Actually, 2 days. I spent the weekend at Spring Mtn. Raceway in northwestern Nevada with the RacerFactory group. There were 2 other EVOs, both silver VIIIs.

I have done about a dozen track days in my now-totalled 350Z in the past year, and 2 days in my S4. The EVO RS outshines them both. The S4 is just too heavy. It does great in the straights, but can't keep up with the lighter cars in the twisties. The 350Z, which was heavily modded, was a monster, but to a lesser extent suffered from being overweight, and is simply harder to drive on the track than the EVO. I am now a total convert to awd on the track.

I had a great driving instructor on Saturday, and mastered throttle steer, am learning to trail brake, and I'm even getting the hang of heel-and-toeing, although the EVO RS pedals are not ideal for that.

The car is really fast on the straights, where only the Corvette Z06 could catch me. In the turns, I am still a slower driver than many of the others in the intermediate group, but I improved a lot over the 2 days.

BTW, a guy who runs one of the SoCal track event groups, who owns an EVO VIII, took my RS out on the track for a few laps and thought that the front differential and lower weight of the RS make a big difference. He's going to buy a front differntial from England and put it on his car, after having driven mine.

It was a great weekend. I never once felt like I was going to lose control and slide off the track. That's more than you can say for one of the Radicals that was there, which spun out and landed deep in the dirt. OOOooppps!!!

 

Isn't the heaviest 350z 3,250lbs? That's lighter than a normal evo and only a little bit heavier than your RS.

Either way, Glad you are having fun in the RS! I've been kicking around the idea of RS or GSR. You aren't helping.

 

You are right about 350z curb weight, but it just feels heavier going around the track. The RS is really easy to drive on track. When you hit a late apex and go out to the other edge of the track to run down the straight, the awd and EVO steering are great. You can hammer the throttle with the steering wheel still cocked, in a way I would never do in a rwd car, and it just goes sideways as the acceleration builds. Try that in a Z and you will swap ends for sure.

I have some pics of my RS at the track, but can never figure out how to post pics here. Can someone help me out?

 

Damn, talk about wasting no time before taking your EVO to the track. I guess this was your car's "break in" exercise. Glad to hear you're having fun with it! I'm waiting to get the quaife front LSD for my car.

 

How about a hot lap (or even a warm lap) description? I'm curious as to why you prefer AWD. I do because I think it's probably more forgiving for a beginner -- getting on the throttle too early seems to just take the car wide as opposed to a spin.

Dave H.

 

Ehh, wasn't that just what he did above:

 

The evo is better for sidesteeping than heel-toeing the way the pedals are setup. Same results.. I perfer sidesteping anyway its much easier in my opinion..

 

Well, a hot lap is a run around the whole track. As to AWD vs. RWD, I'm just suprised that someone who's done significant track time in RWD would want to give up that degree of throttle steer. Is there something else that makes up for it?

Dave H.

 

EvoRs --

UUhhh, what is "sidestepping"?

BTW, I did my break-in before I got to the track. My salesman told me don't go over 5000 rpm for the first 1000 miles. Well I was pretty careful about that until I got to the track in Nevada. By then the car had about 750 miles. Close enough for government work.

 

under 5000RPMs before 1000miles?

Maybe I should have listened more closely to my salesman. All I heard was take it easy for 500miles and then blah, blah, blah...

 

Great job racing, have fun with your EVO, now just imagine the potential when you really start to mod it.

 

Glad the RS worked out for you.

PCA is having a track meet there weekend after next (oct 23/24)... I am going up there for the first time and also first time with the new EVO.... sound slike a fun track, I cant wait.

If anyone is interested I think you can just drive up and register day-of for this event.

 

I'd be careful posting about track days if I were you. We all know "the Man" is watching, waiting to void our warranties

 

Sidestepping is revmatching by stepping off the brake and blipping the throttle, then getting back on the brake. Correct?

I don't know what you guys are talking about. I have no issues heel-toeing the Evo, and I wear a US size 9 shoes.

 

Whatever you do, don't make trail braking such a habit that you can't turn it off in low-traction situations. The EVO already has 60% weight on the front. If you trail brake, you are lightening the rear even more, and a spin is very easy to do. In the dry/high-traction you can trail brake till your heart is content and the car is very forgiving.

As for heel-toe, I wear size 9 and couldn't do it properly either. I don't know how people do it without pedal extenders. I got a gas pedal cover
(RAZO Competition Ti RP61)
It has held up very well and hasn't come loose. Don't get the cheapy autozone ricer type pedals or you'll be sorry. They will either fall off or break lol. This particular Razo unit is made from titanium and aluminum, and the fastening system is very secure if you get the straps tight on installation. I put it on the middle extension setting and had to train myself not to step on the gas and brake pedal at the same time lol. A couple of times I did that & it was very odd feeling. I don't do it anymore. Now I couldn't see myself doing performance driving with out it, since I heel toe on almost every downshift that isn't in-town stop and go.