Jim Russell Evo School Review
Mar 11, 2010, 10:07 AM
#32
EvoM Guru
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Boulder, Co.
Posts: 1,767
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mar 26, 2010, 03:57 PM
#39
EvoM Guru
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Boulder, Co.
Posts: 1,767
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Big news!!!
OK so get this... Mitsubishi has just announced the the winner of our challenge course (autocross) competition held at each Lancer Evolution Experience event will get invited back for a finals competition. The winner of the finals will get a free Evo X (lease) for a year!!!
oh and 
I am waiting for Mark Daddio to call me seconds after this is posted
School price stays the same at $995 (and don't forget to ask for the 10% EVOm discount on top of that)
Let's go everyone, no excuses now!
Way to step up
oh and I am waiting for Mark Daddio to call me seconds after this is posted
School price stays the same at $995 (and don't forget to ask for the 10% EVOm discount on top of that)
Let's go everyone, no excuses now!
Way to step up
Apr 17, 2010, 10:33 PM
#44
Evolving Member
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 479
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I attended this one-day program this past Wednesday. A brief review and some pics of the day. For most of Tuesday, the day I arrived into SFO, the track held an assortment of club events with cars ranging from Lotus Elises to Porsche Turbos to Ferrari Challenge cars. Fun stuff to watch.
There were five students in the class and the school had six X's available, three MR's and three GSRs. The red MR I drove most of the day was a 2008 model, and it was rumored to be the first MR into the country that was given to the press corps in late summer, 2007. It had a little over 15K miles on it when we met. There was one 2008 model GSR - the rest were 2010 models. The other red MR was a 2010 Touring version with a sun roof.
A brief ground school covered handling basics and course objectives. Then the introduction to the X: weight distribution compared to earlier EVOs, new electronic stability controls, etc. Then off to the paddock exercises. For each exercise, except the on-track sessions, two or three students climbed into an X while the instructor drove around demonstrating the techniques. Then back to our own cars while the instructor(s) chatted at the start line or on the radio.
First exercise: 4-cone slalom. About ten runs with coaching in-between. Alternating drivers in different cars. Working on technique, learning to make the EVO dance. For entertainment, there was also the occasional sheep (which is plural, btw) bleating on the hills across the way.
2nd exercise: straight-line braking, followed by straight line braking into a constant radius corner, trail-braking into corner, accelerating out. Lots of instant, HARD mashing on the brake pedal to immediately activate the ABS controls and allow the electronics to slow the car.
3rd: Lead-follow on full Sears Point road course. About 25 minutes with instructor in front, students following 3 car lengths behind, then alternating second, third places so everyone got to be the first follower. Everyone has a radio to listen to instructor coaching.
Lunch: salad, veggies, sandwiches, water, soda, cookies, brownies.
4th: Auto-x. Includes most of the straight-line braking exercise area and the 4-cone slalom. One car at a time. We come back to this same course, all five students, near the end of the day for timed runs (one) - aka "The Competition".
5th: The Scandinavian Flick (see videos). Set stability control full off. The object is to run into a right hand bend fast enough to invoke a slight over-steer then immediately toss the steering wheel the other direction, like catching the over-steer, but dramatically over-correcting so the car rotates, rapidly, in the opposite direction. Then give it full throttle and steer where you want to go with all four wheels spinning. This takes a lot of practice - to not try to catch the over-steer condition with corrections but to just add full throttle to keep it going. Then the S-AYC keeps the power shifting between rear wheels to keep the car going in the proper direction. A very excellent demonstration of how the X's S-AYC works.
6th: Times auto-x runs. Everyone gets one timed run using the same car - the 2010 MR Touring.
7th: Then the second track session. 30 minutes.
Classroom debrief, certificates, awards, ...
Observations: Sears Point Raceway (now called Infineon Raceway) is totally awesome to drive. If you haven't driven this track, it needs to be put on your To-Do list.
The Continental tires were very predictable and forgiving at and over the limit of adhesion. The grip is definitely less than the stock Advans but they held up to the days torture without complaint.
All stock cars with stock brakes. We never added or allowed or any brake cooling, engine cool-off periods, etc. All the cars performed flawlessly. Note that they are all in stock tune.
The X is an extremely well balanced & very capable car. This class is a phenomenal opportunity to learn how well the X handles, & what it can do in a safe, fun environment. All while driving someone else's car.
We kept the nannies on for all exercises, except the Scandinavian Flick. I did notice it flashing a couple times on the auto-x and modified my driving technique slightly and it went away after that. There was one time on-track where I saw the nanny warning but it was only that once that I noticed it.
I did notice a few times on-track where the stock tune lacked the power of a tuned car. However I did not notice any exhaust popping that is common to the X (stock or tuned).
After class was over lots of cars were lined up for the Wednesday evening drag races. That track is pretty busy.
There were five students in the class and the school had six X's available, three MR's and three GSRs. The red MR I drove most of the day was a 2008 model, and it was rumored to be the first MR into the country that was given to the press corps in late summer, 2007. It had a little over 15K miles on it when we met. There was one 2008 model GSR - the rest were 2010 models. The other red MR was a 2010 Touring version with a sun roof.
A brief ground school covered handling basics and course objectives. Then the introduction to the X: weight distribution compared to earlier EVOs, new electronic stability controls, etc. Then off to the paddock exercises. For each exercise, except the on-track sessions, two or three students climbed into an X while the instructor drove around demonstrating the techniques. Then back to our own cars while the instructor(s) chatted at the start line or on the radio.
First exercise: 4-cone slalom. About ten runs with coaching in-between. Alternating drivers in different cars. Working on technique, learning to make the EVO dance. For entertainment, there was also the occasional sheep (which is plural, btw) bleating on the hills across the way.
2nd exercise: straight-line braking, followed by straight line braking into a constant radius corner, trail-braking into corner, accelerating out. Lots of instant, HARD mashing on the brake pedal to immediately activate the ABS controls and allow the electronics to slow the car.
3rd: Lead-follow on full Sears Point road course. About 25 minutes with instructor in front, students following 3 car lengths behind, then alternating second, third places so everyone got to be the first follower. Everyone has a radio to listen to instructor coaching.
Lunch: salad, veggies, sandwiches, water, soda, cookies, brownies.
4th: Auto-x. Includes most of the straight-line braking exercise area and the 4-cone slalom. One car at a time. We come back to this same course, all five students, near the end of the day for timed runs (one) - aka "The Competition".
5th: The Scandinavian Flick (see videos). Set stability control full off. The object is to run into a right hand bend fast enough to invoke a slight over-steer then immediately toss the steering wheel the other direction, like catching the over-steer, but dramatically over-correcting so the car rotates, rapidly, in the opposite direction. Then give it full throttle and steer where you want to go with all four wheels spinning. This takes a lot of practice - to not try to catch the over-steer condition with corrections but to just add full throttle to keep it going. Then the S-AYC keeps the power shifting between rear wheels to keep the car going in the proper direction. A very excellent demonstration of how the X's S-AYC works.
6th: Times auto-x runs. Everyone gets one timed run using the same car - the 2010 MR Touring.
7th: Then the second track session. 30 minutes.
Classroom debrief, certificates, awards, ...
Observations: Sears Point Raceway (now called Infineon Raceway) is totally awesome to drive. If you haven't driven this track, it needs to be put on your To-Do list.
The Continental tires were very predictable and forgiving at and over the limit of adhesion. The grip is definitely less than the stock Advans but they held up to the days torture without complaint.
All stock cars with stock brakes. We never added or allowed or any brake cooling, engine cool-off periods, etc. All the cars performed flawlessly. Note that they are all in stock tune.
The X is an extremely well balanced & very capable car. This class is a phenomenal opportunity to learn how well the X handles, & what it can do in a safe, fun environment. All while driving someone else's car.
We kept the nannies on for all exercises, except the Scandinavian Flick. I did notice it flashing a couple times on the auto-x and modified my driving technique slightly and it went away after that. There was one time on-track where I saw the nanny warning but it was only that once that I noticed it.
I did notice a few times on-track where the stock tune lacked the power of a tuned car. However I did not notice any exhaust popping that is common to the X (stock or tuned).
After class was over lots of cars were lined up for the Wednesday evening drag races. That track is pretty busy.
Last edited by Q15H; Apr 17, 2010 at 10:37 PM.