First Track Day at the Streets of Willow Springs
Shaking down Project Civic Si on track proves the virtue of patience behind the wheel.
My first track day outing with Project Civic Si took place at the Streets of Willow Springs. Streets is tight, technical, arrhythmic and bumpy, designed to be 1.6 miles of circuit that looks and feels like your favorite back road. It’s also a track that I have always struggled to put down quick lap times on, so what better place to kick things off with this new build?
The weather was brisk (read: freezing) on this bright December day. Upon arrival, the temperature hovered around 35 degrees Fahrenheit, so bundling up and running the heater on track was a requisite to keep my hands from freezing over on the steering wheel. No matter, though, it’s a track day, and I finally get to shake down Project Civic Si.
My initial impressions of the car are mostly positive. The cold weather means the K20 engine is eager to rev and pulls hard to it's 8,300 RPM redline, over and over, again. However, it’s not exactly blazing fast across the back straight, which is uphill when running the track counter-clockwise.
The cold weather also seems to benefit the Falken tires, which apparently work best out of the gate, before they build up any real heat. Their grip levels, while not sky high, feel fitting for the stock, very soft suspension on the Si.
Speaking of that suspension, I figured it would be a weak spot on the car. With 110,000 miles on the odometer, the original shocks are well past their prime. Additionally, the stock springs are simply too soft for track day work. All of this results in a car that has a lot of brake dive and a lot of body roll, which requires waiting for the car to “take a set” before it’s really willing to corner hard. On the upside, that stock suspension, with it’s ample body roll, makes the car feel very playful. It can result in small moments of oversteer if you chuck the car into corners just right.
Lastly, I have to talk about the brakes. The Si gets upgraded front brakes over the standard Civic, to a 300mmx25mm rotor, with single piston calipers. It’s nothing fancy, and, frankly, underwhelming on track, even with good brake fluid and decent brake pads (I had EBC Yellowstuff at this point). However, at least they didn’t catch fire, which has happened once before at an autocross event. I’m hard on brakes, so I suspect a big brake kit of some sort is in the near future for this car.
Overall, for a stock sport compact front-wheel drive car, the Si feels pretty good on track, though, it has some clear areas for improvement. In the end, I was able to turn in a lap time of 1:34.6 around Streets CCW. The car is a lot of fun to chase the red line through the tight, technical course. I got to work the car through the gears a ton on track, which makes it more eventful and exciting. I suspect the car would be about a second a lap faster when running the track clockwise, due to the way the elevation changes. That means I have about 8 seconds to pick up in my quest to beat the performance of a stock Civic Type R on track. It’s a big ask, but with some key upgrades, it should be doable. So, stay tuned for the next episode.
