Came in 2nd and beat that other GSR with the Type-R motor (this is a non-SCCA club so the classes are really messed up). However a PRO returned that I hadn't seen in a while with an older prepped Mustang SVO and beat me by 1/2 sec. He just has way too much power and this was a fast course. He also has mods done to his forced induction plus suspension. He used to be in a higher class but since they rearranged the classes earlier this year I 'm running with much faster cars now. Oh well. It was fun though. The car still pushes no matter how I set the shocks and it doesn't feel like I have Hoosiers on. It feels like I 'm on regular street tires.
So I 'm thinking there are a couple of options: Try different spring rates or play with the different height settings front & rear. Right now after we corner weighted the car, the rear is slightly higher than the front which means there 's more weight in the front which could explain the understeer. Almost 900 lbs each side to be exact. The rear ranged from 450 to 490lbs each side. These weight measurement are with me in the car. 2810lbs total. The rear of Shenefield's Civic and Matt's GSR, seem slightly lower than the front. I think by lowering the rear a tiny bit more than the front will take advantage of the 750lb (or soon to be 800) springs in the rear as well as take off weight from the front so the car is not as nose-heavy.
I think corner weighting just means the car is balanced and won't snap on you like it used to do. I must admit I have no complaints with that. The car is a lot more predictable when easing off the throttle or "lifting" as we say". It starts to come around more slowly and I straighten it out fast with more throttle. Just feels more neutral except when I try to go a little fast into a turn, not too fast, just as fast as I used to go before (with the Konis & the Kumhos), it understeers and slides. I 'm definitely still learnig how to drive the car again but I 'm having a hard time getting the car down after 4-5 events on this new suspension & Hoosiers. I think it's all because the height and weight distribution from front to rear is screwed up. Cross weight distribution (corner weighting) is not everything. Front and rear I think play a big role too so I think that's the direction I 'll take and experiment with that first.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
most of my money has been spent on suspension. I want to do something for the engine. Well, after the header and hi-flow cat. I was thinking of a nitrous system. My question on this is, what "shot" would be safe on a stock b18c1? If my calculations are right, and a "75 shot" adds 75 hp to the crank, the bhp would be similar to the jrsc. so, 170chp + 75 chp = 245chp * .85 for a 15% power lossage = 208bhp. I was hoping that a "75 shot" would be safe on a stock motor. Just so you guys know, I won't be using this on the street, just at the local drag strip. I think that using the nitrous on the street would make thieves more aware my car.
Also, what is a good and safe system to look into? I know of NOS, Nitrous Express, and Venom. From what I've heard from the people at honda-tech.com, they don't really like the venom system. So, I want your opinions if possible.
Ok, next thing. Should I or should I not sell my old suspension stuff, the old sway bars, shocks, and springs? If so, how much do you think I could get for them?
I have yet to drive a Civic like Chris', but from second hand accounts what seems to be the biggest factor about why these cars do so well is their weight or, more specifically, the lack thereof. Trying to compete with something that weighs ~2100 lbs. with my nearly 2800 lb. beast is a losing proposition. Sure, I've got 20-30 more hp and would win at the drag strip, but that's not what autocrossing is all about. I'm told that you're able to carry so much more speed through the turn in these Civics that the difference is truly amazing. I'd like to think that a well prepped and well driven GSR could get into the top 20 in STS at nationals but I'm not the driver nor do I have the best car to test my hypothesis. Maybe one day I'll get there...
Congrats on your last autocross. Sounds like you're beginning to figure out your new setup. It took me about 6 months and several events for me to feel like I was getting the most out of my car after I changed from the springs to the coilover setup.
2800lb beast It's very true. I 've seen older Saturns with just some sports springs and KYBs do really well. They only weighed 2300-2400lbs! On the 4 scales, without me in it, my GSR weighed exactly 2595lbs, <2600! That's with no spare, no jack, but with CDs in the car and a full glove box. The AEM Cold air intake and removal of the stock intake & resonator was also a great weight reduction. The AEM weighs next to nothing. The ADs are also a lot lighter than the Konis. I couldn't believe it when I picked one up. I 'd say they 're 1/2 of what the Konis weigh. They 're made out of titanium! The outside almost feels like it's plastic but it's very strong. I also have a lighter flywheel and I 'm not sure if the ACT Pressure Plate is lighter but I doubt it because it's called "HD": Heavy Duty. Plus the wheels are each 2.5lbs lighter, so that's another 10lbs right there.
The last time I was at Shenefield's shop, there was a new Skunk2 intake manifold on one of the shelves for B18C1 motors. It's was extremely light! I picked up a B16 manifold they had laying on the floor and it was at least twice as heavy! I had to hold it with 2 hands. The Skunk2 one could easily be held with 1 hand but craftsmanship didn't look too great. The runner openings seemed rough with edges, not sanded or polished. The Honda OEM B16 manifold (which is almost identical to our B18C one) looked much better as far as craftsmanship and quality, but weighed a ton as it was solid steel. Anyway, the Skunk2 seems like an easy mod and probably my next one. I was considering crank pulley to take advantage of all the stuff I 'm allowed to do (not much left now, except those 2 and ECU!) in DSP, but I 've read a lot of negative things about those Unorthodox pullies. They 're right here in NY and they always show up to race and sell their stuff at the NYR events (they sponsor the SCCA NYR region) but many say those pullies don't absorb all the vibrations like the OEM pulley and causes your crank to go over time and other engine damage. Some people say good things about them but I doubt they opened up their motor to inspect it. You don't know what to believe these days.. I do know a couple of people that needed a new crank after 1-2 yrs on the Undx pulley. Oh well. I think I oughta get a good header first I 'm still on stock exhaust from top to bottom! I 've been talking to a couple of other GSR auto-xers in my region and they all agree that they lost some low end torque with aftermarket exhaust and were slower in auto-x. One guy said his car was faster when he just had the header on, although he does feel some extra power now on the high end of the RPM band with the exhaust. I guess the stock exhaust must give you some extra back pressure that benefits low speed racing like auto-x. I 'm rarely over 6k RPM in 2nd gear at SCCA events. So I think I 'll get a cheap DC Sports header first to gain a little more mid-range power and see what happens.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Its been a while I posted here but have been reading all your posts. Harry and CJ's has made tremendous improvement in the auto-x circuit...I remember Harry's initial wild days with his GSR back in 99 when he used to have fun with his GSR on the freeway …racing with Honda CBR's :-)
My 99 GSR sedan is pretty much stock except the Bridgestone Potenzas, Type-R front lip and the Valentine-1. The 22 mm Type-R sway bar + BSQ kit has been sitting in my garage for the last 3 months. Probably I will install it with my exhaust... I am looking for a decent exhaust...my first priority is Good sounding exhaust... not so loud and flashy but louder than a stock one. Next priority is good looks ... I like the stock dual tip one coming in the new Civic Si or the dual tip ones one the BMW M Coupes... I don't like the typical large diameter ( 3 inch??) ones I have seen one some of the cars......I guess power gains because of an exhaust alone is very negligible. Any suggestions?
Btw some demographic information if it helps...I am in my early thirties who have to take my 3-year-old daughter to her day care in my "family sedan"!!!!
For my GSR sedan, I went with a custom 2.5" stainless steel exhaust that was manufactured by Dave Stadulis (SMSP on Honda-tech.com). I guess I must have been feeling rich at the time, because it was pricey and I also had to pay to have it installed and welded because it was shipped in sections. It uses a Magnaflow resonator and muffler and the quality of the system is great. It's quite a bit louder than I wanted or hoped for, but I've grown used to it. In fact, I've had quite a few folks at autocrosses asked about my exhaust (I also have a JDM ITR 4-1 header on the car) because they really like the way it sounds. But this stuff is so subjective... My second choice (which, in retrospect, would have been just fine and would have saved me a lot of $$$) was the Apexi World Sport (WS) cat back exhaust. They make it for both the Intergra hatchcrap and sedan and it seems to get high marks from people who have it. You can check it out here: http://www.apexi-usa.com/exhausts_ws.asp You'll probably have to shop around to find a good price, but here's a place that sells it for $415 -- http://www.autocarparts.com/part/list/10
So, a couple days ago, I decide to check my tires, just to make sure they're good, and they are. 35 psi all around. Anyway, on sunday, my dad says that my back driver-side tire looks a little wierd, and I say it can't be. I just checked it. So we both stop worrying about it.
Anyway, on to Monday. I'm heading off for school, and I take the freeway entrance normally at 50 mph with a 40mph speed limit and a 30 mph recommended speed. No big deal, but the back end seems to slide out a little bit. Not really a bad thing, since I got the back over a sand patch. Anyway, after about 10 minutes on the freeway, I exit and head off for the parking lot. I turn into it at about 10 or 15 mph, then right after I hit the apex, *poofft* and the back end kicks out and I'm pointed off at a wall. I downshift quickly and countersteer, and I get the car pointed the right way again. Again, no big deal. I look in the rearview mirror, and the woman driving is freakin out cause of my driving skillz =P
So, I'm looking for a space, and I go over this pot hole, and the front goes thuds over like normal, but the back left tire just plops. I was all, "crap, my tire's flat." Wrong. I park, and look, and the tire is completely off the wheel =\
The moral of the story is that Kumho 712's suck. A lot. They don't grip, they're expensive, and they fall off of rims. I forgot who said it, either Harry or Casey, but one of you said not to get them, but I did anyway. But yeah, I laughed all day about the incident, so it's all good.
So, I've got 3 sets of wheels, well, 2, but... yeah. I have a set of 16x7's, 17x7's, and 14x6.5 or 14x7's from an 85 bmw. What kind of tires for which set of wheels should I get now? I'm thinking of getting the 195/60/14 azenis, but then I don't want to replace them every 6 months or something. Besides, winter is coming, and auto-x and roadrace season is ending. Oh, I only have MAX $450 to spend. Thanks for reading and for the advice. Drive safely everyone ^_^
Welcome back! How 've you been? I remember you back from '99 when I bought the car. I also remember that race I had with the CBR! That was something. You won't see me doing that again. That race went on for 10 min. at 130 mph :-)
You will really like the 22mm sway and the BSQ reinforcement kit. You won't regret it. Get it installed asap! Make sure they have evened the LCAs out when the install them, ie: get them perfectly parallel with the ground by using 2 jacks to jack up the hubs, and then bolt in the sway bar. Makes a big difference. The sway bar has to have load on it when the car is back on the ground. Apexi WS exhaust is really nice and it doesn't have the 4" tip like all the other. Good quality and many people say good things about it. Stay away from RSR exhausts. One guy with an Integra in STS (auto-x class) recently bought the latest RSR exhaust, forget what the model is called, and the muffler blew up on him after 3 mos! He said the exhaust was pretty much ruined. He 's going after them now for some kind of refund..
I will probably get the Apexi N1 exhaust which is a little more aggressive with a bigger tip. Only because I 've seen it on GSRs and Type-Rs at the races and like the fact that they come with a "silencer" that reduces noise by 7db, and you can take it off any time you want. You 're doing the right thing keeping your car mostly stock. I 've done so much to my car that it's not the same car anymore. I wish I had left it stock with only an AEM CAI and 19 or 22mm sway. Let us know what you decide to do!
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I was the one who told you not to get the Kumho 712s and the ones you had on before too, but you never listen to me
Out of all those wheels I 'd go with the 14x6.5" or 7" but be ware of BMW oem wheels. They weigh a ton! Stick with a light wheel but then again it all depends on your budget for tires. 195-60-14" Falkens sounds good. How many mi. do you put on the car in a year? Falkens are good for 10-15k mi. Casey: How are you Falkens holding out? You 've had them for a while now right? I only drive to the racing events with mine because my car is not that streetable anymore so they still look like new after 1k mi.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I've tried on the bmw wheels, and they're pretty light-weight ^_^ they had 215/70/14's or something insane like that, but they were still pretty light. So, I'm trading my 17's for the 14's, and putting the azenis on those. And yes, I'm going to get the azenis for racing only and stop complaining about how my daily drivers aren't cutting it on the track =P Oh, I'll put anywhere from 15-20k miles on per year =\ I need to stop taking road trips, haha =P
As for my winter/daily tires, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the yokohama avid h4's in a 205/40/16 as well as a good alignment, since the shop before didn't do a very good job. I'm just going to get everything set to 0*, but change the camber to -1.5* before going to the track.
Didn't get a chance to put the rear sways this weekend also...Weather here in Phoenix is getting kind of nice.... so spent a lot of time outside with family. Btw anything less than 120 degrees is nice for us here in Phoenix!!!! he he
I am thinking about going for an axle back Magnaflow muffler. Not sure about how they will sound??? My Lexus, Infinit spoiled colleagues will be in for a surprise when we go out for Lunch next time!!!!
For some reason I don't like the typical larger diameter after market ones I have seen and I don't want to spend $500 or more for an exhaust where the power gains are not significant also. I like the way some of the Magnaflow mufflers look. See the dual tip ones in the link below. Their Aluminized ones goes for around $45 or so and the Steel ones are less than $100. Probably I will save the money for a LSD….
Any comments/experience on they sound on a stock GSR? What is the inlet size for a GSR? Thanks..
only1harry, you haven't posted for a long time anything regarding your '01 Civic ex coupe. Since I am a '99 DX hatch owner, I was wondering how your enjoyment(hopefully) has been...
I have no idea what the Magnaflow mufflers and axle back exhausts sound like. Sorry. Unfortunately the cars or I should say Honda/Acuras I see at the races or compete against, all have cat-back exhausts. The axle back ones only add to appearance and of course change the exhaust tune/sound but they 're nowhere near as loud as a full catback exhaust. They do however "purr" nicely from what I 've heard. Believe it or not, an aftermarket air intake sounds louder and better, especially when the secondary runners open up around 6K RPM. Plus you get a lot more power with a CAI.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Well this is not a Civic forum but I have talked about my other Hondas from time to time so why not?
I like my '01 EX coupe a lot. It's more comfortable than the '97 DX HB I had and faster. It really pulls nicely up hill at highway speeds and you can feel the torque and the increased power over the DX. I don't have to downshift anymore to pass others like I used to with the DX. The new generation EX almost feels like it has a V6. I like its mid-range power. You don't have to wait till 5500-6K to get decent acceleration. Today I happened to drag race it which I haven't done in probably close to a year. It was at a light near my house on my way home from work. I was kind of PO'd at this guy because he was on my bumper since I got off the freeway for the last couple of miles. And as many know already I don't drive slow It was a pretty big fancy white pickup truck, with a V6 or V8 and looked pretty shiny and new. If I had to guess I 'd say a Dodge. It was dark out (around 7:45pm) and I didn't much care what kind of truck it was or what he had under the hood. I just knew he wanted to pass me and I had a feeling he 'd take off pretty fast when the light turned green. I redlined every gear and it felt good. Believe it or not I can shift faster in my Civic than I can with my GSR. The Civic's shifter is very smooth and goes right in like cutting butter. My shifts were almost seemless like you couldn't tell I was shifting.. It also felt fast because before I knew it I was doing 95mph in 4th and then I started slowing down. We were pretty even in the beginning but I started passing him around 45-50mph at the top of 2nd and once 3d gear was in it was all over. I was at least 3-4 car lengths ahead by the time I hit 75-80. The gearing is shorter in the '01 Civics which also contributes to better acceleration. 3d gear only goes up to 88mph where your DX hatch goes up to 100mph (I 've done 103-104 in my '97 but the speedo had to be off - they usually are). It's in the manual. 4th gear in my '01 EX goes up to 112mph but 5th gear keeps accelerating nicely after that
It's also funny you asked about my Civic. It was in a hale storm a few mos ago while it sat in the parking lot where I work. There are hundreds of dings all over except for the doors and the sides of the car. I 'm debating whether to pocket the $4K insurance check I have had for a while now or to fix it. I 'm leaning towards keeping the cash and running it to the ground. I can still get good money for it when it hits 160-170k mi. What's the buyer going to say? Take off $3-4K for the dings when the car is that old? I can always run it to the ground.. It does look like crap though but to me it's basic transportation and I 've gotten used to it. It almost looks like someone sprayed it with bullets The only negative thing I 'd have to say about the car is that it's kind of bouncy when going over bumps. It does handle pretty good though. I have 15x6.5" Rota Attack wheels on it (12.8lbs), 40mm offset, with 195-60-15" tires so it's better than stock. Gas mileage has been great too. 35-37mpg when I drive normal. ~33mpg when I beat on it. This is with 82k mi. on the odo already! I 've had it exactly 2yrs and a month. Almost time for a timing belt! I do miss the practicality of the hatchback though. I can't fit half the stuff in my EX that I could in the HB.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I 'm not sure what you mean by inlet but the factory catback exhaust of the GSR is approximately 2" in diameter give or take a milimeter (I think 48 or 49mm, 50mm is 2"). I 'm pretty sure it's larger where it connects to the CAT though. I believe it's 2.25" near the CAT which is why most aftermarket exhausts for our cars are 2.25 & 2.5". I 'm sure Magnaflow makes the proper size axle-back for GSRs.
If by inlet you mean the exhaust tip of the stock GSR muffler (which I don't think you do), it's 2.3" or 2.5", something around that.
I used to know all the factory specs but it's been so long since I 've talked about OEM specs of a GSR, that I 'm starting to forget Once you mod you don't look back
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Where in Jersey do you live? There is a black Civic DX HB that auto-xes at Giants Stadium once in a while. I 've seen it twice this year. That's not you is it? How far from there do you live? Why don't you visit? We 'll chat and you can watch all the cars race. We get some nice ones. Last time we had an NSX, old (Stingrays!) & new Vettes, all kinds of Porsches, old & new M3s, old Vintage cars, and lots of modified Civics and Integras.
The guy I actually sold my '97 HB to, put on GC coilovers, Koni shocks and Type-R 22mm sway, and kept winning his class at the Meadowlands. He sold it last year for a $1K more than what he bought it from me! The 2nd guy put on big brakes and a body kit plus some fancy wheels and sold it this year for even more! I couldn't believe it. The car had 141k mi. when I sold it 2yrs ago, and people keep getting more for it with more mileage.. It was banged up to and non of them ever fixed the big scratch and dent on the passenger door.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
The Magnaflow one which I am interested in comes in with 2.25,2.5, 3.0' inlet sizes. I guess its the size of the pipe which goes into the muffler. I am not sure which one to take.. http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/ss.htm
Harry, I live in Hunterdon Cty, near Rt 78. I don't mind driving to the Meadowlands; in fact, during the spring & summer, I go to the 'Whiskey Cafe' on Saturday's for the classic car show. But, back to the toopic, just let me know the date's and location at Giant Stadium and I'll be there.
Thanks for the invitation... you can e-mail me w/ the details at: richep52@netzero.com
I am seriously considering getting a roll cage put into my sedan but I don't know if I really should. I would like to have a 4 point harness for myself and the front passenger, and I like having the extra security of the cage, just in case I get into an accident. Oh, and the guy that'll be making the cage knows what he's doing. He's the founder of this company called rent2race.com, and they build spec miatas for people to race. Anyway, not too long ago, somebody flipped one 6.5 times going 95 mph, and they walked away with only a bruise on their thigh from the crotch strap. The car was definitely totalled, but the cage was still in good shape, minus the paint =P
Anyway, should I just say fugg it and have the rear supports cross, rendering the rear seats useless? or should they go straight back, allowing the rear seats to still be used? It'll still be a street car, but I don't think I'll be using the rear seats in the future. Also, where should the front supports go? I really don't feel like having them chop up my dash, so is there a way to mount the front supports in such a way so that they go underneath the dash? Last thing, not that it really matters, but will the cage kick me out of my street modified class? Thanks ^_^
Go with a 4pt roll cage. They usually go under the dash. No matter what cage you get the rear seat will be unusable and it won't be fun even getting in the front but you 'll get used to it.
I 've seen 4pt cages on the Integras where they back seat was in place but you couldn't get in back there anyway. Even if you managed to jump in the back (or a small child, girlfried), chances are you 'd hit your head or your shoulder on one of the bars. The cage also squeezes the hek out of the sides (on either side of the car) of the rear leather seats, at least 2". So forget about the rear seat. If you 're in SM I 'm pretty sure you can take them out because I 'm thinking of all those g5 Civic HBs with turbo and Type-R motors and I don't remember seeing a back seat in any of them even if they didn't have a roll cage. If you 're in Street Prepared you have to leave them in.
If you 're doing a lot of road racing or HPDEs you should seriously consider getting one.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anyway the last event at Giants Stadium was last weekend, 9/21, which I couldn't make. The web site doesn't mention any more auto-x events this year but I was talking to the president of the club the last time I was there and there were thinking of doing one or two Nov. events or a late Oct. one. We 'll see. They usually post all the dates months in advance so I 'm not too optimistic. Just as well because I have 2-3 NY and NJ SCCA events in Nov. and those are more important. The SCCA NJ Region holds all their autocross events in Englishtown Raceway Park.
We get to watch some of the drag races too but we can only see about 1/8 mi. from where we are. Last time I was there it seemed to be Corvette day because all you saw was hundreds of Vettes. Old and new. The one before that was Impala day and there were hundredes of new Impala SS models. Other times it's just hundreds of V8 Muscle cars pouring in. They drive right by our pit lot and we check them out. We can also hear their times on the loud speaker. Anyway I 'll let you know but you can also go to www.themclub.net to check out the schedule.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Well, after reading a lot of posts on h-t about these grounding kits, I decided to make one for my car. I used 12 guage stranded wire and soldered on crimp-on orings and bolted them on to the block/head, tranny, vtec solenoid, and the starter. I'll be doing one or two more, for the throttle body/intake manifold, and for the alternator. With just the ones that I've done, I think I've noticed that the whole rev-range is much smoother. It's really wierd, but I know that it's indeed smoother. Also the lights are a little brighter and the radio sounds better. But other than that, I haven't noticed any power gains. After putting on a grounding strap on my friends 93 dx (didn't have one in the first place), he got some low-end torque (could be my imagination again =P ) and acceleration was smoother.
Well, onto other things. I'm seriously considering getting a 4point roll bar with racing seats (ultra shield) and 5 point harnesses. But then, I realize that the money spent on doing all of that could be put into the motor and I could be considerably faster. Now, I know that I can get faster lap times by getting more time in the seat, but still, the urge to have more power is still there. If I were to do this, I'd probably get skunk2 stage 1 cams with ctr/itr pistons. I think going this route will be better in the long run, because the motor will be rebuilt either in the winter or next summer, and since the motor will be apart, why not put in some goodies? Besides, I still be able to keep my rear seats =P
Yeah buying race seats and a roll cage can add up to a considerable amount of $$. Might as well build up the motor. You 'll enjoy the car more that way and get more in return for your money.
Last weekend I attempted to go race while it was raining. Well guess what? I almost hydrolocked the motor! It wasn't raining hard but it was not drizzle either. I was on the highway doing about 65mph when all of a sudden I started losing power and the check-engine light came on! The reason for this was because back in July the splash guard from the right side that goes around the wheel well and protects the K&N air filter, came off while I was auto-xing. There was a fairly large dip in the lot we were racing at, and having had the compression all the way soft on the front AD shocks, and being that the car is now very low to the ground, the splash guard cought the ground and got pulled away and completely off the car! It was all ruined so I left it there. I should 've fixed it a while back when I noticed a couple of those plastic screws had come off and parts of the splash guard were hanging a little too low to the ground..
So with the wheel well wide open and exposed, the rain water expelled from the tire, was getting dumped on the K&N filter which is only about 5-6" away. I know realize how important that splash guard was.. Plus the filter was getting hit with mist and droplets from the cars in front of me. I pulled over under an overpass and stayed there for 75min. until the rain went down to a drizzle and drove back home. I put my hand under the bumper and shook the K&N filter. 1-2 oz. of water filled the palm of my hand..
I 've been told that water may have contaminated the oil now (through the vacum hoses between the intake and the valve cover) and that I should get an oil change. I had put fresh Mobil 1 in it the day before this happened! @#$% Oh well at least I think the motor is ok. I haven't redlined it but it seems to be fine now up to 6k RPM. I don't have the guts to go past 6K but I definitely will after I change the oil again. I went on line to order the splash guard and they sell the screws seperately! There 's about 25 of them them, all different sizes! Now why couldn't they sell everything together? I 'm thinking of going to a junk yard to see if I can find one because the whole thing with the ton of screws comes out to almost $100. That's a little steep for a piece of plastic. I was thinking of taking off the one from the left and installing it on the right so I can protect the air filter for now. It's supposed to rain again this weekend. I haven't raced in 4 weeks and I 'm climbing the walls. I can't miss another weekend. I need the points to qualify for the SCCA end-of-season trophies in the NY & NJ Regions (should be 1st place in both if I can only get there). They require you attend a minimum of 5 events to qualify. Last year it was 4 events. I guess they got greedy this year or it could be a new SCCA rule.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
That sucks. I had that happen to me, too. My CAI filter got soaking wet, and the engine sputtered and just stopped o_0 I was soooo nervous, I thought I hydrolocked =P But yeah, i just took the intake off completely and attempted to start the car, but it didn't start. I guess the plugs became fouled a little bit from running so rich. But yeah, now I'm running a filter right on the throttle body with some custom work to get the valve breather hose to fit.
Argh, I need to get out to another auto-x soon. GT3 just isn't cutting it anymore when it comes to satisfying my racing needs =P
Oh, and there are these two guys with motorcycles that want to race me up and down the mountain. They are both novice riders with a katana 750 and a cbr 900. They were so proud when they said it took them 20 minutes to get to the crest (going full out when it's daylight), but I just laughed at them, because it takes me 25 minutes to get up and down when it's 10 o'clock at night, not being able to see the turns until I'm 20 feet away, and not going above 6000 rpm. Oh, and they want to race for pink slips =\ Friggin f&f and 2f2f. But yeah, I'm not going to race them. Besides, what am I going to do with two motorcycles? Haha, anyways... I dunno what else =P Well, drive safely everybody ^_^
Harry, sounds like you dodged a bullet there. Never would have thought about how important the splash guard is until you mentioned it. Thankfully, it sounds like your car is okay.
Had our first autocross event in about 6 weeks last Sunday. Before the event, I had resigned myself to a second place finish because my main competition and rising autocross star had sold his '00 Si and purshased a 4th gen ('89 I believe) Civic Si. He had already put KYBs and GCs swaybars on the car, so I figured he would be hard to beat. Lucky for me, I had a good day and he was dirty on his fastest run and couldn't duplicate it again after that. So I won by 0.16 secs, and I'm not complaining! Now, I gotta wait until the end of the month for my next event.... :-|
I 've heard of this mountain "climbing"/racing. A lot of people do that and race against the clock. Speaking of mountains, I got my first ticket in a long time last weekend coming back from an auto-x event. I was racing down the mountain averaging 100mph on the 2 lane winding road because my suspension setup is great for road racing (not really auto-x). There are at least 5-6 large sweepers.. It was a beautiful sunny day (late afternoon/early evening) and I had my favorite CD on. Right before the last turn at the bottom of the mountain, something told me to slow down and I got that old familiar feeling like I usually get about 30 secs before I get pulled over. I slowed down to about ~85mph and as soon as I was finished with the last turn I went down to 60 (55 speed limit). Not good enough. About 200yds into the straightaway I see with the corner of my eye a white unmarked car in the woods. Sure enough, the cop pulled out & came after me. He said he clocked me doing 82mph coming around the turn. It never fails. I always feel something before getting a ticket. I think I 'm going to get the Valentine or some other good laser/radar detector. I haven't used my old Uniden in almost 2yrs and I haven't gotten any tickets but I think it might be worth investing in a good one again. My old 1990 Uniden RD9XL (C&D rated it #1 in '90) has saved my butt hundreds of times. I 'll talk the cop down to a lesser offense in court, but I don't want to go through all the trouble again. So be careful. Don't race those guys. Go auto-x and get it out of your system. What I did was stupid but believe it or not it was more of a test for me. For the first time I had set the front shock compression to 3 which is the firmest and I wanted to see how it felt at high speeds.
Oh so I 'm not sure, did your motor have any damage at all? or did you just replace the spark plugs and that was it?
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Those '89 Civic HB SI's (I assume it's a HB) are deadly in STS. They 're very light (2100-2200lbs) and with ~400lb GCs and aftermarket shocks they handle extremely well. We have 2 of them here and they 're both Shenefield's ('02 STS champ, he sold his old one to a local autoxer). I 've driven his latest '89 HB with the Si motor. It felt almost like a go-kart with the 450's all around and AD shocks. Not only that, I was surprised about its acceleration! With only I/H/E and timing advance, he said his car gained over 10whp which is about 10% more than stock. He does have a custom exhaust though and a free flow CAT. It felt pretty torqy in the low-mid range where we lack power. I floored it from 10mph in 2nd gear and the car took off with the 2 of us in it. When I floor my GSR in 2nd gear from 10mph it takes 2-3 secs or more to get moving. It felt a lot like my friend's CSP '88 CRX Si. It felt like it was extremely light and very manouverable. These cars have different gearing than ours. And I couldn't tell I was driving on Falkens. It felt like I was on R compound.
Anyway keep up the good work and consider yourself lucky he bought the cheap KYBs and not Konis or some other better shocks. Once he figures the car out and gets used to it he 'll be hard to beat. BTW, in the fun runs last weekend I raced with the Falkens for the 1st time. I was suprised how good they are. I was only 1.1 sec. slower than my Hoosiers (~45 sec. course) but I 'm pretty sure it's because the Hoosiers were on their last leg plus it was cold out (52 deg. was the high) which is really bad for Hoosiers. I just got new Kumho Victoracers in. I 'll stick with those. Ordered them heat-cycled because I ran out of time. I got the tri-state championship SCCA event tomorrow. NY vs. NJ & CT. Every state picks the best 20-30 drivers and we go at it. NY has been winning for the last 10+ yrs. The event in NJ and I 'm glad I was asked to participate. Speaking of NYR, it was raining on the last 2 events so I didn't go. As a result I didn't have enough events to qualify for end of season trophy so some guy that usually comes in 3d or 4th ended up getting more points than me because my #2 competitor did attend a couple of events either but he still qualified for 2nd place. I dropped to 3d but don't get squat because I only had 3 events in. I qualify for NNJR end of season pts I did both SCCA regions this year I 'm pretty much unchallenged at NNJR (North NJ) and don't have good competition. I 'm seriously thinking of sending in the Konis to have them revalved & rebuilt with some different rates, like ~500-550. The 650 & 750s I have now don't seem to work out too well for auto-x but it also could be the shocks are not valved properly, don't know.. I liked my 475's better. But that's another topic of discussion coming soon
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Hehe, today was the last auto-x of the season for my region (rgr rio grande) and it was fuggin awesome. It was a pretty tight course, but still pretty high-speed. I got 6 runs in, with a best time of 62.8xx seconds and managed to come out with the #1 novice trophy ^_^ The main reason I wanted to go out today was to test out the new tires, yokohama avid h4. They're really grippy for all-season tires (much better than the kumho 712's). 2nd and 3rd place had dedicated race tires, and they weren't happy when I told them I was running all seasons =P
So yeah, hehe, on my third run, I pulled a 540* spin about 2 feet from a concrete wall =\ But it was still fun ^_^ What happened was that I was coming out from teh infield oval onto the main straight which had a 3-cone slalom, into a set of offset gates. Anyway, I was going WAAAYYY too hot, and there was no way I could make the slalom, so I went into a sideways slide and ate the first cone, freaked out, let off the gas, fish-tailed right, left, and right again, and as soon as I was pointed away from the wall, I just let off the gas and let the car spin =P It was really fun, and I got one of the best spinout of the day ^_^ It was almost as good as the NSX who spun off the track and ripped off the front lip =\ Anyway, I was scolded and I continued back to the grid, hehe.
*note* This happened after my 6th run, coming back to get my stuff and on the drive back home. My car is making a wierd click which can be felt through all of the pedals. Anyway, in first gear, I'll let out the clutch, and just after the clutch engages and I give it some gas, there is a click that can be heard as well as felt through the pedals. When I start to play with the throttle, it'll click. When I shift, it clicks. I don't know what it could be, but I think it's the clutch M.C. It needs to be replaced anyway since it's leaking a lot of fluid =\
After my car froze after soaking the filter, I just started cranking the car, trying to de-foul the plugs, and it eventually started working again, and I haven't had any problems due to it... I think. My current oil-burning problem might be related, but I doubt it.
I feel soooo stupid... I've been topping off my clutch m.c. with old fluid. I didn't even realize what I was doing, cause I always remember to top it off at night, and... yeah. So I pumped out all of the old fluid, filled it up with valvoline synpower dot4 fluid, and the clutch works beautifully. The fluid is sooooo clear now ^_^ It still sticks a little bit at the bottom of the pedal travel, but the clicking is gone, and pedal pressure is back to normal.
I have to replace that too especially since I put a new clutch in. I 'm starting to get a clicking noise when the clutch pedal is all the way down almost touching the floor. Where do you drain it from? I guess I 'll have to go look around there.. You said you pumped it out?
Congrats on winning the novice class! Did you find that the road racing school you did helped?
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
you bleed the system through the slave cylinder (8mm). It's just like bleeding the brakes, but with the clutch =P What I did was just let the resevior go dry, took the resevoir out (10mm bolt), cleaned it with some brake cleaner, dryed it, and put it back in, filled it back up, and got all the air out of the system. The fluid is sooo clear now =P
The road racing school helped out a bunch. It was there where I learned what the car could really do, so I was more prepared at the auto-x.
Think that clicking noise coming from the clutch MC is a common thing, since I've heard/felt that noise on mine as well. I did ask the dealer when I was in for an oil change last year and he said that different factors (temp, humidity, the rest I forgot) contribute to making that noise show up. There is nothing wrong with the clutch MC he said. Although you guys have older cars and more miles, rest assured that it also happens to newer ones (my 2000 GSR just hit the 10k mi mark). The noise on mine went away without having to do any kind of work on the MC.
My clicking noise comes and goes too, but I usually get it after a race event.. I doubt the dealer mentioned "racing" as one of the factors
It probably has to do with me shifting so fast and hard when racing that I mess something up everytime You really don't think about what you do. When the adrenaline is pumping, you just grab the shifter and BANG slam it in as quickly as you can and at the same time I think I put a lot of force on the clutch.. not sure, everything happens so fast.. because I mostly concentrate on the next turn and not hitting any cones
Oh btw, we lost to NJ last weekend, but we beat CT. NY has been winning the tri-state championshiop for many yrs now so it's time someone else took the big cup home. The reason we lost though was because not too many of us showed up from NY and some of our best class winners coudn't make it. The event was in NJ. Even CT had more drivers. NJ had 26, CT 25, and NY only 20. I was there and won my class but we only had drivers in a little over half the classes. All we needed was one more 1st & 2nd place win and we would 've been ahead of NJ in points. Oh well. No biggie. It was a lot of fun. Only the first 3 runs counted so since I wiped out on my first run (a little too cold in the AM and I had too much air in the rear tires), I took it easy with the other 2 so as not to cone (2 sec. penalty) or wipe out again and it worked out pretty well. Then they changed the course slightly in the afternoon for the next 3 runs which didn't count. They made it much tighter. While everyone was about a full second slower in runs 4-6, I was only .1s slower which means I had driven very conservatively in the morning runs.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Ordered some new brake pads today. Cobalt Friction's GT-Sports. http://www.cobaltfriction.com/prodcat-brakepads-cobalt.htm Yeah, Andie is a cool guy. I talked to him last... Monday, I believe. I told him what I needed in a pad, and he recommended those. Hoepfully they work out. Anyway, what happened was that the rear pads weren't in stock a week ago, so I told him I'd call back with the credit card number by last wednesday. I tried to make some time to call, but I couldn't, so I called earlier today (Thursday) and gave him the credit card number. What was shocking and unexpected was that he had sent out the pads two days ago =O I can't wait the pads on and bedded in, and I'm very happy with Cobalt Friction ^_^
Oh, today was a good day. I needed to get to a town on the other side of the mountain, so I decided to take the path less traveled =P It's a one lane dirt road that goes along the backside of the mountain. Anyway, 50% was snow/ice covered mud, 45% was mud, and 5% was gravel =P Oh, and there are rocks and craters that were more than enough to rip my car apart. Hehe, it's a road that lowered cars should definitely not go on. The truck guys were giving me wierd looks as I'm going down this path, because I'm going faster than they're going ^_^ The whole front of my car is caked with mud and the sides have all kinds of mud splatter. Heh, I think I knocked the front camber off a little. My front wheels look like this | \
Haha, coming back into town, I got some wierd looks as well. The best one was from these two guys in an STI. I'm at a stoplight, in a turn bay, and the light turns green, and I go, and I hit VTEC as I'm straightening out, and these guys in the STI looked up from what they were doing and just stared as I passed =P I felt so special ^_^ Although, I don't know if they were staring because of my beastly stock VTEC or the insane amounts of mud on my car. Well, I'm pretty excited that my lowered integra (2" all around) made it through that pass in one piece.
You 're a mad man! :-) I 'd never take my car on a road like that. I 'm afraid to drive it on regular roads the way it's lowered now and with the 750lbs spings!
Talking about camber & toe changing. I drove so hard at NASA (National Autosports Association) 's auto-x event on Sunday, which I won my class btw (25 drivers! - they only have 7 classes and mine is usually the biggest), that I spun out twice really BAD. Mainly because it was cold out, 48-50deg, so I couldn't get any traction in the rear. After those spin outs my wheels looked weird too and I can tell the toe was different in one of them. It was toed-in too much because it was that side that I was skidding sideways towards, really fast. They changed the finish because of me. Right after my spin out. It was too fast. I went through the timing lights almost redlining 2nd, around 60mph or more. What kind of finish is that? An unsafe one. I stopped within 8ft of the curb and I spun out after I braked doing 40+mph because I had to turn at the same time. Bad combo in my car.. Not only was the finish fast, they had you turning after the timing lights and didn't give you enough "run way" to slow down or come to a controlled stop. It was insane and I told them that when I was walking the course. So they realized that after I took 8-10 cones with me in my 2nd run, and they made the finish slower. They just moved the timing lights 40-50ft back and made it so it was all a straight line. So because of me, everyone's first 2 runs didn't count :=) Luckily at NASA events we usually get 8 runs because they start early and the lot is so big that they have 2-3 cars on the course at all times so it worked out fine.
Anyway I 've ordered 3 sets of pads for both my cars (not my wife's Altima) from Cobalt Friction so far in the last 18mos. Andy is ok but I don't like how he pushes his own brand all the time and especially the GT Sports to most cars that are streetable. He tried the same thing with me and was persistent and I had to cut him off and explain to him that I know what I want and what is good for my car, my setup and the type of racing I do. I told him I didn't call him to get advice. I called him to order Hawk pads which have been around a lot longer and have been proven to work great over & over by thousands of racers and car enthousiasts, and that's what I wanted.. He said the HP+ is a great pad but you should try new ones, blah blah.. You also have to remember that he makes much more $$ (profit) selling his own brand instead of someone else's and he probably goes through a distributor/middle man to get the Hawks or any other brands. He 's a reseller, not a wholesaler. Many people I know said he tried selling them the GT Sports. Is that pad good for all those people? I don't know about that because they all used their cars for different purposes. I 'm sure you 'll be happy with the pads. I only buy what I know from 1st hand experience. I order the HP+ because I have them on my Civic for 11mos now and they still work great with 40k mi. on them! I also drove in an Integra with the same pads and was impressed (auto-x fun run). Besides I don't drive the GSR that much so I don't care about "cold braking". The HP+ may not be as good when you first hit the brakes in the beginning of your auto-x run, but they 're not bad either, and they only fade a tiny bit at first for like less than 1/2 sec. and then they start gripping very WELL and continue to throughout the course. The HP+s I think are awesome and still perform almost like new in my '01 Civic. I do a lot of Highway driving so I 'm not on them a lot, but I 've done some "panic" stops/slow downs form hway speeds and have braked from very high speeds (100+mph) so it's not like I baby the brakes. I try to use them as much as I can because I love the stopping force of these pads. The only thing is the occasional squeaking here and there. The HP+ pads are doing the same thing on my GSR but I don't mind it. The squeaking is not very loud and only occurs just before the car comes to a stop, not the whole time you 're on the brake pedal.
I don't post here that much anymore so when I do I post log notes :=)
Oh I have some more bad news.. The weekend before last, it was a very fast course (3d gear, 75-80mph) and the lot was very bumpy so I bottomed out a few times as did many others. I hear a squeaking sound now every time I turn the steering wheel to the right, but only for the first 1/4 turn. I then hear it again as I straighten out the wheel, during the last 1/4 turn before the steering wheel is straight. Any ideas? I 'm hoping it's just a flange or something and I haven't damaged the rack & pinion assembly. I 'll have to jack the car up and get under there while I have my wife turn the wheel to see if I can pinpoint it. So, I 'm done with auto-x for this year until next April. It was a fun ~25 events in the last 8mos in which I averaged about 3 events a month. Qualified for end-of-season trophies from 3 regions/clubs (plus dinner, jackets, stuff they give you, etc.) and got my first FTD. I 'm getting upset just thinking that I have to wait 4-5 mos until I can do it again :=)
I think next year I 'll spend some more time with my family on the weekends. I 've accomplished most of what I wanted in the last 4 yrs of auto-x racing so I won't mind if I slow down next year (or prepare for the Nationals, hehe). I have many shelves full with an excess of 80 trophies from 4 different states and 10 clubs. What more could I want? :-) Have a safe winter!
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
PS fluid, eh? No, I've never done it before. I seem to remember some sort of bleeder valve or something, then you turn the wheel to activate the ps, and fluid will come out. I don't know the details, though =\ sorry and good luck ^_^
I think I 'll take it to the local Honda dealer. They 're much cheaper than the Acura dealer and they work on many Acuras. Afterall it's a Honda. They changed the brake fluid on my GSR for $29.95+tx (with my fluid), 1/2hr labor. Acura dealer wanted $72 with my fluid! 1hr labor. The Honda dealer is only 5min. from my house. The Acura dealer is 20 mi. away. I figure it's pretty safe to let the Honda boys change the fluids plus I save $$ going to them. Happy Thanksgiving!
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Sounds good ^_^ yeah, it's wierd. Here, the honda dealership is 5 minutes away and the acura dealership is what, 30 minutes away =P It's funny how that works, huh.
Oh, I got my gt sports on, and they're pretty good. They have good cold bite, and they don't seem to fade, but then again, I haven't really pushed them to hard yet. Man, it's getting really cold now =\ It's like 20* outside now, and the high was almost 45* =P Well, I'm glad I have all season tires now ^_^ Be safe everybody, and Happy Thanksgiving!
high 20's low 30's here in NY/NJ. The Bridgestone RE950s I have on my Civic work great. I 've had them for about 9-10mos now and have put 35k+ mi. on them. They still have plenty of tread and work good in cold weather. Yesterday we got almost 1/2" of snow (which wasn't in the forecast, they said possible fluries but it was more like a 20-30min. blizzard) and I was flying throuh the fresh powder going to work in the morning. I had to be in early so I was on the road at 5:30am with very few cars, so the snow was fresh, not slushy after thousands of cars have driven on it. I usually drive on Blizzaks or Michelin Arctic Alpins in the real winter mos though. I still have them from last year and they look like they should get me through Jan & Feb. I can tell which ones were the front and the rear tires from the wear so I know how to mount them. I didn't rotate them last winter. The rear Arctic Alpins from last year look pretty much like new so by putting in the front I got the front traction covered. Hopefully I won't need the rear traction too much or I should say the other more worn tires won't hurt me much in the rear.
I got 91k on the Civic. Time for a timing belt! Plus I 'll be changing the antifreeze and brake fluid. Those dang Hawk HP+ I got on (with Brembos) on the Civic have ruined my alloy wheels I think. 2 days after I wash the car the rims are dark brown! and I think the brake dust has solified in the cracks and indentations (design) of the rims that they are now a permanent decoration of my rims. When it comes time to sell it I think I 'll get the car detailed and hopefully they 'll be able to remove all that grime from the wheels because I tried with soap and water back in Sept. and it wouldn't come off! Almost looks like rust.. hard to explain. A good wheel cleaner would probably get all that off, not sure.. The major problem I see with so much brake dust, is the calipers. The calipers are dangerously soaked/covered with this stuff. It's hard for me to believe that after 40k mi. with these pads the calipers have not sustained any kind of damage or degredation. I have to do some research to see what the impact of brake dust is on calipers in general.
Glad you like the GT sports pads. Only time you 're going to experience fade with such aftermarket pads is on the track or when braking from 100+mph on the highway 2 or 3 times within a couple of minutes. I braked from 140+mph 2-3 weeks ago after keeping up with an S4, so I can take the exit and get on another highway. The HP+ performed extremely well on the GSR which reduced speed dramatically and without fade. I 've also done numerous "panic" stops from 80-90mph in my Civic which also has the same Hawk pads, and I was very happy with them. Way better than the stock pads. The problem is you have to keep an eye on the guy behind you when doing moderate to hard braking with the pads we use. I have yet to see anyone behind do a control stop when I 'm braking hard with these pads. They just don't have the same stopping power we do. So many times I had to accelerate to avoid being hit in the rear, or had to change lanes or they had to go on the should to avoid hitting me. Only M3s, WRXs, EVOs, Vettes and high end Mercedes & BMWs, etc., can brake as well as we can, when we 're using race pads on the street. Jaguars I think are the worst. I 've had a lot of close calls with new Jaguars that just couldn't stop/slow down and kept on coming the nose down.. Same with most family sedans, vans and SUVs. Too heavy with insufficient braking power. They 're scary. The good thing is that I 'm able to brake so well that I either leave greater distance between me and the car in front of me (so I can go forward if the car can't stop behind me), or I brake at the same rate as the car in front of me where I can stay close to his bumper and emulate his braking capabilities thus eliminating the need for the car behind me to go "all out" to try and slow down or stop. So be carefull and watch your rear view mirror when using these pads!
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I know what you mean about watching the people behind you =\ I've had some pretty close calls. There was this old mercury thing, a 4dr v8 family hauler from the 80's, and he was about 400 yards behind me, and he couldn't stop in time, so I had to switch lanes so I wouldn't get hit. Oh well ^_^
About the brake dust, I have no idea what you're talking about since my wheels are black =P I would think that there are chemicals to break down the brake dust so that it'll wash off with water... there has to be =P I'm also curious of the effects of large amounts of dust on the calipers. Hopefully there isn't anything that can cause sudden catastrophic failure.
Now that it's the off-season, I have some questions =P Alright, I have a 4dr gsr, and I'm going to be getting some new wheels and tires, or just tires. I'm sure I've told about trading my 17's for a set of 14's from a bmw. So anyway, would 195 azenis be good enough for my car? or should I try to find a set of 15's and go with 205's? Or should I cough up horrendous amounts of money for the 16" azenis? Thanks ^_^
15x7" wheels and 205-50-15" Azenis is the best option for your GSR and auto-x (street too).
14's and 195-60s will not make you competitive. If you can't afford 15x7's, use whatever 16" wheel you have and go with 205 or 215 width Azenis. But if you 're looking to get serious with auto-x and possibly win a couple of trophies next season, 15x7" is your best option. Try and find some used Kosei K1s. I 'm looking for an extra set too. The K1s I have I always use them with R tires. My car looks funny lowered with the stock 15x6" rims, 45mm offset and -2.5 deg. of camber :-) I 'd like to use a street tire that brings the tire and wheel out to the end of the fender. I had to race on my Azenis (205-60-15) twice this past November because it was too cold out. The stock 15x6" were not up to the task. I drove in another Integra with 15x7" and Azenis on the fun runs and I immediately noticed the difference. You really DO need 15x7's to get the maximum grip. That extra inch of wheel width supports the tire's sidewall and stiffens it up. Makes steering response much better and in essense puts more tire patch on the ground for better traction and handling. My Azenis have too much "play" on the 6" rims. I can push the wheel with my foot a few times and watch my car rock 1" back and forth from side to side, because of the sidewall sticking out of the rim without sufficient support. 15x7" wheels with 205-50 Azenis Sport have become standard and a must. Look at all the 2 top National Champ STS cars (2 Civic HBs came 1st & 2nd). They all have 205-50-15" Azenis, but the wheels they had are light and expensive. Nevertheless nothing short of 7".
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Alright fine, I'll look around for some 15x7's with the 205 azenis ~_^ How much do you think a set of koseis (new or used) will cost? I heard they bend easily, is that true? Haha, thanks for putting up with me ^_^
Tireack still sells them. They 're $129 ea. Used they go for $200-300 depending on the condition.
They don't bend easily at all! They 're pretty strong. I 've had them for almost 4yrs and have driven through some really bad roads (NYC roads). I drive 85mi. each way sometimes (to NNJR) to get to an auto-x event. From '00 to '02 I drove on the K1s a lot on street and R tires, because I didn't want to change them every time I went to an event. I 've hit many pot holes, not huge ones, and driven in all kinds of bad roads that you can imagine. They 're still holding up very well. If they were bent they 'd be very hard to balance. 13lbs is still pretty strong for an alloy wheel. Of course if you hit a very enormous and deep pot hole going fast, I would assume most alloy wheels would bend.
You should see the SSRs. Everyone at the auto-x events that has SSRs has at least 1 or 2 bent wheels on their car! 15" SSRs cost $260-300 a piece! 15x7" SSRs are very light, around 10.5lbs. Those are the ones you should worry about. I have some cheap/inexpensive Rotas (nice wheels for the money actually, $450 shipped!), the 15x6.5" Attack model on my Civic. They weigh 12.8lbs and they 're not bent either. I 've put 60k mi. on them. It's when the wheels drop to under 12lbs when you have to be careful unless they 're forged aluminum.
I don't know if you know this but the 15x7" Kosei K1 is what most "Spec Miatas" use. They started using them about 2yrs ago. The Spec Miata class is a special Road Racing category (not auto-x) for modified Miatas only and the rules are very strict so that most Miatas are the same and highly competitive with each other. Because they 're so strict they only allow 2 or 3 wheels to be used. The K1 is one of them.
I 'm also glad I was one of the first people to race on the K1. When I got my K1s in April of '00, only a handful of people had them or raced with them. 6 mos. to a year later everyone went out and got them. There are at least a dozen cars in every auto-x event with the K1s. Most of that is attributed to me :-) Not only Honda/Acura and Miatas, but BMWs are starting to use them! I saw a few of them this year, especially the E30 M3s (4cyl. 195hp) and E30 325's etc. I 've even seen VWs with K1s. Now would I ever recommend anything bad to you? :-) Everything I say here is from personal experience things I 've tried out myself.
Hey let me know if you find a good source of used K1s. I want another set for the street.
'99 Integra GSR '06 Civic LX coupe '11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive '13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
You've never led me down the wrong path before ^_^ I think I'll get the k1's or some sort of knock-off, but in a 15x7. I'm fairly confident that the 15's will be on my car in april. As for tires (yeah yeah, not again =P) should I go with azenis, victoracers, or hoosiers? Haha, I'm starting to sound like I'm some sort of hard-core racer, huh =P Anyway, I know you have experience with azenis and hoosiers, but do you have any with the victoracers? I guess I would like to use the 15's on the street some times, so teh azenis would be the better choice, right?
Oh, haha, I think I found a good deal on a header ^_^ My friend has decided to sell his car, and I took a look at it, and it has a comptech 4-2-1 on it o_O I was all excited. Anyway, I made him a deal. On top of trading him my stock manifold, I would bleed the brakes and clutch, replace the sparkplugs, change the oil, and give him my old 17's. Does that sound like a good plan?
Well, I'm going to go look for some wheels now, so everybody take care and drive safely ^_^
I found out last Sat. that my hood won't open. I should have noticed when the latch was getting a bit slack a while ago. It still feels like the cable is connected, as it feels different from when my parents Accord simply had the cable pop out of the latch. (in the footwell) So I am thinking it has just gotten stretched too far. I am thinking of pulling the cable with a plyer to see pulling it farther out would work.
Does anyone have any idea how to replace the cable, or if it something that can be adjusted? Any tips would be appreciated. TIA.
Comments
So I 'm thinking there are a couple of options: Try different spring rates or play with the different height settings front & rear. Right now after we corner weighted the car, the rear is slightly higher than the front which means there 's more weight in the front which could explain the understeer. Almost 900 lbs each side to be exact. The rear ranged from 450 to 490lbs each side. These weight measurement are with me in the car. 2810lbs total. The rear of Shenefield's Civic and Matt's GSR, seem slightly lower than the front. I think by lowering the rear a tiny bit more than the front will take advantage of the 750lb (or soon to be 800) springs in the rear as well as take off weight from the front so the car is not as nose-heavy.
I think corner weighting just means the car is balanced and won't snap on you like it used to do. I must admit I have no complaints with that. The car is a lot more predictable when easing off the throttle or "lifting" as we say". It starts to come around more slowly and I straighten it out fast with more throttle. Just feels more neutral except when I try to go a little fast into a turn, not too fast, just as fast as I used to go before (with the Konis & the Kumhos), it understeers and slides. I 'm definitely still learnig how to drive the car again but I 'm having a hard time getting the car down after 4-5 events on this new suspension & Hoosiers. I think it's all because the height and weight distribution from front to rear is screwed up. Cross weight distribution (corner weighting) is not everything. Front and rear I think play a big role too so I think that's the direction I 'll take and experiment with that first.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Also, what is a good and safe system to look into? I know of NOS, Nitrous Express, and Venom. From what I've heard from the people at honda-tech.com, they don't really like the venom system. So, I want your opinions if possible.
Ok, next thing. Should I or should I not sell my old suspension stuff, the old sway bars, shocks, and springs? If so, how much do you think I could get for them?
Thanks in advance.
Congrats on your last autocross. Sounds like you're beginning to figure out your new setup. It took me about 6 months and several events for me to feel like I was getting the most out of my car after I changed from the springs to the coilover setup.
On the 4 scales, without me in it, my GSR weighed exactly 2595lbs, <2600! That's with no spare, no jack, but with CDs in the car and a full glove box.
The AEM Cold air intake and removal of the stock intake & resonator was also a great weight reduction. The AEM weighs next to nothing. The ADs are also a lot lighter than the Konis. I couldn't believe it when I picked one up. I 'd say they 're 1/2 of what the Konis weigh. They 're made out of titanium! The outside almost feels like it's plastic but it's very strong. I also have a lighter flywheel and I 'm not sure if the ACT Pressure Plate is lighter but I doubt it because it's called "HD": Heavy Duty. Plus the wheels are each 2.5lbs lighter, so that's another 10lbs right there.
The last time I was at Shenefield's shop, there was a new Skunk2 intake manifold on one of the shelves for B18C1 motors. It's was extremely light! I picked up a B16 manifold they had laying on the floor and it was at least twice as heavy! I had to hold it with 2 hands. The Skunk2 one could easily be held with 1 hand but craftsmanship didn't look too great. The runner openings seemed rough with edges, not sanded or polished. The Honda OEM B16 manifold (which is almost identical to our B18C one) looked much better as far as craftsmanship and quality, but weighed a ton as it was solid steel. Anyway, the Skunk2 seems like an easy mod and probably my next one. I was considering crank pulley to take advantage of all the stuff I 'm allowed to do (not much left now, except those 2 and ECU!) in DSP, but I 've read a lot of negative things about those Unorthodox pullies. They 're right here in NY and they always show up to race and sell their stuff at the NYR events (they sponsor the SCCA NYR region) but many say those pullies don't absorb all the vibrations like the OEM pulley and causes your crank to go over time and other engine damage. Some people say good things about them but I doubt they opened up their motor to inspect it. You don't know what to believe these days.. I do know a couple of people that needed a new crank after 1-2 yrs on the Undx pulley. Oh well. I think I oughta get a good header first
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
My 99 GSR sedan is pretty much stock except the Bridgestone Potenzas, Type-R front lip and the Valentine-1. The 22 mm Type-R sway bar + BSQ kit has been sitting in my garage for the last 3 months. Probably I will install it with my exhaust...
I am looking for a decent exhaust...my first priority is Good sounding exhaust... not so loud and flashy but louder than a stock one. Next priority is good looks ... I like the stock dual tip one coming in the new Civic Si or the dual tip ones one the BMW M Coupes... I don't like the typical large diameter ( 3 inch??) ones I have seen one some of the cars......I guess power gains because of an exhaust alone is very negligible. Any suggestions?
Btw some demographic information if it helps...I am in my early thirties who have to take my 3-year-old daughter to her day care in my "family sedan"!!!!
For my GSR sedan, I went with a custom 2.5" stainless steel exhaust that was manufactured by Dave Stadulis (SMSP on Honda-tech.com). I guess I must have been feeling rich at the time, because it was pricey and I also had to pay to have it installed and welded because it was shipped in sections. It uses a Magnaflow resonator and muffler and the quality of the system is great. It's quite a bit louder than I wanted or hoped for, but I've grown used to it. In fact, I've had quite a few folks at autocrosses asked about my exhaust (I also have a JDM ITR 4-1 header on the car) because they really like the way it sounds. But this stuff is so subjective... My second choice (which, in retrospect, would have been just fine and would have saved me a lot of $$$) was the Apexi World Sport (WS) cat back exhaust. They make it for both the Intergra hatchcrap and sedan and it seems to get high marks from people who have it. You can check it out here: http://www.apexi-usa.com/exhausts_ws.asp You'll probably have to shop around to find a good price, but here's a place that sells it for $415 -- http://www.autocarparts.com/part/list/10
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Anyway, on to Monday. I'm heading off for school, and I take the freeway entrance normally at 50 mph with a 40mph speed limit and a 30 mph recommended speed. No big deal, but the back end seems to slide out a little bit. Not really a bad thing, since I got the back over a sand patch. Anyway, after about 10 minutes on the freeway, I exit and head off for the parking lot. I turn into it at about 10 or 15 mph, then right after I hit the apex, *poofft* and the back end kicks out and I'm pointed off at a wall. I downshift quickly and countersteer, and I get the car pointed the right way again. Again, no big deal. I look in the rearview mirror, and the woman driving is freakin out cause of my driving skillz =P
So, I'm looking for a space, and I go over this pot hole, and the front goes thuds over like normal, but the back left tire just plops. I was all, "crap, my tire's flat." Wrong. I park, and look, and the tire is completely off the wheel =\
The moral of the story is that Kumho 712's suck. A lot. They don't grip, they're expensive, and they fall off of rims. I forgot who said it, either Harry or Casey, but one of you said not to get them, but I did anyway. But yeah, I laughed all day about the incident, so it's all good.
So, I've got 3 sets of wheels, well, 2, but... yeah. I have a set of 16x7's, 17x7's, and 14x6.5 or 14x7's from an 85 bmw. What kind of tires for which set of wheels should I get now? I'm thinking of getting the 195/60/14 azenis, but then I don't want to replace them every 6 months or something. Besides, winter is coming, and auto-x and roadrace season is ending. Oh, I only have MAX $450 to spend. Thanks for reading and for the advice. Drive safely everyone ^_^
You will really like the 22mm sway and the BSQ reinforcement kit. You won't regret it. Get it installed asap! Make sure they have evened the LCAs out when the install them, ie: get them perfectly parallel with the ground by using 2 jacks to jack up the hubs, and then bolt in the sway bar. Makes a big difference. The sway bar has to have load on it when the car is back on the ground.
Apexi WS exhaust is really nice and it doesn't have the 4" tip like all the other. Good quality and many people say good things about it. Stay away from RSR exhausts. One guy with an Integra in STS (auto-x class) recently bought the latest RSR exhaust, forget what the model is called, and the muffler blew up on him after 3 mos! He said the exhaust was pretty much ruined. He 's going after them now for some kind of refund..
I will probably get the Apexi N1 exhaust which is a little more aggressive with a bigger tip. Only because I 've seen it on GSRs and Type-Rs at the races and like the fact that they come with a "silencer" that reduces noise by 7db, and you can take it off any time you want.
You 're doing the right thing keeping your car mostly stock. I 've done so much to my car that it's not the same car anymore. I wish I had left it stock with only an AEM CAI and 19 or 22mm sway. Let us know what you decide to do!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Out of all those wheels I 'd go with the 14x6.5" or 7" but be ware of BMW oem wheels. They weigh a ton! Stick with a light wheel but then again it all depends on your budget for tires. 195-60-14" Falkens sounds good. How many mi. do you put on the car in a year? Falkens are good for 10-15k mi.
Casey: How are you Falkens holding out? You 've had them for a while now right? I only drive to the racing events with mine because my car is not that streetable anymore
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
As for my winter/daily tires, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the yokohama avid h4's in a 205/40/16 as well as a good alignment, since the shop before didn't do a very good job. I'm just going to get everything set to 0*, but change the camber to -1.5* before going to the track.
I am thinking about going for an axle back Magnaflow muffler. Not sure about how they will sound??? My Lexus, Infinit spoiled colleagues will be in for a surprise when we go out for Lunch next time!!!!
For some reason I don't like the typical larger diameter after market ones I have seen and I don't want to spend $500 or more for an exhaust where the power gains are not significant also. I like the way some of the Magnaflow mufflers look. See the dual tip ones in the link below. Their Aluminized ones goes for around $45 or so and the Steel ones are less than $100. Probably I will save the money for a LSD….
Any comments/experience on they sound on a stock GSR? What is the inlet size for a GSR? Thanks..
Rich
I have no idea what the Magnaflow mufflers and axle back exhausts sound like. Sorry. Unfortunately the cars or I should say Honda/Acuras I see at the races or compete against, all have cat-back exhausts.
The axle back ones only add to appearance and of course change the exhaust tune/sound but they 're nowhere near as loud as a full catback exhaust. They do however "purr" nicely from what I 've heard. Believe it or not, an aftermarket air intake sounds louder and better, especially when the secondary runners open up around 6K RPM. Plus you get a lot more power with a CAI.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I like my '01 EX coupe a lot. It's more comfortable than the '97 DX HB I had and faster. It really pulls nicely up hill at highway speeds and you can feel the torque and the increased power over the DX. I don't have to downshift anymore to pass others like I used to with the DX. The new generation EX almost feels like it has a V6. I like its mid-range power. You don't have to wait till 5500-6K to get decent acceleration.
Today I happened to drag race it which I haven't done in probably close to a year. It was at a light near my house on my way home from work. I was kind of PO'd at this guy because he was on my bumper since I got off the freeway for the last couple of miles. And as many know already I don't drive slow
The gearing is shorter in the '01 Civics which also contributes to better acceleration. 3d gear only goes up to 88mph where your DX hatch goes up to 100mph (I 've done 103-104 in my '97 but the speedo had to be off - they usually are). It's in the manual. 4th gear in my '01 EX goes up to 112mph but 5th gear keeps accelerating nicely after that
It's also funny you asked about my Civic. It was in a hale storm a few mos ago while it sat in the parking lot where I work. There are hundreds of dings all over except for the doors and the sides of the car. I 'm debating whether to pocket the $4K insurance check I have had for a while now or to fix it. I 'm leaning towards keeping the cash and running it to the ground. I can still get good money for it when it hits 160-170k mi. What's the buyer going to say? Take off $3-4K for the dings when the car is that old? I can always run it to the ground.. It does look like crap though but to me it's basic transportation and I 've gotten used to it. It almost looks like someone sprayed it with bullets
The only negative thing I 'd have to say about the car is that it's kind of bouncy when going over bumps. It does handle pretty good though. I have 15x6.5" Rota Attack wheels on it (12.8lbs), 40mm offset, with 195-60-15" tires so it's better than stock. Gas mileage has been great too. 35-37mpg when I drive normal. ~33mpg when I beat on it. This is with 82k mi. on the odo already! I 've had it exactly 2yrs and a month. Almost time for a timing belt! I do miss the practicality of the hatchback though. I can't fit half the stuff in my EX that I could in the HB.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
If by inlet you mean the exhaust tip of the stock GSR muffler (which I don't think you do), it's 2.3" or 2.5", something around that.
I used to know all the factory specs but it's been so long since I 've talked about OEM specs of a GSR, that I 'm starting to forget
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
How far from there do you live? Why don't you visit? We 'll chat and you can watch all the cars race. We get some nice ones. Last time we had an NSX, old (Stingrays!) & new Vettes, all kinds of Porsches, old & new M3s, old Vintage cars, and lots of modified Civics and Integras.
The guy I actually sold my '97 HB to, put on GC coilovers, Koni shocks and Type-R 22mm sway, and kept winning his class at the Meadowlands. He sold it last year for a $1K more than what he bought it from me! The 2nd guy put on big brakes and a body kit plus some fancy wheels and sold it this year for even more! I couldn't believe it. The car had 141k mi. when I sold it 2yrs ago, and people keep getting more for it with more mileage.. It was banged up to and non of them ever fixed the big scratch and dent on the passenger door.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/ss.htm
Thanks for the invitation... you can e-mail me w/ the details at: richep52@netzero.com
Anyway, should I just say fugg it and have the rear supports cross, rendering the rear seats useless? or should they go straight back, allowing the rear seats to still be used? It'll still be a street car, but I don't think I'll be using the rear seats in the future. Also, where should the front supports go? I really don't feel like having them chop up my dash, so is there a way to mount the front supports in such a way so that they go underneath the dash? Last thing, not that it really matters, but will the cage kick me out of my street modified class? Thanks ^_^
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I 've seen 4pt cages on the Integras where they back seat was in place but you couldn't get in back there anyway. Even if you managed to jump in the back (or a small child, girlfried), chances are you 'd hit your head or your shoulder on one of the bars. The cage also squeezes the hek out of the sides (on either side of the car) of the rear leather seats, at least 2". So forget about the rear seat. If you 're in SM I 'm pretty sure you can take them out because I 'm thinking of all those g5 Civic HBs with turbo and Type-R motors and I don't remember seeing a back seat in any of them even if they didn't have a roll cage. If you 're in Street Prepared you have to leave them in.
If you 're doing a lot of road racing or HPDEs you should seriously consider getting one.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anyway the last event at Giants Stadium was last weekend, 9/21, which I couldn't make. The web site doesn't mention any more auto-x events this year but I was talking to the president of the club the last time I was there and there were thinking of doing one or two Nov. events or a late Oct. one. We 'll see. They usually post all the dates months in advance so I 'm not too optimistic. Just as well because I have 2-3 NY and NJ SCCA events in Nov. and those are more important. The SCCA NJ Region holds all their autocross events in Englishtown Raceway Park.
We get to watch some of the drag races too but we can only see about 1/8 mi. from where we are. Last time I was there it seemed to be Corvette day because all you saw was hundreds of Vettes. Old and new. The one before that was Impala day and there were hundredes of new Impala SS models. Other times it's just hundreds of V8 Muscle cars pouring in. They drive right by our pit lot and we check them out. We can also hear their times on the loud speaker. Anyway I 'll let you know but you can also go to www.themclub.net to check out the schedule.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Well, onto other things. I'm seriously considering getting a 4point roll bar with racing seats (ultra shield) and 5 point harnesses. But then, I realize that the money spent on doing all of that could be put into the motor and I could be considerably faster. Now, I know that I can get faster lap times by getting more time in the seat, but still, the urge to have more power is still there. If I were to do this, I'd probably get skunk2 stage 1 cams with ctr/itr pistons. I think going this route will be better in the long run, because the motor will be rebuilt either in the winter or next summer, and since the motor will be apart, why not put in some goodies? Besides, I still be able to keep my rear seats =P
Well, that's about all for now. Be safe ^_^
Last weekend I attempted to go race while it was raining. Well guess what? I almost hydrolocked the motor! It wasn't raining hard but it was not drizzle either. I was on the highway doing about 65mph when all of a sudden I started losing power and the check-engine light came on! The reason for this was because back in July the splash guard from the right side that goes around the wheel well and protects the K&N air filter, came off while I was auto-xing. There was a fairly large dip in the lot we were racing at, and having had the compression all the way soft on the front AD shocks, and being that the car is now very low to the ground, the splash guard cought the ground and got pulled away and completely off the car! It was all ruined so I left it there. I should 've fixed it a while back when I noticed a couple of those plastic screws had come off and parts of the splash guard were hanging a little too low to the ground..
So with the wheel well wide open and exposed, the rain water expelled from the tire, was getting dumped on the K&N filter which is only about 5-6" away. I know realize how important that splash guard was.. Plus the filter was getting hit with mist and droplets from the cars in front of me. I pulled over under an overpass and stayed there for 75min. until the rain went down to a drizzle and drove back home. I put my hand under the bumper and shook the K&N filter. 1-2 oz. of water filled the palm of my hand..
I 've been told that water may have contaminated the oil now (through the vacum hoses between the intake and the valve cover) and that I should get an oil change. I had put fresh Mobil 1 in it the day before this happened! @#$%
Oh well at least I think the motor is ok. I haven't redlined it but it seems to be fine now up to 6k RPM. I don't have the guts to go past 6K but I definitely will after I change the oil again. I went on line to order the splash guard and they sell the screws seperately! There 's about 25 of them them, all different sizes! Now why couldn't they sell everything together? I 'm thinking of going to a junk yard to see if I can find one because the whole thing with the ton of screws comes out to almost $100. That's a little steep for a piece of plastic. I was thinking of taking off the one from the left and installing it on the right so I can protect the air filter for now. It's supposed to rain again this weekend. I haven't raced in 4 weeks and I 'm climbing the walls. I can't miss another weekend. I need the points to qualify for the SCCA end-of-season trophies in the NY & NJ Regions (should be 1st place in both if I can only get there). They require you attend a minimum of 5 events to qualify. Last year it was 4 events. I guess they got greedy this year or it could be a new SCCA rule.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Argh, I need to get out to another auto-x soon. GT3 just isn't cutting it anymore when it comes to satisfying my racing needs =P
Oh, and there are these two guys with motorcycles that want to race me up and down the mountain. They are both novice riders with a katana 750 and a cbr 900. They were so proud when they said it took them 20 minutes to get to the crest (going full out when it's daylight), but I just laughed at them, because it takes me 25 minutes to get up and down when it's 10 o'clock at night, not being able to see the turns until I'm 20 feet away, and not going above 6000 rpm. Oh, and they want to race for pink slips =\ Friggin f&f and 2f2f. But yeah, I'm not going to race them. Besides, what am I going to do with two motorcycles? Haha, anyways... I dunno what else =P Well, drive safely everybody ^_^
Had our first autocross event in about 6 weeks last Sunday. Before the event, I had resigned myself to a second place finish because my main competition and rising autocross star had sold his '00 Si and purshased a 4th gen ('89 I believe) Civic Si. He had already put KYBs and GCs swaybars on the car, so I figured he would be hard to beat. Lucky for me, I had a good day and he was dirty on his fastest run and couldn't duplicate it again after that. So I won by 0.16 secs, and I'm not complaining! Now, I gotta wait until the end of the month for my next event.... :-|
Speaking of mountains, I got my first ticket in a long time last weekend coming back from an auto-x event. I was racing down the mountain averaging 100mph on the 2 lane winding road because my suspension setup is great for road racing (not really auto-x). There are at least 5-6 large sweepers.. It was a beautiful sunny day (late afternoon/early evening) and I had my favorite CD on. Right before the last turn at the bottom of the mountain, something told me to slow down and I got that old familiar feeling like I usually get about 30 secs before I get pulled over. I slowed down to about ~85mph and as soon as I was finished with the last turn I went down to 60 (55 speed limit). Not good enough. About 200yds into the straightaway I see with the corner of my eye a white unmarked car in the woods. Sure enough, the cop pulled out & came after me. He said he clocked me doing 82mph coming around the turn. It never fails. I always feel something before getting a ticket. I think I 'm going to get the Valentine or some other good laser/radar detector. I haven't used my old Uniden in almost 2yrs and I haven't gotten any tickets but I think it might be worth investing in a good one again. My old 1990 Uniden RD9XL (C&D rated it #1 in '90) has saved my butt hundreds of times. I 'll talk the cop down to a lesser offense in court, but I don't want to go through all the trouble again. So be careful. Don't race those guys. Go auto-x and get it out of your system. What I did was stupid but believe it or not it was more of a test for me. For the first time I had set the front shock compression to 3 which is the firmest and I wanted to see how it felt at high speeds.
Oh so I 'm not sure, did your motor have any damage at all? or did you just replace the spark plugs and that was it?
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Those '89 Civic HB SI's (I assume it's a HB) are deadly in STS. They 're very light (2100-2200lbs) and with ~400lb GCs and aftermarket shocks they handle extremely well. We have 2 of them here and they 're both Shenefield's ('02 STS champ, he sold his old one to a local autoxer). I 've driven his latest '89 HB with the Si motor. It felt almost like a go-kart with the 450's all around and AD shocks. Not only that, I was surprised about its acceleration! With only I/H/E and timing advance, he said his car gained over 10whp which is about 10% more than stock. He does have a custom exhaust though and a free flow CAT. It felt pretty torqy in the low-mid range where we lack power. I floored it from 10mph in 2nd gear and the car took off with the 2 of us in it. When I floor my GSR in 2nd gear from 10mph it takes 2-3 secs or more to get moving. It felt a lot like my friend's CSP '88 CRX Si. It felt like it was extremely light and very manouverable. These cars have different gearing than ours. And I couldn't tell I was driving on Falkens. It felt like I was on R compound.
Anyway keep up the good work and consider yourself lucky he bought the cheap KYBs and not Konis or some other better shocks. Once he figures the car out and gets used to it he 'll be hard to beat.
BTW, in the fun runs last weekend I raced with the Falkens for the 1st time. I was suprised how good they are. I was only 1.1 sec. slower than my Hoosiers (~45 sec. course) but I 'm pretty sure it's because the Hoosiers were on their last leg plus it was cold out (52 deg. was the high) which is really bad for Hoosiers. I just got new Kumho Victoracers in. I 'll stick with those. Ordered them heat-cycled because I ran out of time. I got the tri-state championship SCCA event tomorrow. NY vs. NJ & CT. Every state picks the best 20-30 drivers and we go at it. NY has been winning for the last 10+ yrs. The event in NJ and I 'm glad I was asked to participate.
Speaking of NYR, it was raining on the last 2 events so I didn't go. As a result I didn't have enough events to qualify for end of season trophy
I qualify for NNJR end of season pts
I 'm seriously thinking of sending in the Konis to have them revalved & rebuilt with some different rates, like ~500-550. The 650 & 750s I have now don't seem to work out too well for auto-x but it also could be the shocks are not valved properly, don't know.. I liked my 475's better. But that's another topic of discussion coming soon
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
So yeah, hehe, on my third run, I pulled a 540* spin about 2 feet from a concrete wall =\ But it was still fun ^_^ What happened was that I was coming out from teh infield oval onto the main straight which had a 3-cone slalom, into a set of offset gates. Anyway, I was going WAAAYYY too hot, and there was no way I could make the slalom, so I went into a sideways slide and ate the first cone, freaked out, let off the gas, fish-tailed right, left, and right again, and as soon as I was pointed away from the wall, I just let off the gas and let the car spin =P It was really fun, and I got one of the best spinout of the day ^_^ It was almost as good as the NSX who spun off the track and ripped off the front lip =\ Anyway, I was scolded and I continued back to the grid, hehe.
*note* This happened after my 6th run, coming back to get my stuff and on the drive back home. My car is making a wierd click which can be felt through all of the pedals. Anyway, in first gear, I'll let out the clutch, and just after the clutch engages and I give it some gas, there is a click that can be heard as well as felt through the pedals. When I start to play with the throttle, it'll click. When I shift, it clicks. I don't know what it could be, but I think it's the clutch M.C. It needs to be replaced anyway since it's leaking a lot of fluid =\
After my car froze after soaking the filter, I just started cranking the car, trying to de-foul the plugs, and it eventually started working again, and I haven't had any problems due to it... I think. My current oil-burning problem might be related, but I doubt it.
Congrats on winning the novice class! Did you find that the road racing school you did helped?
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
The road racing school helped out a bunch. It was there where I learned what the car could really do, so I was more prepared at the auto-x.
It probably has to do with me shifting so fast and hard when racing that I mess something up everytime
Oh btw, we lost to NJ last weekend, but we beat CT. NY has been winning the tri-state championshiop for many yrs now so it's time someone else took the big cup home. The reason we lost though was because not too many of us showed up from NY and some of our best class winners coudn't make it. The event was in NJ. Even CT had more drivers. NJ had 26, CT 25, and NY only 20. I was there and won my class but we only had drivers in a little over half the classes. All we needed was one more 1st & 2nd place win and we would 've been ahead of NJ in points. Oh well. No biggie. It was a lot of fun. Only the first 3 runs counted so since I wiped out on my first run (a little too cold in the AM and I had too much air in the rear tires), I took it easy with the other 2 so as not to cone (2 sec. penalty) or wipe out again and it worked out pretty well. Then they changed the course slightly in the afternoon for the next 3 runs which didn't count. They made it much tighter. While everyone was about a full second slower in runs 4-6, I was only .1s slower which means I had driven very conservatively in the morning runs.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Yeah, Andie is a cool guy. I talked to him last... Monday, I believe. I told him what I needed in a pad, and he recommended those. Hoepfully they work out. Anyway, what happened was that the rear pads weren't in stock a week ago, so I told him I'd call back with the credit card number by last wednesday. I tried to make some time to call, but I couldn't, so I called earlier today (Thursday) and gave him the credit card number. What was shocking and unexpected was that he had sent out the pads two days ago =O I can't wait the pads on and bedded in, and I'm very happy with Cobalt Friction ^_^
Haha, coming back into town, I got some wierd looks as well. The best one was from these two guys in an STI. I'm at a stoplight, in a turn bay, and the light turns green, and I go, and I hit VTEC as I'm straightening out, and these guys in the STI looked up from what they were doing and just stared as I passed =P I felt so special ^_^ Although, I don't know if they were staring because of my beastly stock VTEC or the insane amounts of mud on my car. Well, I'm pretty excited that my lowered integra (2" all around) made it through that pass in one piece.
I 'd never take my car on a road like that. I 'm afraid to drive it on regular roads the way it's lowered now and with the 750lbs spings!
Talking about camber & toe changing. I drove so hard at NASA (National Autosports Association) 's auto-x event on Sunday, which I won my class btw (25 drivers! - they only have 7 classes and mine is usually the biggest), that I spun out twice really BAD. Mainly because it was cold out, 48-50deg, so I couldn't get any traction in the rear. After those spin outs my wheels looked weird too and I can tell the toe was different in one of them. It was toed-in too much because it was that side that I was skidding sideways towards, really fast. They changed the finish because of me. Right after my spin out. It was too fast. I went through the timing lights almost redlining 2nd, around 60mph or more. What kind of finish is that? An unsafe one. I stopped within 8ft of the curb and I spun out after I braked doing 40+mph because I had to turn at the same time. Bad combo in my car.. Not only was the finish fast, they had you turning after the timing lights and didn't give you enough "run way" to slow down or come to a controlled stop. It was insane and I told them that when I was walking the course. So they realized that after I took 8-10 cones with me in my 2nd run, and they made the finish slower. They just moved the timing lights 40-50ft back and made it so it was all a straight line. So because of me, everyone's first 2 runs didn't count :=) Luckily at NASA events we usually get 8 runs because they start early and the lot is so big that they have 2-3 cars on the course at all times so it worked out fine.
Anyway I 've ordered 3 sets of pads for both my cars (not my wife's Altima) from Cobalt Friction so far in the last 18mos. Andy is ok but I don't like how he pushes his own brand all the time and especially the GT Sports to most cars that are streetable. He tried the same thing with me and was persistent and I had to cut him off and explain to him that I know what I want and what is good for my car, my setup and the type of racing I do. I told him I didn't call him to get advice. I called him to order Hawk pads which have been around a lot longer and have been proven to work great over & over by thousands of racers and car enthousiasts, and that's what I wanted.. He said the HP+ is a great pad but you should try new ones, blah blah..
You also have to remember that he makes much more $$ (profit) selling his own brand instead of someone else's and he probably goes through a distributor/middle man to get the Hawks or any other brands. He 's a reseller, not a wholesaler. Many people I know said he tried selling them the GT Sports. Is that pad good for all those people? I don't know about that because they all used their cars for different purposes. I 'm sure you 'll be happy with the pads. I only buy what I know from 1st hand experience. I order the HP+ because I have them on my Civic for 11mos now and they still work great with 40k mi. on them! I also drove in an Integra with the same pads and was impressed (auto-x fun run). Besides I don't drive the GSR that much so I don't care about "cold braking". The HP+ may not be as good when you first hit the brakes in the beginning of your auto-x run, but they 're not bad either, and they only fade a tiny bit at first for like less than 1/2 sec. and then they start gripping very WELL and continue to throughout the course.
The HP+s I think are awesome and still perform almost like new in my '01 Civic. I do a lot of Highway driving so I 'm not on them a lot, but I 've done some "panic" stops/slow downs form hway speeds and have braked from very high speeds (100+mph) so it's not like I baby the brakes. I try to use them as much as I can because I love the stopping force of these pads. The only thing is the occasional squeaking here and there. The HP+ pads are doing the same thing on my GSR but I don't mind it. The squeaking is not very loud and only occurs just before the car comes to a stop, not the whole time you 're on the brake pedal.
I don't post here that much anymore so when I do I post log notes :=)
Oh I have some more bad news.. The weekend before last, it was a very fast course (3d gear, 75-80mph) and the lot was very bumpy so I bottomed out a few times as did many others. I hear a squeaking sound now every time I turn the steering wheel to the right, but only for the first 1/4 turn. I then hear it again as I straighten out the wheel, during the last 1/4 turn before the steering wheel is straight. Any ideas? I 'm hoping it's just a flange or something and I haven't damaged the rack & pinion assembly. I 'll have to jack the car up and get under there while I have my wife turn the wheel to see if I can pinpoint it.
So, I 'm done with auto-x for this year until next April. It was a fun ~25 events in the last 8mos in which I averaged about 3 events a month. Qualified for end-of-season trophies from 3 regions/clubs (plus dinner, jackets, stuff they give you, etc.) and got my first FTD. I 'm getting upset just thinking that I have to wait 4-5 mos until I can do it again :=)
I think next year I 'll spend some more time with my family on the weekends. I 've accomplished most of what I wanted in the last 4 yrs of auto-x racing so I won't mind if I slow down next year (or prepare for the Nationals, hehe). I have many shelves full with an excess of 80 trophies from 4 different states and 10 clubs. What more could I want? :-) Have a safe winter!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Happy Thanksgiving!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Oh, I got my gt sports on, and they're pretty good. They have good cold bite, and they don't seem to fade, but then again, I haven't really pushed them to hard yet. Man, it's getting really cold now =\ It's like 20* outside now, and the high was almost 45* =P Well, I'm glad I have all season tires now ^_^ Be safe everybody, and Happy Thanksgiving!
I usually drive on Blizzaks or Michelin Arctic Alpins in the real winter mos though. I still have them from last year and they look like they should get me through Jan & Feb. I can tell which ones were the front and the rear tires from the wear so I know how to mount them. I didn't rotate them last winter. The rear Arctic Alpins from last year look pretty much like new so by putting in the front I got the front traction covered. Hopefully I won't need the rear traction too much or I should say the other more worn tires won't hurt me much in the rear.
I got 91k on the Civic. Time for a timing belt! Plus I 'll be changing the antifreeze and brake fluid. Those dang Hawk HP+ I got on (with Brembos) on the Civic have ruined my alloy wheels I think. 2 days after I wash the car the rims are dark brown! and I think the brake dust has solified in the cracks and indentations (design) of the rims that they are now a permanent decoration of my rims. When it comes time to sell it I think I 'll get the car detailed and hopefully they 'll be able to remove all that grime from the wheels because I tried with soap and water back in Sept. and it wouldn't come off! Almost looks like rust.. hard to explain. A good wheel cleaner would probably get all that off, not sure..
The major problem I see with so much brake dust, is the calipers. The calipers are dangerously soaked/covered with this stuff. It's hard for me to believe that after 40k mi. with these pads the calipers have not sustained any kind of damage or degredation. I have to do some research to see what the impact of brake dust is on calipers in general.
Glad you like the GT sports pads. Only time you 're going to experience fade with such aftermarket pads is on the track or when braking from 100+mph on the highway 2 or 3 times within a couple of minutes.
I braked from 140+mph 2-3 weeks ago after keeping up with an S4, so I can take the exit and get on another highway. The HP+ performed extremely well on the GSR which reduced speed dramatically and without fade. I 've also done numerous "panic" stops from 80-90mph in my Civic which also has the same Hawk pads, and I was very happy with them. Way better than the stock pads. The problem is you have to keep an eye on the guy behind you when doing moderate to hard braking with the pads we use. I have yet to see anyone behind do a control stop when I 'm braking hard with these pads. They just don't have the same stopping power we do. So many times I had to accelerate to avoid being hit in the rear, or had to change lanes or they had to go on the should to avoid hitting me. Only M3s, WRXs, EVOs, Vettes and high end Mercedes & BMWs, etc., can brake as well as we can, when we 're using race pads on the street. Jaguars I think are the worst. I 've had a lot of close calls with new Jaguars that just couldn't stop/slow down and kept on coming the nose down.. Same with most family sedans, vans and SUVs. Too heavy with insufficient braking power. They 're scary. The good thing is that I 'm able to brake so well that I either leave greater distance between me and the car in front of me (so I can go forward if the car can't stop behind me), or I brake at the same rate as the car in front of me where I can stay close to his bumper and emulate his braking capabilities thus eliminating the need for the car behind me to go "all out" to try and slow down or stop. So be carefull and watch your rear view mirror when using these pads!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
About the brake dust, I have no idea what you're talking about since my wheels are black =P I would think that there are chemicals to break down the brake dust so that it'll wash off with water... there has to be =P I'm also curious of the effects of large amounts of dust on the calipers. Hopefully there isn't anything that can cause sudden catastrophic failure.
Now that it's the off-season, I have some questions =P Alright, I have a 4dr gsr, and I'm going to be getting some new wheels and tires, or just tires. I'm sure I've told about trading my 17's for a set of 14's from a bmw. So anyway, would 195 azenis be good enough for my car? or should I try to find a set of 15's and go with 205's? Or should I cough up horrendous amounts of money for the 16" azenis? Thanks ^_^
15x7" wheels and 205-50-15" Azenis is the best option for your GSR and auto-x (street too).
14's and 195-60s will not make you competitive.
If you can't afford 15x7's, use whatever 16" wheel you have and go with 205 or 215 width Azenis. But if you 're looking to get serious with auto-x and possibly win a couple of trophies next season, 15x7" is your best option. Try and find some used Kosei K1s. I 'm looking for an extra set too. The K1s I have I always use them with R tires. My car looks funny lowered with the stock 15x6" rims, 45mm offset and -2.5 deg. of camber :-) I 'd like to use a street tire that brings the tire and wheel out to the end of the fender.
I had to race on my Azenis (205-60-15) twice this past November because it was too cold out. The stock 15x6" were not up to the task. I drove in another Integra with 15x7" and Azenis on the fun runs and I immediately noticed the difference.
You really DO need 15x7's to get the maximum grip. That extra inch of wheel width supports the tire's sidewall and stiffens it up. Makes steering response much better and in essense puts more tire patch on the ground for better traction and handling. My Azenis have too much "play" on the 6" rims. I can push the wheel with my foot a few times and watch my car rock 1" back and forth from side to side, because of the sidewall sticking out of the rim without sufficient support. 15x7" wheels with 205-50 Azenis Sport have become standard and a must. Look at all the 2 top National Champ STS cars (2 Civic HBs came 1st & 2nd). They all have 205-50-15" Azenis, but the wheels they had are light and expensive. Nevertheless nothing short of 7".
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Used they go for $200-300 depending on the condition.
They don't bend easily at all! They 're pretty strong. I 've had them for almost 4yrs and have driven through some really bad roads (NYC roads). I drive 85mi. each way sometimes (to NNJR) to get to an auto-x event. From '00 to '02 I drove on the K1s a lot on street and R tires, because I didn't want to change them every time I went to an event. I 've hit many pot holes, not huge ones, and driven in all kinds of bad roads that you can imagine. They 're still holding up very well. If they were bent they 'd be very hard to balance. 13lbs is still pretty strong for an alloy wheel. Of course if you hit a very enormous and deep pot hole going fast, I would assume most alloy wheels would bend.
You should see the SSRs. Everyone at the auto-x events that has SSRs has at least 1 or 2 bent wheels on their car! 15" SSRs cost $260-300 a piece! 15x7" SSRs are very light, around 10.5lbs. Those are the ones you should worry about. I have some cheap/inexpensive Rotas (nice wheels for the money actually, $450 shipped!), the 15x6.5" Attack model on my Civic. They weigh 12.8lbs and they 're not bent either. I 've put 60k mi. on them. It's when the wheels drop to under 12lbs when you have to be careful unless they 're forged aluminum.
I don't know if you know this but the 15x7" Kosei K1 is what most "Spec Miatas" use. They started using them about 2yrs ago. The Spec Miata class is a special Road Racing category (not auto-x) for modified Miatas only and the rules are very strict so that most Miatas are the same and highly competitive with each other. Because they 're so strict they only allow 2 or 3 wheels to be used. The K1 is one of them.
I 'm also glad I was one of the first people to race on the K1. When I got my K1s in April of '00, only a handful of people had them or raced with them. 6 mos. to a year later everyone went out and got them. There are at least a dozen cars in every auto-x event with the K1s. Most of that is attributed to me :-) Not only Honda/Acura and Miatas, but BMWs are starting to use them! I saw a few of them this year, especially the E30 M3s (4cyl. 195hp) and E30 325's etc. I 've even seen VWs with K1s. Now would I ever recommend anything bad to you? :-)
Everything I say here is from personal experience things I 've tried out myself.
Hey let me know if you find a good source of used K1s. I want another set for the street.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Oh, haha, I think I found a good deal on a header ^_^ My friend has decided to sell his car, and I took a look at it, and it has a comptech 4-2-1 on it o_O I was all excited. Anyway, I made him a deal. On top of trading him my stock manifold, I would bleed the brakes and clutch, replace the sparkplugs, change the oil, and give him my old 17's. Does that sound like a good plan?
Well, I'm going to go look for some wheels now, so everybody take care and drive safely ^_^
Does anyone have any idea how to replace the cable, or if it something that can be adjusted? Any tips would be appreciated. TIA.