Si in SCCA Showroom Stock

[Jaranath]

I'm inexperienced at getting photos working on this site, so my apologies if I've totally messed that up, as I probably have...hmm, in fact, in preview the first photo seems to be insisting on being humongous...:rolleyes:

I'm back home from a good weekend at the June Sprints, and thought some of you might enjoy seeing an “untamed” Si in its natural habitat...the racetrack!



For those of you unfamiliar with it, the June Sprints is a race held every June (amazing!) at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, WI. A quick plug for RA: This is a lovely four-mile racecourse set in the Kettle Moraine region of Wisconsin, which means rolling hills and pretty, farm-and-woods countryside. It's the antithesis of the “stadium” style racetrack...a weekend at RA is really a combined camping, hiking and picnic trip. The track itself, as well as the town of Elkhart Lake and places such as Siebkens and Schwarz's, is a major piece of American road racing history. More on the track and the Sprints here:

http://www.roadamerica.com/2006/index.htm
http://www.junesprints.com/

Now, on to the car! (apologies to those who already know this background info): The June Sprints is a smorgasbord of SCCA amateur racing, with nearly any type of race car you can imagine running in short races over the weekend (“sprints”)—open wheel, closed, highly modified, spec, and more. At least 25 different classes run it, one of which is Showroom Stock.

Showroom Stock is an interesting class as it involves racing what are effectively street cars. The cars are as they came from the dealer's showroom...mostly. Effectively NO meaningful performance modifications are allowed, the most obvious differences being tires (on stock wheels) and cat-back exhausts. And, of course, safety modifications. Each car must have a roll cage, fire suppression system, and driver harness.

Here are some exterior of the racing Si driven by Bob Boileau. Mr. Boileau was discussed in an article in Sports Car magazine recently. His family has a long history with Honda racing, with his father racing one of the first Hondas in the US (which now resides in a museum). Boileau's car wears the colors (with a few changes) of his father's car, and there are plans to exhibit his Si alongside his father's car at the next SEMA show.







Here you can see much of the interior work, especially the roll cage and driver's seat:





Unfortunately, that beautiful interior must be sacrificed in the name of safety, such as here:



and here:



Here, the bars pass through the rear seat:



and on into the trunk, where you can see the fire suppression bottle:



This is the first season for Boileau's car, obviously. He says the car has about 500 miles on it from six race weekends, and I get the impression he isn't quite following the break-in recommendations. As you'd expect, Boileau keeps the engine above 6000 rpm. I asked him if he's had any mechanical issues or wear, and he gave an emphatic no, saying the car has been purely “gas, oil and go.” Naturally that doesn't count tire and brake wear!

Boileau is happy with the car for the most part, but hasn't decided yet if it's a winner. He's currently lagging behind his teammate Jeff Jensen, who drives the RSX below. I haven't seen the official results yet, but I'm pretty sure Jensen finished second in-class, and Boileau fourth:



Boileau is still learning the car, and making what few (very few!) adjustments are allowed under Showroom Stock regulations, primarily tires and exhaust. The car has a heavy push in turns, and Boileau hopes some camber adjustments with stock Honda bolts and lower profile (40) tires may help. The tires may also help with engaging VTEC quicker off those few turns that force him below it. The weight of the car (and its front-heavy nature) is causing issues with brake pad consumption and heat, so Boileau is experimenting with various pads. The exhaust also could benefit from some tweaking. Currently he's using a “straight” cat-back pipe that was rather crudely bent by his local Midas on short order, and he thinks he's getting some restriction that a proper custom pipe might eliminate. Even with the current exhaust, blasting down the track the car sounds like a wasp on steroids with murder on its mind.

Anyway, that's that. Thought you all might enjoy some images of an Si in racing kit. A photographer friend of mine got a couple photos of the car in action on the track, hopefully I'll have those soon and can post them.

Jara

[brooklynscat69]

Nice i guess it must have good results.

But they damaged the poor SI. THey couldve at least tryed to make it a clean change.

[skittleslegend]

Very good read. Did you happen to see either car in action? I'm going to Japan next year for the Toyko Auto Salon and we're taking a trip to the Honda museum. I can't wait. It's been a long time coming

[larryd]

wow.. they totaled mutilated that interior with the roll bar

[Jaranath]

Originally Posted by skittleslegend

Very good read. Did you happen to see either car in action?

Yes, I saw the cars run their qualifying sessions and race. It looked good, though I have to agree with the driver that it didn't look like it was in any danger of coming loose at the rear. It rained during Saturday qualifying, and he nearly lost it in turn 3 with the car nearly sideways on the track for a good distance before he got it together...that was amusing. He wasn't the only car to do so that session!

Yeah, the interior ripping/cutting is unfortunate, but there's no good way to do a proper roll cage otherwise, I gather. Those door panels had to allow the lower bars to clear, and the bars need access to their mounting plates, so sometimes you just gotta punch a hole!