1998 Acura Integra LS - Daily Driver/Auto-X

UPDATES:

7/6/09: 8 months without an update   Well, 2009 got off to a slow start due to weddings and other responsibilities, but I had time to get an event in before the all-weekend Kumho Super Challenge up in Canada on August 1-2.  Car felt great last weekend, and I can't wait for another race weekend up in Canada this year.

11/6/08: Added results from WWSCC Sports Car Spectacular.

7/28/08: Had a blast at the 2008 Kumho Super Challenge up in Canada.  Only placed 7th/12 in my class on the first day of competition (grouped with Street Mod 2 cars as well, including a very nicely modded Porsche 911 GT3) but came back strong on day 2 in the rain to place 2nd in my class (10th/92 of all cars), and 5th overall for the combined event.  Kumho Tires and VCMC did a fantastic job of running the event, and I will definitely be there again next year!

7/15/08: Added race results and a couple of pictures from Autopilot XXXIII.

5/27/08: The rust came off quickly for my first event in many months, as I won my class and placed 20th/174 overall in the BSCC Kitsap Kup.  Check the Race Results page for more details!

5/14/08: Added 2008 race schedule.

2/13/08: The weather's getting better and I'm itching to start racing again.  The WWSCC race schedule will be posted soon.  In the meantime, I'm afraid the car has gotten a little heavier.  The less than year-old Odyssey lightweight battery I bought did not make it though the long period of discharge while my car was down last summer, even though dry cell batteries are supposed to have no problem with fully discharging, so I had to buy a big ol' standard battery, adding back 10-15lbs.  I also will be reinstalling my A/C evaporator box (minus the A/C guts inside) so that I'll get more heat flowing through the vents and less cold air blowing on my front passenger's feet.  Hey, it gets cold up here in the winter, and the windows fog up without it.  So that will be another 5lbs of so.  It kills me knowing all this extra weight is there and my car is no longer perfectly corner-weighted... maybe I'll get another lightweight battery this summer.

For the season, I hope to attend as many WWSCC events as I can, maybe a couple Bremerton ones, and a trip to Regionals/Nationals in Packwood.  I know my car won't be competitive in its class there, but I just want to see how I do... it'll be a good learning experience.

Car's running like a champ.  My gas mileage usually drops to about 25mpg during the winter, but all winter I've gotten 28mpg this year for some reason.  Maybe I'm driving more slowly and gently as I get older... hope that doesn't carry over on the track!

10/17/07: Well, the race season is over, and I only was able to participate in 3 races all year.  I intended to race more, but a faulty fuel pump kill switch installed by a friend sidelined my car for 6 weeks in the thick of the season, and that combined with personal obligations and discontent about WWSCC giving me the wrong time and ignoring me through the protest process made racing a rare treat this year.  Next year I plan on doing 7 or so races again, so please check in then!

On April 1, 2000, I got my first car 4 weeks before my 16th birthday, a lightly used '98 Acura Integra LS.  Like most teenagers with a rice rocket, I got bitten by the modifying bug, and the car evolved over several years.  As the car's performance improved, I started autocross racing, which is a form of sanctioned time-trial racing done in huge parking lots with road courses delineated by cones.  Over 9 years after the car was jointly purchased by myself and my parents (okay, mostly my parents), I have advanced as a driver and my car has evolved into a geniunely dual-purpose vehicle - racy enough to beat Porsches and Corvettes on the weekends, yet comfortable enough to carry happy passengers around during the week.  This site is a running record of alterations to the car and my race results.  Don't forget to sign the Guestbook!