Project Hazmat '09 Honda Civic Si

Actually no, check that, one picture. The TTWO logo being on upside down was deeply emotionalky upsetting. So I fixed it. Now I like the car. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I never touched the driver side. So it's either been a technician in Lake Jackson many years ago or it was the factory. 

I am baffled and amazed i managed to put an inner tie rod in and set the toe at absolute zero. 

I'm thrilled the steering feel came back. And at least now i have a benchmark to take a bit of toe back out. 

Time to put some decent tires on it and drive it. Maybe also add a rear bar. Some front brakes and a intake and tune. 

i'm going to be selling a set of sport front calipers if you're interested at all

Went down to Super Lap Battle this weekend to work the GLTC race. Got to talk with a bunch of 8th gen Civic guys. 

They believe my wierd steering is related to the tires. 

Good thing i already had a set of BFG'S on order. They were waiting for me when i got home tonight. 

Why so small?

Those didn't suck as road tires on the SN95.

bobzilla said:

Why so small?

My guess is stock wheel street tires. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

bobzilla said:

Why so small?

My guess is stock wheel street tires. 

Correct. These are going on the stock wheels. Something to get me around DFW safely and also be able to handle a winter trip up to Chicago if needed in the future. 

I'd have at least gone 225's. Stop being a wuss. 

In reply to bobzilla :

car runs a 17x 7, there was zero value in squeezing a 225 on them. 

this is my street wheels setup that i intend to take care of and drive mostly nicely on. 

although the more i look at it. these might make a good set of rallyx tires... 

Went and picked hazmat back up today. Brought the new tires down with me since I was no longer headed to KY with Daylan and not on a time schedule. 

Seth's Sketchy tire guy is the best. I dropped the car off and ran back to Seth's house to start packing the other car.  

by the time i got back 20 minutes later he was balancing the last tire and ad the first 2 already "on the car"

New tires are very nice. I'm quite pleased with them, they are much quieter than i expected on the freeway. No discernable noise increase over the old tires. 

Steering feels good and car drove back to DFW just fine. 

I got used to how stiff the shifter is in Ronald over the past few weeks. getting back in the civic it's such a great shifter, not as nice as the one in the Traccord. but for a stock 180k mile oem shifter, not too shabby. 

When i first got in Ronald i was somewhat nervous driving it and I adjusted over time to how it drives. But getting back in the civic... I know which car is going to be my DD use vehicle. The civic needs to have the rev hang taken care of ASAP, but otherwise it's in perfect condition to be my primary vehicle. I intend to return it to that duty immediately thanks to the new rubber.

Ronald and Hazmat make a good pair. I am excited to have both in my stable. 


Side note, I have some phone calls to make this week. But, it looks like Hazmat is going to be going through a full court press of preparation for One Lap. Our primary vehicle is not looing like it's going to come together in time. So my co driver and I are going to look at thrashing hazmat to get it ready in time for South Bend! 

spacecadet said:

New tires are very nice. I'm quite pleased with them, they are much quieter than i expected on the freeway. No discernable noise increase over the old tires. 

 i had these on my old 2.5RS (205/55-16) and they not only hold the road well for an A/S (my phone's g-meter said .93g around my favorite on-ramp, which was good for a mostly stock impreza), they can seriously cut through the water.  they get louder with age but if i was looking at a daily driver A/S tire these would still be top of the list.

spacecadet said:

looks like Hazmat is going to be going through a full court press of preparation for One Lap

oh snap!  didn't see that one coming.  looking forward to seeing how you guys get it prepped and how it goes!  its been great to follow a few different 8th gens these past couple years.  i've gotta live vicariously through someone....

In reply to ScottyB :

I still have some calls to make. but we are going to try and get into the event still. we'll see how it goes. 

Officially green light for One Lap! 

Let the thrashing begin! 

So, Many things happened today. I officially got into the event for One Lap, super excited about that. No more waitlist wondering, we are officially in. 

I ordered a half cage today (as requested by my co driver, one of his must haves in track cars and I wasn't opposed) and he immediately sent me some funds to help cover some of the cost. 

"for safety gear not strippers"

was the message with the money he sent over.. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at work.

The most important piece of safety gear is experience. You need to remember that you need some big track time. Both to meet requirements of the event and to make sure your experience level is in the right spot. 

And congrats on the entry, good times coming. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

yeah, i'm set to sign up for an eagles canyon DE on friday 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

The most important piece of safety gear is experience. You need to remember that you need some big track time. 

my previous post didn't illustrate how much i agree with this sentiment. I have a lot o work ahead, I am trying to bring the most open mindset I can to the HPDE next month. I want to learn and I want to safely have a chance to get up to speed in hazmat. I have an understanding how the car works up to about 90mph, and I want to expand upon the knowledge in an environment where I need to be mindful of all the risks involved. 

I will say that I'm jelly of you southerners right about now. 

In reply to bobzilla :

The fact that we've already had a NASA weekend for testing and a GLTC race and there are TONS of other events on the schedule for basically every weekend? You mean that? It's exhausting really. Enjoy your rest. 

You also putting in fixed back seats and 5/6 point harnesses?  Otherwise I wouldn't bother with a half cage

docwyte said:

You also putting in fixed back seats and 5/6 point harnesses?  Otherwise I wouldn't bother with a half cage

Yep! They're coming too. Like I said the cage has a lead time so I ordered it first since the lead time could be as much as 6 weeks and we are 8 weeks from One Lap. 

I was quoted a much shorter lead time luckily. But just needed to be ahead of the ball on it. 

What seats are you looking into?

In reply to clutchsmoke :

I just ordered 1 NRG FRP-301 because it was $205 shipped to my door on Amazon and all the dimensions look like they should fit me. So I figured I'd get one here to mount up with my buddy club bracket and DD it for a few weeks to see how it fits me. If it's too tight I'll just sell it for a small loss or save it for a sim rig. 

I'm also looking at the Corbeau FX1Pro-wide. But we don't know how they will fit in the car... So TBD on using them.. my buddy has one in Houston j will try to borrow and mock up with my car to see if it works. 

But the NRG are way cheaper. So if they work I'll rock them. 

Track dog racing seats are also an option as are Ultrashield. Track dog is 30 minutes from my house and Ultrashield is like 2 hours.. 

I couldn't imagine sitting in an Ultrashield for One Lap.  Comfort is a big thing and transit stages are where you spend the vast majority of your time in the car driving...