First time at track!!!

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RoughKnight

Christmas Car
Omg AWESOMEEEEE. It's official. No more road rage, all taking it out ON THE TRACK OMG.

Yes, i'm fucking stoked. It's an amazing feeling. I have the bug. I love it. Did actually not so bad, considering I was the only I4 running there (go figure), I still finished with faster time then a few, putting me 17th out of 22 for the time attacks. And people were commenting on my twitchness in the corner, but anyways. Few questions for the pros. Feel free to bash or w/e, criticism is constructive in any way.

1. Car is shakey at top end. Every civic/accord i've owned so far has always been shakey at like 130km+. but ffs I hit like 120 WOT in 3rd (lx tranny) and car is jiggling, slammed it in 4th around 150~, it was tollerable, then got to about 190 and the car was doing fucking jumping jacks. wtf and how2fix.

2. Again, on that open stretch, I tried the two methods I made a thread about earlier (Curved VS WOT) and found that WOT was actually a tad faster, but the Curved felt "smoother?" I dunno how else to describe it. Also, when I hit 190, just before I had to break, the car started to smell so bad. It burnt my nostrils. I think it was oil, but I dunno. People behind me said I blew black smoke when I hit top rpms, which means its rich, which I can live with.

3. On the corner, i've been studying ALOT of apex theory in my spare time and I am fascinated with track racing as a whole, and I tried two methods of turning my underpowered fwd car. First was the basic break and turn, just normal apex pegging. The second involved a mini-scandanavian flick to control the understeer a bit; I found this to be the best as I could turn a corner almost 5kms faster than normal. BUT! Everybody said that would lower my time. I didn't remember to check out my laptime while doing it, I was so into it. Speculation on this?

4. Stock suspension sucks. So my question is Can I buy just lowered springs and keep my stock shocks? Is that bad?

5. On the way home, my car stinks of gas now, even under partial throttle. On the drive to and from work today, no matter how I drive, my car smells like gas. Been doing some research, and I think this could be related to my valve-tick problem from before. Anybody?

I prefer one of the Honda experts to comment with real answers, not speculatory "internet" answers. All discussion is welcome, however, I just have a preference in the matter. Thanks.
 
You took your poor dd honda up to 190? with God knows how many miles on it.. jesus... If your car is shaking, (I assume your steering wheel was vibrating like crazy and/or your whole car was vibrating like crazy too) It indicates a couple things, Alignment is off..caster/camber blah blah, it can also be caused by a bent rim, anything bent like the frame (which in turn throws your alignment off) and perhaps your rotors may be warped or your axle (cv boot/joints perhaps) is walking out on you, you can usually tell by the type of vibration and where it's coming from.

Secondly... valve ticking? This usually means your valve(s) may be stuck or they are not closing or opening properly (don't know if you know this). Thus this can restrict exhaust gases and your fuel and air intake. If you smell gas it usually means your running rich, and with the black smoke, it sounds like it. This means your not burning all the amount of fuel being injected into your cylinders, possibly because your plugs are extremely fouled among other reasons. It could aslso be your 02 sensor and possibly but unlikely after going to the track once...a clogged cat.

***Note: Check your oil and spark plugs, this will probably give you a good indication of what's going on..to white a plugs means it's lean ....a extremely back plug usually means it's running rich.
 
here's a simple answer for you.

if you are going to track it, build it for the track and do it right. if not, you WILL kill yourself.

get a good suspension, brakes, tires, etc. do it one piece of a time if need be. but safety comes first.
 
^^ okay will do. I'm running a straight pipe for now, so no cat. Its a swapped engine, so its pretty fresh. Just did alignment like 2 weeks ago, but I think i need a camber kit cause it was way off. My frame is shot, so that could be it. I didn't know that about the valves. I'll check the plugs tomorrow. I just changed the o2 sensor literally when I got my exhaust less than a month ago. Its brand new, and my car doesn't throw cels anymore.
 
For suspension, plain and simple saveup for a proper set up. Don't use lowering springs on stock shocks because like on ef civics you go off a bump or turn to hard, the coil will pop out of the top hat. Ps: non of us are experts ;D it's hondaswap for fuck sakes LOL
 
How did you properly align it, if your camber is off??? Yes I know guys mess with their toe and camber for better track results..but you have to know what your doing. Also as mentioned before if you want to take this car to the track every weekend or whenever it is..then that's what it should be, a track car...or at least it's a good idea.
 
^ I get it, again though not a question I was hoping to get answered. When I put in my new tie rods, I went to get it aligned and saw that one of my cambers was way off.
 
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Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I need to AutoX my car sometime. I've been meaning to do it.

IMO the brake and apex seems to be the best way to do it. I always have the best luck with that because I don't like controlling my out of control car like the scandanavian flick thing. I'll have to take a video of the road I always go cornering on. It's a blast.
 
^ I get it, again though not a question I was hoping to get answered. When I put in my new tie rods, I went to get it aligned and saw that one of my cambers was way off.

Okay well I went through the rest of your stuff and tried to already answer as best I could with the given info....what other questions do you have???
 
Your valve tick can be caused by you holding at to high of a rpm for to long.You also stated that you just swapped in you motor. Did you actual do a good inspection of the motor before it was installed; or was it just thrown up in that joint. Your problem could have always been there. The fact that your "frame is shot" is not the best idea to have while flinging your car around corners. I suggest some reinforcement in that area. The oil smell is most likely do to the temperature you oil was driven too.

i have no clue why there is unnecessary large lettering
 
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Yea, I'm from not-a-real-country, eh "you know who u are?" :)
we use the metric system up here
/subtle

@matt: you might not have that underpowered problem lol, but in a car like mine I can't afford to lose a single km cornering, so I'll enter at a fast speed and hold it for most of it so I can make the most out of my limited power.
 
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I'm a suspension and handling guy myself (autoX, mountain, etc.) and I'm looking to get myself a set of KSport Pros for the civic to replace the shoddy lowering springs that it came with as well as a nice set of slotted Brembo brakes and street/track pads like I got for my Accord. The Ksports will run you about $1000-$1500(USD) for a full set but they're worth it, solid brand with built in camber plates and fully adjustable. If you're lucky you can also snag yourself a set of front brakes for ~$150(USD) easy.

GL though man, tracking the car is probably the most fun thing you can ever do with your car so drive on man.
 
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