I've seen a lot of posts about racing away from street lights, or 1/4 mile times of x.x, but after a run today to Palomar Mtn here in So Cal, I've got to say working the Evo hard on some twisty mountain roads is definitely what it's all about.

The Evo was an absolute blast taking all the tight left and right curves at high speed. Got the back end to step out about twice on the way up, but thankfully the Evo's superb balance got me out of a sticky situation real quick.

Got a bit carried away at one point trying to catch up to some sports bikes after they had overtook a car, and I had to wait for the right spot to get by it. I was coming up to a tight curve way too fast and jammed on the brakes real hard. I thought these were supposed to be anti-lock ??? I have felt the anti lock pulsing at the pedal on previous occasions, but this time no pulsing as I headed for the barrier and cliff edge at high speed. I must have skidded 50 feet or more - couldn't believe it , at the worst I would have expected the brake pedal to be pumping like crazy in an attempt to get back control. But nothing. Anyone else had this ?
Thankfully the Evo saved my sorry *** again as it regained it's grip and composure and I managed to steer clear of the guard rail and cliff edge !

Also just like to add that the Evo was holding it's own with the sports bikes, and for the most part the riders were really impressed with it. Apart from maybe the lead guy who said they weren't trying that hard. Trying hard or not, I know I would have been by the 3rd guy in the pack a load of times, as he drifted wide / slowed down if the road wasn't so tight and narrow. I was braking to stay away from him a lot of the time. So much so you could smell the brakes when we stopped by the side of the road and the 4th guy who was behind me said I should have smelt it the time I nearly lost it over the cliff

So does this mean I need better brakes or better pads ? Or maybe I should just forget my biker past, and drive the Evo more like a car , instead of like a bike ( accelerate hard, brake late hard)

 

Did you get out and have a conversation with them or something? I'd be pissed if some car was riding my *** and I was on a bike.

 

Palomar Mtn is a big stomping ground for sports bikes and there's a Cafe at the top. I parked up there, and the biker guys came over saying nice wheels. We got talking and when they said they were heading off, I asked if I could "try" and hang with them for a while. They said sure no problem.

I'm a biker myself and so yes, if some car out of the blue was riding my *** I get pissed , but I squared it with them to begin with. And when the run was over I asked him if I had spooked him or not, and he said no problem. Cool guys

 

can someone please tell me where in california, or america for that matter that you are allowed to drive as fast and reckless as you want and no cops or law prevents you from doing it? is this exclusive to mountains?

 

"PSI"? I thought you were a bar kinda fella.

Thomas Dorris

 

I plan on going to Palomar mountains with my roommate, he rides a Honda CBR F4i, so he goes up with a buncha other hardcore bikers. I'll be tagging along with medikits in case they die. maybe I'll see you at the cafe sometime haha... btw we live in SD

 

It's not about not trusting ABS, but ABS isn't a get out of jail free card for doind stupid things on the road. For people who think they can brake better than ABS, that's BS. In your case, you locked all 4 wheels. As far as your car was concerned, you were stopped already.
-N

 

I had problems w/ a overactive ABS on tarmac w/ my rex originaly, sticky tires, new pads cured it. When I run gravel (or very bumpy tarmac) the ABS gets deactivated-always!

Deactivating the ABS on smooth tarmac (w/ the upgrades mentioned above) I saw a decrease in performance (hard to beat the computer). You also run a very good risk of flat spotting your tires- not a nice thing w/ expensive tires.

It's counterintuitive, but when the rear end comes around (oversteer) w/ an AWD, one must mash the peddle to "correct" it. Lifting off the throttle only exasperate's it.

Big Sky

 

small contribution...not dissing running on the complex intestine like mountain roads

"i maybe slow on the straights, but you can't **** w/ me on the twisties"

one of the typical ricer talk lol

 

Only counterintuitive if you've learned skid control on RWD cars. If you've been driving FWD cars (driving them hard, I mean), you'll know that countersteering and gunning the accelerator also is your best way to stop a spin in a front-driver.

 

 

Thanks for this and the other insights. I didn't really know this about ABS. I knew that when braking in snow or gravel, that a driver can stop quicker without ABS, because the gravel / snow piling up in front of a locked wheel helps slowing more than the on off action of ABS.

And in fact that was the point of my post - not so much as to show what kind of a nut I am by driving fast on Mountain roads ( guilty ), but rather to understand the finer points of driving the Evo hard and to hopefully get tips from others. Also I just thought there were too many posts about drag racing the Evo against other cars in a straight line - which is OK, but not what the Evo was really designed for. And too few about what a superb driving machine it is. You get a buzz from straight line racing for a minute or two. But the buzz from driving a long series of twisties is a lot more longer lived.


Same as GannerBoy not sure what you're getting at here. But in the case of the Evo, you can't **** with it on the straights or the twisties.

PM me the next time you're headed up there. Maybe some others from O.C. San Diego would be up for it too ? Evilution ??

 

Thanks for that. I agree that the preponderance of straight line performance posts is overwhelming.

I must confess that I anticipated more of a back roads, road race, auto-x, with a twist of rally flavor to the EVO crowd. Just my observations.