Civic Si in GS

[Johnathan]

I just don't like the look of 245/45 sidewall, looks like drag radials LOL!

I don’t like the look either. But they really do feel good. Of course, that depends on the tire. I am sure a 245/45 Yokohama would feel too soft. The 660s’ shoulders held up well with virtually no negative camber and on grippy concrete in Moultrie, GA with Dixie Region SCCA. Their best drivers were away in Charlotte, so I only had a couple of solid local drivers to compare times with. Not my best PAX win but not my worst either.

Sponsored

 

[sibanez]

I ran 245/45/17 last season for a few events and felt like I lost too much on shorter courses. The car has great torque, but the shorter 245/40 allows you to pull out of tight elements faster. I think the 245/45/17 could be helpful on faster/longer courses, but I never had an opportunity to try it out.

 

[destoups]

Wow, whole buncha CIvics signed up already and Nats reg just opened.

 

[tdw]

Got a tire wear question, please look at my rear tire, the rubber build up is on the inside edge. 2018 SI on 255-40 17 RE-71R, rear progress sway bar. Front at 36 psi, rear at 32 psi. Does this look unusual?

 

[Gefiltefish]

Yes, thats what we call "OPR" (other peoples rubber). Its sometimes rubber, sometimes seam sealer.
Usually its best to just put them on the front and do some launches and/or hard circles.

Some people will use an oscillating multi-tool with a blade to remove it as well.

At Nationals they have a dedicated "tire cleaning pad" since its such a problem there. A spot where they wet down some of the concrete and you can do circles to get that crap off. Makes a mess on the side of the car, but it is what it is!

 

[tdw]

Yes, thats what we call "OPR" (other peoples rubber). Its sometimes rubber, sometimes seam sealer.
Usually its best to just put them on the front and do some launches and/or hard circles.

Some people will use an oscillating multi-tool with a blade to remove it as well.

At Nationals they have a dedicated "tire cleaning pad" since its such a problem there. A spot where they wet down some of the concrete and you can do circles to get that crap off. Makes a mess on the side of the car, but it is what it is!

So there's nothing wrong with my set up?

 

[Gefiltefish]

So there's nothing wrong with my set up?

Nothing wrong at all. Any decently sticky tire will pick up rubber and tar like that.

 

[Travie_FC3]

Ran my first AutoX on June 28th in my Si at WOSCA Centralia Airport. What a rush. 90-110 second course. I can't wait to see what July 12th's event looks like.

Lap 1: 103s. VSA off. Learning how the car feels and doing track recon. Wasn't even 100% sure what the course was. No official walkthrough
Lap 2: 293s. VSA off. 200s penalty. Got lost
Lap 3: 290s. VSA off. 200s penalty. Got lost again

Switched out to do martialling. I got lucky and was posted at the spot I kept getting lost at. It was a triple gate and I was turning at a pointer cone instead of the turn cone.

Lap 4: 98s. Forgot to turn VSA off. Really figuring things out now. Confidence was very high and was getting excited to improve.
Lap 5: 99s. VSA off. 2s penalty for 1 cone. Really learning the car now and getting in a groove. I need more grip now.
Lap 6 final lap: 116s. Pedal dance. The car responded so much better than before. It did everything I wanted it to do and felt so intuitive. Finally it felt like an extension of me. Unfortunately I got excited and spun out in the last 10s of the lap.

Pedal dance people. Pedal dance.

I was running fully stock, stock goodyear in the back, and 400 tread wear bfg in the front (had a blow out in may and only replaced 2).

 

[Travie_FC3]

To the other autox noobs:

1) Do the pedal dance. It wakes the car up like nothing else.
2) Don't turn your ebrake on when your car is cooling down. There's a chance to leave pad material on your rotor.
3) Leave the car on and A/C on. It will turn both fans on to help evacuate crazy high engine bay temps.

 

[SCVanguard]

Ended up on top of GS at the Bristol Pro today. I was on Yoks and wound up running about 39 in the front and 53 in the back. It STILL wouldn’t rotate! I’m on the Eibach CTR bar and I hear the Karcepts bar is much stiffer which would help. I could also try some toe out but I’m afraid of messing with that since it’s my daily.

That being said, Tommy Pulliam ended up breaking out bya good margin in the super challenge on stones. I’m not 100% sold that Yoks are the golden ticket. Part of me thinks Yoks on the front and Stones on the back might be a good bet.....

 

[Travie_FC3]

Ended up on top of GS at the Bristol Pro today. I was on Yoks and wound up running about 39 in the front and 53 in the back. It STILL wouldn’t rotate! I’m on the Eibach CTR bar and I hear the Karcepts bar is much stiffer which would help. I could also try some toe out but I’m afraid of messing with that since it’s my daily.

That being said, Tommy Pulliam ended up breaking out bya good margin in the super challenge on stones. I’m not 100% sold that Yoks are the golden ticket. Part of me thinks Yoks on the front and Stones on the back might be a good bet.....

Up here most people are running RE71R, but I'm hearing more and more people using Ventus RS4. That's coming from my tire distributor.

 

[Gefiltefish]

RS-4’s are a good tire if you want more durability and something good for track days. But they will be about a second slower around a 60sec autocross course compared to an elite autocross tire like the RE71R, Rival S 1.5 or A052.

 

[JO3L]

Congrats! I think you're the first person to document success with the Yokohama on these cars, so you are trailblazing. Share what you find, as I'm really interested in trying that tire. Simmons had good luck with the staggered setup last year, but he ran BFG.

[begin complete speculation section]

I seem to think the car doesn't like to have what I would consider rotation. The electronics are pretty invisible, but the car is grabbing brakes and changing damping constantly which is what makes it punch above its stats the way it does. Stay below the threshold, and the car works with you. Get rear slip angle, and it starts working against you. I have zero data to back up my hypothesis, but I run the car "boring." Rear toe out to mitigate mid corner push, but no stagger and normal pressures so that it's not loose at all at corner entry. I ran the Karcepts at full stiff last season, and that wasn't enough to summon entry rotation. This is an off year for me, but I ran a local yesterday on the cheap (but quiet) Whiteline and I honestly have no intent to ever put the Karcepts back on, even if I take it to Lincoln next year. Car was great.

[end complete speculation section]

@burglar this has been my experience also so might not be complete speculation. Maybe others will try and report back.

I like the idea of a staggered set up but not so much so since I need to be able to rotate my tires to get their full use before buying new ones. After trying toe out baed on a whim the car really feels lively. Running 1/8” or 3.5mm total right now. Same tire pressures front and rear also.

 

[destoups]

@burglar this has been my experience also so might not be complete speculation. Maybe others will try and report back.

I like the idea of a staggered set up but not so much so since I need to be able to rotate my tires to get their full use before buying new ones. After trying toe out baed on a whim the car really feels lively. Running 1/8” or 3.5mm total right now. Same tire pressures front and rear also.

I tend to like things loose but this was my experience as well -- it took ridiculous pressures and toe to get the car moving in a way that felt right but it wound up being faster when tightened down. Running toe-out but only a tiny bit of stagger on pressures right now.

 

[SCVanguard]

Is changing toe possible without toe plates? Since I’m way off the pace I was thinking about throwing caution to the wind and trying something crazy.

also....how do you change toe? LOL

Sponsored