One Mar 10, 2003
We're not sure if it was the threat of rain or the nearby Bike Week festivities, but G Prepared was a one-car class this past Saturday at the Martin Sports Car Club autocross--so we won by default. Still, we'll take the 31 points awarded, and the minute-plus course was fun to run.
Also, looks like we did worse than we thought two weeks ago, as two drivers sniped us at the end. The Central Florida Web page seems to be out of commission, so we can't check the results ourselves.
And on a different note, our drag tires have arrived: a pair of 225/50R15 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radials. We need to shuffle some wheels between a few project cars before having something to mount them on, but we should have some firsthand experiences soon. Speaking of tires, we're going to go back to a 225/50ZR15 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD for autocross use in an effort to widen our contact patch.
Civic Standings Apr 30, 2003
According to the most recent Martin Sports Car Club newsletter, we're currently sixth overall in their point standings. (They don't list the point standings for the individual classes, but in theory we're leading G Prepared as well.) We did miss the last event, so we'll now have to wait until the end of the season to see how things sort out. Still, that's not too bad.
The weekend's Central Florida SCCA autocross went well, although our initial performance wasn't so hot. After the first two runs, we were sitting pretty much at the bottom of the STS heap. Then we concentrated on our driving.
Our fourth and final run of the day resulted in a 40.504-second run, placing us 0.033-second behind the winner, Bill Disorbo and his Ford SVT Focus. While a win would have been nice, we'll take a second, especially considering how the day began.
Travis' first event with the Civic also went well, as his 43.551-second run put him seventh in the 18-car novice class.
Looks like the Civic will be busy during the month of May: First, it will face off against the 1989 Civic Si driven to an STS national champion by Chris Shenefield of Red Shift Motorsports, Inc. So, which one can be peddled faster?
Then during the May 17-18 weekend, the car will be running in the Bracket 15 class at the NOPI Race Wars drag race event at Florida's Bradenton Motorsports Park.
The Civic has been receiving a workout this season. To date, here's our progress during the 2003 Central Florida autocross season:
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Nov. 17, SCCA in Orlando: 3rd out of 10 in STS.
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Nov. 24, SCCA in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 7 in STS.
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Dec. 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 4 in G Prepared.
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Jan. 11, Martin in Palm Bay: 3rd out of 7 in G Prepared.
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Feb. 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 1st out of 3 in G Prepared.
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Feb. 23, SCCA in Palm Bay: 5th out of 8 in STS.
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March 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 1st out of 1 in G Prepared.
- April 27, SCCA in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 5 in STS.
We must also add that the car has been 100 percent reliable, only requiring regular oil changes, fuel and the occasional bath. We even scored photos of the car in our last two club newsletters! (Okay, but now we know how you guys feel when you land a photo in GRM.) Note that the above results were achieved with an average driver behind the wheel along with smallish 205mm tires. We'll be on 225s soon.
Drag Civic May 23, 2003
Bradenton, Fla., was a hot, hot place this past weekend, but we still had fun (and learned a lot) at the NOPI Drag Racing Association event. We ran our Civic Si in the Bracket 15 class in full STS trim aside from the 225/50R15 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radials and decreased negative front camber.
The three-hour drive to the track went just fine--and yes, in true STS fashion we drove to the track on our race tires--and we spent Saturday watching the heads-up cars and waiting for our open session. The car still recorded 2.3-second 60-foot times, but our E.T.s had climbed to 16.6 seconds--not exactly quick, but the car was consistent, as nearly every run was in the low-16.6 bracket. (Did we mention it was very hot and humid this past weekend, with track temperatures near 160 degrees?)
The car seemed to be popular with the crowd, as people were constantly checking it out, asking questions and taking photos.
We had one more session before Sunday's eliminations, and guess what kind of times we turned? Yep, another low-16.6-second run with another 2.3-second 60-foot. To be on the safe side, we picked a 16.59 dial-in.
Our first elimination run ended in nearly a dead heat, but we scored the win. Unfortunately the second round didn't go so well, as we red-lighted. Our E.T. that run? 16.6 seconds.
We'll post some more detailed time info shortly, as the slips are still in the car. Look for a full report in GRM soon.
The Civic is currently at Orlando & Sons, one of the few remaining full-service gas stations, having its drag tires replaced by a pair of BFGoodrich Comp T/A KDs. We expect to autocross the car this weekend.
Back to autocrossing May 30, 2003
The Civic got a bit of a workout this past weekend, as we ran a Martin Sports Car Club test day at the Lake County Technical Center, a police training facility located in Tavares, Fla. Nice site with an adjacent slick track. The site also houses a mini road course, clean bathrooms and a gun range.
We took eight runs before calling it a day, and once again, the car felt great through the slalom on the 225/50ZR15 tires. Our best times were in the 44-second range, where the fast cars (Z06 Corvettes on race tires) were running 40s.
A new alignment may have helped our on-track performance, as the front end was a little out of whack. We probably need to readjust our rear camber.
Latest results Jul 15, 2003
On Sunday, June 8, we took the G Prepared class win with the Martin Sports Car Club. Okay, it was only a two-car class (us and a Saturn SC1), but still, we'll take the win--and the points. Our index score for the event was a pretty decent 0.98. (An index score of 1.00 would be the average time for the event.) Before the last event, the Civic was positioned eighth overall in the club's points race. Despite the hot conditions, the Civic hung on well. Our cold tire pressures were 40 psi front and 42 psi rear. Here's our autocross record this season:
* Nov. 17, SCCA in Orlando: 3rd out of 10 in STS.
* Nov. 24, SCCA in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 7 in STS.
* Dec. 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 4 in G Prepared.
* Jan. 11, Martin in Palm Bay: 3rd out of 7 in G Prepared.
* Feb. 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 1st out of 3 in G Prepared.
* Feb. 23, SCCA in Palm Bay: 5th out of 8 in STS.
* March 8, Martin in Palm Bay: 1st out of 1 in G Prepared.
* April 27, SCCA in Palm Bay: 2nd out of 5 in STS.
* May 10, Martin in Palm Bay, 1st out of 3 in G Prepared.
* June 8, Martin in Palm Bay, 1st out of 2 in G Prepared.
The Civic has actually had a bit of a mid-season break, as we had to skip the last Central Florida SCCA event due to magazine deadlines. Looks like our next event will be the July 12 Martin Sports Car Club event scheduled for Tavares, Fla. Speaking of the Martin Sports Car Club, we have moved up the leader board, as we're now sitting sixth overall in their club points race.
This weekend went well for the Civic, as the car scored its fifth-consecutive G Prepared class win with the Martin Sports Car Club. Our tire pressures were 40 psi front and 44 psi rear.
The course was a varied mix of tight turns, two high-speed slaloms, a pair of lane-change maneuvers and a few nice sweepers. Our best time was 65.841 seconds. For comparison, Gary Meredith's Porsche 944--on race tires--turned a top time 60.312. (However, Ian Stewart, a guy who should do very well at the upcoming SCCA Solo II nationals, crushed all of us with a 58.963 in his Honda S2000.)