Ok, I know you guys are probably like WTF, u should toast that car with ease, but I'm thinking about racing my friend and his white 95 Civic EX 5 speed 2 door. I raced one of my other friends in his black 99 Civic EX 5 speed 2 door from a roll and he kept up with me the whole time... I forget how fast the roll was though, and yes, my car is tunedup with new cap/rotor/coil/wires, plugs, air filters, fuel filter, etc. The 95 Civic is faster then the black 99. Is VTEC really that GOOD on top end??? Or is my car just that BAD on top end??? Are my 2.73s killing me??? Is there any chance I can win? I have an '87 Z28 305 TPI THM700R4. Here are my performance mods:

Took out the baffles in my air intake
K&N filters
TPI airfoil
SLP Y-pipe
Hooker Aerochamber catback

...and I'm going to probably have either a JET or Hypertech Stage2 chip, MSD cap/rotor/coil/wires, maybe the ram air mod... probably get some of that NOS "race formula" octane booster that has like nitro in it and put that in my car with some 93 octane... that'd be close to, if not 100 octane gas.... one of my friends used it and we think we noticed a difference.

but here is my main question: What are some tips and tricks for me to gain an edge on him? I know I should take out my spare, jack... what else? My back seats are already out, maybe the passenger seat... that lid on the back "trunk" thing has to go, I have the bose stereo and it's quite heft... gotta figure out how to take that off... and ice down the TPI intake with a bag of ice... does anyone know like the optimum time to leave the bag of ice on it before the race? Like 5...10...15 minutes? How high of RPMS should I brake stand too? I've never really been in a full blown race before... it's just that when that guy kept up with me in his civic I was like WTF... I should be toasting him.. and it wasn't happening...

Here's another thing I've been wondering, I've heard that you want to run your heater when u race to keep your car cool, but then other people told me you don't want to run ANYTHING, including the heater... does it rob power also? I know not to run the A/C... I rarely do as it is anyway.


If anyone cares, I know exactly what the 95 civic I want to race has, there would be *NO* surprises like spray or anything. As of now he has:

Neuspeed lowering springs
AEM short ram intake
Topspeed muffler
Meatier wheels/tires
And he'd probably use that octane stuff too, cause he's the one we tried it on.

 

The octane crap doesn't mean anything, and in fact he has nothing that will really help him except for the v-tech on the upper end. As for the heater thing and such it doesn't really matter, you are talking about maybe 1hp at the crank. Now a/c is a differant story. Make sure your car has warmed up and the t-stat has opended ect. Make sure your trans is warmed up (about 5 minutes of light driving will be good enough). Run with about 1/2-1/4 of a tank of gas or a full tank if you have spinning problems. Try to learn how to launch. Put your left foot on the brake like you would if you were going to power brake, but don't go to the point that the wheels brake loose, just until about 2000-2500 rpm. Then when the light goes green release the brake and floor the gas (or as far as possible with out looseing traction). You should have the car in drive, or possible power shift if you think you can do it with out missing. (2nd on the 700r4 shifts about 4500 so it might be worth it) Really you need to avoid racing this guy at a roll, because the tpi engines do not breathe well high up and with those 2.73's you are kinda screwed. Off the line you should get this guy. Then just hold it too the floor. With your mods you should be well out in front. there is probably more, but really just keep traction, and race to your cars advantages.

 

Yeah, when I race the white 95 it will be from a stop, but the black 99 from the roll was just a seat of the pants thing we decided to go with... and it really scared me that he kept up with me, I floored it and we downshifted almost at exactly the same time and he stayed with me, I was like WTF, he's still there?!?!?!

 

I've got the Hypertech Stage2 chip....I liked it so much, I put my stock chip back in. The chip sucks with part-throttle drivability- it's just not worth the almost unnoticable increase of power @ WOT. Waste of $150- which could have been spent better.
That octane booster will NOT give you more power. Adding it to a stock engine wil not make any noticable difference unless your engine is already 'pinging'.
What you need to do though, is take advantage of that extra octane. I think with 100 octane fuel, I'd be advancing my timing up to 10* BTDC. Also, make sure your tires are properly inflated. Ice down the intake as long as possible....Instead of using frozen water, try dry ice since it's cheap & colder. It's -90* C & would have a lot better results than frozen H20. Make sure your plenum & runners are cool enough to touch, before you place dry ice on them. In other words don't do it to a hot engine. This will eliminate having too great of a delta in temperature initally on the aluminum intake plenum, which could stress it. For every 10* cooler the intake air is, you gain 3-5% in HP...It probably wouldn't hurt to go to a 170 - 180* thermostat even with the stock chip, which would allow the engine to stay cooler than stock while in motion. The stat wouldn't help until you engine get's up to temp.
I've also heard of people disconnecting the front stabilizer bar, and picking of a tenth because it allows more travel of the front suspension, to aid in weight transfer to the back.

But again I think you'll see an improvement your looking for from octane booster with advanced timing- along with dry iceing down your intake plenum & runners. And you'd be out all of $20.

 

make sure your front tires are inflated completely. this will reduce rolling resistance. Try launching from different rpms and see which way works the best. small burn out to clean the tires off. advance the timing a bit. shift the trans manually. remove anything that isnt needed. If you don't have the serpentine belt system, remove the AC belt entirely. Thats all I can think of right now. good luck.

 

launch good. drop the front sway bar. deflate rear tires a lil bit. be careful.

that it from me.

brady.

 

well u should be able to beat him stock, let alone with the extras u have done, his mods aint **** honestly.. the way i see ***** mods now, is the way i see mods for my motorcycle ('02 yamaha R6) a slip on muffler($300-500) gains like 2 hp, and a full exuast ($1000+) gains like 10-12 hp... *granted bikes are much lighter* but u can see that even with his intake and muffler, he didnt gain alot of HP.. where as V8's do exuast and gain liek 20 hp. if he had an accord.. id be worried.. but a civic aint ****. and just FYI.. u dont need 100 oct or octane boost... u wont see any magic gain in hp/tq. and actually octane boose just raised ur octaine a few points.. and not like 91 to 97 oct (if it raises 6 points) it actually 91.6 oct.

as far as racing.. if u have time, loose the front sway bar, take the rear tires to about 25-28 psi (maybe even less, practice alittle). and since i use to have a 305 tpi i know how importent my next sugestion is.. GET A TUNE UP! get soem new plugs, wire, cap, oil change, o2 sensor.. ect..

as far as a chip.. i put a jet in my 305 and i didnt see **** in power gains. if u can, get someone to burn u one.. but its not worth it at the level of mods ur at. u may want to try to go to auto store (checker, autozone, ect) and pick up some cheap headers and maybe a cheap muffler. u will see some decent gains jsut from that alone. the headers should cost only $50, muffler $30, and if u go to an exuast shop and have them just make u either a 2 1/2 or 3" exuast. pipeing is only $30 usually. and if u have the little extra $, have them put in flanges for ur cat, so u can take the cat off, install a pipe, and have a freeer-flowing exaust. and when its time for emissions, jsut take the pipe off, and put the cat in. . jsut an idea if u have $100 available ..

 

drop the chip and forget about the octane booster unless your gunna advance your timming. Everyone brought up the good things to do. Inflate your tires if there street tires to the level it says, maybe a little more. Line up, put it in D, rev up to 1.8-2k.. just before your tires start to spin.. and wait for the flag to drop... get off the left and push the loud peddle to the floor... you wil have this guy from a stop.
As for the VTEC question. VTEC means Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control. VTEC engines are all about up top. Baiscly at high rpms, the computer varies the lobes to change the timing to gain more upper rpm power, hence why you never could get away from him, not to mention that tpi likes to choke engines around 5k. Port your plenum and open your runners, and you will see a slight change in your band. And if you get a hi flow base plate, you will see a lot more power.

 

Race him from a stop, drop the hammer, and don't look back. Yes your 2.73's are killing you, but, he can't match you're torque off the line. Look at my sig and see what I did with 2.77's...