Hello All, I'm new to Hondas so be patient with me if I use the wrong terminology. I have a 98 Honda civic EX, 1.6 vtec d16y8 block. This car is driven at a local 1/4 mile OVAL track as an Enduro race car. For those of you who don't know what enduro racing is, youtube it or in basic terms, its a stripped out car that you race and contact is allowed. I'm trying to make it more competitive, out of about 40 cars, I'm usually top 10, barely. Now the rules state that the car must be stock and stock everything that the car came with....so on and so forth which, for lack of the better word, is loosely translated. Basically there cant be anything point blank obvious. So firstly I list the upgrades I have done.
Auto To Manual swap with a JDM S40 trans, Which included factory Slave and Master clutch cylinder, stock linkage, Stage 2 Zoom clutch set, Alum Fidanza 7 pound Flywheel, Cold Air Intake (which they complain about.) I Run an Accel Cap, NGK wires, NGK iridium plugs, and I believe what is called a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold (which leads to a cherry-bomb glass-pack, a flex pipe then out the car). Maintenance wise it has a new water pump, timing belt, head gasket set, new rear struts and coils, new axles. Also front calipers, rotors, pads, radiator (I'm sure there's more but that's all I can remember.)
Now an alignment/Camber kit would be a little obvious considering from what my research told me I'd be replacing the front upper control arms and ball joints that's easy to spot, or replacing the rear control arm which would also be easy to spot and from what my understanding is Camber front and rear is non-adjustable on my Civic. SO I've been doing some research on things that aren't so obvious, but I'm not sure how effective they are due to inexperience.
So here's what I think are possible upgrades.
Stage 1 Cam (Wouldn't be completely noticeable considering only being Stage 1), Instead of Using my stock 14 inch tires that have slightly wider then stock tires, using Honda CRV rimes (15 inch) and using alot wider of a tire. Getting a Chipped PCM/ECU (I've done some research on this and can't really get a solid difference between stage 1 PCM and stage 3 PCM or what gains I would get for what I do). I've heard some backyard tricks of heating up the rear control arms on the right side and actually bending them slightly to get camber. Other drives actually will alter the Emergency brake so they can power slide into the turns, not really a fan of that, don't see how its quicker. Obviously turbo or anything like that wouldn't be allowed because its not stock.
Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sorry if this comes off as a "I wanna do fast, how do i do it" post. It's not my intention. Some other information about the track that might help is basically once up to speed the car stays in second gear. So like a shift kit or something like that is not really needed, I do use the brakes but not too much. Thank you everyone in advance.

 

"Stage 1" doesn't mean anything. And to take advantage of any upgraded camshaft you'll need to get the ECU tuned. An obvious mod since you'll need a stepdown harness to run OBD1 (no tuning OBD2) or a piggyback. So pretty much you need to concentrate on suspension mods as there's not really much else you're going to be able to do and remain "legal".
And what is a "stage 1 PCM and stage 3 PCM"? You really are making up terminology.

 

A B16A2 is a stock option in the 99-00 Civic SI, and would certainly give you more power. You never said if it had to be stock for your car, or a stock option for your chassis - there's a big difference.

That being said, SI wheels should be lighter than CRV wheels, are still 15", and can support a wider tire. ECU's don't have "stages" - either it's stock, or it isn't. That being said, tuning isn't cheap, so you'll have to decide if winning is really worth a few hundred bucks, bare minimum. You will need a jumper harness, but that can be easily hidden behind the kick panel.

 

Very good idea.

 

Just comes down to the technicality of stock, vs. chassis-available.

 

Its Really what the track wants to say dosen't work. Ill give you an Example. Another Civic out there (prob a 95) Runs a Honda Accord Radiator (twice the size). Now, It looks stock, and they don't say anything, Even know its twice the size of the stock radiator. So As for "stock" I would say more Chassis-available then stock for that year.