I have a long-term attitude when it comes to our Integra Type R Race Car. This is a car that I have always wanted to build and have tried to do so in the best way possible of safety, performance, looks and overall enjoyment. With those things being said it hasn’t been an easy path with it over the last couple of years. We have constantly had things pop up and tackled the issues as they presented themselves.
Recently we made a push to get the ITR back to the track and that happened recently with a 1-day event held at Sebring Intl Raceway by Hooked on Driving. The goal for the day was to run for about 2 hours or so and shake the car down, find any issues and get it ready to go racing again.
Fresh engine, fresh tune, fresh fluids, fresh alignment – check, check, check and check.
The morning 10-15 minutes on the track resulted in the Motec kicking in a warning and limiting the rpm’s to 3k at the same point on the track twice. Pulling the engine data log and having GreenGo Tuning remote log in to look revealed a coolant pressure warning. Perhaps air in the system? With a freshly installed long block we could see how that could be the culprit. Removing the radiator cap and letting the car idle for about 5 minutes would hopefully burp the system to be set for the rest of the day. Turns out…… it did.
After the morning hiccup the rest of the day went smoothly. The engine ran well. The catch can had a reasonable amount of blow by after each session and the sensors throughout each 20-25 minutes on track were tracking well. Nice weather all day meant we didn’t need to rush anything as you never know what you are going to get in Florida in June. Throughout the day the lap times stabilized and were gently falling a tenth or and a tenth there.
All said and done, we couldn’t ask for much more. The minor issues that we did have were fixed quickly and it is safe to say the car went onto the trailer better than it came off. Now it is time to find its next outing.
