After my first outing to Willow Springs with Project Civic, I was immediately hooked. If you’ve ever been to a track day, you know the feeling. I knew I had to do whatever I could to get myself back on track as soon as possible, and that meant getting down to business with a few more upgrades and changes to my car.
On the first track weekend, Project Civic fared pretty well. Even though the car is tuned for 93-octane Oregon pump gas, the 91-octane California horse urine seemed to be proving ample for my needs. I experienced a few hiccups and misfires, but nothing that raised a serious concern in my mind. The car is NA, after all, and with a compression of only 11.5:1, I wasn’t overly concerned about detonation. However, there were plenty of things that needed to be addressed to get the car more aptly prepared for track duty.
One of the first things I needed was a set of my own 15-inch dedicated track wheels. For this, I turned to Mackin Industries, the U.S.’s official importer for all Volk Racing wheels. My weapon of choice is a 15x7-inch +35mm TE37, in the ever-classic Volk bronze — a color often imitated, but never duplicated. For rubber, I turned to Toyo Tires for its R1R tire, a great option for anyone who’s looking for a very sticky dry-weather tire that’s still street friendly. I wanted to make sure that I could drive to and from the track on the same tires I would run on the circuit, so the R1R was an easy choice for me. Sized at 225/45R15, this tire choice is a bit wider than some will claim to be ideal for a 7-inch-wide wheel, but the extra contact patch makes up for the minute loss in sidewall stiffness at the limit, and therefore makes a worthwhile compromise in my mind.
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New wheel and tire setup: Volk Racing TE37 and Toyo R1R tires.
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This purpose-built fender-rolling tool from Eastwood is a more precise and civilized solut
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AEM’s cold-air intake comes complete with everything needed for a clean, CARB-legal instal
One slight drawback to the 225 width is that I’ll need to roll my fenders in order to avoid rubbing while cornering. This is actually a very easy process, just be careful if you care about your paint. Use a heat gun to warm up the metal and decrease the likelihood of chipping the paint, and go slow and methodically when massaging the fenders.
Next on my list was a new intake solution. Contrary to popular belief, all intakes are not created equal. The 2.5-inch AEM short ram intake that was on my Civic proved to be more efficient than a to-remain-nameless JDM-brand induction box I previously owned (approximately 8-whp increase, circa 2008), but a 3-inch cold-air intake would provide even better flow, thus more power. Installation of AEM’s cold-air intake is a simple affair — only simple hand tools and about 30 to 40 minutes are necessary.
The last item of preparation that was direly needed before another track excursion was the oil department. A known issue with Honda non-VTEC bottom ends (like my B18B Integra LS block) is oil starvation, due in part to the nature of the oil journal design. If I could do it all over again, I would’ve started out with a GSR or Type-R block, but in the interest of saving time (and lots of money) I’m going to continue running my built LS block as long as I can get away with it. To help lengthen the life and increase my block’s chances of survival, I employed the use of a baffled oil pan from Mugen to help keep oil distributed under all circumstances. Oil starvation can lead to spun bearings among other problems, which can occur, for example, while the car is on a high-speed corner where gravity can cause oil to shift toward one side of the pan and starve the oil pickup. Another way to help battle oil distribution problems (and even pressure loss) is a dry-sump system, but those are a bit more hardcore than what I’d like to use on my Civic for the time being.
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