Good info on the seat belts. I think most people don't realize the risks or don't care. I always thought it was stupid to pay good money for a good racing seat/harness and only make you less safe on the street, which is where most people drive their modded cars.
Picked up a new car... because race car
- Thread starter civexspeedy
- Start date
Did a Test & Tune event yesterday to prepare for the big event coming this weekend. Got 27 runs in my car and 1 run in my friends MR2 Spyder.
For the morning course, my focus was improving my skill level. Focused on hand positioning, looking ahead, getting closer to the cones, etc.. I ran on my "old" set of race tires so I did not completely kill off my competition tires. Felt I improved a good bit in the morning.
Video from my morning runs. First a high left view, then an interior view, then a low left side view, then a low right side view, and then a high center view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHEDkB9lHs&feature=player_embedded
For the afternoon we ran the course reverse. Since I felt comfortable with my driving level, I swapped on my competition tires so I could tune the car for those tires. My main focus on these runs was to play around with the shock rebound settings and find what works best. After some tweaks, I found the settings I felt would best suit this lot, my cars setup and my driving style.
Video from afternoon runs. First high left view, then low right view, then an interior view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iu7NurgGHYY
The times I put down for both courses were very respectable compared to the other who were at the T&T. So hopefully all of this will translate and provide good results for this weekends big event.
I also took a run in my friends MR-S. He wanted me to run it so he could watch what his suspension was doing from the outside. His car is setup extremely loose and his spring rates are waaay too high. Not very forgiving.. Told him he needs to soften it up, this isn't the first time someone's told him that lol. Sooo lots of sliding around when I drove it :driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rZk8WNKzknY
Also, after maybe my 7th run or so I tore the skin on my hand on the steering wheel...
I actually have some sores on both of my hands from driving. One on my other hand almost did the same. Some of my friends had gotten blisters from so much driving too lol.
If anyone is interested in this big event I'm talking about, it is a Pro Solo event. It combines a bit of drag racing with autox. It's one of the biggest autox events around. People from all over the country come to compete. Last year I took 1st place in my class and won about $500 in contingency money. This year my class is even bigger with some strong drivers so I really have to give it my all.
Here's a video of me last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_PheMuibtpY
Another video from last year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jpm0_TtCQME
Side note, anyone know how to embed videos from YouTube? I tried the "youtube" icon but it left blanks in the post...
For the morning course, my focus was improving my skill level. Focused on hand positioning, looking ahead, getting closer to the cones, etc.. I ran on my "old" set of race tires so I did not completely kill off my competition tires. Felt I improved a good bit in the morning.
Video from my morning runs. First a high left view, then an interior view, then a low left side view, then a low right side view, and then a high center view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHEDkB9lHs&feature=player_embedded
For the afternoon we ran the course reverse. Since I felt comfortable with my driving level, I swapped on my competition tires so I could tune the car for those tires. My main focus on these runs was to play around with the shock rebound settings and find what works best. After some tweaks, I found the settings I felt would best suit this lot, my cars setup and my driving style.
Video from afternoon runs. First high left view, then low right view, then an interior view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iu7NurgGHYY
The times I put down for both courses were very respectable compared to the other who were at the T&T. So hopefully all of this will translate and provide good results for this weekends big event.
I also took a run in my friends MR-S. He wanted me to run it so he could watch what his suspension was doing from the outside. His car is setup extremely loose and his spring rates are waaay too high. Not very forgiving.. Told him he needs to soften it up, this isn't the first time someone's told him that lol. Sooo lots of sliding around when I drove it :driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rZk8WNKzknY
Also, after maybe my 7th run or so I tore the skin on my hand on the steering wheel...
I actually have some sores on both of my hands from driving. One on my other hand almost did the same. Some of my friends had gotten blisters from so much driving too lol.
If anyone is interested in this big event I'm talking about, it is a Pro Solo event. It combines a bit of drag racing with autox. It's one of the biggest autox events around. People from all over the country come to compete. Last year I took 1st place in my class and won about $500 in contingency money. This year my class is even bigger with some strong drivers so I really have to give it my all.
Here's a video of me last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_PheMuibtpY
Another video from last year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jpm0_TtCQME
Side note, anyone know how to embed videos from YouTube? I tried the "youtube" icon but it left blanks in the post...
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looks like you need some driving gloves 
Finally have a little time for an update... As I mentioned in my last post, I ran the Test & Tune event to get my car dialed in for the big event the following weekend. That event has come and gone. I ran against the largest amount of cars in my class that I've ever ran against, all of the cars being well prepped and with some great drivers behind the wheels. In a field of 9 '89-'91 Civic Si's, most of which have nearly identical mod lists due to class rules, I came out on top by a fair margin. After Saturday's morning runs, I held a strong lead by 0.9seconds. After Saturdays afternoon runs I extended the lead to 1.0seconds. Going into Sunday's last competition runs, everyone in the field got faster but so did I. They closed the gap but I was still able to take the win by a 0.502second lead. May not sound like a lot but that's a huge gap in terms of autox. Needless to say I was a bit surprised at how well I did but extremely happy that all the prep work I did over the winter and the Test & Tune runs I did last weekend has all proven to do some good. Sooo with the class win, I'll be getting a $300 check from Toyo Tires, $150 check from Honda Performance Development, and a free T-Shirt and more suspension tuning from Karcepts lol.
Since I won my class, I made it into the Super Challenge Round where the top competitiors from each class run against each other with an Indexed time. I was put up against a heavily modified STi on race tires. I feel I could have beaten him to move on in the Challenge Round but I coned my first run against him which is basically an automatic elimination unless he screwed up, which he didn't.. So I got bumped out my first round. But it is what it is. I think it's damn near impossible for me to win the Challenge Round due to how my car stacks up against the other classes. So I didn't go in expecting anything...
Here's the video from my last Sunday's competition runs. I didn't throw in any of the other runs. The last run on the left side and last run on the right side were my fastest all weekend. I didn't break up the video so you guys could kind of get an idea on how this type of event runs. I just fast-forwarded the little bit of waiting time in-between runs lol.
http://youtu.be/XZSglgMeO6s
Some of the top qualifiers for the Challenge Round.
Coolest trophy I've won to date lol
Since I won my class, I made it into the Super Challenge Round where the top competitiors from each class run against each other with an Indexed time. I was put up against a heavily modified STi on race tires. I feel I could have beaten him to move on in the Challenge Round but I coned my first run against him which is basically an automatic elimination unless he screwed up, which he didn't.. So I got bumped out my first round. But it is what it is. I think it's damn near impossible for me to win the Challenge Round due to how my car stacks up against the other classes. So I didn't go in expecting anything...
Here's the video from my last Sunday's competition runs. I didn't throw in any of the other runs. The last run on the left side and last run on the right side were my fastest all weekend. I didn't break up the video so you guys could kind of get an idea on how this type of event runs. I just fast-forwarded the little bit of waiting time in-between runs lol.
http://youtu.be/XZSglgMeO6s
Some of the top qualifiers for the Challenge Round.
Coolest trophy I've won to date lol
This past weekend our local BMW club had an event. I'm the course designer for the club so I was out setting the course up for the event. I usually stack cones in the hatch, drive around and set cones up and leave my car idling when doing so. Towards the end of setting the course up, I was walking back to my car and saw smoke coming from the hood. Looked at the temp gauge and noticed the car was overheating. Shut it down, let is cool and started to figure out what was going on. Car has never over heated on me before. Fuse was good. I pulled the fan and jumped it, the fan motor worked. Then checked the relay and it seems the relay had a crack in the housing which probably lead to its failure. Friend ran me out to the local parts store, picked up the relay and coolant and got the car running smoothly so I could run the event. Took first in class and the car never overheated the rest of the day.
Video from the event.
http://youtu.be/Mx-o_FhPxVc
Video from the event.
http://youtu.be/Mx-o_FhPxVc
I would love to autox my car at one point thanks for answering the moogen question lol...... Nice progress
Using the tapa ya tap tap..... Tap
Using the tapa ya tap tap..... Tap
Small update. Turns out the relay probably wasn't the issue that was causing the overheating problem. I noticed the other day when I was checking the car out that it only started to overheat when sitting idle and the fan still didn't come on. I replaced the coolant fan switch that's located on the back of the block. Did the trick, no more overheating and the fan is kicking on like it should.
Car is ready for the back to back events this weekend
Car is ready for the back to back events this weekend
Rpf1's my fave wheels car looks good
car looks goodTiny update and some pics...
I was mentioned in Sports Car Magazine as a contender for this years SCCA Solo Nationals to take the championship title. However, like it says in the magazine, I was not able to make it out there this year unfortunately. Nationals happened last week and looking at the results, I think I could have secured a spot in the top 3 but that's just my best guess, I'll never know until I make it out. SO I'm shooting to make it out and fight for a national championship next year.
Anyways, following my last update, I noticed the car was pulling to the right quite a bit. Figured something was wrong with my alignment so I took it to my sponsors shop to check it out. Turns out the driver side outer tie rod ball joint was bad. Replaced the tie rod and got the alignment set.
I also had to buy another set of tires. The ones I bought at the start of the season have worn down with at least 15 events/75 runs... So came a fresh set of shaved Toyo R1R's.
I've also removed the stock front swaybar. I've been noticing that the car was pushing(understeering) a bit too much for my liking under long, sweeping turns. To alleviate that, I pulled the front swaybar to get a little bit more front end bite. I THOUGHT I would lose some feeling and speed in slaloms and transitions but to my surprise that didn't go away so that's great. I may however go with a larger, hollow ASR rear swaybar to help out a bit more over the winter.
Anyways, ran the car at a BMW event this past weekend. Did great, lots of fun as always
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8lbLqlBqY"]dk8lbLqlBqY[/YOUTUBE]
I was mentioned in Sports Car Magazine as a contender for this years SCCA Solo Nationals to take the championship title. However, like it says in the magazine, I was not able to make it out there this year unfortunately. Nationals happened last week and looking at the results, I think I could have secured a spot in the top 3 but that's just my best guess, I'll never know until I make it out. SO I'm shooting to make it out and fight for a national championship next year.
Anyways, following my last update, I noticed the car was pulling to the right quite a bit. Figured something was wrong with my alignment so I took it to my sponsors shop to check it out. Turns out the driver side outer tie rod ball joint was bad. Replaced the tie rod and got the alignment set.
I also had to buy another set of tires. The ones I bought at the start of the season have worn down with at least 15 events/75 runs... So came a fresh set of shaved Toyo R1R's.
I've also removed the stock front swaybar. I've been noticing that the car was pushing(understeering) a bit too much for my liking under long, sweeping turns. To alleviate that, I pulled the front swaybar to get a little bit more front end bite. I THOUGHT I would lose some feeling and speed in slaloms and transitions but to my surprise that didn't go away so that's great. I may however go with a larger, hollow ASR rear swaybar to help out a bit more over the winter.
Anyways, ran the car at a BMW event this past weekend. Did great, lots of fun as always
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8lbLqlBqY"]dk8lbLqlBqY[/YOUTUBE]
Update... As the season slows down I've only done about 2 events with the Moogen since my last post. Mainly because I locked in season points with the clubs that I ran and I didn't need to run any more events in the car. Because of that, I took advantage of being able to drive some friends cars to get some more experience and better my driving skills by driving completely different cars. So needless to say, I took a season championship win with 3 different local clubs in my respective class this year.
Just a couple pics from one of those last 2 events I ran the Moogen.
Some of the cars I got to drive... I'll be driving another '98 M3 this Saturday and then my 2013 season is officially done
.
I also slapped on one of my sets of good wheels/tires on my daily driver and took it out for some fun. Look at all that body roll!! lmao
Sooo here is where the Moogen will be sitting for the next ~5months. I will be building it slowly to be better, stronger and faster for next season. I'm building with the full intention of going to more National level events around the country and take the car to Nationals Finale in 2014. I'll build the car as best I can within reason of my wallet lol. But yeah, expect many more updates over the winter with new, better parts.
Just a couple pics from one of those last 2 events I ran the Moogen.
Some of the cars I got to drive... I'll be driving another '98 M3 this Saturday and then my 2013 season is officially done
. 
I also slapped on one of my sets of good wheels/tires on my daily driver and took it out for some fun. Look at all that body roll!! lmao
Sooo here is where the Moogen will be sitting for the next ~5months. I will be building it slowly to be better, stronger and faster for next season. I'm building with the full intention of going to more National level events around the country and take the car to Nationals Finale in 2014. I'll build the car as best I can within reason of my wallet lol. But yeah, expect many more updates over the winter with new, better parts.
Bumping this back up because it's that time of year again... off season build time. I've been doing a lot of research and a lot of debating with myself on what to do to the car for next season. I've made up my mind with everything so now it's just a matter of getting parts, doing the work and looking forward to an even faster 2014 season.
What's planned to purchase and get done before March:
New Lug Nuts(current ones are VERY worn since I R&R the wheels a loootttttt!)
Possibly a Velocity Stack(this is just a maybe as of now)
Hypercoil Springs, going to run a staggered spring rate setup.
ASR 32mm Hollow rear swaybar .095 wall thickness to replace my current rear swaybar
Exhaust work- Going to switch to aluminum piping with possibly an aluminum muffler to hopefully cut a good chunk of weight
Very light weight lithium battery
Bisimoto header... yes the very expensive one...
Install the rest of the Energy Suspension bushings I have lying around.
Buy new 3rd brake light
Re-do alignment and corner balance once everything is complete
Possibly another set of 195/50R15 Toyo R1r's, except unshaved to use as a rain set.
Non performance, just maintenance things to do:
New Axels
Oil/filter Change
Trans Fluid Change
Coolant change
Brake fluid
I haven't had much time to mess around between the holidays, work and my back giving me troubles. But, I did a little bit already to lose some free weight. Call me crazy but I'm doing everything I can to, affordably and legally, lose weight in the car.
I removed all of the washer fluid that was in the bottle. For the nearly 3 years I've driven this car, I've never used the washer fluid( I couldn't anyways, hose is broken). Needless to say, this fluid was sitting in the already front left heavy part of the car for no reason for too long. Poured it out, weighed it, a big 4lbs of dead fluid weight is now removed.
I then pulled the battery tray out, that removed about 1lb of weight. I currently have a Braille 9.5lb battery, which is small. But I'm going to replace that with a smaller, lighter Lithium battery which is only 2lbs!. With such a smaller battery, I will make my own battery tie down out of sheet metal to save weight and position the battery as low as possible.
A couple aesthetic items that I hate to remove had to go to save weight. Car doesn't look as good without them, but at this point I'm serious and I just don't care. I pulled the OE front lip off which is about 1lb saved off the front end.
I also pulled off the rear OE wing. Which I HATE to do because I think it looks really great and the car now looks really funky without it. But, that's a big 4lbs of top heavy weight off the car. I'll buy an LED 3rd brake light to replace the brake light on the wing to keep it class and street legal.
Annndd just today I made probably the biggest single purchase of a part I've ever made... On a new stainless steel V3 Bisimoto Header. I don't know the weight of the header but the shipping weight says 20lbs. I have the DC Sport 4-2-1 ceramic header on now, which again I don't know the weight but shipping weight for those say 25lbs. I'm hoping, based off the shipping weights, that the Bisimoto header will save 5lbs off the front and also add a good amount of power.
If you haven't noticed, weight is on my mind a lot.. I'm hoping once all is said and done, the car will lose about 40lbs. Which may not seem like a lot, but in terms of an autox civic, it's huge. With a 1/4 tank of gas, with that much weight lost, I SHOULD be right around 2,020lbs or just a smidge less. Which is very good and I'd be happy with that.
So here is where she sits now..
I'll update as I go on. Hope I can get things done in time!
What's planned to purchase and get done before March:
New Lug Nuts(current ones are VERY worn since I R&R the wheels a loootttttt!)
Possibly a Velocity Stack(this is just a maybe as of now)
Hypercoil Springs, going to run a staggered spring rate setup.
ASR 32mm Hollow rear swaybar .095 wall thickness to replace my current rear swaybar
Exhaust work- Going to switch to aluminum piping with possibly an aluminum muffler to hopefully cut a good chunk of weight
Very light weight lithium battery
Bisimoto header... yes the very expensive one...
Install the rest of the Energy Suspension bushings I have lying around.
Buy new 3rd brake light
Re-do alignment and corner balance once everything is complete
Possibly another set of 195/50R15 Toyo R1r's, except unshaved to use as a rain set.
Non performance, just maintenance things to do:
New Axels
Oil/filter Change
Trans Fluid Change
Coolant change
Brake fluid
I haven't had much time to mess around between the holidays, work and my back giving me troubles. But, I did a little bit already to lose some free weight. Call me crazy but I'm doing everything I can to, affordably and legally, lose weight in the car.
I removed all of the washer fluid that was in the bottle. For the nearly 3 years I've driven this car, I've never used the washer fluid( I couldn't anyways, hose is broken). Needless to say, this fluid was sitting in the already front left heavy part of the car for no reason for too long. Poured it out, weighed it, a big 4lbs of dead fluid weight is now removed.
I then pulled the battery tray out, that removed about 1lb of weight. I currently have a Braille 9.5lb battery, which is small. But I'm going to replace that with a smaller, lighter Lithium battery which is only 2lbs!. With such a smaller battery, I will make my own battery tie down out of sheet metal to save weight and position the battery as low as possible.
A couple aesthetic items that I hate to remove had to go to save weight. Car doesn't look as good without them, but at this point I'm serious and I just don't care. I pulled the OE front lip off which is about 1lb saved off the front end.
I also pulled off the rear OE wing. Which I HATE to do because I think it looks really great and the car now looks really funky without it. But, that's a big 4lbs of top heavy weight off the car. I'll buy an LED 3rd brake light to replace the brake light on the wing to keep it class and street legal.
Annndd just today I made probably the biggest single purchase of a part I've ever made... On a new stainless steel V3 Bisimoto Header. I don't know the weight of the header but the shipping weight says 20lbs. I have the DC Sport 4-2-1 ceramic header on now, which again I don't know the weight but shipping weight for those say 25lbs. I'm hoping, based off the shipping weights, that the Bisimoto header will save 5lbs off the front and also add a good amount of power.
If you haven't noticed, weight is on my mind a lot.. I'm hoping once all is said and done, the car will lose about 40lbs. Which may not seem like a lot, but in terms of an autox civic, it's huge. With a 1/4 tank of gas, with that much weight lost, I SHOULD be right around 2,020lbs or just a smidge less. Which is very good and I'd be happy with that.
So here is where she sits now..
I'll update as I go on. Hope I can get things done in time!
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