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Time to whoop a friends Honda. lol....maybe?

18K views 92 replies 16 participants last post by  SMITHBOY76908 
#1 ·
Okay well, me and my friend have decided to go to a drag track and go at it.

He drives a 1990's? Honda 2 door hatch, with the 1.8L V-tec, and he has a exhaust fully done, a slightly bigger fuel rail, CAI, and he plans to swap on the newer V-tec 1.6L head for higher compression. He is also lowered somewhere are 1.5-2.0 inch's.


I'll be driving the 03 zx3 Duratec 2.3l PZev, With-

OE Exedy fly/clt conversion kit.
OBX header, finished with 2.5 diameter piping and high flow cat.
Weapon R Intake.
1.5 inch drop, FRPP.
And CFM's torque mount bushings.

Who will win?

I can get off the line perfectly most time, with the tire's just barely letting loose.

I think he thinks the faster he spins the wheel, the faster he will go, but I'm not sure if he was just screwing around the one time that I asked to see him launch while leaving my crib.


Thanks,

BTW: This will be my first time on a drag track, is the sticky pavement a real big change from street?

Djzx3
 
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#3 ·
Do you have any previous 1/4 mile timeslips? Experience at a track? He should be in the high 14s with his setup maybe even quicker. A stock Integra Type R with a 1.8 lays down 195 @the crank and runs 14.7s off the showroom floor and your buddies car could even be lighter.
 
#5 ·
I don't think he's laying anything like that down, he didn't look like he took off fast at all, when he did it infront of my crib. I'll find out more info on his car, I'm going to chill with em later today.

for a better chance you need to decrease some weight as well. get some practice runs in somehow without him noticing lol. anything for a win i guess
And good idea, I can drop the spare, rear seats, passenger seat maybe, and a few other things to drop quick temporary weight.
 
#6 ·
#8 ·
BTW: This will be my first time on a drag track, is the sticky pavement a real big change from street?
Yes. You will need to launch from about 3-3.5k RPM. Otherwise you will bog down.

Honda's do not have low-end torque so they need to be 'wound up' to get any forward momentum so he is launching his car correctly.

Chances are you will lose. You'll have a better chance with weigh reduction and a tune-up. Clean MAF, check spark plugs, etc. Your best chance is if he misses 3rd. He'll be shifting into third while you're at peak power in 2nd.
 
#9 ·
A/C delete is something that I've been thinking of doing, I hear if you remove everything, it's like 30 LB's off the car.

It sounds like it will come down to who is the better driver, and that is really what I wanted to find out.

I've been driving for 5-6 YR's, and he's only got 2-3 Yr's under his belt at the most.

And thanks for the info on when to hit my revs at, that is what I was thinking, is that if I didn't get the revs high enough, I would bog down from the track.

Would 4K spin too much, or would 4k probably be about the limit for spinning too much?
 
#13 · (Edited)
Well, I have two more question.

What would it take to beat him, as in what would be my easiest mod to go for now, that add's good HP, I'm thinking with what I got, and the OBX header that's going on soon, I'd only need another 10-15 HP?

Maybe Stage 1 cams on stock internals?

And if I lose at drag, maybe I'll see if he wants to go autocross, I know the focus's turning capabilities will smoke the Honda.




EDIT:
And wouldn't this all mean, that if I took the 2.0L Duratec head, then I could raise my compression ratio too, and make more HP?
 
#15 ·
Jeez, I thought focus's were built to beat Honda's.

I have the "High performance builders handbook" by SA, and they talk as if the Zetec by itself was made to dominate Honda's, that V-tec guys should watch out?

This makes only a little sense to me, I know Honda's are made to make power at higher RPM's rather then on low RPM's, but how could a 1.8L swapped with a 1.6L head beat a 2.3l with mods?

If everything that is being said here is correct, the SVT would have a hard time just as much as my D23.

Am I missing something here? Whats so special about the Honda motors?
 
#17 ·
I never F with nitrous, just seen to many people do too much damage, more parts however, is something I'd be willing to spend the $$$ on.

W/E it takes to beat em, as long as I can afford it, there is no schedule for the race right now, we both still have work to do to get em race worthy.

As said in previous post, I am getting a OBX header soon to finish my exhaust, and I want to know if Crower stage 1's are just drop in and go, or is measurements needed, and would that be enough of a gain to compete?
 
#21 ·
I guess we will have to see, I hope I can get cams by then.

Weapon R Intake
Exhaust 2.5 diameter, with OBX
Exedy OE fly/clt conversion kit
Tom or Randy's tune,
And maybe cams.

I think so, he's not that experienced in driving, I've got 3-4 years on em.
 
#22 ·
Don't worry about cams, not enough difference to justify them. As for how sticky the track is, it really depends on which track you go to. VHT is very sticky itself but it also varies on how well it's laid down and kept up. I've gone to two different tracks in the same weekend and at one, the slicks would grab and leave and the other I would light the slicks up through the 60ft and be a half second slower or more. If you've been to Maryland International Raceway (MIR) or South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP), you know what excellent track prep is like.

Since you're on street tires, go around the water box if you can. Getting the street tires wet and trying to do a burnout to heat them up is not only pointless (if you do get them warm) but ineffective since it still traps water in the treads anyway. Unless you're running slicks or drag radials, just go around the water box.

Also "2 door Honda" tells me nothing. There's a big difference between a Prelude, an Accord, and a CRX, all are 2 door Hondas. Given it's a B18 means it's probably not a Prelude or Accord (someone would be really stupid to underpower them with that motor) so it's either an Integra, Civic, or CRX. Honestly, he's probably got you if he can drive half decent. He's gonna pull you on top end. All of the Honda's I've lost to it has been top end. I'll get them off the launch and through the 1/8th mile but then they drive around me between the 1000ft mark and the 1/4. Below is a race I won against a built and turbo Civic a couple years ago.

Spot: Me --- Honda
60ft: 2.09 --- 2.54
1/8: 8.64 @ 85mph --- 9.14 @ 89mph
1/4: 13.51 @ 105mph ---- 13.52 @ 114mph

I got a big jump out on him but he started catching up after the 1/8th mile and I saw him coming really fast in my rearview and next to me when I crossed the finishline. I beat him just 2/100ths of a second. They're rpm freaks that love high rpm and top end power. My advice is to launch the best you can and get out in front and try to hold it.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the info Smith,[headbang] I would have drove right through the water box, now I will stay away from it, and I think that is a decent advantage.

because I will not tell my rival that, and I bet you he drives into it and burns out on his stocks.

I will defiantly have someone tape it, and I'm going to see him today, so I will secretly [shhh] take pic's of his car. Don't want him knowing I'm doing too much research on his car.[hihi]
 
#45 ·
The vast majority of radial, belted street tires are made up of a strong and durable, but less sticky rubber compound that can stand up to many road conditions and last a long time. They aren't meant to be heated up and will actually grip less when done so. They're not like the R8 compounds found in slicks and drag radials which trap heat creating a glue surface on the tire when hot. Street tires are better off not warmed up so even if you did get all the water off them from the water box (highly unlikely), you're just wasting your time. However, if the track is one of those small ones where you can't go around and are forced to roll through it, lock the ebrake up and do a good 5k clutch drop in 2nd gear to get those tires hot and sling the water off. The water is worse than the hot tire. Take a few additional seconds rolling forward to let them cool off a little afterwards. At which track will the race happen? Which ones are near you?

I've done a lot of racing in the last 3-4 years with both my Focus and my Mustang and I will say this... In the Focus, I have lost more races to Hondas/Acuras than I have to Mustangs, Camaros, GTOs, Challengers, and Chargers combined. The ones that know what they're doing always get me. The latest one was to an old friend who'd been down in Florida for a while. I wanted to race his Integra again since we were dead even before and I now had the Cosworth manifold, 2.3 ported head swapped, and Crane stg 1 cams with an upgraded wastegate, all of which I hadn't told him about. [hihi] He pulled me by about a car length cause he also kept from me that he'd swapped in his built B20C5 (LS B1 block bored over with a Type-R C5 head) with Crower stage 4 cams, 13.5:1 compression, and running on Shell URT 110 octane. [scream] His naturally aspirated ~300whp@10,000rpm gutted integra with his scrawny self in it weighs just over 2400lbs where as my ~300whp@7,500rpm Focus is at 2550lbs with me in it.

The fellow 4 banger enthusiasts are generally more open-minded when it comes to other makes and models. Let's face it, the Focus isn't exactly a common car to mod and make fast. The V8 guys usually just see us as ricers and an easy win and well, I like proving them wrong. That's why I've scored more wins against them.


this should actually be a fairly easy race.. with your mods i think you should be around 165 whp...

he will prob be around 130... ls/vtec is not that fast.
My buddy's Integra is an LS/VTEC that runs high 11s naturally aspirated. I wouldn't count them out. The fastest FWD street car (Chris Miller 8.37 @ 184mph 1/4 mile) is an LS/VTEC as well.

i dont think you know what your talking about... there are all 1.8l's

also all b series are DOHC

b18a1 - this is the most common integra motor. it is what they call an ls motor. it is dohc but not vtec.

b18c1 - this is the USDM GSR motor. it has Vtec and 40 more horsepower around 170 i think.

b18c5 - This is the USDM type-r motor around 190hp

b18c - JDM type r motor around 200 hp
^This.

I'm just glad he only has the A1, maybe after were done racing and I beat em, I'll suggest he throw a JDM type R motor in it.
Don't start thinking too much about what you're going to say to him after your win. First you need the win. Like a wide receiver out on the field, don't look down field towards the endzone until you've caught the ball.

Don't underestimate your opponent. Keep a constant thought towards it like you are 1 level below him and will have to be on key with everything in order to win. I keep this mentality even when called out by cars that I know are 2-3 seconds slower than me.
 
#25 ·
B18 come in a few differnt way.you have the a1 and b1 both non v.c1 is from gsr vtec put out 170 to crank mid 15 sec if in an integra.then c5 type r i have personally seen the hit over 200 whp tuned comptley stock.
I belive he has a gsr in a civic with a decent drive will have no problem betting a focus.pics if intake mani and i can tell what one it is
 
#26 ·
Okay, cause I think I still might surprise people, cause I've beat celica's, and many other Honda civic's before.

I'll get those pics, time to be like Brain from 2 fast 2 furious, and check everyone's shit out. lol
 
#29 ·
He defiantly said there was a 1.8L in there, and that he was going to get a 1.6L head to increase compression.

He said he not only had to get the 1.6L head, but he also had to grab the intake manifold, and exhaust manifold, to match the 1.6L head.
 
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