I'm thinking of full race prepping my turbo civic, then scca solo 2; how effective would this be, or is their just to much tire spin? Its a t25, everythings port/polished, and it spools fast, so my worry is will it be to much? I think its in street mod, thats the same class as my friends whos car has like 100hp (vw gti). and hes like the only one around here in that class.

 

Autocrossin is more about driver than car. Once you become a good driver then the car becomes a key factor. If you have never autocrossed before it wont really matter. Also big power numbers are nothing if you can get the power to the ground. Turn the boost down and focus on driving. I was gunna boost my civic but I would be kicked into SM and there are some good *** drivers in CKY SM. Good luck either way!

 

thanks man, i have the boost set at 9ish. I figure with as much practice as I've had i wont do to bad. Theirs not a lot of cars in this class around here

 

show up to an event and ask lots of questions, then get some experience, then get some suspension and tires, then get some more experience. Evo schools are good too.

 

thats what i've been doin, and that seems to be the best way to learn. I also ride in peoples cars, gets ya used to the hard turns.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by elecT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats what i've been doin, and that seems to be the best way to learn. I also ride in peoples cars, gets ya used to the hard turns.</TD></TR></TABLE>

have the fast guys drive your car in fun runs too.

 

around here they have vettes and camaros, they want very little to do with an import, let alone front wheel drive. but ya, good idea

 

.....wow, I'm glad this topic popped up.

Here's my experience in a few sentences:

I have two cars that I'm building up at the same time (a difficult task to say the least). The intent with both cars is to keep them at the very least borderline streetable, 12 second cars on street tires, and be able to dominate SM..... there is also some intent to track these cars in lapping days, but not competitively.

#1 - 1991 civic si hatch. itr swap with h/e and cams (190+whp), itr tranny, itr wheels and brakes, itr abs, and lacking suspension upgrades. I haven't had a chance to get it on the autox course yet due to lack of cat or exhaust.

#2 - 2001 itr. i/h/e, some mild tuning, and 4.9 final drive + vafc. apex n1 coilovers, 4-pot calipers up front, and a t3/t4 that is yet to be on the car. SM currently, because I had another itr and it was in SM, so I kept running in this class to compare times with the guys I had before. I'm about mid pack with this setup so far. I may be swapping trannies between my two cars once I get my turbo sorted out - but I have another crazy tranny I'm thinking of putting in the hatch specifically for speed.

I think that a turbo FF can be very competitive in SM. Just how much so depends on how good the brakes, suspension, and motor work together to the benefit of the driver. I am finding out very quickly that 205's are not up to par imho...
Also, I noticed when I built my itr up allmotor that it went from dead last in SM to mid pack with no other upgrades (full interior, stock wheels, tires, suspension).

Just what the other guys have said - try it and see. I built my cars to do what I wanted 1st, then tried to class them at autox 2nd. SM is where they both fall. Although I think my hatch will be DM b/c of the braking system.....

I don't know the details of your setup - is it a swap + turbo or turbo on the d15?

Either way, keep us updated on how you fare!

 

My STS hybrid car that i built this year (that i didn't get to take to nationals because of a wiring issue) will become an SM car next year. It's an 88 base model in perfect shape. I've done the D16A6 Si motor swap and was planning on building that motor and doing some forced induction (still deciding what type of forced induction).... but I'm thinking that a usable and reliable 200+ whp from 2500 rpm and up will be easy. In STS trim, the car weighs only 2005 lbs. In SM form, I'm guessing it'll be 1950 lbs or so.

So, mine will be a 1989 D16A6 with a flowed head, build bottom end, maybe a good small turbo and decent intercooler, electomotive, Hoosiers, lsd, and the Advanced Design suspension I have already will make it a decent contender in SM... probably will be a very good even to win at nationals even. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Chris Shenefield
RedShift Motorsports
http://www.redshiftmotorsports.com

 

That's a good turbo for the 1.6s Hondas and I’ve noticed they’re quite popular for these cars. Up to just recently I was running that turbo and it's great for autox. At least on the 4g63 it spools up very fast even from 2-2.5K and has zero lag above 3K. The only problem is that above 14-15 psi, the T25 just starts blowing hot air due to its size and can’t make any more power. Around 9psi like you plan on running would be just right. Just at last sunday's autox I saw two turbo civic hatchs. They looked (and sounded) good on course, but I don’t remember their times. It should make a nice project and SM will be your class with the scca to autox. Good luck.

 

You're certainly starting with the right turbo IMO. I think a nearly perfect engine setup for a lightweight FWD autocross car would make about 200 whp, and around 200 ft/lbs of torque. That's almost exactly what a T25 will deliver on a d16y8 at 9 psi (small adjustments for a6's, z6's etc.), as well as undercutting any B series motor by at least 75 lbs. At 7 psi, my stock d16y8 is making 180 whp, 170 ft/lbs of torque, and hitting full boost by 2800 rpm's. Mild porting and 2 more psi will easily find the additional power, especially with this screwy "ULEV" Y8 head.

I took my very poorly prepped SM civic (a fat 98 hatch) to Nat's last year and realized that the car was so down on power for larger "nat's style" courses that I addressed the issue as soon as I got home. 2 months later I had pieced together my own "kit" (for less than $1k), with a T25 from a 97 Eclipse GSX as the turbo of choice. For kicks, I took the car to the strip and ran a 14.1 at 101, with a 2.3 60 ft (i'm a crappy drag racer). Another pleasant surprise was that all those hp gains cost me 12 lbs after subracting the weight of my fairly heavy 4-2-1 header.

The only way I could see improving on a T25/d16 setup would be to go with one of those awesome GT25's or maybe a GT28 if you really feel that you can make good use of an another 50 whp. (i wouldn't mind trying! )

 

&gt;&gt;I think my hatch will be DM b/c of the braking system.....&lt;&lt;

Geez! What did you do to them? Brakes are pretty open in SM...

 

.....added itr abs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fsp31 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I took my very poorly prepped SM civic (a fat 98 hatch) to Nat's last year and realized that the car was so down on power for larger "nat's style" courses that I addressed the issue as soon as I got home. </TD></TR></TABLE>


turbo smurbo... down on power? my car only made 180hp, 128lbs when it was running perfect, and she is smoking away right now, but i still did decent in SM this year. basically, in the dry, i beat the next fwd car by over a second. this in a 2230 lb 94 hatch + 215lb me. once i get a new third gear and do a mild motor rebuild (stock integra motor with cams right now) SM watch out!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodney &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">turbo smurbo... down on power? my car only made 180hp, 128lbs when it was running perfect, and she is smoking away right now, but i still did decent in SM this year. basically, in the dry, i beat the next fwd car by over a second. this in a 2230 lb 94 hatch + 215lb me. once i get a new third gear and do a mild motor rebuild (stock integra motor with cams right now) SM watch out! </TD></TR></TABLE>
180hp my ***!! you got the kugler "let em know something, but not everything" disease. btw, can you do _anything_ "mildly".

i noticed your car smoking at nats but thought it best to keep my mouth shut. i also didn't say anything when you had the 2nd fastest time on the south course after 2nd runs. and wouldn't your final scratch time been 3rd fastest? you+more hp+more tire-weight=a jacket fer sure!

nate

 

Has anybody thought of the SOHC greddy kit? That kit I hear spools in a flash and has modest/good power gains. (Not so much to where youll be spinning through out your run) I would think an LSD would be mandatory if boosting an FF for autox too. I've been researching about a SOHC SM boosted 91 civic setup for sometime now but I always get mixed feelings from everyone I tell. oh well...i guess time will only tell until one wins SM at nat's..

 

&gt;&gt;turbo smurbo... down on power? my car only made 180hp, 128lbs when it was running perfect&lt;&lt;

Yeah, well you don't know how much I started with. Try 108 whp, and 90 ft/lbs of torque. My race budget is a frayed shoestring, and I knew a b series swap wasn't worth the cost of my left kidney. After doing the turbo D, I wouldn't go back even if I did have the funds because I've got all the power I can use, right where I need it, and with a lighter package than a b series motor could ever be. All I'm missing now is a piece of wood... (probably be missing that for a loonnng time)

Of course, road race compound tires didn't help much either. Like I said, "very poorly prepped"... but hey, I wanted the "Nat's experience" and boy did I get it! (around here we call it a "country *** whip'n")