Newbie to car tech

[squidmonkey]

Hi!

So, I'm not a newbie to fitfreak, but I am a newbie to car tech. I have a Sport AT Milano Red Fit. Is there any way to grab more HP out of it?

This may sound silly, thats why I put it here.

When it comes to cars I can.

1. Fill the tank and drive (woo hoo)

2. Change my own oil and filters and tires and basic maintinence.

3. Drive.

I am not in any way proficient in the innerworkings of the auto scene.

My best freind is a gearhead, and has made me more familiar with engines and more comfortable dorking around with things. I'd just like to be able to digg things up on my own.

If this has been approached in another post, let me know and I'll kill this one. I'm no racer (tempted by autocross by a racer friend), I'd just like a little more GO!!! off the line.

Thanks to all.

-C-

[gettinafit]

open up the stock intake by taking off the little resonator! Maybe 0.1 hp gain! J/K But you can hear and fell a little more pep!

[MINI-Fit]

There are many things you can do to improve performance-

First on the list is to gain driving skill. This is done by:
Driving schools- several clubs have schools that are not limited to a particular type of car. BMW Car club of America has clubs all over the country that sponsor schools all the time. You can contact your nearest dealership for BMW and ask about BMWCCA. There are also many independent driving schools at all of the major tracks across the country.

With more driving skill you can take any stock car and run rings around any competition under any circumstance. It will take some time to improve but you will be much better after taking instruction.

2nd on the list is-
Get rid of excess weight. The lighter your car the better so don't add a ton of audio and video upgrades if you are interested in performance.
Subwoofers, amps, sound deadening material all weighs alot. Don't carry rocks in your back seat or trunk area. Keep it clean.

3rd on the list is-
Consider light weight rims and performance tires. This can make a big difference without changing from your stock suspension. Your wheels and tires are part of the total suspension system. The stock rims are OK but can be lightened by going with an aftermarket 14" or 15" rim. If you have lots of $$$ then a light 16" rim is also possible and looks nice but think lightweight for best performance. You can accelerate faster and brake faster with lighter wheels. Keep your stock rims for snow tires if you live in a snowy area or sell them or keep them for autocross in stock classes. Sticky performance tires will do alot to improve handling and allow you to go faster through corners since traction is improved. They may not last as long but that is the trade off.

4th on the list is-
Upgrades to your FIT. Stuff like a cold air intake (for the AT FIT this is coming- gotta wait a bit longer), Headers, Cat back exhaust, etc.

For the AT FIT the Cat back exhaust is a nice start. Watch out for the noise level- they do vary. You get a little more power and alot more sound. Drop in air filter (by Spoon and others) is also good.

Personally I like-
Driving school
Lightweight wheels/sticky tires- talk to Jim@tirerack.com

If you have time go to autocross to watch and get inspired. Watch for those that drive stock cars with stock wheels and beat everyone.
It can be done and it's all about skill.

Last weekend we had autocross with 97 drivers and the fastest time of the day was posted by a stock Honda S2000. Great car, even better driving. He doesn't always do that well but that day we beat everyone.

[JamesBizzle]

Originally Posted by MINI-Fit

There are many things you can do to improve performance-

First on the list is to gain driving skill. This is done by:
Driving schools- several clubs have schools that are not limited to a particular type of car. BMW Car club of America has clubs all over the country that sponsor schools all the time. You can contact your nearest dealership for BMW and ask about BMWCCA. There are also many independent driving schools at all of the major tracks across the country.

With more driving skill you can take any stock car and run rings around any competition under any circumstance. It will take some time to improve but you will be much better after taking instruction.

2nd on the list is-
Get rid of excess weight. The lighter your car the better so don't add a ton of audio and video upgrades if you are interested in performance.
Subwoofers, amps, sound deadening material all weighs alot. Don't carry rocks in your back seat or trunk area. Keep it clean.

3rd on the list is-
Consider light weight rims and performance tires. This can make a big difference without changing from your stock suspension. Your wheels and tires are part of the total suspension system. The stock rims are OK but can be lightened by going with an aftermarket 14" or 15" rim. If you have lots of $$$ then a light 16" rim is also possible and looks nice but think lightweight for best performance. You can accelerate faster and brake faster with lighter wheels. Keep your stock rims for snow tires if you live in a snowy area or sell them or keep them for autocross in stock classes. Sticky performance tires will do alot to improve handling and allow you to go faster through corners since traction is improved. They may not last as long but that is the trade off.

4th on the list is-
Upgrades to your FIT. Stuff like a cold air intake (for the AT FIT this is coming- gotta wait a bit longer), Headers, Cat back exhaust, etc.

For the AT FIT the Cat back exhaust is a nice start. Watch out for the noise level- they do vary. You get a little more power and alot more sound. Drop in air filter (by Spoon and others) is also good.

Personally I like-
Driving school
Lightweight wheels/sticky tires- talk to Jim@tirerack.com

If you have time go to autocross to watch and get inspired. Watch for those that drive stock cars with stock wheels and beat everyone.
It can be done and it's all about skill.

Last weekend we had autocross with 97 drivers and the fastest time of the day was posted by a stock Honda S2000. Great car, even better driving. He doesn't always do that well but that day we beat everyone.

^^Exacly what he said^^

[lanakano]

Squidmonkey,

The Fit was designed to be one of the world's best handling fuel efficient cars... I'm not sure if you know this but the handling characteristics of the FIT is so good that not only was it best performer in it's class (other similar situated priced cars) but Road & Track reported that it outperformed a current model year Corvette.

I know that you asked above about adding horse power to the car. However, as gleamed from the above posts, adding horsepower is not always the best thing to do.

Even better is to know the strengths of you and your car and to know and challenge the weaknesses of your opponent and opponent's car.

If you look at the parts listed in JamesBizzel's signature you'll see light weight wheels (around 10lbs/wheel) and a lot of chassis braces. I think that JamesBizzel understands that the way to make the FIT faster is by replacing heavy items with light weight ones. In addition, stiffening up the chassis will make the car respond to directional input faster and the car will be more stable and consistent under the new directional input.

I wanted to share with you something special. It doesn't involve adding horsepower. However, it probably will costs as much as if you added a J's racing titanium (very light weight) exhuast system to your Fit. And when you learn how to drive your car (performance driving schools or whatever) you'll be several seconds faster than if you didn't have this part on.

The part is a Limited Slip Differential for your Automatic Fit. This part is special to Automatic Transmissions because in the past LSDs were incompatible with ATs. Please see the following quote:

"Compatible with Automatic Transmission Vehicles
(Noiseless High Performance with Automatic Transmission Fluid)
In automatic transmission vehicles abnormal noise is unavoidable with a metal LSD, but Carbon LSDs will adapt without any problems to the fluid used for automatic transmissions. It is for this reason that an LSD for use in automatic transmission vehicles is now planned for our company's product line. This will enable sport driving with automatic transmission cars, and will also be extremely effective in improving the quality of the ride over poor or snowy roads.

[Explanation]
Development of an LSD for use in automatic transmission vehicles has been attempted many times in the past, but the compatibility of LSDs with ATF (automatic transmission fluid) has been poor and operation was abnormally noisy, so development was abandoned. However, the results of compatibility tests of carbon LSDs with ATF have shown that there is absolutely no problem with locking performance and noise, so we have embarked on the development of a carbon LSD for automatic transmission vehicles.

In December, 2005, we will release the first carbon LSD for automatic for Honda Fit 1,300 & 1,500. ATS carbon LSDs will make your automatic vehicles or mini vans really lively and nimble without sacrificing any riding comfort. "

Link is here:
http://www.a-t-s-usa.com/ats-products/lsd-carbon1.htm

Please do a search and look at how Ben set up the AJR time attack Fit. The AJR Fit did extremely well (2nd place) at this year's time attack at Buttonwillow. I talked to Ben and he thinks that with a couple of more hours of dialing in the suspension they could have shaved 2 more seconds off of the Fits lap time and taken first place (Upsetting all of the high horsepower Fits) at this year's timeattack.

Good luck with modifying your car... If you have any questions please don't hesitate to pm me.

Lance

[JamesBizzle]

Originally Posted by lanakano

Squidmonkey,

The Fit was designed to be one of the world's best handling fuel efficient cars... I'm not sure if you know this but the handling characteristics of the FIT is so good that not only was it best performer in it's class (other similar situated priced cars) but Road & Track reported that it outperformed a current model year Corvette.

I know that you asked above about adding horse power to the car. However, as gleamed from the above posts, adding horsepower is not always the best thing to do.

Even better is to know the strengths of you and your car and to know and challenge the weaknesses of your opponent and opponent's car.

If you look at the parts listed in JamesBizzel's signature you'll see light weight wheels (around 10lbs/wheel) and a lot of chassis braces. I think that JamesBizzel understands that the way to make the FIT faster is by replacing heavy items with light weight ones. In addition, stiffening up the chassis will make the car respond to directional input faster and the car will be more stable and consistent under the new directional input.

I wanted to share with you something special. It doesn't involve adding horsepower. However, it probably will costs as much as if you added a J's racing titanium (very light weight) exhuast system to your Fit. And when you learn how to drive your car (performance driving schools or whatever) you'll be several seconds faster than if you didn't have this part on.

The part is a Limited Slip Differential for your Automaic Fit. Please see the following quote:

"Compatible with Automatic Transmission Vehicles
(Noiseless High Performance with Automatic Transmission Fluid)
In automatic transmission vehicles abnormal noise is unavoidable with a metal LSD, but Carbon LSDs will adapt without any problems to the fluid used for automatic transmissions. It is for this reason that an LSD for use in automatic transmission vehicles is now planned for our company's product line. This will enable sport driving with automatic transmission cars, and will also be extremely effective in improving the quality of the ride over poor or snowy roads.

[Explanation]
Development of an LSD for use in automatic transmission vehicles has been attempted many times in the past, but the compatibility of LSDs with ATF (automatic transmission fluid) has been poor and operation was abnormally noisy, so development was abandoned. However, the results of compatibility tests of carbon LSDs with ATF have shown that there is absolutely no problem with locking performance and noise, so we have embarked on the development of a carbon LSD for automatic transmission vehicles.

In December, 2005, we will release the first carbon LSD for automatic for Honda Fit 1,300 & 1,500. ATS carbon LSDs will make your automatic vehicles or mini vans really lively and nimble without sacrificing any riding comfort. "

Link is here:
http://www.a-t-s-usa.com/ats-products/lsd-carbon1.htm

Please do a search and look at how Ben set up the AJR time attack Fit. I talked to Ben and he thinks that with a couple of more hours of dialing in the suspension they could have shaved 2 more seconds off of the Fits lap time and taken first place (Upsetting all of the high horsepower Fits)

Good luck with modifying your car... If you have any questions please don't hesitate to pm me.

Lance

LSD is actully the next thing on my list but it's quite expensive so I won't be able to get one till late next year. or maybe even after depending on how well I resist from spending

I brought my car to a road course when It was still stock and it handled pretty well but it had too much body roll for my liking, so I decided to stiffin up the ride. I brought it back after all my suspension mods and it handled great. and I pulled off times that were 7-9 seconds faster then the times I pulled off the first time around (this was my second time on the track though, so that help a little to). I'm sure with the LSD my time's will continue to become even shorter. I recomend that you get springs/coilovers and LSD first. that's what I would have done if I had enough money at the time. I went with springs cause it's a daily driver, but when I can afford another car coils will be going on the Fit. I'm planning to make my fit Strictly a track car and every now and then a weekend car.

good luck with what ever mods you decide to go with!