rmcdaniels
02-13-2005, 10:56 PM
I was at the track today working on my inconsistent launch, lining up against an impressive array of stock D-series civics and stock 3rd-gen Eclipses (people with fast cars go out of their way to not line up next to my dirty, dented, crappy looking Civic, the staging lane shenanigans are comical and I usually wind up next to a 15-18 second car). The humidity was really high, it actually kind of mistily rained on us a few times, but not enough to wet the track, but everyone's times were way off (the Viper was running high 12's). A couple of the bikers noticed I was completely fucking up my launch and still running pretty quick, so right before the staging lanes closed for the day they got the lone Z06 there (he'd been posting the best times of the day for a car that didn't arrive on a trailer) to agree to race me. So more staging lane shenanigans and we get next to each other. I do my burnout and line up, he takes a bit longer (no front brake lock and no FWD e-brake burnout for him), but gets up on the line after a bit. The track announcer is making a big deal out of it (DOMESTIC VS. IMPORT!) and a bunch of people are coming up to watch the fun.
So a '99 Civic Si, built and boosted B16 with a leaky head gasket, vs. newish Z06 with bolt-on mods (he told me what they were, but I don't really remember, headers, exhaust, something about a MAF, or he may have been talking about his friend's Camaro on the MAF thing, I don't really know, but it was all bolt-on stuff).
I got him off the tree, .5134 reaction time to his .5578, my launch was actually pretty good, I was way ahead at 60'. 2nd gear is very hard to control, I usually lose some ground to fast cars in 2nd, and he caught up a bit, but I was still ahead when I got into 3rd gear. I ride 3rd to the 1/8th and can open it up most of the way in 3rd without spinning too much, so I'm approaching 9000 in 3rd, still ahead of the Z06 and pulling away very slowly, and 4th is by far my best gear, so I'm looking forward to spanking him down the second 1/8th. I go to shift into 4th and my car makes a pop/fshwack/fshwack/fshwack noise and the rear feels funny, but it's only got to hold together for a few more seconds and I'll spank a Z06, so I stay on it. The noise quickly turns into the plab/plab/plab/plab noise of a flat tire, looks like the rear driver side blew out, but it's not affecting me too much so I keep on it, but it's not quite as quick as normal with the flat tire and the Z06 is edging up on my right rather quickly. It was so close I couldn't tell who won until I got the time slip. He beat me by .0037 and he trapped a little faster.
What a fun race, I think if I had air in all four tires I would have had him. In retrospect I probably should have let off when I realized my tire was toast, but I got caught up in the moment because it was so damn close. The Z06 driver was nice enough, but I think he REALLY didn't want to lose to a Civic. He was telling me about what he did to beat me when I mentioned that I lost a tire at the 1/8th and it kind of slowed me down a bit. I don't think he believed me, but his buddy went over to my car and checked it out where it was sitting on the rim on the sidewall, the tire obviously a goner.
So a '99 Civic Si, built and boosted B16 with a leaky head gasket, vs. newish Z06 with bolt-on mods (he told me what they were, but I don't really remember, headers, exhaust, something about a MAF, or he may have been talking about his friend's Camaro on the MAF thing, I don't really know, but it was all bolt-on stuff).
I got him off the tree, .5134 reaction time to his .5578, my launch was actually pretty good, I was way ahead at 60'. 2nd gear is very hard to control, I usually lose some ground to fast cars in 2nd, and he caught up a bit, but I was still ahead when I got into 3rd gear. I ride 3rd to the 1/8th and can open it up most of the way in 3rd without spinning too much, so I'm approaching 9000 in 3rd, still ahead of the Z06 and pulling away very slowly, and 4th is by far my best gear, so I'm looking forward to spanking him down the second 1/8th. I go to shift into 4th and my car makes a pop/fshwack/fshwack/fshwack noise and the rear feels funny, but it's only got to hold together for a few more seconds and I'll spank a Z06, so I stay on it. The noise quickly turns into the plab/plab/plab/plab noise of a flat tire, looks like the rear driver side blew out, but it's not affecting me too much so I keep on it, but it's not quite as quick as normal with the flat tire and the Z06 is edging up on my right rather quickly. It was so close I couldn't tell who won until I got the time slip. He beat me by .0037 and he trapped a little faster.
What a fun race, I think if I had air in all four tires I would have had him. In retrospect I probably should have let off when I realized my tire was toast, but I got caught up in the moment because it was so damn close. The Z06 driver was nice enough, but I think he REALLY didn't want to lose to a Civic. He was telling me about what he did to beat me when I mentioned that I lost a tire at the 1/8th and it kind of slowed me down a bit. I don't think he believed me, but his buddy went over to my car and checked it out where it was sitting on the rim on the sidewall, the tire obviously a goner.