If you missed it, it was a wild and wicked race this last weekend. Round 3 of the Oregon Region, Northern Pacific Division Rally Cross Championship series was held in Hillsboro, Oregon and once again, those pesky Subaru's were handed their walking papers with Mitsubishi taking 1st and 2nd in class, Top Time of the course and the Overall Win.

Scott Kovalik extended his class lead by 10 points while Todd Lengacher guest drove the same EVO to a 2nd place finish.

At one point the 2003 EVO 8 hit a spectacular jump, launching the entire car over 2 feet in the air. Unfortunately, the flight was directly into an inclined bit of the road and the car took it up the nose pretty hard. The AMR suspension held up beautifully but the Lower IC pipe and the Inter Cooler took a beating and created a massive boost leak. "What was that whoooshing sound?" someone asked me after the race. "That's the sound of 26 pounds of boost going NOWHERE", I replied with a laugh. Even so, the car held it's own and took the entire field with time to spare.

The damage, while slowing, was minimal and some time at the lift over at English Racing and the car is all ready for the next race!

Many thanks go to English Racing for the tune, crew, repairs and their undying support.

Also big thanks to AMR Engineering for the Suspension that ROCKS. I beat the CRAP out of it this weekend and it took all that AND a bag of chips! Seriously, you guys HAVE to try this stuff. Two Words... LIFETIME WARRANTY.

If I can't break it... it can't be broke.

Catch all the action at the end of the month for Round #5 at the Hillsboro Fariplex. Go to OregonRally.com and click Rally Cross for more information.

Scott
www.EnglishRacing.Net
www.AMREngineering.com

PS - Pics to follow. And if anyone got pics of the car way, WAY up in the air, please post them

 

Congrats on the win Scott!

 

Congratulations on the win. It's about time someone put the Evo where it belongs again- on the rally podium!

 

Thanks guys.... It bears saying that we took 1st and 2nd in the same car LAST event as well.... only that even we had BALD tires. I mean NO tread, into secondary rubber bald!!!

Pics to remember it by:



EVOs are strong, capable cars and if more folks would stop being so concerned with dirt and bling, we'd see more EVOs kicking more subbie **** every event, I think.

Scott

 

hokiruu


Your PM box is FULL. I cannot reply.

Scott
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Great job, man that looks like fun, I wish there were rally-x events closer to me, I'd love to get my Evo dirty!

 

Those look excellent and the price looks very good too. I need a new suspension anyway I might have to seriously consider those. How does the car ride when not on the dirt? And could you give me any impression you had of the coilovers overall during the event. I rallycross a few times a year and play on the back roads in the Adirondacks alot and could use something with a lifetime warranty.

 

In all honesty, I was convinced that I would break them. I really was.

When we penned the sponsorship deal, I toured the facility and was flat blown away by the level of engineering and development that went into each and every part. But as Andy, the owner, explained to me his philosophy of design and execution and witnessed his attention to detail, I knew this was good stuff. But standing up to Rally? I was honestly skeptical to some degree. Even DMS fails... so a coil-over? "We'll See..." I thought.

Installation was a breeze. Everything fit exactly as it should. ZERO problems. What I absolutely LOVE about the AMR suspension is the ability to adjust ride height BOTH with the pre-load and the base mount. TWO levels of height adjustment.


The parts come predisposed to LOWER the car some, which I simply measured the needed ride height, adjusted the lower mount position, set the pre-load and locked the rings down. With spring tension increased, the length needed to match the factory length was 1 inch shorter for the AMR in front, 1/2 inch rear. It sat as factory with that setup but with greatly improved handling.

The kit comes with Camber plates that are way beefy and super easy to adjust. That was another area of concern, that maybe they might slip... but they didn't. I set the camber plates to stock and used the factory 1 or 2 degree set bolts (set at 2 degree) to start with.


Getting the setting really just needed a few trips up and down the street and over a couple of speed bumps. I found the MR ride pretty easy and then went up a bit for a compromise between the GSR and MR ride comforts. Race Settings were a bit different but again, changing that was a SNAP.

In fact, I adjusted at the event to dial the car in a bit more and then drove it how with those same settings and all around yesterday and today.

So to answer your question, can they be driven around on AND off the track? Absolutely!!!

Impressions: On road... smooth and consistent. Lots of adjustments and a noticable improvement in stability and handling. I would road course these as well with zero hesitation. Height adjustments are so easy, I can raise or lower the car to fit ANY road/track conditions.

Impressions: Off Road... Initially, I had it set a bit stiff and turn in was reduced somewhat. A quick click to the top mounted adjusters and it settled right into a nice balance of hold and dive. I backed the rears off one click as well and it was just about perfect. Body roll was minimal as I did want SOME to induce usable weight shift, but not too much. It was smoother than my old DMS and Hot Bits and protected the car much more than stock. Temperature wise, despite the extensive abuse, they never got significantly warm either, which is a good sign.

My next run on that same track is May 31st and we'll beat it some more. From what I've seen so far, I'm not worried and expect a top finish.

In short, I've run several different suspension setups over the years and while DMS was the Gold Standard, I think AMR rivals it and, for the cost, kills DMS.

I am SO happy to be working with such a great company, riding on such a great product and seeing such GREAT results.



Thanks AMR!!!

Scott

 

A certain red rs was the fastest car at the scca national rallyx championship last october. It also seems to win alot in Colorado. As far as events near NY come to New England or Pochipsie region. Warren

 

Congratulations!

I tried to enter the fun run at the rallycross that was set up next to the track at one event last year, and the guy running it told me no evos because I would tear up the track too much. If they do it again I am gonna have twist his arm until he lets me in

 

Are you talking about Ken C.?

 

I'm down on Long Island so the closest NE event (which would be Stafford I think) is still a 3 hour drive away but I would really like to come out to one anyway. I've been nicknamed "Drift King" at the local auto-crosses because of my rally style driving so I'd love to get out there on some dirt and tear it up it just never seems to work out.

RallyDSM glad to see those AMR Coilovers are working so well for you, I was looking into a set of them myself. If you don't mind me asking did you go with something other than their standard spring rates for off-road use?

 

That was Ken. Know him well. Fortunately for him, I wasn't available to compete that weekend... otherwise, the fastest EVO wouldn't have been Red.

Oh, I said it!!!

Seriously, It is nice to see a Mitsu out there amongst all those Sbuarus. I really don't have anything against them. There's just so darn many of them.

Same problem on Stage. We non-Subaru drivers get pretty buried in them. Although, OT this year looks good for 8 or 9 EVOs.

sscottttt: I have 8/6 front/rear on there now. Will likely be switching to the new progressive Hypercoil springs when they arrive later this week, early next.

Scott

 

Do it. That's just ridiculous. They just fear the EVO. Subaru bias.

Scott

 

Try pscc I think they are running may 17 in Red Hook NY. Watch out for the Audi from hell. Lord of the Rings