I am considering JIC Coilovers. I will take the car to a track for road race whenever possible. How much difference will coilovers make over the stock suspension?

Is is a bood buy for the $$$? Will $2,000 of coilovers be faster then $2,000 of engine mods?

 

IMHO, on road courses, handling is everything. Unless the track has very long multiple straights, a car that can corner better will always out-run a car that has more horsepower.

For instance, autocrosses is 80% driver and 20% handling (IMHO again, and handling includes tires, suspsension, alignment etc.) and the Evo (or STi for that matter) post equal or better times to many cars that have more horsepower. If you look into the AS class, Evos and STis out-run M3s eventough they have more horsepower, but a little less torque.

Independent of how much horsepower you have, the issue is one of how you put that power down to ground We have an Evo prepared with our custom tuned JIC for JBrennen on these boards, and he is consistently at the top 3 spots of the SM class, and our own STi with custom JIC's is also running in the top 3 in ESP class.

You can certainly not make a 1-1 comparison between autoX and road courses, but it is just an example that power that cannot be transfered onto the ground is quite worthless. And Evo's stock handling leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to track or autox performance.

 

For tracking the Evo, you'd have to be a bit of a daredevil or a masochist to put $2K in engine mods without any suspension upgrades.

Those engine mods will make the car more tail happy. Generally a bad idea on a road course. Plus you'll carry more speed on straights, and your differential between straight speed and cornering speed will increase, so you will work the brakes harder and have more potential for unsettling the car on corner entry.

Put the $2K into some adjustable coilovers like (for instance) the JIC FLTA2s. Now you can dial in the right handling for your own preferences and for the track conditions. Cornering speed and confidence will increase. Differential between straight speed and cornering speed may actually decrease, so you may see a slight decrease in brake stress, which will give you more consistent braking throughout a track session. And without a doubt, corner exit speed will increase, which means that you carry the benefit of that extra speed all the way down the next straight -- if you only have power improvements, most of the gains won't be seen until the latter part of the straight.


I autocrossed my car for several events with big power improvements and stock suspension, and it was a real handful. Going to an upgraded suspension really "tamed" the car a whole bunch, to the point where the car is really quick now, not just in a straight line, but also in transitions and in steady state cornering.

 

Thanks for your answers. I'll add the coilovers. One of the best things about the EVO is the great balance between power and handling. As you have pointed out adding power without adding handling would upset that balance.

 

Notice more emphasis on the driver! I hope you have plenty of track experience or those mods are going to go to waste. You might want to take some funds and invest in modding your skills at a driving school! That will make you faster than any mod to the car.

Plus if you don' thave the skills to drive the car, you're not going to understand what the car is doing that needs to be changed or adjusted to go quicker. I see many novices royally screwing up a car setup becuase they can't drive and try to "fix" the car, intead of learning to drive first so they really understand what needs to change.

 

Thanks, more training is always good advise. I have already taken 2 schools and am signing up for more as they become available in my area. I am trying to learn more about how to set up the car.

What more power will do for the car is obvious. I can keep up with or pass the 911 on the straights.

Exactly what coilovers will do for the car is more of a mystery to me. From the comments posted it sounds like they will substantially improve cornering so that I can carry more speed into, through, and out of the corners.

 

That is pretty much correct

Any one can go fast on the straights, but not everyone can on the corners