howdy, strongly considering a fit. first off, it will be an economical/ commute car. with that said...

track time in my other car is amazing but pricey. i also worry that it has a lot of things going for it that hide/ make up for certain target areas that i need to work on. the fit appears to address these two issues nicely (cheaper to run through tires and pads; significantly less powerful, requiring proper corner entry/ steady state cornering)

so, i'm curious about the fit's durability in a sustained road race situation. car will most likely be a sport with the AUTOMATIC. i know that i will replace the front pads and expect to run more track oriented tires (suggestions very welcome).

in addition to any issues you may think of, these are the first ones the come to mind:

1. transmission oil temps and the gearbox durability
2. coolant temps
3. rear drum brake - is there such a thing as higher performing pads for drum brakes?

i don't want to turn the fit into my race car. i just want to not break the car so i plan to change the appropriate items only as necessary. my intent is to rugged-ize the Fit and turn it into a track day training car that will not break due to, let's say, a 30 minute lapping session.

thanks for your input!

 

Anytime you track a car, ofcourse there will be some wear and tear..But i think the Fit would be an excellent Track car with out putting much money into it..I would just get a Cat-Back exhaust and drop it and i think you would be set..

As far as rear brakes, you should just buy a set of 600$ rear disks that just bolt right on, they arent yet in production and i think you can still get on the list to buy them, check out the Skunk2 section or contact JDMchris and he can guide you to the right people to see if they are still available!

 

Work on your suspension first, then get bolt on performance, if you want. What I am doing is suspension first, then going to get a intake, maybe. With a full header back and a intake your only looking at like 9hp if your lucky. Just my 2 cents

 

As a full on track car, I'd suggest the manual as the automatic may be a little slow on gear changes. They do make stronger "shoes" for rear drum brakes, but I don't know of any applications out for the Fit. Gauges would be nice, but for a stock Fit, doubt temp will change much if everything's kept up in good running condition.
But from what I've toyed with, the Fit's a pretty nice platform to mod as the steering's direct, manual transmission has clean shifts (way better than my Z) and it's light enough to throw around corners just fine. All it really needs is suspension pieces, welding (I feel a little flex) and around 50 more wheel horse power and it'd be a great track day training car!

 

unfortunately, i have to live with the automatic since the mrs. will be making the payments. for now, anyway, i don't expect to put a whole lot into the fit except good pads, brake fluids, maybe a rear disk conversion. maybe a few braces if i find it has too much flex.

but all in all, i would rather spend money on brakes and tires than on other parts unless something comes up as a safety or reliability issue.

 

T1R rear disc conversion is available right now from AJ.

 

But for like double the price right? And is it just bolt on?

 

^^^Yea i believe the AJR is bolt on, but the skunk2 is only for a certain number of people the people who signed up and after that they don't know if they will make more,.... but do a little searching around and i believe there are a couple of disc conversions, good luck, whenever i get mine i want to track it too.

 

bump for more track star fits!
btw, should be picking up a red one very soon. wish honda still made the white.

 

Dont we all

 

Heat is the number 1 concern to everything.

Heat to brakes, trans, and engine.

Brakes, track pads and Motul or ATE DOT4 brake fluid should get you by just fine. SS brake lines are optional but good to have.

Transmission, heat is the #1 enemy. Amsoil Synthetic ATF has proven to be the #1 protection against heat. The synthetic properties itself have superior resistance to thermal breakdown. Reliability and durability is greatly improved. Amsoil is the only ATF (and MTF version) to work fine in the Honda transmission that requires only Z1 ATF. Redline, Royal Purple, etc ATFs have all been found to cause problems in Honda trannies. In addition to running Amsoil, a tranny cooler would be a nice optional item to have. Not a necessity compared to ATF itself b/c Honda has a stock ATF cooler built into the radiator.

Engine, just make sure your coolant is topped off and you have a little extra oil in the engine for hard turning and preventing oil thirst. Again, its best to run full synthetic oil. If possible, run a baffled oil pan. With all these set, you'll never have to worry about overheating issues even when the car is being run its hardest.

 

thank you for the response. so, in regards to brakes, how does the rear drum brake hold up? i'm thinking that the rear shoes would need an upgrade, though i'm not certain because in my other car, the rear brakes really aren't doing that much under track conditions and have held up fine with OEM pads. as far as fluid, Motul RBF600 is going in there straight away, so we'll treat that as a given. i understand that the base model 01-06 RSX has the same front pads as the fit, so i plan on ordering against that part numbers. i'll take recommendations for pads, too, though i plan on ferodo DS2500 if they make them in the right size.

as far as transmission oil goes, so amsoil in the tranny huh? i'm glad you specifically mentioned the amsoil synthetic being compatible w/ the honda a/t. i spoke with a service guy at one of the dealerships and we had an interesting discussion on how "equivalent" fluids often were not really compatible and causing serious slipping in the a/t that were serviced w/ a synthetic equivalent. that is the single thing i was most worried about, but if the amsoil works in there and has the appropriate friction, i'm definitely not worried about the fit generating enough heat to cook that fluid.

 

I'm a big fan of Endless brake pads and have run plenty of pads before. They have applications to everything and the best part is that 90% of them can be run on the street without any major brake squeal. Can't say that about most race compounds.

 

got your PM. will get some answers for ya when i can.

as for brake pads, most of my road racing friends go with Satisfiedbrakes.com. i dont have the part numbers at hand. I use Axxis Ultimate ceramic pads for daily driving and drag. Hawk HPS is also good for this.

and the trans fluid, yes, i've been thru the same discussions with my friends and acquaintances at the Acura/Honda dealerships. They all said Z1 ATF is the ONLY way to go. Now, of course, its their job to say so and to do so. But from tons of research and feedback, Amsoil had seemed to be the only Honda-compatible synthetic that did not cause tranny problems. So i went ahead and tried it on my automatic. Voila, no problems or slippage. Upon great success with it, i went on the TL forums to find out what the S/C'd TL automatics were using b/c i wanted to supercharge my TL as well.

Comes to find out, they had tried Redline ATF which Comptech had recommended and had BAD slipping problems (not one, but MANY ppl). After doing complete flushes with Amsoil, the trans never slipped again. I still have yet to find a bad report on Amsoil ATF. I know how nit-picky Honda trannies are, but Amsoil got it right with them.