So, Im building my civic for auto cross and boost is pretty much pointless because its such short bursts of speed and turning, the turbo wont even have time to wind up. My goal is to have about 200-250 HP, nothing crazy, but enough for me. Is this possible in my single cam engine? Feedback please.
Is this your daily driver? It's hard to have a very good dedicated autox car AND have it be a daily driver at the same time. Reliability goes down and so does comfort. Trust me, been there done that. Why I have 2 autox cars and a nice comfy daily driver for work.
You can boost and it would do fairly well, you just need to know how to set up your motor for it. Though it is true most SMF cars are not boosted since they really don't need to be. Too much power in a light FWD car and you'll actually be going slower...
200-250...Wheel HP? or at crank? 200+ to the wheels will be very hard out of a D16 being n/a. I've never seen it(not to say it can't be done). I'm sure it'd take an absurd amount of money and reliability goes way out the window. For what it's worth, you're better off doing a mild build with a swap both financially and for reliability.
Nope.
If you're building ONLY for autocross, get a B18 or B20 and throw in a B16 tranny with an LSD and shorter FD. Good torque in low gear at high RPM = win around the track. And don't forget tires and suspension. You'll want to read the guidelines and rules per class.
A very well built B18 can go a long way and I've seen B20's do well. The former Street Modified National Champion car has a Type-R motor that's beefed up with stupid expensive parts. I know the new owner and the car/motor is pretty crazy. Definitely not a "budget" build.
And YES. Read the rule book before you throw mods at your car! You want to build up your motor and try to be the fastest and win, but, one tiny mod can put you in a higher class for which you'll never ever ever have a chance in, regardless of what you do to your car. So be careful. Also, reading the rule book allows you to build with a purpose. You can figure out what you need and just as important, what you don't need.
yeah ive pondered the B series swap, but i figured 4 grand for a B18 defeats the purpose of me having a somewhat cheap hobby......as far as the suspension, its already set up... full coilovers, front/rear camber kit......H brace, upper lower front back braces.....front/rear sway bars. Roll cage coming soon.....handling isnt my issue, its going faster lol
AutoX can be ALMOST as cheap, but mainly as expensive, as you make it. Even running stock class gets expensive... From the sounds of it, you've opted for the very expensive route. If you're talking about building your motor and doing this and that, you're talking about running in a class that is highly competitive and the top runners are ones with deep pockets.
Just because you have all the suspension components you can throw at your car does not mean it is well setup. The Skunk2 coilover kits are not ideal for autox, there's better out there and for around the same price.. You need to figure out which spring rates to get based on weight, sway bars, tires, and other mods. You also need to understand how and when to adjust your shocks(if yours are adjustable) to maximize the control of movement in your suspension for each course, swaybar setting, tire type, tire pressure, and pavement type. Having adjustable camber is great, but again, you need to know what camber angles you need and what toe settings you need that best suit your driving style. H-brace and all those strut/tie bars are OK, but really insignificant. Considering your generation/model, you're better off losing them to save weight. Front/rear swaybar sizes need to be chosen based on spring rates, alignment and other suspension mods. Many people don't run a larger swaybar for these cars, some even remove it to save weight and adjust accordingly with higher spring rates.
If you haven't gotten it already, there's quite a bit of tuning you need to do to get your suspension setup right. It takes a looong time with a lot of seat time. Trust me when I say you'll be MUCH better off getting your suspension dialed in than getting ~100 more hp. I've proven such with my 2 Civics I autox. They make less than 100whp and are on street tires but I've taken numerous FTD's running with BMW club, Porsche club, Corvette club and another local club where cars are making far more hp than I am.
And I'm sure you've heard it before, but, there is NO mod better than seat time. I've gotten to where I am as a driver and have had success for a while because I get lots of seat time. I've been doing about 30 events a season for the past 3-4 years. I'm fortunate to live in an area with many clubs so I can. If you don't have that many clubs with that amount of events, find autox schools and do them as much as possible.
Isnt everyone "building" their car for auto cross today?
Yeah that seems to be the trend for some reason. Around my area there has been a
slight increase in participants from event to event. BUT, the retention rate is still kind of flat. Meaning those new guys who are running either don't come back for more or they only run on occasion.
OP, IF you really want to be the most competitive, best, win, w/e... You have a long way to go. For starters, your chassis is not the best. 4th and 5th gen hatches are the lightest with the shortest wheel base and lowest COG. This is why I went from my already fast 5th gen Coupe, to the even faster '91 Si. My coupe handles extremely well but feels like a pig in comparison to my hatch. Next, I'd say my sponsor has done quite a good job showing that the K-series power plant is optimal for these cars if you're going to swap. He's won SMF at Nationals twice (2010/2011) and has won countless Divisionals, Tours, and Pro Solos. And well, last, you need a lot of money... Good, light wheels and r-compounds are crazy expensive. A solid suspension setup will easily be a few grand. Then there's a slew of other things like Carbon Fiber parts, racing seats, etc...
IMO, leave your car alone until you feel you've reached a point where your car is holding you back. Maybe I'm wrong but I kinda doubt you're really at that point right now. Then tune the suspension better. THEN focus on motor/power. It took me about 4 years before I said to myself, "I'm ready for a little more power". That's when I bought a lower mileage D16 for my coupe and gained 6wtq at low rev and 3whp/3wtq at high rev. And since I waited until my driving skills were up to par, that little power difference was absolutely HUGE to me. Most others probably wouldn't even notice it..
