Project Civic Si: Hitting the Track

It was an evening of firsts:

• First-ever Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack held at the Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park.

• First spirited outing with our Civic Si project car—full rundown to come in a few paragraphs.

• And our first celebratory dinner eaten in a Publix parking lot. We’ll get to that, too.

The Event:

The SCCA’s Track Night in America has called South Florida’s Palm Beach International Raceway home since the program’s inception a few years ago. Now they’re looking to plant a flag in the northern part of the state at the FIRM.

“I think the core is that with Track Night we want to be able to serve as much of America as possible, and North Florida is been a challenging place for us to be able to place events consistently,” explains Heyward Wagner, the SCCA’s Senior Director of Marketing and Experiential Programs. “Roebling is a great track, but we have sound curfew issues there. The hope is that we can build a strong presence at the FIRM that can feed future events there whether they be track events or time trials.”

The FIRM’s 420 acres contains a little something for everyone, from rally stages to military training facilities. It also has a tight, twisty paved track: 14 turns packed into 1.6 miles–and that’s before you add in the esses.

The FIRM’s track sports many slower, 90-degree turns. Their road course is based on their original stage rally course, which is based on a WWII bomber parking field. Call it a smaller version of Sebring. And credit the Air Force’s needs of 75-plus years ago for the layout.

In the Civic, we only needed second and third gears, with the shift light just starting to flicker at the top of third.

The first TNiA at the FIRM attracted an enthusiastic crowd, a mix of novices and intermediate drivers. Our advanced group was a little thin, though, meaning plenty of space to just click off laps. Remember, these are supposed to be fun events; Red Bull Formula 1 isn’t scouting from the bleachers.

Lots of variety in the paddock, from a Mazda Protegé wearing a shopping cart to Cobra replicas and a bunch of Hondas. Lots of GRM stickers were spotted, so thank you, everyone, for the running the colors.

The Car:

The Civic landed in our parking lot exactly two weeks before this outing. It covered about 1200 miles before the track outing. Prep was minimal: check fluids, torque lugs and clean the windshield. Tire pressures were set as recommended by Honda.

That’s it. No speed parts. No extra widgets added.

As per the TNiA usual, we got three 20-minute sessions plus a 20-minute touring session for all on site. Gates opened at 3:00, and we were on track around 4:30. The track went cold about 7:30.

The first was pretty much a familiarization run: new car on a course that we haven’t run in a while. Things started to click about halfway through that first session.

Then we started to smell brakes.

Pedal travel got a little long, so we took the checker early and then cruised around to circulate some air through those overworked brake components.

Things really came together for the second session. Use the curbs through the wiggles? Sure. Wait, is that the sound of a fender liner rubbing? Okay, let’s pit and check it out.

Diagnosis: Maybe? Or perhaps that noise was coming from the car behind us. Or maybe a tire did kiss the plastic. Either way, all looked good. Jumped back into the session. Brakes didn’t get quite as soft. Credit that too feeling more confident and allowing the chassis to work as intended.

The third session felt the best as things all came together–mainly meaning that the driver felt confident regarding all involved variables.

Race car math: more confidence means less slowing before the corners, hence happier brakes.

After an hour on track, our back-of-the-napkin analysis:For a TNiA event–which we realize isn’t an arms race–power felt very adequate for this venue. We definitely weren’t losing the horsepower battle this evening. (When you have to tap the brakes so an Improved Touring Z-car can get by, you’re doing okay.)

The gearbox feels great. The factory helical limited-slip is much appreciated, especially when digging out of those tight turns. The temp gauge never left the normal zone. Plenty of headroom for a 5-foot-7 driver wearing a helmet. Seats offered enough bolstering.

Chassis felt good and composed, too. No surprises or drama.

Lots of compliments on the color. The general consensus is that the black accents, especially the bumper mesh, tones it all down.

Another popular comment: The knobs are back! Whether on the road or at the track, the new-for-2019 volume knob works perfectly. We could dial in just the right amount of Judas Priest for the situation.

The stock all-season Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season tires also did well, especially when you consider that they’re an M+S-rated tire carrying a 560tw rating. The limits are not nearly up there with the 200tw class, but the Goodyears didn’t fall off, get greasy, or do anything weird. No noticeable wear, either. And they felt fine on the two-hour ride home.

Brakes are at the top of the to-do list: pads and fluid.

And let’s add tires to that list. The Civic Si is no longer available with a $200 summer tire option, so upgrading the rubber is also on the short list.

And that’s pretty much it.

The Dinner:

There just isn’t much to eat near Starke, Florida, especially late at night. Food through a window? Not tonight.

But, wait, what’s that on the horizon: the green Publix sign, a Florida oasis of sorts. They were winding down for the evening, so the meal ready to eat options were thin. Final choice: a container of Greek pasta salad.

Hey, at least they provide the forks.
  

 

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