Even though we’re still waiting for our appointment at the paint shop, the Civic hasn’t been dormant. We have been driving the car on a daily basis and autocrossing it when possible. Unfortunately our Feb. 27 event was rained-out, and we missed this past weekend’s autocross because we were up at the Amelia Island Concours. We’ll be back on track later this month, we hope.
While it’s not a huge mod, our car recently got a new gearshift knob. While in Japan, we visited Carmate and took a liking to some of their Razo parts. Their new WR Spec Round Leather knob looked like the one for us. It weighs in at 240 grams (a little more than half a pound) in an effort to help the shifting process and is stitched like a baseball. The outside diameter is 47mm, about 1.88 inches.
Some may consider aftermarket gearshift knobs bling, but hey, this one feels good, looks good, and is more comfortable than grabbing a piece of threaded rod. Retail price is right at $40. (The part number is RA114.) Carmate has a U.S. Web site, and they also offer their no-frills knobs in resin.
Our Civic also changed its shoes a few times during the past few weeks. For some baselines numbers, we reinstalled the original tires and wheels: 14x5-inch steelies wrapped with some 185/60R14 Goodyear Eagle GP-H tires. What, never heard of the GP-H? That’s because it was only available through Costco. (Seriously, looks like Goodyear makes several tires only available through the discount club.)
While the all-weather Goodyears were actually quite comfortable around town, they didn’t set any records at the Ocala Gran Prix with 43.39-second lap averages.
Then we did a little upgrading, installing a set of 205/50ZR15 BFGoodrich Comp T/A KD tires mounted on hubcentric 15x7-inch Rota Slipstream wheels. The Rotas are light, as each one weighed 12 pounds, 14.80 ounces. Not bad for a wheel available for about $450 per set.
A little extra stick helped our Civic’s performance, as average lap times quickly dropped to 41.44-second times. We still have much work to do, but it’s nice to make a little progress.
View all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
