well this happened
![]()
that's right, you can make your civic a rally car! went to a local event here in GA.
can't really be seen in the video but the car's very neutral midcorner and tailhappy on braking. just a lot of push on exit unfortunately.
some background - I've been doing rallycrosses with SCCA and Tarheel Sports Car Club for years. I did pretty darn well in the past with my old Subaru. i'm familiar with how to go decently fast on dirt and choose to only run at fairly smooth tracks, so i was excited to get the Si out there.
the good - i'd be competitive if i had traction. surprisingly tail happy. more than enough power, long 1st gear made it easy to ride the powerband and stretch it out between corners. never bottomed out, didn't even scrape the front apron. suspension held up fine and did a good job of mixing compliance and keeping response. good brake bias for trailbraking.
the bad - spin, spin, spin. that Torsen ain't gonna torse if both tires have no grip. the wheel/tire sizing was perfect, but the tread on the no-seasons was just unable to do anything, anywhere and i spent most of the time just figuring out where i could straighten the car out so i could do more than feather the throttle. i kind of knew that going in, but its really apparent now that without proper tires i'm just going to stay frustrated. with (A) aggressive snows or (B) a course that was open enough it would have been a genuinely fast car.
some pics (none of me...i was the only guy with a camera)
don't laugh at that monte carlo. he was in the hunt for fastest stock FWD time.
![]()
![]()
AWD of all vintages out today
![]()
not sure if i mentioned the dust. everywhere. everything is dust.
![]()
the venue did a crappy job of butting in on the event with a water truck and swamped the whole course right as our run group was in the middle of our afternoon runs. the dirt turned into an insanely slick clay mud that was just ridiculous. i said "F that" and bailed on my last 3 runs. what a waste. i doubt i'll run at this site again.
some cool shots of the mod classes while i was working...
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
got the results in, and honestly i'm surprised and pleased. counting my 5 runs before i bailed, i was about 6 of 18 overall and would have come in 2nd out of 4 FWD cars. if anything i was at least consistent, only 1 cone and all my runs were basically within a second of each other.
i think i was the fastest car on normal street tires, beat all the Mod AWD guys except 1 and all the Mod Rear. good start and now i have a better idea where i stand.
![]()
back to normal life - all cleaned up and hardparking at Costco.
![]()
that's right, you can make your civic a rally car! went to a local event here in GA.
can't really be seen in the video but the car's very neutral midcorner and tailhappy on braking. just a lot of push on exit unfortunately.
some background - I've been doing rallycrosses with SCCA and Tarheel Sports Car Club for years. I did pretty darn well in the past with my old Subaru. i'm familiar with how to go decently fast on dirt and choose to only run at fairly smooth tracks, so i was excited to get the Si out there.
the good - i'd be competitive if i had traction. surprisingly tail happy. more than enough power, long 1st gear made it easy to ride the powerband and stretch it out between corners. never bottomed out, didn't even scrape the front apron. suspension held up fine and did a good job of mixing compliance and keeping response. good brake bias for trailbraking.
the bad - spin, spin, spin. that Torsen ain't gonna torse if both tires have no grip. the wheel/tire sizing was perfect, but the tread on the no-seasons was just unable to do anything, anywhere and i spent most of the time just figuring out where i could straighten the car out so i could do more than feather the throttle. i kind of knew that going in, but its really apparent now that without proper tires i'm just going to stay frustrated. with (A) aggressive snows or (B) a course that was open enough it would have been a genuinely fast car.
some pics (none of me...i was the only guy with a camera)
don't laugh at that monte carlo. he was in the hunt for fastest stock FWD time.
AWD of all vintages out today
not sure if i mentioned the dust. everywhere. everything is dust.
the venue did a crappy job of butting in on the event with a water truck and swamped the whole course right as our run group was in the middle of our afternoon runs. the dirt turned into an insanely slick clay mud that was just ridiculous. i said "F that" and bailed on my last 3 runs. what a waste. i doubt i'll run at this site again.
some cool shots of the mod classes while i was working...
got the results in, and honestly i'm surprised and pleased. counting my 5 runs before i bailed, i was about 6 of 18 overall and would have come in 2nd out of 4 FWD cars. if anything i was at least consistent, only 1 cone and all my runs were basically within a second of each other.
i think i was the fastest car on normal street tires, beat all the Mod AWD guys except 1 and all the Mod Rear. good start and now i have a better idea where i stand.
back to normal life - all cleaned up and hardparking at Costco.
