Civic of Doom: Honda Challenge Recycling

[Kaan]

Summit Point was a BLAST… and then it ended tragically (for my transmission). There will be a great lack of pictures because no one was around shooting pics… not even Finish Line.
 
Back in April I was able to get down to 1:26.59 at summit… very inconsistently. I’d have a bunch of 1:28s, a 1:31 in the beginning of a session, and somehow squeak out a 1:26. Well that really doesn’t help you place well for Beast of the East or in your normal class.
 
This event was much warmer, track temps were up enough that I had to drop my cold tire pressures down 2 psi all the way around. I was struggling a little… I was consistent, but also slow. I had my data looked at, I also realized I was cheating toward center track in T3… and my consistent 1:28s on Saturday turned into consistent high 1:26/low 1:27s on Sunday.
 
Saturday I was a little defeated… I couldn’t see the main pack (I had yet to this season). Data showed me braking too much too early… and I was down +5mph in turn 3 and turn 10. I spent that day pushed braking zones and trying to make sure I keep the throttle down in the carousel. Chris Cobetto threw me in the car (directly after my race) and we took a spin in his E30… yes I’m a big sissy and I need to step it up.
 
Sunday morning is Beast of the East (out of class racing, regrouped by time) and I’m the lead car in the 1:28 group… the fast Miatas and the fastest ST6 car are in my group. The start got all messed up but its really a fun race, so as we come around T10 things are weird but we are just going to run it…
 
My first flying lap is lap 2… I break out to the 1:27s… and I’m in the middle of the “group” ahead of me. Outside of a lap where I jumped to up behind the two lead cars in the next group… I was ripping 1:27s… but traffic can be a bear (aka 1:31). I kept pressing trying to get around the two Spec3s that were in front of me… they were battling and I was looking for a hole. When the white flag flew I clipped a 1:26.6, best of the weekend and almost my best overall time.
 
The afternoon race we are all back in class order… its threatening to rain on us, the whole HC field is on RRs still… and being in the back I CANNOT see the green flag fly with all the wingz. I made up a little of the gap going into turn 1, but still a car length back of the pack…. But unlike any other race this season, I was able to keep with the main group pulling 126/127s. By lap 4 I was having shifting issues… sometimes it felt like it was in gear and it wasn’t and it wasn’t putting down power too well… but I pressed on, still pulling 126s  and slowly watching the field pull away. I was able to put down a 1:26.44 (personal best) even with the trans not shifting well...

Finally come through turn 5 and start laying on the power and the engine starts spinning but I’m not moving. I figured I smoked the clutch or something… so I limit around, shift a bunch, let out the clutch, get some power down and head in early.
 
It loaded on the trailer just like normal… the car had cooled down, nothing too crazy… easy going. We drive home and go to unload the car… I put the car in reverse to get it off the trailer and I get down on the concrete and it wont go into gear. It moves forward and backward, not side to side, and no matter where you put it, the car is in reverse.
 
We left the car out overnight… got some wheel dollies and then spent the next evening using 5 foot metal posts prying it up the “hill” into the garage. I’ll be pulling the trans this weekend and cleaning that side of the engine bay (that’s were all my axles have failed so its super dirty). I’ve got a line on a B16 trans, I’ll order my trans rebuild kit from ipgparts.com , Deren is going to swap over my diff/final drive and do the rebuild… I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the trans anyway, when to upgrade, etc… this just forced my hand a little. I’ll be happy to have the same gearing as everyone else and not be giving up the 6-11% mechanical advantage (depending on that gear we are in).