SCCA Race 7 - Maiden run with the Cabby
Written on August 22nd , 2023 by Joshua Domingo
Race day
My face and body still hurt from racing this thing. The lack of bolstering made it a challenge to keep my body in place, so I had to hunker down and keep from flinging out the window. All the vibrations and extra heat from running the car hard also put my body in a less-than-ideal state.
August 2020, three years ago when I got my first set of basic tools
It has been years of effort trying to put this thing together to be not only road-worthy but race-worthy. The leaks are gone. Steering, suspension, and driving issues have been resolved. The ITBS are almost dialed in. All of the nights staying up ‘til 1 or 2 AM to put this piece of shit together finally paid off. This was never meant to be a racecar, it was a car made to be driven and appreciated for what it was. I don’t have the funds to make this happen as fast as I want it to, and I most certainly would love to have the funds to make it faster with EFI, better suspension, and better tires, but there will always be something better.
First days with the coilovers, about a finger of clearance!
After upping the suspension to 125MM of thread for the front suspension and about 100MM of thread for the rears, there have been no rubbing issues since. My tires are 185/55/R15 500TW Arroyo tires. VERY cheap tires and are very shitty for autocross. They were screeching throughout the turns and couldn’t get a proper grip on any of my runs. It’s hard finding tires in this size, but I did see one set of Falken tires that I could run on this car in the future.
The sound of ITBS and immediate throttle response make driving this car so much fun for a tiny car. With a bit more power and some scare factor, this could compete in the middle of the pack with proper driving. The lightweight chassis and short wheelbase make it a perfect contender for mid-power, around 120-150HP would make this car a lot scarier so I’m hoping for that with next year’s revisions.
I’ll always be chasing and chasing the next best thing if I can’t be satisfied with what I have now. I’m overjoyed with the success of my first project car. I can say I’ve completed the project car cycle and accomplished what I set out to do. It’s so easy to lose sight of our projects because life gets in the way. For most of us in autocross, this is not our full-time job. We’re not competing for the sake of championships and world records, we’re here because it’s fun. Because it’s just for fun, it’s not mandatory for anyone, so progress and projects go unfinished because we don’t need to.
For now, I’m satisfied with what the car can do. I know it’s slow and I’m okay with it for now. For now, I can relish having a completed car. Thank you, Arvin, for the photos, now I know how dinky this car looks on a track LOL.
What’s next for the cabby?
An ABA swap.
Okay, I know I said I was satisfied but I have this ABA sitting in my garage and I think it’s time for a bit more power haha. I’ll be taking a break from projects for now to focus on other things, but when I’m ready in late October, I’ll go through the ABA and start rebuilding it for some cabby power :) This will be my first venture into engine internals so that means new tools, getting things machined from Ted’s Automotive, and a lot more frustration and triumphs ahead.
Happy camper for the day, but I think I’ll be bringing back the Civic Si for the last race of the year, haha.
