I drive a 1988 CRX Si at a local 3/8 mile dirt track and am wondering what else I can do to this car to make it just a bit fast. Out of a field of over 30 cars, I would say it is 3rd or 4th quickest depending on track conditions.

It has everything stripped out of it, no glass, just the dash and a racing seat and roll cage. We are using 102 Octance racing fuel, have the exhuast and Catylitic Converter take off. The Intake has been hacked a bit and thats really about it. Timing and ECU are both stock.

We are running 195/60R14's up front and 195/65R13's on the back. All tires are tubed.

The problem is I need to be just a bit quicker to pass a couple of guys, I can keep up but cant pass them.

Any Simple Suggestions?

Here is a pick of it

http://www.imagestation.com/pi...g.jpg

 

swap... maybe some boost. hah

 

You're wasting a lot of your money on race fuel while you have factory-spec timing and a stock ECU. A CRX Si will run fine without detonation on 87 octane pump fuel.

One thing that would help us to help you is to familiarize us with the rules of your racing class. I have a feeling that all but a very few of us here know anything about dirt track cars. What sort of modifications are you allowed to do?

 

i'd say some better front tires, like rally tires.

 

not sure if they allow body mods or half the things I'm going to post

1) maybe lighten it up with fiberglass doors. For example on my car they sell direct replacements for the outside sheetmetal part of the door.

2) Fuel cell insted of fuel tank, get rid of the bulk if you don't need it.

3) Bore out the throttle body.

4) Switch intake manifold, not sure if your running mpfi, if you are get a sheetmetal one made. I've seen them made 100% lighter and much much better flowing since the runners and everything is bigger

5)Fuel pressure regulator $80 on ebay or less

6)any exhaust header, or real intake should add a few hp. your discription doesn't mention a real header(or I can't read, very possible!). Get yourself a good filter since you're driving in dirt, help prolong the life of the engine.

 

Dude that rocks ...I wonder if we have any dirt tracks around here



I assume you don't want to spend a lot of money on it so I would

Bump your timing up to 21 and get a hold of a 89 integra ecu.

Are you running a header or just the stock manifold? See if you can get ahold of header.

Any kind of intake tube with a filter will help you if you are still using the stock airbox. If you still wanna use the box then try change up the elbow to a 90-91 integra elbow as it is bigger.

 

dont know about the rules
but a header, a cam
and the fuel cell mod and such will give u the best gains

 

I was thinking about doing the same thing at our dirt track here. I was gonna get a crx shell and put a B16 or the ls/vtec to run in it. LoL Front wheel drive class rocks on dirt tracks hahaha

 

is your rear suspension bent to hell or is it just me?

 

Thanks for all the help fellas

Heres a list of the rules
4 Cylinder Compact Rules

1.) Any non Turbo 4 cylinder car front wheel drive only. No rotary engines and no trucks
2.) 2 or 4 door cars allowed. Doors must be welded or chained shut.
3.) You must remove all flammable material except the front seat and dashboard
4.) Aluminum racing seat is required as well as a 4 point harness.
5.) Car must be completely stock.
6.) You must remove all glass, molding, plastics, and chrome trim. Front windshield may be left in if desired.
7.) Must have roll bar welded to plates and bolted to floor and roof. (4 pt. roll cage).
8.) Hood latch must be removed and replaced with hood pins.
9.) Cars must be painted and lettered neatly, number must be 18" minimum and must be on both doors.
10.) Approved racing helmet is required.
11.) A fire retardant suit is required.
12.) Tires must be stock DOT. 50 or 60 series (wider) No snow tires. Tires must have a 7" max.

Rule number 5 only applies to the motor internally. They will let us run aftermarket intake, header and any other bolt on.

They arent really strict at all and very rarely even check the cars. Hell one car got away with a turbo for a few weeks till someone turned him in.

Heres how the racing is organized

First we have hot laps, around 3 or 4 laps to get used to the track condition because it is different every week

Then we draw a number and get placed in 3 different heats. You have to make it in the top 5 to make it to the feature. Usually my car is in the top 2 in the heat races. There is 6 laps in a heat race

If you dont make it in the top 5 in the heat race, you are thrown in the consy race, where all the remaining cars that didnt make it in the 3 heat races are put together. The top 2 cars make it to the feature race.

The feature race is where all the fun happens, no one holds back and your car ends up looking like it was in a derby at the end of the race. 12 Laps in the feature

When the race starts the line you up in two rows side by side bumper to bumper and it goes from there. After a caution you start up single file.
If you false start you get thrown the back of the pack, if you cause a caution you get thrown to the back. If you get spun out, you will retain your position.

All in all it really fun stuff.

The cars that usually beat me is a 90 Eagle Talon with the 2.0 DOHC motor, he had built it a bit, has won 5 races so far this year

A 90 Integra that is stock except for a rev limiter raised to 7500

An older Ford Escort that is obviously built

My car has 201,000 miles on it with original motor, but it runs like a raped ape. I would like to somehow change up the rev limiter up just a bit because I keep hitting it about 5 feet before the turn. I dont know if I should put bigger walled tires on, but I think that will just slow me down. Just need a couple tricks that would help it a bit. Im gonna buy and intake and header, and probably bore out the throttle body a bit.

Any other suggestions? And thanks again for the help

 

wow sounds like fun.. next time you go out.. have someone film it..id really love to see your crx run ... if its ok to spray.. then spray.. thats bolt on right?..

 

I actually have every race taped

I am going to go get a usb post for my camera today to download them to my computer.

 

tires....they just have to be 50 or 60 series right? why not toss some dirt tires on them.

can you change your differential? lsd?

motor mount bushings, some hawk hp brake pads & update the rotors for the turns.

is your bumper bar still on? i can't tell by the picture. if so, remove it.

how much do you weigh? lose some weight. hahaha

in the july edition of sport compact, there is an ef rally car in there. that's where i got some of this info. i'll scan it and email it to you if you'd like.

 

sounds like a kick *** time.

i would try to lighten the car more... if you haven't removed the tar on the floor thats a few pounds. swap to 88 hf bumper beams if you need them. few more pounds. also try a lighter tire...take the scale out. why do you run a 60 in the front? i would try a 55 or 50... then again i don't run on the dirt...can you tell me why you run a 60?

if you can get a better header, intake, intake manifold, and bore the throttle body it may bump you up a bit. the Js racing i hear is making the most power to date, but i haven't used one.

what motor are you running? think about doing a mini-me swap? are you running mpfi? vafc?

if i could i would try to get a mini-me going... if not try the above.

EDIT* lighten the flywheel, clutch, pulleys might help too. the unorthodox race pully is nice and not too expensive. check it out.

 

1. better tires
2. mpfi
3. higher compression
4. larger displacement
5. larger throttle body
6. ecu + hondata
7. remove front bumper and rear bumper
8. remove glass from headlight assembly
9. remove all windows
10. remove skeleton from underneath the hood and use four hood latches
11. wider wheels

upgrading the tires would probably help you out the most. shoe horn wider tires on there. but I don't know anything about dirt track racing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mamaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. better tires
2. mpfi
3. higher compression
4. larger displacement
5. larger throttle body
6. ecu + hondata
7. remove front bumper and rear bumper
8. remove glass from headlight assembly
9. remove skeleton from underneath the hood and use four hood latches
10. wider wheels

upgrading the tires would probably help you out the most. shoe horn wider tires on there.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mamaboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. better tires
2. mpfi
3. higher compression
4. larger displacement
5. larger throttle body
6. ecu + hondata
7. remove front bumper and rear bumper
8. remove glass from headlight assembly
9. remove all windows
10. remove skeleton from underneath the hood and use four hood latches
11. wider wheels

upgrading the tires would probably help you out the most. shoe horn wider tires on there. but I don't know anything about dirt track racing. </TD></TR></TABLE>


Can you guys not see the picture above? The whole car is stripped...there is no glass or headlights

If you want the higher rev limit get a 5 spd ecu from a 88-89 integra.

 

you can pick up a 90-91 ecu and have it chipped for fairly cheap. ill give a plug to hyperducktuning.com
also you can go with a 89-91 cam as it is indexed differently to give a bit more top end (108 hp vs. 105 for 88's). I have a 90 si cam you can have for free if you're willing to ship back the 88 piece which im looking for, for my D15.
or you could go the way of a regrind cam which is also relatively cheap.

umm look for a good deal on a used header.. good gains and weight savings. ditch the exhaust for whatever is allowed under rules. advance timing a few degrees.

higher comp pistons ie first gen integra or you could have the head milled to up the compression.
some form of aftermarket intake... newer intake manifold. D16Z6 or D16Y8 mani will give a bit better top end and allow you to run a larger b series tb.

run smaller tires to up your final drive ratio.

thats all i can think of off the top of my head.

 

whats up with the back camber? lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by peKer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats up with the back camber? lol </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well that happened after the first race, the car was so rusty the A Arms ripped from the channel on both sides. The left side ripped off at first, then we took a motorcycle strap and pulled it back up using the other side. Went out and ripped off the other side, then when it bottomed out it ripped the gas tank completely off the car.

Here is a lot of pics of the car, there are some of the wrecked rear end, and some of what it looks fixed.

http://www.imagestation.com/al...age=Y

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ninetone &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can pick up a 90-91 ecu and have it chipped for fairly cheap. ill give a plug to hyperducktuning.com
also you can go with a 89-91 cam as it is indexed differently to give a bit more top end (108 hp vs. 105 for 88's). I have a 90 si cam you can have for free if you're willing to ship back the 88 piece which im looking for, for my D15.
or you could go the way of a regrind cam which is also relatively cheap.

umm look for a good deal on a used header.. good gains and weight savings. ditch the exhaust for whatever is allowed under rules. advance timing a few degrees.

higher comp pistons ie first gen integra or you could have the head milled to up the compression.
some form of aftermarket intake... newer intake manifold. D16Z6 or D16Y8 mani will give a bit better top end and allow you to run a larger b series tb.

run smaller tires to up your final drive ratio.

thats all i can think of off the top of my head.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I may take you up on that offer with the cam.

I cant really run smaller tires because I dont want to shift to 3rd gear and I figure they will spin like mad in the dirt.

Will a 88-89 Integra ECU really work?

Thanks for all the help fellas, I appreciate it. I hope I can get a win out of this thing sooner or later.

 

Since you can't modify internals, and Nitrous is flammable, I'd say the best route to a serious power increase would be a homemade turbo. If the Tranny can be modified add LSD and the widest possible front tires. I've also heard of people using those midget spare tires for rear tires....don't know if that'd help at all, but it'd be interesting to see. Get us some video soon, I"m sure we'd all love to see that!

 

Also, as for tires...there used to be a company that would sell tires that were without a tread pattern on them. All these tires had was an extra thick piece of radial tire on the bottom. You could try to find a pair of those and cut your own grooves.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by scorched0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I'd say the best route to a serious power increase would be a homemade turbo. </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by N_Tegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Heres a list of the rules
4 Cylinder Compact Rules

1.) Any non Turbo 4 cylinder car front wheel drive only. No rotary engines and no trucks
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Oh shoot....that makes it tough... can you get away with a mild cam? How sharp are the inspectors? Keep in mind that when you win, you will come under more intense scrutiny for it as well. Heh...it doesn't say anywhere that you can't supercharge it...lol just kidding! A head swap to Mpfi Vtec would be a great power increase, but I don't know if it'd pass tech inspection. Good luck man!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by scorched0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
How sharp are the inspectors? </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by N_Tegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
They arent really strict at all and very rarely even check the cars. Hell one car got away with a turbo for a few weeks till someone turned him in.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just gotta take a sec to read what he posted eh