the battery) and even my video shut off before the end of the shortened session! I wasn't that surprised about the overheating. I hadn't even began to push the car. I was lapping at about 1:30, so over 15 seconds (!) slower than my best times last year.
After my session, I rode as a passenger with JS in his 7th-generation Civic sedan, the cleanest track car you will ever see. He ordered every nut and bolt under the hood new, from Honda... intense! Anyway, his car is quick, only a couple or seconds slower than my old Civic was, despite still having the 1.7 liter engine. After that, I packed up and left. On my way home, I stopped at Canadian Tire to figure out what was wrong with the brake lights. I checked online what fuse to check and sure enough, that was the only issue. I replaced the fuse and now I have brake lights. The temperature never budged on the way home, so whatever leak there is in the cooling system, it's not a major one.
The plan now is to buy a used engine and have JS install it as soon as possible, so I can attend a few events before the end of the season. To be continued...
There were four FC RX7's at ICAR, including this 1987 Turbo II like the one I used to own
Note the puddle from where I added water to the rad
Totally stripped out EK coupe
Nice first-gen Impreza
These two FC's hit the track
Looks good, sounds even better
The same NB Miata I saw in my neighbourhood a few days ago!
Here is the weird story of the yellow Civic's head gasket. At Calabogie at our race school in May, the car overheated on the track after only a few minutes. The bottom of the radiator was soaking wet, so I ordered a new radiator and installed it. A couple of weeks later, I went to instruct at Tremblant and the car overheated after only a few minutes on track. I observed symptoms (like white smoke in the exhaust) that clearly indicated a head gasket leak. I put in some leak-stop product to be able to make it home, but I had to stop twice on the way home to add water to the system.
I was then faced with a decision: have someone change the head gasket, or buy a whole used engine. I wanted an engine, but I couldn't fine an affordable one: the two that were advertised for 800 $ were unavailable. I asked my mechanic friends if they would be willing to change the head gasket, and Pat said yes. I drove the car to Pat's in June before my trip and the temperature needle never moved... Weird. When I got back from my five-week trip, he still had not had time to do it. I put a bit of pressure on him and he looked at it. He changed the lower hose clamp, but there was no headgasket leak. I had to see this for myself, so I went to pick up the car and drive it on the highway, hard. I tried to simulate laps on a track, redlining second gear on the highway, then flooring it in third, coasting, flooring it, etc., for 15 minutes. Again, the temperature never moved. The only explanation I can think of is that the leak-sealing product eventually did its job and the leak is plugged, for now.
I've decided to take it out to ICAR tomorrow to see if this temporary repair will last. My guess is that it won't, but hopefully I can get in at least a full session before it overheats again. Even if it seems reliable, I think I will opt for a used engine before Mosport. I don't want to travel that far and risk getting few or no laps... Mosport is hard on an engine! To be continued...
Prowler!
Beach weather in Deschaillons
An electric Piaggio!
New AMG GT55
New M5
Clean 930
Oscar asked Alex to photograph this Ferrari for me
FF = Family Ferrari
Why is there a version of the Taycan that looks like an SUV?
Nice condition chrome-bumpered MGB
This is my new Noco lithium battery: less than 3 pounds!
I hope the new front lip stays on!
Cool Laguna Seca Blue NB Miata with roll bar
M2 and Leonard Cohen on Crescent street
Nice silver F8
Rare dark green M3 with a bit of rust
Clean early 944 at the Garage on Clark and Laurier
Ferrari 296 on Laurier
"Iconic" Porsche 356 cabriolet
I've seen the SWB Land Cruiser before, but not with these cool wheels
Camel Trophy replica Discovery
G87 M2
This is what the rich kids drove when I was in high school
