JCrim, 555, This thread is for you.

Are there any mods y'all feel have been most beneficial? Things you wish you had done the first time? Things you regret doing? Reviews of any parts, tyres, tracks, organizations, etc.

And the question I've been wanting to ask for awhile:

JC, what have you been driving while your Fit is getting K-power? lol

 

Honestly for me, the typical normal mods of better tires and brakes. Everything I have done to my Fit I don't regret at all. I will say my only regret, was selling my 5R when I moved to Guam, only to come back to Japan 21 months later. Being down on Okinawa with it, just wasn't what the car wanted, it was ready for circuit action and would of loved to be up here in mainland.

Back to the Fit though, for tracking purposes, just shave weight. Don't go cheap on parts really, I know everyone has a budget of whatever amount, but for me, I would rather roll stock and save for the part I really want then to compromise and get something less just to have it.

As far as tires go, I pretty much stick with Advan. AD08s daily even in the winter, thankfully it doesn't snow too much here and if it does snow more than say 6", I will just throw the stockers on. The A050s I just purchased, were wonderful out on circuit, though I was surprised that the NO2 pressures raised as much as they did, thought it would have been a bit more stable compared to just regular O2.

If I am still here after 31 January...I'm definitely without a doubt throwing in a Cusco RS diff in as well as swapping the FD to the 4.687 from MFactory if I can get them to do the full WPC method on it versus just the regular shot peen. I can get a 4.625 WPC final from J's, but with the ¥ smacking the $uck around, if MFactory will WPC their final, it will save me about $300. That $300 can go towards a new clutch or new pads or towards the ProjectMu big brake kit up front. See MNFit, I too like my bling, but it has to serve a purpose. hahaha

I will say if you are seriously going to drive your Fit, do not hesitate to put a diff in. I guess in reality this is my only regret with the Fit, I should have done this FIRST. So much time is lost on circuit because of this. The last tracking event, I would catch the 2 faster Fits in the braking zone, but they both had diffs as well as the 4.6 stock final in the newer RS and were just able to edge away coming out of the corner due to laying down our miniscule power...JC not included in this crowd anymore; Mr.K.

 

Whoa, I like this post. Makes me regret cheaping out and just getting S.Drives, now I feel I should've gotten AD08's, RE11, Star Specs, etc.

Time to do some more research.

 

Mike how much seat time and experience do you have in the Fit on a cone course and road course?

 

None.

Made this to learn from people who've done it before.

My mission for 2012 is to do at least 2 AutoX events.

I'll do a track day once I've paid off the car. I remember reading somewhere (paraphrasing here):

If you aren't willing to scrap the car that day, a track day is not for you

And I'm adhering to that, too much debt to risk messing anything up.

 

This is 100% true, and I follow it 100%.

I wouldn't hesitate taking it to autocross, there's not a whole lot of damage you can do to it there. Just get some decent summer tires and wheels or even just throw some decent all seasons on your steelies and go throw the car around.

You won't break any course records but you'll learn alot about yourself and the car.

I'm going to have to take mine (Fit) to autocross this year because I don't have a toy at the moment I won't take it to a road course b/c i'm still making payments haha, but I barely got to drive last year and it's really bugging me.

 

We're in the same boat man. And I've got summer wheels/tyres.

 

want to do auto x! might take the teggy to auto x 2 weeks from now. or drive buddy's subaru

 

Drive Teggy! You have it corner balanced yet?

 

haha no corner balance . still have hard rubber bushings and solid motormounts to install

 

GET ON IT TWIN!

What tyres do you have on Teggy btw?

 

non-performance tires

 

Why you has lame tyres?

 

$35 each. i cheap

 

You are going into this with the wrong mentality, whoever told you that have read way too many articles/stories of people messing up their car due to their own "stupidity"; quotes like this are scaring people off and are the reasons why this sport is dying slowly.

I have attended many track days with my S2000 (still in market for a fit) and have seen some bad things happen from broken parts, cars crash into each other, and 3 roll overs. Yes, track racing is dangerous but mostly because of 2 main reasons.

1. Broken parts; inspect your vehicle to avoid parts breaking at high speed, the fit is relatively new, nothing should break even with track abuse, no big here.
2. The most important thing is know your own skill level. A lot of idiots expect themselves to perform like pro racers as soon as they get onto the track, then they go over their own limits and panic when the car starts to lose control. Just because you are on a race track does not mean you have to make the tires screech when you take a corner; you are on a race track to learn at your own pace in a controlled environment. If you take it slow and respect other drivers' safety, no one will get hurt.

Mike, I would recommend you to attend a a track day or auto-x STOCK with decent tires and brake pads. If you have never driven the car this way, the best way is to learn with an instructor or a friend who really knows what he's doing. After you learn how to counter steer and correct the car when it slides or loses control, you can try out a track (circuit) day but still take it slow. Then after YOU get good at driving that the stock car is at its limit, then you can start upgrading suspension parts and adjust according to YOUR driving style.

Every time I go to the track, I expect to drive myself home.

 

I would hardly call a HPDE a "controlled enviroment". Are there rules? Yes. However, 90% of the cars i've seen smashed INTO (actual auto collisions on track, not offs) had nothing to do with the person driving, and everything to do with the person driving behind them.

All it takes is one overzealous ricer thinking he's Andretti to royally screw up your next few months. Good luck telling your insurance agency "yeah the accident happened at a race track".

That is what is meant by: If you aren't willing to scrap the car that day, a track day is not for you.

Autocross is a whole 'nother story, and chances of any sort of wreck there is slim.

Every time I drive to the track, I expect to drive home too. I know a lot of people who expected the same thing and it didn't work out . Have I taken my DD to track before? Yes. But I knew it was a risk and was prepared to deal with the consequences should something have happened.

 

Bears repeating.. cuz shit happens. And it may not be your fault.

 

Whether its my fault or not, I'm not going to risk losing a car I owe money on, especially if its my only car. I'm in the process of buying a cheap POS to beat on on the track, but that's something that would be entirely disposable.

 

LOL I just noticed this thread! lol let me catch up an I will reply, new favorite ^_^ thanks

 

*cracks knuckles* Here we go! Going to bold the parts I am addressing. I will also add a little story about myself at the end

First off, THANKS FOR THIS AWESOME THREAD!!!!!! <3

I was driving the most broken a$$ jeep cherokee you can possibly imagine. It's my roommates. Every bushing is shot so it is VERY VERY squeeky and loud. Also, he has NO sway bars on it. I was in fear of my life when I first started driving it.. Also, the battery does not hold a charge. I did not want to waste any money on his jeep because he was going to sell "old trustie" after I got done with my swap and I could DD my fit for a little bit until I get a second car. Every time I needed to "activate" the jeep to drive, I had to jump it off. I carried around a jump box in the back seat and recharged the box every night. lol yes, for that month and a half, my electricity bill was $389 dollars lol! its a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 car garage, 2500 square feet town home. so split 4 ways it wasn't that bad.. anyways, also, we left an old miata transmission in the back of the jeep and never disposed of it and the jeep was sitting in the sun while it was not in use. when I needed the jeep, it was good and old transmission fluid smelling sense the tranny has been in there. soooo gross. I got to the point where everyone could smell it on me when I came home and I could no longer smell it.. lol I did however pay my friend the extra amount of money to add the jeep back to his insurance so I could drive it legally insured. so it cost me like $60 bucks to borrow it for like 1.5 months.

ITS ALL ABOUT HOW BAD YOU WANT IT!

The fit is light enough to get away with some cheap Hawk HP Plus pads. I come from spec miata racers so I was scolded at a younger age.. lol I find myself always comparing to miata guys. Their race proven ways, their mods, they data. It's so plain and simple to understand and a blessing sense I live with one guy would does this. We do fight about this "just use blank napa rotors" vs "I've been using these slotted and dimpled rotors and they work great and hella cheap." lol

As you guys know, I will now HAVE to change my break setup. TOO MUCH MOMENTUM for these HP Pluses.. So I'm moving to Carbotechs. XP series. I will be contacting fast brakes (once I get over this tax season... grr) and upgrade to their DC2 11" rotor front and back BBK and use carbotech pads.

Shaving weight is my 100% soul objective. There is NO other attribute that means more to ME. If I don't need it, IT GOES!

I don't have a secondary DD just yet so I've been DDing the fit.. lol pros and cons to this... I am getting SUPER used to the car and feel waaaaaaay more comfortable and familiar with it. I would have been scared to just arrive at a track with it and attempted what I previously did before. Yes, my car is street legalish (as far as the coppers are concerned here locally) Once I save up and grab a DD (before the HEAT of the texas summer of course!) I will make it full track and go nuts on the weight reduction. ie:headlights, windows, wipers, motors, glass, fuel tank... all that bs.

I keep extreme summer tires on all year long because this is texas. Actually for the past few months I've been on R comps lol. Going to get 2 new 225/45's ordered tomorrow too..

I'll be honest, the S.Drive are an AWESOME tire for the category it is placed in. NOTHING wrong with them. In fact, the first time I ever went to a road course, I was on some hard a$$ crappy yokohama avid H4s. I'll post the video below.

JCrim the newb (First HPDE)
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/...484160800&ev=0

It was my first time EVER being on a track. I chunked the hell out of those tires. I had brake pads and fluid and thats it. haha But, It was the most educational experience I have ever had. In fact, out of everyone that was there, I had to try 200% harder to be better than them with my sh!tty setup. Stickier tires will begin to hide driver error. I began to learn with the hardest judges ever (judges metaphor = tires). After that HPDE weekend, my eyes were open. I was a new man. My mind could then split function and form and waste and need. It was like eating the freaking forbidden fruit.. Before I went nuts and ordered all these F1 race parts, my friends intercepted. "slow down tiger, grow into it." I was told to start from the ground up. tires, wheels, pads, shocks, springs, etc ground up (when I mention pads there, I am meaning more aggressive once completing the prerequisites of pads and fluid for your first track day.)

Now, today, 16FEB2012. Everyone of my "report cards" from HPDE have shown constant, steady progression. But one thing for the past 3 cards stayed the same, "Slow car, fast driver." "Driver has out grown car's power." etc.. Well... I knew what the next mod was going to be..

They're 2 comments on my report cards that made me feel great. 1. Driver has began to self teach. 2. SOLO THIS DRIVER! I have NEVER felt more proud and more accomplished in my life.

Report card pics:




It's a 50/50 thing to me.. let me explain. You can must easier get into a wreck of damage your car on public roads just driving as normal on the daily commute. I have seen people roll at the track before, one in which is one of my very very close friends in his 2008 civic si.. trying to be a hero/speedracer and win HPDE... He never really went off the track bad previously before this happened. He was too head strong about her ego.. He thought going off was like a newb thing to do and only crappy people did that... well he didn't do it enough or know really what to do when it happens. It was the last run of the day, I was tired and know my limits, I sat that last run out. He called me a panzey and joked with me about it for a while. It was his solo evaluation session too... so .. he went off, tried to save her instead of just going straight off.. and BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!, 3 rolls across the track, totaled car, he was scratch-less. I will not tell you anything about the car and insurance here publicly, don't ask.

About autoX, I learned RR first. so therefore I blow at AutoX. I enjoy AutoX because it is racing and involves my car and me driving, but I don't anywhere near favor it over RR.

AutoXers make good Road Racers
Road Racers make horrid AutoXers

It is deff a GREAT way to know what your car does on the edge. Most RRers never experience this!

+1000000000000000000000000000000000

fawk it, go on junk tires like a boss! lol its fun

well, I can agree with you in the beginer class. In my HPDE, they won't promote unsafe people at all. Once you get out of the newb class, you are pretty smooth, safe sailing as far as other driver go. but yes, 90% of the "accidents" are overzealous heros/speedracers that are trying to win HPDE.. IE, my friend with the civic..

And about the insurance thing.. First off, they DO offer Track day insurance for this very reason.

also.. HPDE is not a race, nor a timed event. I'm not telling you that it's cool with your insurance, but I just want to point this out there.
racing and performance driving education are two different things.
Please call your insurance ahead of time if you really want to know, or use your imagination.

I want a POS to drive on the streets for DD.. lol