Honda Civic Track Car...
Discussion
Hello all,
I rarely post here but would like to get some advice. I have a rare and unique oportunity to turn my current car (2005 Honda Civic 1.6 Sport VTEC...don't you f
king laugh now, it's a beast...a very slow, economical beast) into a track car, since I am looking to buy another car more suited to family duties (a honda civic 1.8 iVTEC...dont you fking laugh now, that's good solid family motoring right there) in about a years time. Anyway, the Sport is worth the grand sum of not a lot, given it's a Cat. C and has some miles on it. As it stands, I wouldnt care if it expired on me half way round brands hatch, or if I rolled it after getting it wrong at silverstone.
Thing is, this is an oportunity as well to get my hands a bit dirty and make some choice, but cheap, upgrades. Loosing weight shouldnt be too hard initially, but what it really could do with is some better suspension, and some better brakes. But nothing expensive. So what's out there that can help firm up a wobbly old car for not too much? Brake-wise, I'm thinking of some good pads and genuine discs (they'll need changing soon anyway, they wont make another year thats for sure).
I've been inspired by Mighty Car Mods, who took a stty old car and turned it into a reasonable track car.
I rarely post here but would like to get some advice. I have a rare and unique oportunity to turn my current car (2005 Honda Civic 1.6 Sport VTEC...don't you f
king laugh now, it's a beast...a very slow, economical beast) into a track car, since I am looking to buy another car more suited to family duties (a honda civic 1.8 iVTEC...dont you fking laugh now, that's good solid family motoring right there) in about a years time. Anyway, the Sport is worth the grand sum of not a lot, given it's a Cat. C and has some miles on it. As it stands, I wouldnt care if it expired on me half way round brands hatch, or if I rolled it after getting it wrong at silverstone. Thing is, this is an oportunity as well to get my hands a bit dirty and make some choice, but cheap, upgrades. Loosing weight shouldnt be too hard initially, but what it really could do with is some better suspension, and some better brakes. But nothing expensive. So what's out there that can help firm up a wobbly old car for not too much? Brake-wise, I'm thinking of some good pads and genuine discs (they'll need changing soon anyway, they wont make another year thats for sure).
I've been inspired by Mighty Car Mods, who took a s
tty old car and turned it into a reasonable track car. There will be lots of opinions on what to do for what you want to achieve and my experience is not specific to your car, but my experience of 3 different cars.
Brakes stage 1 - New fluid (racing type, ATE Type 2000 is good & cheap) braided hoses, better pads & new discs as a good way to spend £200ish. At the same time try to improve the cooling to the fronts.
Stage 2 - Fit discs/calipers from something further up your range that have the same "hats" on the discs & the same mounts on the caliper. This will possibly cost not a lot more.
Suspension stage 1 - New bushes all round will make a big difference on a leggy car for a couple of £100.
Stage 2 - A lowering set of shocks & springs could be as little as a few £100 further down the line.
Stage 3 - ARBs & bushes can also be transferrable from cars further up the range for not too much.
Brakes stage 1 - New fluid (racing type, ATE Type 2000 is good & cheap) braided hoses, better pads & new discs as a good way to spend £200ish. At the same time try to improve the cooling to the fronts.
Stage 2 - Fit discs/calipers from something further up your range that have the same "hats" on the discs & the same mounts on the caliper. This will possibly cost not a lot more.
Suspension stage 1 - New bushes all round will make a big difference on a leggy car for a couple of £100.
Stage 2 - A lowering set of shocks & springs could be as little as a few £100 further down the line.
Stage 3 - ARBs & bushes can also be transferrable from cars further up the range for not too much.
I would suggest a different approach.
You don't need a fast car to have fun, and no matter what car you drive there will always be somebody with a faster one.
Make sure the car's engine, transmission and running gear are basically in good shape. If there are any problems looming, thrashing the car round the track will wreck it. Otherwise do no more than replace brake linings with 'fast road' pattern parts and replace all fluids.
Then take it on track and spend some time and money learning to drive it and finding what it's limitations are.
In terms of performance upgrades (assuming you decide to stick with this car as your track toy) the first things I'd suggest are a good supportive driver's seat and harness. If you're cooking the brakes upgrade them and/or learn to drive round the problem. (Poor driving techniques can dump a load of excess heat into the brakes.)
I wouldn't spend money upgrading the suspension unless/until you had decided that you were going to keep it as a track car for at least a few years - and you need to decide whether that is realistic bearing in mind the mechanical condition of the rest of the car and how close it is to your performance objectives. If you're thinking to take it back to the shell and build a racer from the ground up, that needs a huge amount of expertise, time and money. I wouldn't start down that route unless you are already experienced at your chosen discipline and know what you're getting into.
The best place to spend money is driver training. Take every opportunity for tuition and simply spend time on track.
Are you planning to trailer this car to/from the track, or keep it road legal?
You don't need a fast car to have fun, and no matter what car you drive there will always be somebody with a faster one.
Make sure the car's engine, transmission and running gear are basically in good shape. If there are any problems looming, thrashing the car round the track will wreck it. Otherwise do no more than replace brake linings with 'fast road' pattern parts and replace all fluids.
Then take it on track and spend some time and money learning to drive it and finding what it's limitations are.
In terms of performance upgrades (assuming you decide to stick with this car as your track toy) the first things I'd suggest are a good supportive driver's seat and harness. If you're cooking the brakes upgrade them and/or learn to drive round the problem. (Poor driving techniques can dump a load of excess heat into the brakes.)
I wouldn't spend money upgrading the suspension unless/until you had decided that you were going to keep it as a track car for at least a few years - and you need to decide whether that is realistic bearing in mind the mechanical condition of the rest of the car and how close it is to your performance objectives. If you're thinking to take it back to the shell and build a racer from the ground up, that needs a huge amount of expertise, time and money. I wouldn't start down that route unless you are already experienced at your chosen discipline and know what you're getting into.
The best place to spend money is driver training. Take every opportunity for tuition and simply spend time on track.
Are you planning to trailer this car to/from the track, or keep it road legal?
Edited by GreenV8S on Friday 10th November 10:26
Thanks for the replies all.
Having given it some more thought of my own, I am in line with the opinions of you lot with keeping it standard but making the best of everything for the time being, until I understand track driving better and understand the limits.
It'll still be a road-legal car, to be driven to work and to the rubbish tip and food shopping. In the future I'll probably strip it out, at the moment I think it'll be ok.
I'll get all the fluids replaced; one thing I was considering was fitting a new water pump and replacing the engine coolant, since it's probably a good thing to do anyway.
Having given it some more thought of my own, I am in line with the opinions of you lot with keeping it standard but making the best of everything for the time being, until I understand track driving better and understand the limits.
It'll still be a road-legal car, to be driven to work and to the rubbish tip and food shopping. In the future I'll probably strip it out, at the moment I think it'll be ok.
I'll get all the fluids replaced; one thing I was considering was fitting a new water pump and replacing the engine coolant, since it's probably a good thing to do anyway.
thatdude said:
fitting a new water pump and replacing the engine coolant
Replacing the coolant is a good idea, along with replacing all the other fluids, filters etc. However, I wouldn't replace the coolant pump just for the sake of it unless you have some reason to think it is not working properly. If you do get overheating problems the air side is likely to be the limiting factor but I wouldn't worry about that until you find a problem. Just keep an eye on the tyres, brakes, engine and transmission temperature when you go on track and deal with problems as you find them.Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff