going F-A-S-T in a FWD at Summit Point!

[fasthonda]

hey guys and girls!  i was at Summit with NASA this weekend running in the time trials, and brought the old Honda Civic out of retirement (it's been years since its been on a racetrack);  prepped it and signed up for TTS class.  after some fiddling around, and some serious issues, i managed to run a best time of 1:19.8 in the last session on saturday!   i had forgotten what its like to drive the Civic; so much different from my 'dump truck' Probenstien!

that put me 2nd in TTS, behind a Z06, and in front of another Z06, an E46 M3, and a FD RX7.  all very bad-ass full racing machines to be sure!

i had some issues and wasn't able to do more than first session and a lap on sunday (cracked all SIX front brake rotors i'd brought with me and had a oil seal failure on top of that, so i put it back on the trailer early on sunday). 

there was a lot more time still out there for me;  i was re-learning the car, and really wasn't 'trusting' it like i need to.  i was having a major problem on the front straight due to running out of gear;  was hitting the revlimiter in 6th gear just past the start-finish line and riding it out til the brake zone of T1 (was wasting at least 1/2 to 3/4 sec doing that).   i've determined also that the car needs SERIOUS aero assistance due to the very high speeds it is capable of running at now;  i think i could shave an additional 2 seconds if it had a front splitter/airdam and a rear wing.

the track conditions were really good;  air temp was in the 50s most of the time (40s in the morning, but the track was soooooo cold that it wouldnt grip well early in the morning).  i had a really fun time getting back in the swing with the Civic!   i'm thinking about campaigning it next year, as i've found a possible sponsor for it who is willing to help fix up its shortcomings (final drive and aero mostly).  hopefully you guys will get a chance to see it at a few RTR events next year as we are setting it up and tuning it!  

Todd

ReidSpeed

PS  this lil Civic is gonna be NASTY fast at the Glen;  omg is it gonna eat up the Glen!

[APXD 30]

Way to go for FWD Todd!   Keep us posted.  

Also, I remember reading about the pilot you did for the racing reality show.    Any word on when it will air?

[Darren]

Todd -- I am amazed you can go this fast without aero.  All of the cars going this fast in TTS have big tires and big wings and you have neither.

[fasthonda]

Darren wrote:

Todd -- I am amazed you can go this fast without aero. All of the cars going this fast in TTS have big tires and big wings and you have neither.

hey darren!

well, i'll never have big tires on the Civic; 225 is the absolute widest i can fit on it; barely fits that size, and that's after pounding the wheelwells out with a big sledge... over the winter i'd like to put a wing on the back, and a splitter/airdam/undertray on the front. i think that would help out immensely, along with changing to a 4.40 final drive (to raise my top speed about 20 mph or so before it hits the revlimiter in 6th gear).

here is a vid clip from saturday: http://www.vimeo.com/16675485

thats early on sat morning; i was no where near the best time of 1:19.8 that i got in the last session on sat afternoon; but this is the only footage i got all day long; the camera did only a few minutes worth of footage and then conked out. you'll see me take off initially, and then lay back a little bit so i can have some clear track. i'm braking early in this for sure (not trusting the brakes at all, after having already cracked two rotors; only 4 left to crack! lol). also you can hear and see me hit the rev limiter after the start finish-line; later in the day i was getting thru T10 better and hitting the limiter sooner, and getting back into it and hitting it a second time before braking for T1.

enjoy!

[fasthonda]

APXD 30 wrote:

Way to go for FWD Todd! Keep us posted.

Also, I remember reading about the pilot you did for the racing reality show. Any word on when it will air?

hi! there are still 4 more races to film; we are on hiatus right now and i will let you guys all know exactly when the first shows will air, i promise!!!!

thanks!