my daughter has a 2000 civic dirt track car. the class she is running the cars are supposed to remain stock. trying to figure out things i can do to help with performance:
1) need to have more throttle on take off.
2) what do i need to be running timing on?
3) when car gets hot, it idles too low(500 rpm or lower) and wants to die.

she is running the car in 2nd gear all the time.

thanks in advance for any help you can give me with this.

 

The cars are "supposed" to be stock... this is code for "the front runners are cheating and haven't gotten caught yet". The low idle is likely an IACV problem. If the car is lightened up and the accessories have been removed... and you are running premium unleaded fuel... you can increase the ignition distributor timing 3 or 4 degrees. I am not sure what you mean when you say "need to have more throttle on take off" since you are not drag racing... so maybe you can clarify that and then I can offer a suggestion.

Since your daughter has a 2000 Civic, I suggest you drop in a DOHC "B" series engine swap (I am assuming the car has a manual transmission here) and stick a couple "Si" badges on the front and rear. The race tech will likely not be savvy enough to be able to prove that a DOHC engine is "illegal", even if you use a 1.8L GSR engine.

 

WHAT I MEAN BY MORE THROTTLE ON TAKE OFF, THE CAR NEEDS A LITTLE BIT MORE POWER WHEN THEY START THE RACE AND ON RESTARTS. THE STARTS AND RESTARTS ARE A ROLLING START(ABOUT A 1000-1200 RPM). THIS CAR IS AN AUTOMATIC.

 

Automatic is your problem, nothing you can do about that. No such thing as a shift kit for a d-series Honda transmission.

 

I would go with an older chassis 92-95 si SOHC Vtec, manual transmission, maintained, remove unnecessary accessories, upgrade or renew suspension bushings.