Discussion
Kev_Mk3 said:
If the OP hasnt done track days really then IMO your all jumping the gun.
Geo set up with some coilovers / camber bolts will transform the car. Loads of places around the uk that do this. I know I travelled up north to Grinspeed but of stevies reputation.
Brakes - fluid and lines with standard discs and uprated pads is enough. I used ds2500's and its a can of worms I know I am opening but they worked great at the nurburgring and on various track days. Other pads are avalible but id stay standard discs.
Tyres - Nankang NSR2's simple tried tested and cheap in 17" (standard civic size)
Then go enjoy it.
Over time strip things out, change seats, etc but for now the above is all that I would do
Is that all? Just the thousand pounds on decent coilovers, camber plates and the alignment?Geo set up with some coilovers / camber bolts will transform the car. Loads of places around the uk that do this. I know I travelled up north to Grinspeed but of stevies reputation.
Brakes - fluid and lines with standard discs and uprated pads is enough. I used ds2500's and its a can of worms I know I am opening but they worked great at the nurburgring and on various track days. Other pads are avalible but id stay standard discs.
Tyres - Nankang NSR2's simple tried tested and cheap in 17" (standard civic size)
Then go enjoy it.
Over time strip things out, change seats, etc but for now the above is all that I would do
C70R said:
Kev_Mk3 said:
If the OP hasnt done track days really then IMO your all jumping the gun.
Geo set up with some coilovers / camber bolts will transform the car. Loads of places around the uk that do this. I know I travelled up north to Grinspeed but of stevies reputation.
Brakes - fluid and lines with standard discs and uprated pads is enough. I used ds2500's and its a can of worms I know I am opening but they worked great at the nurburgring and on various track days. Other pads are avalible but id stay standard discs.
Tyres - Nankang NSR2's simple tried tested and cheap in 17" (standard civic size)
Then go enjoy it.
Over time strip things out, change seats, etc but for now the above is all that I would do
Is that all? Just the thousand pounds on decent coilovers, camber plates and the alignment?Geo set up with some coilovers / camber bolts will transform the car. Loads of places around the uk that do this. I know I travelled up north to Grinspeed but of stevies reputation.
Brakes - fluid and lines with standard discs and uprated pads is enough. I used ds2500's and its a can of worms I know I am opening but they worked great at the nurburgring and on various track days. Other pads are avalible but id stay standard discs.
Tyres - Nankang NSR2's simple tried tested and cheap in 17" (standard civic size)
Then go enjoy it.
Over time strip things out, change seats, etc but for now the above is all that I would do
C70R said:
Is that all? Just the thousand pounds on decent coilovers, camber plates and the alignment?
Don't need £1000s on things example if you shop sensible it can be done.Examples are my own figures from the items I bought and fitted to my car.
Second hand like new BC Coilovers £350
second hand ebay bargain DC Manifold £150
second hand like new Scorpion Mid section £50
second hand Scorpion back box £50
Facebook for sale pages, the Type R forum etc help. If you look people breaking cars and sites you can get bargains. I mean the type r forum gives tegiwa discount which helps with brake pads, lines etc. I fitted Mtec dimpled / grooved discs and not 1 issue etc I don't have masses of budget but it is all doable.
Kev_Mk3 said:
C70R said:
Is that all? Just the thousand pounds on decent coilovers, camber plates and the alignment?
Don't need £1000s on things example if you shop sensible it can be done.Examples are my own figures from the items I bought and fitted to my car.
Second hand like new BC Coilovers £350
second hand ebay bargain DC Manifold £150
second hand like new Scorpion Mid section £50
second hand Scorpion back box £50
Facebook for sale pages, the Type R forum etc help. If you look people breaking cars and sites you can get bargains. I mean the type r forum gives tegiwa discount which helps with brake pads, lines etc. I fitted Mtec dimpled / grooved discs and not 1 issue etc I don't have masses of budget but it is all doable.
"Get out there and spend a grand on making massive changes to a £2k car you've never driven, and take it to do something you've no idea whether you'll enjoy or not."
OP - Just check the car over, make sure the tyres and brakes are in good nick, and enjoy.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 17th August 11:14
C70R said:
Ignoring fitting and setup, right? And this is why this forum isn't helpful for people dipping a toe in trackdays.
"Get out there and spend a grand on making massive changes to a £2k car you've never driven, and take it to do something you've no idea whether you'll enjoy or not."
OP - Just check the car over, make sure the tyres and brakes are in good nick, and enjoy.
If your ok with spanners / few friends for beers can do the work. coilovers are not to bad at all (i'm not that good with the tools but I managed it) Then once on & safe you can adjust it with the eye but defiantly get professionally set up regardless. Things like manifolds not the easiest but can be done on the drive, I got a garage to fit mine but cat back exhaust is simple."Get out there and spend a grand on making massive changes to a £2k car you've never driven, and take it to do something you've no idea whether you'll enjoy or not."
OP - Just check the car over, make sure the tyres and brakes are in good nick, and enjoy.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 17th August 11:14
I dont see the point in buying a car then throwing a cheque book / card at it as you dont appreciate how it was to what you've created. In fact you might find the mods make it utter pants its all personal development and learning IMO.
Best track days ive done where in a standard mx5, was checked over the week before then driven to the track and lapped all day everything was standard then it was tweeked after anything broke.
Do the basics, brakes / fluids but don't spend £000's until you have done a few days. Hondas are pretty good & reliable straight out of the box, spending £000's to be a bit faster (probably less reliable) makes no sense to me but if you really want to go quicker on a trackday many could do worse than spending it on proper instruction IMHO.
Super late reply here but a friend of mine had his Atom in the garage for upgrades and had great fun with one as standard.
A car reaching a point of skid has a certain amount of roll, add more grip and that point has more roll to it, so if you have to do one, reduce the roll by getting coilovers, the quality is important for quality damping, I have BC coilovers on another car and they are amazing. If you can get more grippy tyres to add to that then great. Taking it out as standard you learn lots anyway, like making sure the oil is as full as it should be, how not to try and go so much faster in a big jump etc... then worry about upgrades and feel the progress.
A car reaching a point of skid has a certain amount of roll, add more grip and that point has more roll to it, so if you have to do one, reduce the roll by getting coilovers, the quality is important for quality damping, I have BC coilovers on another car and they are amazing. If you can get more grippy tyres to add to that then great. Taking it out as standard you learn lots anyway, like making sure the oil is as full as it should be, how not to try and go so much faster in a big jump etc... then worry about upgrades and feel the progress.
SkinnyPuppy said:
Hi All,
I've always liked the idea of a track day car, but never felt I had the time or money to be serious about it. That was until my old man offered me his EP3 Civic Type R.
Looking for comments/recommendations on the car and suitability, as well as advice from anyone else out there with a track day car in terms of insurance/transportation/storage/general pitfalls, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Do it, its an awesome and reliable car. I've always liked the idea of a track day car, but never felt I had the time or money to be serious about it. That was until my old man offered me his EP3 Civic Type R.
Looking for comments/recommendations on the car and suitability, as well as advice from anyone else out there with a track day car in terms of insurance/transportation/storage/general pitfalls, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Go on this order:
Maintenance and fix whatever there is to fix.
Check bushings. Upgrade if needed
Upgrade at least pads, but a whole brake kit is needed on ep3, they are a bit s
t oem. Get some coilovers if your suspension is tired, don't bother with lowering springs and thing. KW V3 are always safe. Get them set with proper geo.
Power mods, RBC (70mm), DC Sports manifold, an aem injen (with an hole on the bumper) intake, a straight 70mm exhaust and a Kpro (properly tuned with a street tune, that maintains your Air/Fuel mixture to oem levels ) and you will be in business. TDI North cams if you don't want to bother much with head upgrades. You don't need more.
Gearbox, carbon synchros, maybe shorter gearing and definitely LSD. Mfactory is the only company that you need to bother.
At the end of all of this, you will have a proper fast car that can even be used on the street. Don't bother with cosmetic bulls
t. But right now, do the maintenance, put some proper suspension and brakes, do the setup and go have LOTS of fun. Don't bother with turbo or Supercharging, you will just overheat everything and spend big bucks without really enjoying it.
OEM you can just do the whole day, go home and go to track next week without a single worry in your mind.
I never knew any engine as strong as the k20a2 is just retarded (oh go to a good honda shop, they will know what to look for), for example, check valve clearances, that with all the rotation go out of spec and then they brake.
Catch-can is great for the reliability of the engine too.
Hi Mate,
EP3 make great fast road/track cars. i had one which i sold a couple of months ago which i took on track and around the Nurburgring. As someone previously advised, don't feel you have to spend 1000s and 1000s on it. One area i would look into first is and good service, suspension inspection. One mod i would highly recommend doing first would be getting a fast road setup carried out on the car. the Geo that left the factory wasn't great at all, although the car still handles well from stock.
ABP Eibach springs
Camber bolts front
Camber arms rear
FRSU by Phil at Dream Automotive or Stevie at Grinspeed.
If budget allows get some AD08R and you're on your way.
I got a little carried away with mine, i said i wouldn't spend much on mine, before i knew it i had the following:
Tegiwa carbon intake
Tegiwa Cat back
MFacotry Racepack LSD
Spoon racing 5.1 FD (great mod when fitting a LSD)
FRSU
AD08Rs
JDM ARB
DS2500 pads.
car was transformed, felt great. Really do miss it, went to the ring and saw how capable the Megane RS250/265 Cups were and took the plunge. EP3 at the ring this year
you won't be disappointed mate,
L.
EP3 make great fast road/track cars. i had one which i sold a couple of months ago which i took on track and around the Nurburgring. As someone previously advised, don't feel you have to spend 1000s and 1000s on it. One area i would look into first is and good service, suspension inspection. One mod i would highly recommend doing first would be getting a fast road setup carried out on the car. the Geo that left the factory wasn't great at all, although the car still handles well from stock.
ABP Eibach springs
Camber bolts front
Camber arms rear
FRSU by Phil at Dream Automotive or Stevie at Grinspeed.
If budget allows get some AD08R and you're on your way.
I got a little carried away with mine, i said i wouldn't spend much on mine, before i knew it i had the following:
Tegiwa carbon intake
Tegiwa Cat back
MFacotry Racepack LSD
Spoon racing 5.1 FD (great mod when fitting a LSD)
FRSU
AD08Rs
JDM ARB
DS2500 pads.
car was transformed, felt great. Really do miss it, went to the ring and saw how capable the Megane RS250/265 Cups were and took the plunge. EP3 at the ring this year
you won't be disappointed mate,
L.
SkinnyPuppy said:
Thanks very much Hothatch_Luke. Excellent advice!
The car is now sitting on my driveway. Still got to negotiate a price with my old man, but hoing it will be back on the road in a few weeks!
Assuming the car is in decent fettle already, don't feel the need to go hunting for modifications. Just take the damn thing to a track day. And then another. The car is now sitting on my driveway. Still got to negotiate a price with my old man, but hoing it will be back on the road in a few weeks!
Years of idly browsing the PH track car classifieds shows up one thing - too many people spend loads of time and money creating a 'track' car and then don't even use it. Ads will often say 'only tracked once or twice' etc. If you want to tinker, fine, but if you want to drive, then just get out and do it and don't hesitate to take a standard car out on track for some fun.
C70R said:
Kev_Mk3 said:
If the OP hasnt done track days really then IMO your all jumping the gun.
...
Advises to spend around a grand.
...
Advises to spend around a grand.
Anyone with experience would know that adding that much additional grip will simply show off other weaknesses in the package, resulting in stuff braking sooner potentially, as well as forcing upgrades sooner and therefore additional costs sooner rather than later...cue in your tit for tat with Lev_Mk3....additionally higher grip and standard seats and belts in my experience = too much focus on trying to keep your butt in place using the wheel rather than focus on balancing the chassis.....personally grippy tyres is the last thing I would add, yet you advise NS2R and to stay away from buckets.....Im confused I have to say.
My advice to OP is to stick to road tyres to keep limits lower and in turn find the limit of grip sooner, which typically = the most fun, provided its controlled...The lower grip would also help learn the limits of your package much sooner and with less overall risk as the tyres will be more progressive at the limit.
Brakes overhaul with pads fit for purpose and half decent sports/summer tyres and youre good to go provided all else is in good mechanical order.
You will gain the most speed with practice, so save the money for more track days and fuel and tuition if you want to learn from experience.
Good luck and have fun.
I picked up a cheap/ish Civic VTI (B18C) with coilovers, fresh wheels and tyres, and an exhaust system on, chinesium fake Mugen wheel and a factory LSD to boot.
Did Bedford as my first track day on Sat.
Prep was fresh budget discs and pads, brake fluid and an oil change.
Great fun!
Utterly loved it.
Now I need to decide if i'm spending on this or swapping to a Cooper S for more poke.
If i'm keeping the Civic, then i'm fitting better front discs and pads, rear ARB, fresh fluid, a new steering wheel, some smaller wheels and tyres and some maintenance jobs and she's ready for another day out.
Did Bedford as my first track day on Sat.
Prep was fresh budget discs and pads, brake fluid and an oil change.
Great fun!
Utterly loved it.
Now I need to decide if i'm spending on this or swapping to a Cooper S for more poke.
If i'm keeping the Civic, then i'm fitting better front discs and pads, rear ARB, fresh fluid, a new steering wheel, some smaller wheels and tyres and some maintenance jobs and she's ready for another day out.
Humour said:
C70R said:
Kev_Mk3 said:
If the OP hasnt done track days really then IMO your all jumping the gun.
...
Advises to spend around a grand.
...
Advises to spend around a grand.
Anyone with experience would know that adding that much additional grip will simply show off other weaknesses in the package, resulting in stuff braking sooner potentially, as well as forcing upgrades sooner and therefore additional costs sooner rather than later...cue in your tit for tat with Lev_Mk3....additionally higher grip and standard seats and belts in my experience = too much focus on trying to keep your butt in place using the wheel rather than focus on balancing the chassis.....personally grippy tyres is the last thing I would add, yet you advise NS2R and to stay away from buckets.....Im confused I have to say.
My advice to OP is to stick to road tyres to keep limits lower and in turn find the limit of grip sooner, which typically = the most fun, provided its controlled...The lower grip would also help learn the limits of your package much sooner and with less overall risk as the tyres will be more progressive at the limit.
Brakes overhaul with pads fit for purpose and half decent sports/summer tyres and youre good to go provided all else is in good mechanical order.
You will gain the most speed with practice, so save the money for more track days and fuel and tuition if you want to learn from experience.
Good luck and have fun.
And, when they do go off while you're "exploring the limits", they are downright dangerous. And, you can quite easily destroy a set (and be illegal to drive home) on a fairly normal day.
Hence recommending track-biased tyres, which will provide plenty of safe grip and durability.
Edited by C70R on Monday 19th February 17:07
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