Civic of Doom: Honda Challenge Recycling

[Kaan]

oh yeah... it runs. thanks Jason! we rolled the dice and i spent a pretty penny to run a fairly reliable M&W Pro-10 ignition (super reliable, drag guys have been running the same ones for decades) and an external coil. screw that HONDA CPR kit... good in theory but if it cant make it one season its not worth it.

[Kaan]

Semi discouraging 2020 kickoff... you would think with 3 extra months of the offseason, the first event would be a breeze and i would continue to excel and improve... but that's not exactly what happened.

the main goal was to be reliable, and that happened. that's my biggest takeaway and i'm happy about it. BUT i didn't get faster... Most folks were 1-3 seconds off their normal times for the weekend... and i was in that camp. I was able to get it down to 1.8 seconds behind my previous times... but still disappointing.

i couldn't get the car to turn through the carousel while on throttle... normally we lift to enter T6 and smash the gas all the way to T10 braking... that wasn't happening this weekend. I really wish we had another summit event because the data shows i picked up speed in T3 T4 and T10 (with room to grow)

changes for VIR will be... more front camber and going from a 22mm rear sway bar to an adjustable 24mm (running on full stiff). hopefully this helps me get the car to turn in... if this works out i'll likely drop rear spring rate 100lbs and try to run the bar on full stiff in the dry to see if it is comparable... that will give me the option to go soft in the rain. also... getting into my intake air temps and speed data... i'm revising my intake and going to have to hit the dyno again.

[Kaan]

The lessons you learn as a newb racer... the big thing is not to let things get into your head and to talk out whats happening with the car. if you swap a part, bring the old one with you to change it back if you dont like it...

I struggled in the heat friday/saturday/sunday... and didnt figure out my issues until the sunday race (which got cut short because of a high RPM missfire, again).

Jason was out taking tire temps... a little too much camber, but not so bad. It would just be weird tire wear. my biggest issue came with the rear bar change. i got great turn in but the car was pushing (on throttle) mid corner and out. this was killing me in T1 and the flat esses. It was bad enough i burned down the drivers side front (5 heat cycle tire) to basically nothing by saturday.

if you have seen the IG posts... i'm pretty sure this push, plus heat, plus over driving the fronts, and being too aggressive in oak tree lead to the exploded passenger side axle that decided to pop as i drove through south bend.

short list of things to do:
1. swap the rear ITR bar back in
2. dial out some of the camber all the way around
3. swap the MSD coil out for a new one, swap spark plugs, and dyno tune
4. swap the new axle in and get the back up axle out... put in the RTF trans fluid
5. build and install the cool suit (i thought i was going to die on sunday)
6. buy back up axle seals
7. bleed the brakes/clutch
8. oil change
9. clean the engine bay
10. more radiator ducting and cover the holes in the floor pan

[rherold9]

You must have a lot of love and patience for this thing. I see lots of constant issues every weekend for you. Hopefully you can get things sorted

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

The axle seemed like a fluke. Even chad had never seen a failure like i had. i carry spares for a reason...

Right before i had my axle failure, in the flat esses, i was splitting a pinballing group of Spec Miatas. they forced me to drop a rear tire off on the outside of 4B because they all went different directions in stead of holding any type of line... Holden was convinced something happened to my axle at that point.

the coil issue is likely failure due to heat. i might duct some air flow to it to keep it cooler... but with +130* track temps its going to be rough on equipment. It also might not have been an issue if i got the car tuned... though Deren swears these MSD products are 50/50 on quality.

[Kaan]

data and the lead/follow video from friday practice showed that i'm down on pow pow "big time"

AIM says i was down 3-5mph on the front straight and 5-7 mph down on the back straight... by sunday i was .7 seconds off my personal best... i'll take it, considering the power loss.

we did compression test the motor and it seems good to go... so hopefully its just a retune on the new ignition setup.

[NTIman]

On the plus side, Kaan ran every session on Friday in open practice, ran every session Saturday and ran until the axle broke that afternoon, went out for one lap Sunday in the BOTE race just to make sure the axle seal we replaced wasn't going to leak, and then ran the majority of the race Sunday.

Sure, we missed it on the setup, buy he literally drove the tires off the car, so at least there was plenty of time to try to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

The results were disappointing but at least we learned a few things. Seat time is important and despite the issues we had, overall the car is getting more reliable. It was a tough weekend because of the heat. I'm convinced that last year we wouldn't have made it through Saturday.

[Kaan]

On the plus side, Kaan ran every session on Friday in open practice, ran every session Saturday and ran until the axle broke that afternoon, went out for one lap Sunday in the BOTE race just to make sure the axle seal we replaced wasn't going to leak, and then ran the majority of the race Sunday.

Sure, we missed it on the setup, buy he literally drove the tires off the car, so at least there was plenty of time to try to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

The results were disappointing but at least we learned a few things. Seat time is important and despite the issues we had, overall the car is getting more reliable. It was a tough weekend because of the heat. I'm convinced that last year we wouldn't have made it through Saturday.

Press Secretary, Spin Doctor, King of Wrench Spinners, Race Car Pontificator, Therapist to Racers.... you wear many hats.

Im definitely trying... let me get a little faster as we develop the car some more and the results will be less disappointing.

[Kaan]

SO... data said i was down on power. It was getting worse the longer i was out there... i'd see the same/similar corner speed but low Gs coming out, etc.

1. I sent my injectors out to get cleaned at Injector Pulse (great service by the way)
2. Injector Pulse said my gas smelled bad (i honestly thought this was my issue and my only issue)... so in addition to the cleaning i replaced my fuel filter and drained the tank (what a mess)
3. I made a date with the dyno... and boy i am glad i did.

On the dyno we discovered my TPS was failing.... the more heat the more issues (we only did 3 pulls on the dyno before the TPS was swapped). First pull looked like it wasnt going wide open (169hp) and i had a bad breakup at 7k rpms... second pull it showed the injectors (RDX) were cycling out (160hp) and it broke up again... third pull it was showing all of it (151hp)... we pulled a TPS off another car and threw it on... back up in the 180hp range... tweaked some things and go back to my normal 188ish hp range. My AIM Solo said i was only able to get 121mph on the front straight... which is about 8.5mph low... and i'm going to conclude the TPS was the reason (at least i hope so).

Several things are being swapped this winter... I'm going to put on my max bore throttle body, go up to a 3 inch exhaust, and i'm going to swap my RDX injectors out for something else. Some people like them, some people hate them... but the rule is... always do what your tuner says when you are looking for more and earlier power.

[Senor_Taylor]

Damn, your car makes more power than mine. Wow.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

Damn, your car makes more power than mine. Wow.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

and the front runners in your group have passed me like i'm standing still... but i have found more speed so hopefully that doesnt happen anymore lol. 

I'd like to get into the 2:14 range so i can mix it up with the mid pack... we shall see. I thought i had it in me but the heat was getting to me and the TPS apparently.

[NTIman]

As an update to the last update, Kaan brought the car over to my house Saturday for an alignment and corner balance. Had a little too much wedge in the car (but that's including some weight we move around/added, but holy crap was the front toed in.

Somehow I must have absolutely bungled setting the toe last time or some major suspension parts moved (I'm fairly certain I just f'ed up) but that does answer a lot of questions from last event: the left front getting obliterated, wonky tire temps on the left front, and generally not handling worth a crap.

We fixed everything though, and I'm certain that the car will be faster. Kaan and I discussed the benefit of not giving up and trying to make every session. Experience is experience, and due to the lack of anything working right, he admitted he sent it in areas where he hadn't before. I hope that will help now that he's got power back and an alignment I didn't f up.

[ScottyB]

just wanted to poke my head in and say again that you guys are bosses for keeping up the fight. nice work on diagnosing the power loss, 188 wheel is very stout given your FD and gearing, that thing should move. glad to hear the tire wear was traced back as well, never hurts to double check.

[NTIman]

just wanted to poke my head in and say again that you guys are bosses for keeping up the fight.  nice work on diagnosing the power loss, 188 wheel is very stout given your FD and gearing, that thing should move.  glad to hear the tire wear was traced back as well, never hurts to double check.

Thanks! I know Kaan appreciates and deserves the props for bulldozing through everything. I'm kinda of upset I set him up for failure at VIR, but I'm glad things are sorted out. 

Kaan hasn't has luck on his side, but we make our own luck most of the time, we accept our failures, learn from it, and move on. The important part is that he is setting himself up for success in the future.

[D_Eclipse9916]

How are you aligning it? Strings, hubs or a machine? Is it on turn plates when you make the adjustments or are you rolling it back and forth?

Glad to hear you got it all sorted.

[NTIman]

How are you aligning it? Strings, hubs or a machine? Is it on turn plates when you make the adjustments or are you rolling it back and forth?

Glad to hear you got it all sorted.

Longacre toe plates. 

Still working on finances for some turn plates, those bastards are expensive. In the past, I've done alright, but this was such a big number that it was simply a measurement error. I've done strings too in the past.

[D_Eclipse9916]

How are you aligning it? Strings, hubs or a machine? Is it on turn plates when you make the adjustments or are you rolling it back and forth?

Glad to hear you got it all sorted.

Longacre toe plates. 

Still working on finances for some turn plates, those bastards are expensive. In the past, I've done alright, but this was such a big number that it was simply a measurement error. I've done strings too in the past.

Go back to strings and roll the car after each adjustment. Toe plates are just for quick checks; don’t bother doing a real alignment with them. Probably why you are seeing inconsistent numbers.

[NTIman]

How are you aligning it? Strings, hubs or a machine? Is it on turn plates when you make the adjustments or are you rolling it back and forth?

Glad to hear you got it all sorted.

Longacre toe plates. 

Still working on finances for some turn plates, those bastards are expensive. In the past, I've done alright, but this was such a big number that it was simply a measurement error. I've done strings too in the past.

Go back to strings and roll the car after each adjustment. Toe plates are just for quick checks; don’t bother doing a real alignment with them. Probably why you are seeing inconsistent numbers.

I'll do that on the next go around. I'd just throw it on the rack at work but it has an H on the front and not a T. One day I'll have a garage full of fancy outdated shit that some other shop was practically giving away. 

[Evan]

I'm considering selling my Paco Hubstands. https://pacomotorsports.com/product/diy-...ub-stands/
Let me know if you're interested.

[Kaan]

just wanted to poke my head in and say again that you guys are bosses for keeping up the fight.  nice work on diagnosing the power loss, 188 wheel is very stout given your FD and gearing, that thing should move.  glad to hear the tire wear was traced back as well, never hurts to double check.

in the conversion from COP to going back to a distributor (not really but as far as the ECU knows)... we also found a glitch (reported to hondata) that retarded the timing in 5th gear... after the TPS was fixed and doing a pull in 5th, we fixed the glitch and did a pull... another 9hp in 5th gear. this should helps solve folks walking away from me on the straights.

---

I'm considering selling my Paco Hubstands.  https://pacomotorsports.com/product/diy-...ub-stands/
Let me know if you're interested.

hit me up... i'm interested... though i have to warn you i'm race car broke since i have a laundry list of stuff to update on the car over the winter.