hey all, I'm at the guttin' stage of preping my car to run in H4 next season. this is my first go at building a race car and I'm totally second guessing my ability to forsee potential problems, so I'm gonna' throw myself at the mercy of H-T's better judgement

question really is what stays and what goes. from what I've read I can remove just about anything if it hinders the addition of a cage. of course I want to gut the whole thing, but I'm curious if there are any creature comforts that you guys regret removing?

for example, rear glass defogger? seams like hypothetically there could be a situatoin where this would come in handy, and it wouldn't cost any weight to keep the thing around...

obviously AC needs to go, heater core, how about ABS and PS? seems like some do and some don't I've also noticed that some people remove their hand brake, any particular reason I should/shouldn't?

 

You're going to want to take a really close look at the rules and decide if you want to build a "real" H4 car, or an IT-legal H4 car. There are important details about what can - or can't - be legally removed.

In terms of what you WANT to remove, that's a different thing and is kind of up to personal preference. For example, I choose not to gut the doors because I want to be able to roll up the window to secure the car. I also just notch the door panels rather than replacing them, on the theory that more "stuff" between me and the intruding bumper is a good thing.

I also make damned sure that my defogger/heater work correctly because eventually, that's going to be what allows me to beat a lot of people who are otherwise faster than I am, when the weather gets crappy.

K

 

I'd keep ABS and PS.

 

I'd keep ABS, PS and the heater core/blowers and defrosters.

If you ever do enduros, or race in the rain, you're going to want your heater core, blowers, etc.

 

Get rid of the horn, thats what the bumper is for.

Ask Scot... he got bump drafted by Corey 7 times in one race.

 

Just curious if I can look at rules for setups online, or if you have to buy the proper book for your car/class. I've been looking around and haven't seen any specific rules for the classes.
I'm really only looking out of curiosity right now, not able to build a racecar for awhile

 

yes you can they're available for download on http://www.hondachallenge.com/

 

leaving the rear glass defogger would've been nice..

I did keep my heater core though, to keep my toes nice and toasty and to help keep the windshield clear in inclement weather.. otherwise, most everything was pulled..

 

The most important question is this:

Is this your first season? If so don't remove anything. You're pretty much going to suck anyway, saving even 200lbs isn't going to change that.

Don't remove the handbrake, there is a lot of logistical reasons to have it (parking, staging, trailering), up to and including hydraulic brake failure.

You need a defroster (Windshield). If you aren't putting lexan on the rear windows (don't think you can do in H4/ITA anyway, but am all that familiar with those rules), keep the rear defroster.

For road racing, I think ABS would be a pretty big advantage, even considering the extra weight. If the car came with PS going to want to keep the PS pump, etc.

Kirk has a killer point. Say you remove the heater save 33.57 lbs. And perhaps you pick up .123 seconds per lap. Then it rains and you can't see and you give up 15 seconds per lap due to lack of visibility. Any advantage you got by having a lighter car you give up in spades when you need that function.

In rally I actually have retained the A/C system because when it is wet/rainy (most of the time) we have the best visibility, which far outweighs the weight and HP loss disadvantage. Plus when it is ultra hot (the rest of the time) we're not fighting heat exhaustion and dehydration like a lot of the other competitors (we spend about about 16+ hours per weekend in the car at an average rally) and so are in better physical/mental states and are able to be more effective drivers. I try not to run the A/C while we're actually racing, but even if we do the clutch engages when at WOT (hopefully most of the time) so HP loss is minimal.

I suspect 'cost' vs. performance analysis for sprint racing will favor removal of the A/C... for endurance, I'm not sure.

 

Remove the cupholders.

H4 doesn't allow lexan windows.

 

I do not have ABS, PS, or AC... dont need them on a race car, on an H4 car you wont get tired without PS, IMO and without ABS you'll just have to learn how to brake

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb6h22a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd keep ABS, PS and the heater core/blowers and defrosters.

If you ever do enduros, or race in the rain, you're going to want your heater core, blowers, etc. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. Heaters also make a nice second radiator when those coolant temps start to get a little too high. Even though I usally don't need to, I turn the temperature control to heat and point the vents away from me at the start of the day; if the coolant still manages to get too hot, I'll turn the heater fan on too. Being that the windows are down, I hardly even notice it.

I feel that ABS is an advantage when used properly... Threshold braking on a non-ABS car is limited to the first wheel that locks up, but ABS will control each brake individually and do a decent job of dynamically balancing the brake bias. It has worked really well for me on my 3rd gen Integra.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Weston &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I agree. Heaters also make a nice second radiator when those coolant temps start to get a little too high. Even though I usally don't need to, I turn the temperature control to heat and point the vents away from me at the start of the day; if the coolant still manages to get too hot, I'll turn the heater fan on too. Being that the windows are down, I hardly even notice it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I do the same thing just to be nice to the motor. Heat is bad.