I bought this car: http://www.freewebs.com/b18c5civic/

I should have it on the 3rd, and my first track day on on the 6th.

so that means I have a day or two to prep the car. Any suggestions on what to prep? how about alignment? It's already corner-weighted so I'll likely just be changing camber and toe.

any driving tips for being quick in an EG? I've been to the track plenty, but always in an AWD car. I do plan on having an instructor along my first several sessions.

 

Bleed the brakes, check the fluids, check the alignment, set the tire pressures.

the organization should provide you with a tech check list.
Go over your car with this checklist.

Make sure the belts and seats are securely mounted.

listen to and obey your instructor.

 

ok thanks.

any suggestions for motor oil, tranny fluid, etc?

how about shock settings? softer front, stiffer rear?

Am really looking forward to learning how to drive this car...

 

I wouldn't worry so much about shock settings right now. Chances are, the car is already set up pretty good right now. I would just make sure the fluids are clean and topped off, and go drive it and adjust things after you drive it, if needed. And also what Crazydave said...

 

ok.

what kind of oil pressures and temps should I be looking for? Fuel pressure? Coolant temps?

sorry I'm seriously brand new to Honda...

what kind of lubricants do you guys suggest?

I'll be using Motul RBF600 brake fluid

 

When I tracked my civic with gsr, my oil pressure was about 70psi @ full throttle. Oil temp I'm not sure. My fuel pressure was between 35-45psi if I remember correctly, on the gas. My coolant temp never got over half, but I have a fluidyne in my car. Now this is for MY car. Most cars will vary to some degree. I run Castrol 10w-30 in the motor, Redline MTL in the trans, and ATE Superblue for the brakes. Hope this helps...

 

I use the same fluids as Tarmac Junkie, and similar oil pressure. Oil temp will vary (does that car have an external oil cooler?) based on track and weather. I've had it as low as 230* and higher than 300* (Fahrenheit for both). Coolant temp should be rock solid at just a tick under the 1/2 mark. Motul will be fine for your brake fluid.

For camber, toe, shock settings, etc. as stated forget about it. I'd start a logbook with those things specified. That stuff will change based on weather and which track you're at, and is mostly personal preference anyway. What tires will you be using, and what tires did you use with your previous cars on track?

Other than that, nut and bolt the car (meaning, check nut/bolt tightness EVERYWHERE, especially throughout the suspension). It really sucks having **** come loose on you while you're out there. Do it yourself for peace of mind, since you don't know 100% for sure when the previous owner last did it.

 

^ thanks for the input.

I have 2 sets of wheels tires for it, one set on old school Azenis and one set of victoracers. I'll probably drive the first few sessions with the Azenis and then switch to the victo's, unless it's raining.

my last car I tracked on Advan A046, Azenis RT 615 (new school azenis) and Nitto Nt01's

 

Just a heads up, I bet the car will feel like garbage on the Azenis. They HAVE to be at least 2-3 years old, and are probably equivalent to round bricks.

 

the victos are that old too, so I'm guessing they'll be hard too (not that they're really super even new...).

oh well. I am out of budget for now and wont be buying tires right away. Fluids and safety inspection is all I'll be spending $ on for now.

 

They'll serve to get you started. Just don't be disappointed quite yet

 

Those Azenis belong in a museum. Too bad you couldn't budget a little bit of money to get some half decent tires.

I like the ATE fluid. With only a slightly lower boiling point, it's almost 1/3 the price of the Motul.

Are you doing the April 26-27 Motorsports Club event, too? I'm skipping April 6th because it's just a 1 day event, but I'll be out there for the next one. See you around!

 

I like the idea of the superblue. I dont' think we touch our brakes much anyways, do we? Now, in my 3300 lb pig I was on them pretty hard.

yeah, shucks for the tires. I wanted to spend 8k on a car, and I've already spent 10.5... the hemorrhaging has to stop somewhere.

I'll look around at lunch to see if there are some used race tires I can pick up dirt cheap maybe...

 

oh, and regarding the other 26th - 27th, I may try to make the 27th. Not sure what my calendar looks like yet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ThoseDarnKids &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Those Azenis belong in a museum. Too bad you couldn't budget a little bit of money to get some half decent tires.

I like the ATE fluid. With only a slightly lower boiling point, it's almost 1/3 the price of the Motul.

Are you doing the April 26-27 Motorsports Club event, too? I'm skipping April 6th because it's just a 1 day event, but I'll be out there for the next one. See you around!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just did a track day on some Azenis that old, they weren't that bad, though I swapped them out for the next track day.

I agree with the ATE, I ended up changing to ATE from Motul due to the cost and because I was told that it was less hygroscopic(doesn't absorb water as fast), and since I was using it on a daily driver, it would be better overall for my track use.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by texrex2002 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I'll look around at lunch to see if there are some used race tires I can pick up dirt cheap maybe...</TD></TR></TABLE>

NASA is having a 4 hour enduro, at TWS, on April 19-20. I don't know which day it is, but I'm thinking about making a trip up there, just to hang out.... and to snag all the old RA-1s that I can! I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend, there will be a nice pile of old Miata tires. But, I'm not expecting a jackpot. They normally run their RA-1s down to the cords.