Civic Type R at the track, goods and bads! Let's share our experience.

[Stig_jdm]

initial measurements with the suspension system, exhaust, intake, and bov development. They then shipped out all the prototypes to Japan for testing on their Type R. They want to make parts that will fit on both RHD and LHD FK8 chassis. So we should all receive news about their products this weekend at HKS Premium day on 1/28/2018.

I see. Nice. I thought it was more around spring rates, travel, weight distribution, etc...

To those who are posting their track experiences, I think it would also be helpful to include the tire pressures they settled on (hot) when they are on track.

I start at 30psi cold and after the 1st session I lower it to 35psi hot.

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[chi town brat]

Autocross: Short tight courses that require rotation on short notice are a no go with my current set up. According to my friend Soraya my CTR just clunks left to right. Let's see if the Karcepts bar will help. That install happens 2 Feb and I'm going to run it 4 Feb. Although that should be a large open course.

 

[Stig_jdm]

It is nice to see the Civic Type R mixed up with heavily modified and way more expensive cars.

 

[typemismatch]

Thanks for sharing all the information!

I'm probably not going to track my CTR much, but I do plan on getting it out on the track just to see what its about.

 

[Vortexhunter]

Thanks for sharing all the information!

I'm probably not going to track my CTR much, but I do plan on getting it out on the track just to see what its about.

My plan is to go to the Nordschleife at least once. Costs a ton of money to go there though, so it will be either this fall or Spring 2019.

Here you can get some cool packages where you go to Spa and Nurburgring with other people and they run the Nordschleife as a closed track.

 

[chi town brat]

Check out the SCCA Track Night in America program via www.scca.com to see if it will be near you. It's a great way to get out on your favorite local track or for some may be it not so local. No experience required.

 

[Anthony FK8]

I was able to do many autocrosses and one track day. I ran into the fuel starvation issue. And got all the codes. Cleared the codes when back out. Then my revmatch system died. Which is super fun going down the front straight on Watkins Glen International at 130+ and needing to find 3rd with no revmatch. Wasn't the end of the world. Ironically the pedal placement for the CTR is great for heel toe shifts. This track day was with Porsche club. So mostly:
Cayman S
GTS
GT4
BMW m235i's and m2
M3 m4 and m5's
A corvette z06 c7 (warning this guy will drag race you on the straights)
I think a Carerra 4 or S and that was it for my run group.
And an AMG E63

I'll add I am no pro driver, this was my first track day. I was in a novice run group, with those vehicles mentioned above and the qualifications are like 1-4 track events with the club depending on progression will yield a graduation.

Being 1 of 2 FWD there. Ohh I forgot this lil fella with a Ford Focus. Surprisingly slow cars give you confidence I guess.

But I had no issues passing others based on speed or corner entry or exit. Most of the issues I had were power related. And when you look at who I shared the track with it's understandable.
I will state most everyone was on Michelin PS4 or PSS and the only modification I had was re-71r's maybe the GT4 had Sport cup 2's but he was really only major challenger. But track days are for fun no competition. (Just don't let your instructor know) but I will say I've been in autocross for 5 years now? I think. So. If you want to know the biggest strength we share. It's driving at the limit. On track it's like "1-5 seconds you want improve" and autocross is like ".01-.1" seconds. So most of us seasoned autocross guys understand that.
That being said.
The brakes were great, fluid boiled a tad but never had any fade. The power was decent. I did have that fuel issue but that's usually solved by filling it up with gas. And the chassis felt great. I'm no new friend to rotation in a FWD car and I felt the type R had plenty from factory. A gentle left foot brake and you can steer it quite well with the pedals. I fiddled with all the different traction control modes. And found that +R is confidence inspiring enough for the HPDE virgin. Won't let you spin it but will let you slide around. Not sure what others opinions are but I felt the CTR was very rewarding to drive when you made mistakes or cut the apex perfectly.

But factory alignment factory everything. Re71r 255 or 245/35/20's XL (if you can get the XL sidewall you'll be happy. Quicker steering response for 3ply vs 2ply on STD)
Front cold pressure started at 34/35 and changed from 37 FL and 35 FR
Rear cold pressure was originally 30/30 and later ended up with 33/33.
Hot temps I personally could give two shits about, as long as it doesn't exceed 45psi when I exit the track I'm cool. Check them when they cool down. In all I took my autocross knowledge and applied it to track best I could. Temp outside was 75-80°F no over heating. I did see it climb 3/4th and drop down on start up after session. Uhm 20 minute sessions 2:10 was my fastest lap. I believe I wasn't really keeping track. Play to the civics weak points first and you'll learn it's a great car on track. I plan to do more this season. Waiting for my Ce28SL to ship out. And I may end up ordering the karcepts or ASR hollow bar. Not sure yet

 

[shihabp79]

Surprised to hear you say that about the pedal placement. I find the brake and throttle too far apart and offset to heel-and-toe unless you're standing on the brakes and break your ankle to move your foot unnaturally sideways. I have average size 10.5 feet though.

 

[Anthony FK8]

Surprised to hear you say that about the pedal placement. I find the brake and throttle too far apart and offset to heel-and-toe unless you're standing on the brakes and break your ankle to move your foot unnaturally sideways. I have average size 10.5 feet though.

I'm a size 8 lol. And most of the braking areas are high speed to low. Two shifts at least

 

[shihabp79]

D'oh, I guess I need to go practice. I'll admit, it's nice to cheat with auto-rev-matching but it is good to sort out heel-and-toe in this car in case of failure. I miss my Lotus, though. Perfect heel-and-toe pedal box.

 

[Anthony FK8]

Front straight is about a 135-140mph top speed before entering turn one. All the turns after that 2-3 are areas where you lift then it's the bus stop so 140mph into the bust stop. So maybe front straight is 5th to 3rd maybe? The bus stop is sorta fast but other than those spots and the toe of the boot. Those are the main points you wanna downshift on. Everywhere else is up

 

[Silvek]

Overheating in 2-3 laps on a warm day, fuel starvation issues, etc. This seems crazy for a performance car of this caliber. I realize that many of these issues can be corrected in the aftermarket... but handling a day at the track with 20min sessions + time to cool in between without any issues shouldn't be that high of a bar to meet.

How in the world did they get a clean lap of the Nurburgring?

 

[Meat Hammer]

Overheating in 2-3 laps on a warm day, fuel starvation issues, etc. This seems crazy for a performance car of this caliber. I realize that many of these issues can be corrected in the aftermarket... but handling a day at the track with 20min sessions + time to cool in between without any issues shouldn't be that high of a bar to meet.

How in the world did they get a clean lap of the Nurburgring?

Agreed with your first point. Regarding the Nurburgring, that is such a fast track that the radiator and intercooler of Honda's record-setting car was fed plenty of cool Bavarian air versus some of the guys overheating on more technical (lower-speed) tracks in warmer climates.

 

[yargk]

Agreed with your first point. Regarding the Nurburgring, that is such a fast track that the radiator and intercooler of Honda's record-setting car was fed plenty of cool Bavarian air versus some of the guys overheating on more technical (lower-speed) tracks in warmer climates.

Plus they only needed one lap. 8 minutes with 50-60 F air with an average speed of 100 mph is different than 20 minutes in 95 F air with an average speed of 70 mph.

 

[Anthony FK8]

Overheating in 2-3 laps on a warm day, fuel starvation issues, etc. This seems crazy for a performance car of this caliber. I realize that many of these issues can be corrected in the aftermarket... but handling a day at the track with 20min sessions + time to cool in between without any issues shouldn't be that high of a bar to meet.

How in the world did they get a clean lap of the Nurburgring?

Special sauce?

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