Civic Si in GS

[destoups]

Taunting @PedalFaster. This is the fastest of four flying-start consecutive laps in our local Enduro in Shelton, Wash. Sorry about the wind noise, camera was a Father's Day gift I don't know quite how to use yet. 3rd in Pro and overall, a few hundredths off first.

I took similar laps in a well-prepped GTi that, unfortunately, had a DSG. Fast time in Civic, bouncing off the rev limiter for huge chunks of the course, 52.4; wasn't really enough headroom to make the shift to third (I tried). Fast time in GTi, with the transmission shifting pretty much whenever it damned well wanted to, 53.0. , so I think a six-speed GTi would prolly have been as fast or faster.

Civic definitely feels crisper and lighter; the GTi owner preferred it and was a second faster in my car than in his. VW is easier to place; sight lines are great, and once the transmission makes up its frickin mind, pulls harder.

I had planned on 255/40s next set but now am not so sure ...

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[PedalFaster]

Sorry about the wind noise, camera was a Father's Day gift I don't know quite how to use yet.

You're never going to get good sound with the camera's built-in microphone. The best option is to use an external microphone -- I use this one, which works great for $8.

 

[das borgen]

I had planned on 255/40s next set but now am not so sure ...

Why not on the 255/40?

 

[destoups]

Why not on the 255/40?

Oh, probably will wind up there but hate to give up anything at the top of second. I should just learn to shift to third earlier.

 

[5inn]

Was excited to try the RPF1s this weekend. Got them out of the car and about to put them on (at the event) and as soon as I put a gauge on two of them, they started leaking from the valve stem. Bummer. I probably could have ran around and maybe got it fixed in time, but I tried new valve stem cores, but no dice. Was much easier to ask a fellow GS competitor for a co-drive. Asked the closest person and they said yes.

Mk 7 GTI base, non-performance pack
adjustable Bilstein dampers
HR rear sway
225 RE71s on lighter (sparco?) 17x7.5" wheels

I don't know if it was just not set up for me or I drive differently than the car owner but I couldn't really get in a good place with the car. The undefeatable ESC system would catch me by surprise and it seemed to understeer for me which was always in my head during runs. I feel like in the Si I can use quick hands and the car just obliges, where the gti just didn't like that. I also expected the car to feel a lot faster/more power than the civic but it didn't seem it on course. It was a little more roll-y and I still for some reason I still don't like flat bottom steering wheels. This was a 6 speed car and the seemingly infinite-ly long 2nd gear was great. It was definitely nice to try something new but in the end the car owner got me by a tenth and a half. I had a faster dirty time but plus 1 mystery cone somewhere. Ended up 28th in PAX out of 165-ish drivers. Got some new valve stems this morning and am co-driving the civic this weekend at a local BMW club event.

Video from GTI:

 

[Sycosys]

Another event in the bag, not my best work but managed a first place finish still. I actually have video this time. It was very wet most of the day with it drying up towards the end.
17x8 with 255/40 RE-71R'S and a 22mm RSB on the stiff setting. I find 37psi front, 33-35psi rear to be my preference with this bar.

 

[boscotheduck]

Did my third autocross this past weekend. Finished 2nd in GS out of 6 and 47th of 123 in PAX. Normally I get smacked around in GS in the Chicago region but only one of our usual national level drivers was around due to the Peru national tour being the same weekend. He took first, beat me by a good 2 seconds, the rest of the field was pretty tight. This was my first event with the Karcepts rear bar, I used the 2/2 setting. This bar is awesome. I’ll may do a full write up on the bar after I get some track time with it tomorrow. Liking my 245/40-18 tire choice but I’m still bouncing off the limiter a lot. 36-37psi front and 38psi rear worked for me. Out of curiosity who sprays their tires with water between runs? I haven’t felt a need for this but maybe I’m missing something.

 

[Sycosys]

Did my third autocross this past weekend. Finished 2nd in GS out of 6 and 47th of 123 in PAX. Normally I get smacked around in GS in the Chicago region but only one of our usual national level drivers was around due to the Peru national tour being the same weekend. He took first, beat me by a good 2 seconds, the rest of the field was pretty tight. This was my first event with the Karcepts rear bar, I used the 2/2 setting. This bar is awesome. I’ll may do a full write up on the bar after I get some track time with it tomorrow. Liking my 245/40-18 tire choice but I’m still bouncing off the limiter a lot. 36-37psi front and 38psi rear worked for me. Out of curiosity who sprays their tires with water between runs? I haven’t felt a need for this but maybe I’m missing something.

I'll spray the tires if it's extremely hot out or if I have a co-driver, I usually use most of the water for the intercooler

 

[sibanez]

I'll spray the tires if it's extremely hot out or if I have a co-driver, I usually use most of the water for the intercooler

RE71Rs can definitely overheat, depending on the outside temperature, length of course, driving style and surface. I spray mine when it's over 80 outside, or if I'm co-driving.

Spraying the intercooler is definitely a good idea, too. I will turn on the heater and AC between runs and let it run at full blast, helps cool things.

 

[das borgen]

I'll spray the tires if it's extremely hot out or if I have a co-driver, I usually use most of the water for the intercooler

Yep....this

 

[sibanez]

Did my third autocross this past weekend. Finished 2nd in GS out of 6 and 47th of 123 in PAX. Normally I get smacked around in GS in the Chicago region but only one of our usual national level drivers was around due to the Peru national tour being the same weekend. He took first, beat me by a good 2 seconds, the rest of the field was pretty tight. This was my first event with the Karcepts rear bar, I used the 2/2 setting. This bar is awesome. I’ll may do a full write up on the bar after I get some track time with it tomorrow. Liking my 245/40-18 tire choice but I’m still bouncing off the limiter a lot. 36-37psi front and 38psi rear worked for me. Out of curiosity who sprays their tires with water between runs? I haven’t felt a need for this but maybe I’m missing something.

I'm pretty sure you are losing .5 on a 60 second course with the taller tire. I've run 245/40/17 and 245/45/17 on my SI. While you get a bit more on the top-end, if the course is tighter/slower, you'll be slightly behind coming out of each corner. The taller tire still doesn't get you to 60, and I've had to shift to 3rd with 245/45, too.

 

[boscotheduck]

I'm pretty sure you are losing .5 on a 60 second course with the taller tire. I've run 245/40/17 and 245/45/17 on my SI. While you get a bit more on the top-end, if the course is tighter/slower, you'll be slightly behind coming out of each corner. The taller tire still doesn't get you to 60, and I've had to shift to 3rd with 245/45, too.

That’s an interesting thought. To be honest I’m nowhere near conisistent enough to test this but I may be interested in trying to. I haven’t tried shifting to third yet at an autocross although this last time I felt like I should’ve.

 

[pretzelface]

Out of curiosity who sprays their tires with water between runs? I haven’t felt a need for this but maybe I’m missing something.

Here in the Austin/San Antonio area, ambient temperature is usually 100+ degrees by late morning. Almost everyone who's running street tires sprays religiously. When I haven't, tires have definitely gotten greasy.

That said, I think we all picked up the habit when the RE71R was the tire to have, and that's a tire that benefits hugely from being cool. The Rivals seem to handle heat a bit better. I'm running Kumhos right now and I'm spraying them, but that's as much because I'm afraid of burning them up and delaminating them!

 

[CanadiaegeanBlue]

Nice, had the same wheels on my SI.

I ran two events on 245/40/17s and went crazy bouncing off the rev limiter. Going to try 245/45/18s at my first event this March.

We are twins, sir! 17x8 RPF1 ET45 with 245/40R17. Did you hit the limiter in 1st or 2nd? The course I ran wasn't long enough to hit the limiter in 2nd, but I definitely hit it in 1st in sections where an 18" might've carried me all the way to the turn.

 

[WickedSlow]

We are twins, sir! 17x8 RPF1 ET45 with 245/40R17. Did you hit the limiter in 1st or 2nd? The course I ran wasn't long enough to hit the limiter in 2nd, but I definitely hit it in 1st in sections where an 18" might've carried me all the way to the turn.

For PITL events you are generally going to want to get into second and stay in second once you get there, unless you bog badly. Unless you are very smooth and consistent, it's likely you will lose time by getting shift happy and going back to first, or trying to stay in first too long. For our events, smaller diameter setup is generally advantageous. SCCA events with much higher speeds might be a different story.

I've never done an SCCA event and would like to try next year. I might consider buying a set of lightweight 8 inch rims to run in GS, which would also work for Canadian nationals.

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