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The costs of racing are getting out of control; here's an inside look at the car that aims to fix it.
The motorsports world has turned upside down over the years. It has split into segments across a spectrum of talent and most of all financial backing. At the top levels, obscene amounts of money and corporate sponsorships employ hundreds of staff to field one or two racecars. At the opposite end of the spectrum, grassroots racers wrench on their aged project cars in the home garage. They take PTO from their day jobs to race for a coveted plastic trophy from their local club. Barriers of entry, especially cost, are dragging motorsports down and few people or entities seem to be doing anything about it. But Honda Performance Development (HPD) offers a new solution to this problem. They recently announced the HPD Civic Si FE1 racecar, one of the most affordable and best racecar deals that money can buy today.
Racing has always favored the more financially able, but today this is truer than ever. Professional-level racing is out of sight for most people, where cars cost a quarter million dollars at the more “affordable” ranks. It gets worse at the top levels where racecar costs reach into the seven-digit range. That doesn’t even include the cost associated with running it. The cost barrier has led many to get more creative in finding ways to play with cars on a racetrack. We’ve seen alternatives come up such as time attack racing which reduces the risk of banging fenders, or endurance racing where costs can split between a group of drivers. Despite these advantages in these motorsports, there still exists the problem of the startup cost that is the car itself.
This is where Honda Performance Development steps in with its own (relatively) affordable factory-built racecar. This one aims for the more entry-level enthusiasts and racers, with room to enter the pro racing ranks. However, this is far from the first time any OEM has stepped foot into this game. While other OEMs have supported their own factory racecars and single-make racing series, Mazda may be one of the most successful with multiple generations of the MX-5 Miata. The MX-5 Cup Series has a strong foundation as an essential rung on the racing ladder for junior drivers. Many use it as a launchpad to make their big break in making a career out of racing. Toyota also recently announced the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America’s GR86 Cup car along with its own single-make series. In both instances for Mazda and Toyota, these racecars sit close to stock except for safety equipment, some suspension and braking improvements, and a sequential transmission. These cars also cost four to five times more than their street version equivalents. The HPD Civic Si FE1? $55,000. This is roughly double the cost of the roadgoing Civic Si, but nearly half the price tag that's on the MX-5 Cup and GR86 Cup.
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Before you freak out about these expenses, let’s look at what goes into building a racecar. The most obvious change is the rollcage. If a car is to enter any sort of competition, it must meet a minimum safety standard with strict rollcage requirements. Not only that, but the rollcage is often one of the most detailed and important components to the build. Plus there are many racing organizations with their own sets of rules, so building a rollcage that can run anywhere requires extra work. If you want one of these more versatile cages, and you want one that does more than just meet the minimum, you’re looking at a $5,000 starting price. That’s assuming you’re handing off a car with an already stripped interior.
The same idea goes for other safety components and racecar prep items if you want the option to race it in different groups. You need a seat, harnesses, and window/interior safety nets that all meet SFI and/or FIA standards. Add another $1,000 to $1,500 starting price for this hardware. Add in an effective fire suppression system and emergency power cutoff switch in case anything goes wrong. Plus an FIA fuel cell that will better handle impacts than the factory setup. That's another $2,500 minimum if you’re using hardware that’s actually safer and more reliable than offshoot brands. Once again, don’t forget the labor cost of installation. We’ve already hit a $10,000 premium, and we haven’t discussed any of the go-fast bits yet.
In the case of almost any factory-built racecar, the engineers on the OEM side already did the hard part for you. They put the miles on the car, tested it at different tracks with different setups, and tried their hardest to break it. These development miles are essential to finding the weak points and mending them so you don't have to. So on top of the hardware in the car and the time spent to assemble it, you’re paying for someone to resolve all the headaches that come with car development.
In order to learn more about what’s under the body and the work that went into it, I had the opportunity to gain some extra insight from HPD’s own James Nazarian, Large Project Leader for the HPD Civic Si FE1. He explained in detail the purpose of this racecar, who it’s made for, and the development that went into creating the final product.
Before digging into the specifications and parts to upgrade, the direction of this project had to be clear. Nazarian stated that the team aimed the FE1 as a homologated entry-level touring car to compete SRO TC America’s TCA class. This would pit it against the likes of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86, Mazda MX-5 Cup ND2, and Hyundai Veloster Turbo TCA. While HPD homologated the FE1 specifically for this series and class, it is likely to appear in many other popular racing organizations in the United States with similar class rules. Nazarian noted that HPD Civic owners have successfully taken the previous turn-key Civic Si to Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), National Auto Sport Association (NASA), World Racing League (WRL), and Gridlife. This means that for FE1 customers, finding a place to race will not be a problem.
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Each HPD Civic Si FE1 comes out of a Honda factory as a bare chassis constructed to HPD specifications for racing purposes. Nazarian stated, “The white body or bare chassis is created devoid of sunroof, sound proofing, insulation, underbody coating and seam sealer. The HPD Civic Si FE1 is assembled from white body at the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, OH where the Acura NSX and PMC Edition Acura production vehicles are built. This state-of-the-art facility employs groundbreaking technologies in weld, body construction, body painting, final assembly, and quality confirmation to ensure the highest levels of precision and craftsmanship.”
Extensive engineering and testing went into the FE1 to ensure that it would meet its goals as a strong performing, reliable racecar. Many of the street-version OEM components remained in the car as they sufficed even for racing purposes. Other items required modification or replacement to take on the demands of racing environments and its drivers. The engine, for example, sits completely stock with all the streetcar belt-driven accessories minus the air conditioner. Even when it comes to cooling, HPD found through its extensive on-track testing that the OEM cooling components provided plenty of temperature control for racing conditions. One unique feature is the selectable power level, intended for balance of performance (BoP) situations. Users have five different pre-tuned calibration options set by HPD. This provides a simple method of getting the car to comply with the rules of the class in which it competes. Outside of the HPD/Hasport engine mounts and HPD/Borla exhaust system, what’s found under the hood will closely resemble the street Civic Si.
Further along the drivetrain, the FE1 features updated parts to reliably put the power down to the ground. While the flywheel and clutch remain OEM, the six-speed H-pattern transmission runs a strengthened fourth gear to better withstand abuse. HPD then topped it off with an adjustable Salisbury-type racing differential that allows customers to tune it to their liking. Given the configuration that HPD selected for the drivetrain, the Civic Si FE1 holds true to offering a versatile racecar that is easily and affordably maintained.
In order to make the FE1 drive more like a racecar, it took to significant upgrades in suspension and braking. Double adjustable HPD/Bilstein shocks control each corner, with two front and rear spring rate options for extra fine tuning. HPD suspension linkages and components allow users to adjust front camber and caster as well as rear camber and toe. HPD/Wilwood 6-piston race calipers with 328x28mm floating slotted rotors at the front improve deceleration in racing environments. Pagid RST3 front brake pads and RST4 rear pads complement the braking system, along with DOT4 synthetic brake fluid to handle extensive sessions on track. The front fascia was also enhanced to guide air through the added brake for better brake cooling.
Inside the car, HPD equipped the Civic Si FE1 with loads of safety items and features that allow it to fit into nearly any racing series. An FIA-spec roll cage design with TIG-welded steel tubing fills out the interior, with special considerations made for an improved driving experience. Nazarian explained, “Additional areas of improvements include enhancements to the driver ergonomics that improve all-around visibility for our racing drivers. In addition to the road cars’ increased daylight opening (DLO), HPD engineers have intentionally designed the roll cage based on the driver’s eye-point, and where the driver will be looking. Results of these efforts are better visibility especially when viewing around the A-pillars and side mirrors, even with the roll cage installed.” Rounding out the interior is a collection of OMP safety items including halo seat, quick-release steering wheel, six-point harness, and electronic fire extinguisher.
While Nazarian could not share too many details of the development process, he assured me that “we work very closely with our factory drivers to receive their feedback and fine tune our racecars. This relationship is critical to our success in touring car racing, as the same drivers that are testing these racecars are also outcompeting in the field.” When it came to building a racing-variant of the Civic Si streetcar, you can see by the spec sheet that the FE1 required surprisingly few changes to improve longevity or reliability. However, Nazarian did point out that “the biggest challenge we face building a racecar derived from any road going car is the complexity of modern electrical systems. HPD has a talented group of engineers who are able to adapt or remove features from the road car specifically for motorsports use.” Which makes complete sense when you consider the many DOT and safety requirements put on streetcars and the electronics that comes with them.
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When you account for the performance upgrades, safety equipment, and hours of testing and development that went into the HPD Civic Si FE1, the $55,000 asking price sounds like one of the best racecar deals you could ask for. In the current market, you have few options for cars you can race in so many places. Especially when equipped with big-name safety and performance gear like this. Plus, instead of the headaches of diagnosing issues found in a used, homemade club racecar with an unknown history, you can instead turn to HPD for help and support with the FE1.
If you’re reading this and you're asking yourself “who is this car even for?” That’s what’s special about the FE1 – it’s a relatively cheap racecar that you can race just about anywhere. If you’re a pro driver or looking to go pro, you can take it to SRO TC America and be competitive out of the gate. If you’re a grassroots racer that wants to go club racing, SCCA or NASA will have a class for you to shoot for a podium finish. If you’re just an enthusiast who’s looking to get started, gather up some friends and enter an endurance race as this will likely be one of the most consistently reliable cars to run for hours at a time. Even better, you can sell seats to help pay for your drive!
Cameron is heavily embedded in the automotive and motorsports scene. He is a racing driver, coach, and team owner that offers services in the motorsports world from car setup and development to racecar support. Growing up in a family of autocrossers, drag racers, and restoration fanatics, Cameron has grown to love and appreciate cars that have stories to tell. His garage and shop currently house a Trans Am Series TA2 Camaro racecar, Formula Speed racecar, 2017 Subaru WRX daily driver, 2005 Mazda RX-8 track car, and a 1985 Corvette that was his first car.