Driving Impressions of my Accord Hatch
Based on my runs so far these are the tips I've learned with my setup.
-Don't overdrive this car because you won't go any faster.
-Keep wheelspin and torque-steer to a minimum.
-Don't overrev it! Use the throttle smoothly for best accelleration. It is better to shift up early and shift down late.
-Because of my springs my car has very little forward-aft weight transfer. I don't need to worry that much about the rear drums locking up because of minimal brake dive. Even so I stay prepared for it.
-I don't need to worry about the front end getting light either. (unless I hit some harsh bumps) What do I worry about the most is maintaining lateral grip in the tires.
-I am still using OEM-spec tires but I have more negative camber up front. Unlike a performance tire I consider the turn-in limit of these OEM tires to be the actual limit. However if I drive it a certain way I can make the negative camber work to my benefit... briefly! I have to be kind of harsh with weight-transfer on the tires to make them grip well. However if I do this too long the tires start to overheat. This limits how much speed I can carry through long sweepers but it feels like a go-cart on tight corners.
-My main theory for why this car handles surprisingly good is because of its footprint. Imagine the corners of a box on the 4 contact patches of the tires. The width-to-length ratio of this box is very good for overall handling performance especially with FWD. I dunno why I know this is true its just intuition.
-Someday I will try and quantify this but in the meantime that's my opinion. It's hard to upset this cars balance. The car just feels "settled". For example it doesn't exhibit any unstable yaw movements which is more then I can say for any RWD I've previously owned but perhaps I just haven't exceeded the limit of the chassis yet... only time will tell I want better tires to find out.
I can see why people look down on Honda owners
Also, based on comparison-tests I've read in magazines recently featuring street/track driven Honda's I can see why people look down on Honda owners... it is just sad to see guys spend thousands on motor swaps, rare wheels, coilovers, aero parts, whatever... and completely overlook brake balance, chassis balance and suspension setup. Sure it looks fast but it's really more like a deathtrap. For instance in one test the guy didn't know how to mount his catchcan and it started leaking a LOT of oil under high G's. So much so it actually got on the rear tires in a turn causing instant, catastrophic oversteer. Luckily for the owner it was a professional driver behind the wheel or his Honda would have ended up crumpled against a wall...
If I had one half the build-budget of some of these "tuners" my car could drive circles around them. *sigh*
Re: Driving Impressions of my Accord Hatch
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scars_of_carma
Also, based on comparison-tests I've read in magazines recently featuring street/track driven Honda's I can see why people look down on Honda owners... it is just sad to see guys spend thousands on motor swaps, rare wheels, coilovers, aero parts, whatever... and completely overlook brake balance, chassis balance and suspension setup. Sure it looks fast but it's really more like a deathtrap. For instance in one test the guy didn't know how to mount his catchcan and it started leaking a LOT of oil under high G's. So much so it actually got on the rear tires in a turn causing instant, catastrophic oversteer. Luckily for the owner it was a professional driver behind the wheel or his Honda would have ended up crumpled against a wall...
If I had one half the build-budget of some of these "tuners" my car could drive circles around them. *sigh*
YES! Thank you. ...but that's not exclusive to Honda owners. The thing is the Honda's are built for daily drivers by the factory, not performance machines. ...and consider the public buying them. They're cheap to buy and cheap to 'build'. ...and there's millions of them out there. Combine all that, and of course there's going to be a lot more exposure to these, and with that will come stupid decisions on 'builds'. Nobody is doing this to other cars because 1.many other cars are too expensive 2.there's not a club-like following for them, so you can't swap stories as easily 3.there's not as many cheap options for them 4.there's just so damn many of them still out there (because it's tough to kill them) that it overshadows most other brands.
Anyway, as you were a Bimmer driver, you know that even in the 70's, BMW had an eye on performance and still had a very deep-rooted racing heritage. They were also expensive to purchase, and very expensive to maintain/repair. So the car was better built to brake/steer,etc properly, and not any 'kid' could just pick one up and start throwing tons of cheap parts on them. Therefore, they remain out of the 'stupid spotlight'.
That's part of what I love about these 3rd Gens. They were right on the cusp of aftermarket support as the import craze came to be. So all the aftermarket companies just ignored the car. Get a '90 and it's a whole different ball game. Cheap parts galore. So, the 3G was a turn-off to the whole 'import tuner' crowd because there was little/no aftermarket support. Thus, they were left alone (for the most part) and left for other people to stumble upon and realize the potential and fun of this chassis. ...and then decide to just deal with the limited support on them.
Re: Driving Impressions of my Accord Hatch
Quote:
Originally Posted by
markmdz89hatch
That's part of what I love about these 3rd Gens. Thus, they were left alone (for the most part) and left for other people to stumble upon and realize the potential and fun of this chassis. ...and then decide to just deal with the limited support on them.
Exactly! I want to kick some civic/integra ass...
Re: Driving Impressions of my Accord Hatch
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scars_of_carma
Exactly! I want to kick some civic/integra ass...
x2
UPDATE: Engine Failure Cont.
So I pulled off the water pump last night (why do I have to remove the front cover to remove the goddamned water pump?!). It does not appear to be in that bad of shape actually... its not covered in rust, the bearings have life in em, there's no play in the shaft etc. (It has probably been running dry though) I also removed the thermostat to test it and it works... so at this point idk?? *scratches head*
I'm pretty sure the headgasket is still toast... but I wonder if there's a clog or something elsewhere thats preventing the coolant from circulating?
UPDATE: Engine Failure cont.
When I first got the car running I had to install a new radiator so in the process I drained all the coolant out of the system and flushed it with a hose for like a half hour... I must've flushed out the radiator 15 times as well... so I got the new coolant mixture as clean and fresh as I could. Even so ever since the car has been running the coolant has been brown/rusty.
Also before I started driving it I had to replace the intake gasket and in the process I pulled that intake tube out of the water pump housing to check out the water pump and it was caked with rust inside. I chipped it all off with a screwdriver as best I could so I don't think any of that shit ended up in the block but who knows?
I think hat fact that car sat for 8 years with old coolant in it probably corroded something I can't see in the block or the head perhaps?
Anyways the car is safely back in the garage and I am in full dissasembly mode now...
