The Traccord - 2003 Honda Accord Coupe

In reply to klodkrawler05 :

And I'm still on the "things that unbolt" part of the project. When it comes time to half cage the car I'll do round two where I go back and cut out things like Latch anchors and rear seat brackets, and a whole bunch of non structural metal. After One Lap I'll also go through the back half of the wiring harness and pull the wires for the rear speakers, antenna and whatever else is back there that's not needed. A bunch of grounds that can be routed more efficiently, probably some wiring behind the headliner that's not needed, all sorts of stuff. As I was sitting in the car this morning I realized that this has already gone down the path of no return. It's going to stay a street car, but it's ruined for selling to anyone normal. 

wow, I haven't updated my spreadsheet since September, and 20 pages ago

I dunno if I'm going to get around to updating it or not

In reply to sleepyhead :

That's fine. You don't drive what you take out, you drive what's left. That's the important stuff. 

Hard to photograph carpet with the car back together. I still think it looks awesome. 

Rear brakes came. PowerStop track day pads over Centric blanks, just like the front. 

I drove the car back to back with the Miata on it's new Falkens and the Accord is better at everyting. More grip. Quieter even with less insulation. Much better brakes. I'm excited for the track this weekend. 

Umm....

Do you have any pictures of the way the seats mount? Possibly dimensions from rail bottom to butt cheek? Duster needs new seats, and i like the looks of those. 

Seats mount angles in the front and flats in back, rails are just off level so the seat comes up just a bit as it goes forward drivers seat has a height adjustment handle that gives you a couple of inches. I can get you the measurements when I pack up the car tomorrow. Not my favorite seats in the world but the 130k mile foam is still firm and not breaking down at all. 

Don't worry about it until after one lap! Forgot its that close.

Thanks for being willing seth!

Have you noticed the car being any louder with the trunk now partially open to the passenger compartment?

Other totally random question, what made you keep the backseat behind the driver versus the passenger?

In reply to Slammo :

Most of the noise increase in the car is from pulling the seat back. I kind of knew this was going to happen because I've driven with the seat backs down before. 

The idea with keeping the seat behind the driver was this: The driver always has to sit upright, the passenger can recline to sleep, we should put the rear seat guy behind the guy who's sitting upright. 

Was that just a chunk of carpet that you cut to shape, or is it a fitted piece that you bought somewhere?

This continues to be awesome.

I called up Stock Interiors and told them I wanted the lightest carpet they could make me. The guy on the phone knew exactly what I meant and put a note on the order to throw the padding in the box but not attach it to the carpet when they press it in the molds. It is a molded piece and fits about 95% as well as stock. Most of the areas with wrinkles could probably be fixed with a bit better trimming or padding that more closely matched the stock padding. Neat company to deal with, I'm happy.

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Hard to photograph carpet with the car back together. I still think it looks awesome. 

Rear brakes came. PowerStop track day pads over Centric blanks, just like the front. 

I drove the car back to back with the Miata on it's new Falkens and the Accord is better at everyting. More grip. Quieter even with less insulation. Much better brakes. I'm excited for the track this weekend. 

That is AWESOME!

Loving the updates Seth, and the wheels are definitely turning in my head on trying to find one of these!  (Sidebar, that I don't remember if I posted previously: we have the doppleganger to this car in our fleet right now, and it's the v6, but it's the auto-tragic, and it's my fiance's car, so she wants it to stay that way.  Hence, looking for a 4-banger stick version...)

In reply to MoCounselor :

After driving this back to back with my Miata this weekend, the Accord is an interesting alternative. With me in the Accord and my buddy in the Miata we were turning identical lap times. When we swapped cars he was about 5 seconds a lap faster than me with him driving the Accord. Historically he's 2-3 seconds a lap faster than me in the same car on tracks that we both know about the same, so that's about right. Both the Miata and the Accord are on Koni Yellows and stiffer springs. Tires aren't too different, brakes are much better on the Accord. All in all these two cars are in the same ballpark. 

I spent four and a half hours and something like 250 track miles in the Accord, and another two hours in the Miata at MSR-Houston this past weekend. The car was fantastic. Lapped effortlessly. Brakes stayed cool enough that they didn't change the color on the paint at all. It was using about 1/3 quart of oil per half hour session. You do need to keep the car overfull by at least half a quart. I did have a slight lapse of paying attention and I was losing V-tec on quick right left transitions. Never on sustained corners though and never enough pressure loss to get an oil light. I'm not happy that I did that, but I think I got away with it. Another good thing about having an understressed engine. 

This guy also showed up on Sunday and was in our run group. It was cool watching the rear wing change angle of attack when he got on it after passing. How many other Accords have been passed on track by a Senna?  It was cool. 

And as we approach One Lap, I finally got around to mounting a fire extinguisher to meet the rules. Also a good idea. I like these quick release mounts and I can easily release and retrieve the extinguisher from the drivers seat with gloves on. I checked. 

I really do think these are an alternative to a NA or NB Miata. They don't autocross as well and I'm not sure I'd rallycross one with any regularity, but they daily MUCH better. They are fundamentally quieter and have room, especially that whole back seat and huge trunk thing. I would seriously think about brakes if you find yourself on track very often, which is an additional expense, but you also need a roll bar for a Miata in the same circumstance. 

This is probably one of my dumber weight savings things. The glove box is unnaturally heavy. It's also glued together which means you have to pry it apart to find this. 

That metal waffle is probably part of the crash structure and now whoever is in the passenger seat is going to get their legs chopped off or something. But it weighs almost two pounds so it's going away. 

In a perfect world I'd be making some sort of pre-preg carbon door with a mesh pocket on the back to save the final couple of pounds, this will work for now. 

Even with the lift, I still enjoy rolling a car up on ramps to change the oil. Something satifying about laying under the car with a flashlight and just looking at everything. While I was in there I cut the filter apart, no shiny stuff. One more thing crossed off the list for One Lap. 

Still not 100% sure about this, but I'm going to give it a try. This is the new intake. Generic 3 inch tube, coupler and filter from a 1991 Prelude Si. 

I don't really like the aluminum tube, I'd rather it be plastic or something that doesn't conduct heat so well, but a 30 minute drive had the tube barely warm to the touch, so probably not a huge issue. The performance difference is what you'd feel by replacing your regular paper filter with a new paper filter, or about none. What it did get is a LOT louder at wide open throttle, especially above 4500rpm. This is a good thing. Might be able to actually hear the car before it hits the rev limiter now. 

It also lost a bit over 2.5 lbs, and you know how I love pulling weight off the car, especially the front and up high. 

No shortage of zip ties in the immediate area. 

Now that  I have a lift i have no desire to lay on my back underneath a car.  I have a lift specifically so I don't have to do that!

In reply to docwyte :

I don't lay on my back under cars because I have to, I do it because I can. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I changed the oil on the Yukon today, and because of this thread I did so on the floor despite being parked in the middle of the lift.  You're right, oddly satisfying.

we're getting excited for the oloa this year...

good to see your progress on the car!

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I can too. I don't want to.  That's why I have a lift.

In reply to apexanimal :

I've been following your shakedown at Gridlife as well. Looking forward to hanging out and picking your brain about that whole wheel to wheel thing. 

Hey Seth, looking good here-

Not sure if you've seen these, but I just ordered a couple to try in my cars and thought you might be interested too.

~7lb weight savings over a traditional fire bottle, plus all the benefits outlined here:

ELEMENT FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

They were featured on Jay Leno's Garage; I hope I don't ever have to try 'em out.

Cheers-

damen

This is a work in Progress that I'm hoping to have ready for One Lap. 

Making a Trunk Badge for the Accord based on the sticker Seth Made last year. 

Seth's sticker from last year...

Honda Accord Type GRM