DarryCar

I bought myself a helmet for Christmas and took the Civic to the track. In all she did pretty well with the only real trouble being operator error. I am very, VERY pleased with how well the Civic performed and how well it stayed together. I planned on putting the Civic to the ultimate test at the track and in the end breaking something. My belief was that and axle would snap or the rear diff would grenade. I really wasn't sure what was going to happen and to only have one little plastic piece at the end of the shift stick break was pretty impressive. Unfortunately it was enough to take me out of the races with only four runs in, but I did learn a lot about this new setup.

The night that I took the Civic to the track there was an event going on, so there was a ton of action which me with way too much time in between runs. I entered the "test n tune" class and was only able to get a run in every 45-60 minutes. That gave me plenty of time to make adjustments, and way too much time to get used to the feel of the Civic. I lost the time slip to my first run, so here are the last three:



I am 183 if you have not figured that out. My first run was terrible as I had forgot to lock the rear diff. As soon as I took off from the line I was spinning the wheels like crazy. I thought that was spinning all four wheels and it was because I had driven though the burnout box and gotten the tires wet. It wasn't till I got back in line that I figured out that I hadn't pushed the button to lock the diff. I have to have the rear diff off in order to make the turns from the waiting line to the starting line, so I just had to remember to push the damn button. I think I ran something like a 14.8 on that one.

The second run felt good as far as my diving was concerned. This is the second time slip that you see. Got off the line great (5000 RPM launch) and shifted though all 5 gears without any problems. What I didn't like is that the Civic felt flat. Like it was missing that extra pull that I know it has. It felt like I was waiting to get to 8400 RPM so that I could shift into another gear. Like I said, I was happy with my driving, but I did not like the times that I got. I plugged in the lap top and found that I did not load the proper tune correctly. So I was running the T85 fuel on the E54 tune. I have no idea what power it was putting to the ground, but I know I was only boosting 24-25psi. So I made the necessary adjustments and went back out.

My third run is the first time slip you see. Again, got off of the line pretty well and my shifting was good. The problem this time was that I kept hitting my boost cut, which is set at 30 psi, and this killed the Civic. I hit it in 3rd gear and 4th gear before I finally got the hint and stayed off of it. Again, made the necessary adjustments by turning down the fixed duty cycle from 55% to 52% and went back out.

My forth and ultimately final run felt great and like I was getting somewhere, this is the third time slip you see. Got off the line in a hurry (smoked the Eclipse GSX) and never activated the boost cut. Only problem was my shifting. Since I have converted to the CR-V cable shifting assembly I have had trouble with my 3-4 shifting. When I am shifting hard I tend to shove the shifter into 2nd from 3rd rather than into 4th. As you can imagine, this causes quite a problem. I am not sure if it is because of the height of the shifter now, or I am just a spaz when shifting. Well this is exactly what I did on this run. I shoved it into 2nd gear from third, which slowed my momentum. From there I quickly shifted into 4th and got back on it. I thought by then I had enough gear to ride out 4th into the traps, but I was wrong. I hit my rev limiter at 8400 before the traps and had to get into 5th. I think I must have been pissed by then, because I shifted into 5th so hard that I broke the cable. So with shifting into the wrong gear, hitting the rev limiter, and breaking a shift cable I still managed a 12.15 @ 112 MPH.



So my shifter went limp at the end of the last run, and I thought that I had broken a cable. I couldn't get into any gear, and the trans was in neutral. I didn't have any tools with me, so I decided to try to manually put the Civic in gear at the trans. I think I found 2nd or 3rd and limped it back to camp. There I took apart the center console and found that the end of the shift stick had popped out of the shift cable. I also found that the plastic cup that the ball of the shift stick sits in had broken. So my night was done. I plan on using the cup that the original CR-V shift stick has on it. If you don't remember, I am using a Honda Fit shift stick as it was much shorter, so I still have a cup from the CR-V shifter I can use. I also plan on cutting the shift assembly bushings down so the shift assem sits closer to the ground and does not flex as much. Hopefully this will keep it from popping out of the cable again.

In all I am very happy with the performance of the Civic with this conversion, and yes a little pat on the back for me as I am very happy with how strong I have built this conversion that is holding up so well thus far. I am confident that I can easily get the Civic into the 11s and possibly maybe even flirt with the 10s. I know the Civic can do, the only question is can I do it. Still lots to learn here. The next upgrade besides fixing the shifter is installing new coilovers. My current coilovers are about 15 years old and have been leaking for a while. New coilovers will definitely help improve my 1/4 mile times and I am calling on AMR to help me with this task. Thank you every one for checking in. Hopefully I have not disappointed anyone. I know it did not end up with the fastest times, but believe me when I tell you that this conversion has changed everything for the Civic.

BigBerz

12.1 with all that bullshit is awesome. This is going to be a lot of trial an error figuring out how to launch. The tune and all that is always adjustable but your driving is going to be the key. Super impressed everything held up too! The rear axle angle isn't as weak as I had imagined it would be so far. I'm guessing you didn't get any footage but that's ok. Rather see some good footage when you have your launch figured out. Awesome work man can't wait to see more results.
I know what you mean about the CR-V cable shifting. I went from a Boosted B EK to my CR-V and that 1-2 shift seems to take forever when you do it properly. You can't just bang it like the hydro. I wonder why your hitting 2nd though is everything aligned properly?

I was in a crash New Years Day and my CR-V is a total loss. I contemplated buying it back from insurance to swap the AWD to a civic but....... No time, no shop anymore so No fun project

Berz out.

DarryCar

What a bummer! Sorry to hear you lost your ride. I would definitely tell you to buy it back, but only if you were serious about using the parts. Having a manual AWD CR-V donor would have made my life and this project much easier.
Thanks for the kind words, and yeah I am super impressed with the build. Running a 12.1 with all of those imperfections taking place is not too shabby. Let's not forget that I am doing this on 17" wheels with street tires too. I can't wait to get it back out there and see how much I can improve on that. Before this my best run was a 12.4 and that was when the Civic only had something like 390whp, so I know there's a bit more time to shave off.
I do actually have a couple of videos to post up. Not sure if the quality, but I will get those up soon. Thanks for stopping in Berz.

BigBerz

No worries man I'm glad you are having fun with your car. This was something I always wanted to do but never got around to it. You are right having the CR-V as a donor would be a huge step but I need all the insurance money to get into a new vehicle. I'm thinking an Element this time. Head swap with a JRSC should be fun in an Element!

Good luck on your next track day. I'm jealous of your weather man. It's been -30 here for 2 weeks!!!

Berz out.

DarryCar

Supercharged Element? Now that would be something different. And yes, we got it good here in the winter.

DarryCar

Alright, I have a couple of videos from the track that I will try to explain. Not the best quality, actually one of the videos is just terrible. It's no 1320, but you will get an idea of how the Civic is running, and how bad my driving is...

This first video is where I kept hitting my boost cut. That's probably me missing a gear too at the end. You can see that I get off of the line pretty hard though. This makes me happy as this is the very reason I did this conversion.


This next one was good. I didn't get off of the line as hard, but I went through all of the gears flawlessly. This was also with the wrong tune uploaded. This was the 13.03 @ 115 MPH.


I apologize for the quality of this last video, my buddy is using his Droid I believe, and he was in the middle of the track so you can't see my launch. This was my fastest run of the night. You can clearly hear me stuffing the transmission into 2nd gear from 3rd and then me hitting the rev limiter.


Enjoy!

BigBerz

Man you are leaving hard! That's awesome. What clutch are you running? Are you going to keep upping your launch RPM to see the results? What is the smallest size rim you can run with your brakes? I'm living my AWD dream vicariously through you haha

Berz out.

DarryCar

I'm actually still running with my old ACT 6 puck. I'm quite surprised it is holding up as well as it is. I thought for sure I was going to regret not putting a stronger clutch in when I installed the SBXM, but so far so good. I was launching at 5000 RPM and they prepped that track really well that night. I plan on upping the launch to 5500 next time if the track is as sticky. See how well things hold up then. The smallest rim size I can go now without swapping out the brakes is a 16". I'm thinking about it...

tony_2018

brah...its 2017...get better camera phones....

DarryCar

Ya, I know. My girlfriend took some footage, but it is on like a 2009 Cannon and I can't get my Mac to read the SD card. Probably a good thing though cuz all you can hear is her screaming though out the whole thing. She's a big fan...

DarryCar

Think I got the shifter fixed. CR-V/Fit 2.0 shifter assembly seems to be working again. I ended up putting the CR-V cup back on the end of the Fit shift stick. I also lowered the whole assembly by cutting down the rubber bushings that mount it. This gives the end of the shift cable less room to "pop" off of the shift stick and it also takes some of the flex out of the assembly when shifting. Still flexes a bit and I may replace the rubber with solid mounts in the future.

Got my coilovers too and I will be working on installing those. They are B E A utiful and it saddens me to know I will not be able to see them once installed. Looking forward to a nice ride again though.

OneBadTurboCRV

Very nice DarryCar!!! Awesome that it's holding up too!!! Keep updating this thread brother, if it hasn't broke yet you aren't trying hard enough!!! LOL!

DarryCar

Thanks OneBad, it has come so far and yes holding up very well. I'm in the process of installing new coilovers at the moment. I'm going to try replacing the bushings that I hacked up in the rear LCAs to move the strut bodies away from the rear axles. I think I will be able to move them back in their factory positions without any clearance issues. Going to find out. Function7 is taking their sweet time shipping them to me. They're only about an hour away from me, but they insisted on shipping the damn things.

DarryCar

Got my AMRs installed an set up! These things are nice and ride great. I have been riding on some blown POS coilovers for quite a while now, so anything new was going to be an improvement. But these things ride NICE! I was a little worried of the fitment of the rear coilovers with how much wider the strut bodies are, but it worked out. The AMR coilovers have the ability to adjust ride height without compromising the spring rates. To accomplish this, AMR utilizes a design where the strut is able to thread all the way through the bottom portion of the "strut body", which also makes the bottom portion of the strut body fatter than conventional coilover systems. I was worried that with this design, I would run into clearance issues with the struts to axles and the struts to sway bar linkage. They fit perfectly though, which is huge because I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do if they didn't. Unfortunately I was not able to replace the bushings back to factory in the Function7 LCAs. It just moves the strut bodies too far forward and they end up rubbing on the outer CV boots. So my modified LCA bushings will have to stay in for the time being. I am very happy with the ride so far and I can't wait to get it back on the track soon to see some improved times. I have started a thread on these coilovers in the "Suspension & Brakes" if you want to check it out. I will go into a little more detail about them and AMR Engineering over there. https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspen...eview-3292611/

They are so pretty. Too bad I won't see much more of them.
Hyperco springs 650/550
Fronts in place
Old Zeals already close to the rear boots

Difference in lower strut body width

So very close, but no rubbing!

No clearance issues anywhere

BigBerz

Those look way beefier. Awesome that it clears everything too. It's funny how complacent you get with a shitty ride until you change it and realize how shitty it used to be haha.

Berz out.

ssmrico

looks good

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

You going to go to IFO on Sunday?

DarryCar

No joke! I mean, I could feel the front bouncing a bit and it felt a little loose on the track. Makes a huge difference and I've only driven it maybe a total of eight miles. So much better.

Yes, these things are gorgeous!! Thank you.

No unfortunately... I just found out about it and had already made plans with the girlfriend on Sunday. Valentines Day strikes again. I mean who puts a major car event on the weekend right before V-Day? The Civic will definitely be at the next IFO that comes into town though. Just need to figure out when that is. Have fun out there for me if you are going...

DarryCar

Drove the Civic up north to Clarkdale and Jerome, Az yesterday. Put about 250 miles on it and it ran very well. I did notice a funky vibration though out the Civic between 4200-4500 RPM when under load. Odd how it is just in that sweet spot. Something I will have to look into. I'm not a big fan of the 5th gear ratio in the SBXM and it makes me miss my LS trans that much more. Cruising at 75 mph and 4200 RPM really is a gas killer, especially when using the E85 (or E51). I may look into modifying the SBXM 5th over the summer. For now I am just enjoying the Civic being in one piece and drivable. I'll get it back out to the track in the next couple of weeks and see if I can come back to you all with some better times. See if I brake anything too. The coilovers are amazing and the ride is night and day difference from what it was. That's about all of the update I have for now. Leaving a couple of shots here from yesterday. Thanks for checking in!

BryanM.

iTrader: (1)

good looking car

DarryCar

Thank you. I keeps it clean!

DarryCar

I haven't quite hit the 1000 mile mark since I've done the conversion and I have had to replace three of the four CV boots on the rear axles. I just figured them being 17 year rubber boots operating in a position they are not used to was taking its toll on them. The last of the original boots just split recently, so I went to AutoZone and picked up a replacement. When I jacked up the rear I found that both of the inner CV boots had also split again. So I know that the angle of the rear axles is a bit extreme, but I thought that the rubber boots would be just fine. Maybe it's just the cheap AutoZone boots that I am using, which are still $25 a pop. My next option is to go with factory Honda boots and those run about $45 a boot. That puts me around $180 to replace them all. I've had my eye on a set of Insane Shafts 500 hp rear axles for while, and thought this may be a good time to pick a set up. I figure they will use a stronger style CV boot being that they are an upgraded axle. I could be wrong about that, but I'm going to find out. These axles are made for the 02-06 CR-V and are about 1/2" longer on each axle. This may also help as the CV boots will not be stretched out as much. The OEM axles have been holding up just fine and I am surprised they have taken as much abuse as they have thus far. The Insane Shafts were pretty affordable, so that is what I am going with for now.

I'm going to miss the next Friday night drags as it is on St. Patty's Day, but I am planning on going to the next one set for April 7th.

tony_2018

Might as well upgrade to better axles instead of wasting money on replacing boots. I dunno how many times you wanna go down there and I'm sure you want to "forget" it after replacing them. Your decision.

BrakeExpert

For lower power Hondas, lots of us use Duralast axles at Autozone with a lifetime warranty, sometimes they're as low as 50$ an axle (new, not reman). If you're spending 25$ per single boot, for 50$ you could get a whole new CV axle opposed to just rubber boots. That's something you may wanna consider. 25$ for a rubber or neoprene boot seems high.

Chance EG

The Insane Shafts axles are very nice pieces but I'm not sure if there's really any difference between those and OEM or even AutoZone CV boots. They're basically just little rubber covers after all.