Daytona: Petty, Andretti, Haywood and, now, us.
It wasn’t our first trip through the Tri-Oval, but last time there, our 2019 Honda Civic Si ran into a small issue: As we entered the banking, we tripped nearly every warning possible.
We think that the car’s internal g-meter plus full throttle plus 31 degrees of banking freaked out the car’s little brain. As a result, we parked it for the rest of the evening. After several other track outings, this was our first official WTF moment.
Last night the SCCA Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack program returned to Daytona–the high banks under the lights. We had most of our crew there.
Before heading out on track this time, we did the pedal dance. What’s the pedal dance? First, you didn’t hear this from us. Totally didn’t. But it’s a way to totally disengage the stability control. (And remember, kids, this is only for professional drivers on a closed course.)
Here are the steps:
So we did that, and the sessions went smoothly–like, really smoothly. The chassis felt great, the engine pulled nicely and, here’s the kicker, we had #funwithcars.
More good news: Coolant temperature stayed in the normal zone, we only used about half a tank of fuel, and we even passed a few cars. Tires and brakes remained extremely composed and consistent through each of our three 20-minutes sessions.
Tires and brakes? Yep, we made some upgrades.
We’ll revisit the details soon in some sort of flashback scene worthy of your favorite ’80s feathered-hair drama, but here’s the TL;DR: The Civic is now wearing Falken Azenis RT615K+ tires wrapped around TRMotorsports C2 wheels. Front brake pads are now Hawk Performance HPS 5.0.
More about all of this to come soon.
Also, I forget, who here owns the #71 Dodge? I purposely jumped in behind you on grid just so I could watch and hear you on the banks. I was able to stay with you in the infield but, yeah, once things opened up, nope. Thanks for bringing out something that's so cool.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I'm pretty sure that's VegasNick.
You could easily hear him on the banking. It was amazing.
David S. Wallens said:Also, I forget, who here owns the #71 Dodge? I purposely jumped in behind you on grid just so I could watch and hear you on the banks. I was able to stay with you in the infield but, yeah, once things opened up, nope. Thanks for bringing out something that's so cool.
this made me smile
We love our new 2019 Civic Si. Hawk does not show a 2019 car, nor the Si model. In their drop down menus.
Jordan Rimpela said:You could easily hear him on the banking. It was amazing.
That reminds me of the guy with the IMSA Challenger that came to the competition you guys had... Not the street car one, a few years ago. 500 or so inches of hemi going down the back straight got some good writing to describe it.
Dogboy said:We love our new 2019 Civic Si. Hawk does not show a 2019 car, nor the Si model. In their drop down menus.
Let me find a part number.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Hey man, that was me!! Thank you for the bad ass pic! And...thank you for helping bring this event to Daytona! I am looking forward to many more to come!
After we do a few more car shows, she's going in for some major surgery. New motor is already in the machine shop, and we have an NV3500 sitting in the shop. I am hoping this will fix the issues in the twisties. That tired old 904 transmission hunting for gears really makes it difficult, but man, you just can't have this much fun anywhere else. It was great to see you guys out there.
See ya next time!
Jordan Rimpela said:You could easily hear him on the banking. It was amazing.
Hey Jordan,
It was great to finally meet you as well!
In reply to Dogboy :
The front pad number for the 2019 Civic Si should be HB875x.666.
I want to confirm via the packing slip.
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