E46 M3, etc. owners rarely talk about 1/4 mile times on the web? They mostly talk about road racing, lap times, and suspension tuning.

EVO owners seem to focus on drag racing and the 1/4 mile, and do their engine mods before suspension work (if any). Considering that the thing that's the most extraordinary about the EVO is its handling, I find this surprising.

A car with great handing and average power will beat a high powered car with average handling on a road course.

It seems like the suspension is the place to start mods with the EVO, considering the excellent stock power and acceleration--if only to handle future power mods.

Any modded Honda, DSM, or Mopar can do a 10 sec 1/4 mile, but a fast Nurburgring lap in a Lotus Elise is a thing of rare beauty. IMHO, drag racing skills and accomplishments are not as impressive as road racing skills and accomplishments.

 

you need a good foundation to build a nice house

 

Hey lbcevo, have you been to the tuesday meet in LB?

 

I'd guess to say about 40% of the Evo owners are road racing??

They tend to hang a little bit on the back burner

 

Maybe 4% at most. There's more talk about drag racing, because it's much cheaper and easier to do. Road racing costs a LOT of money and takes a lot more training and skill. It's also far more dangerous and much more likely to cause problems on what is normally a daily-driven car.

Our owners aren't rich like the owners of the cars you listed, so very few of us can devote our time and effort to what it takes to be successful at road racing.

 

My Point Taken

 

SCB 1999, I've never been to a meet. Where is it? Every Tuesday?

Yeah, the cost issue seems like the logical explanation as with most things. Nevertheless, IMO pulling 1+ Gs on a corkscrew onramp is a lot more fun than accelerating to 65-75 MPH on the highway.

I know for a fact that many former Porsche road racers are switching to race prepped Evos. For $10-15K you can beat a GT2 and if you total it you save $140K.

 

excelent point.

 

Easy, easy answer here bud!! Where do you live? I live in the south. Do you know how many road racing tracks there are within a 500 mile radius of me? 0 ZERO 0, nada, zip, so what type of racing do you think I will be interested in? There are 3 1/4 tracks within 100 miles of my house. Please don't confuse taking a onramp to real roadracing there is no comparison at all.

For me roadracing is it, but there are no tracks around here. If I lived in by a roadcourse I would be on a roadcourse.

The other factors IMO are liabilities. I push my car around a roadcourse I could spin and wreck especially if I am new to roadracing, right? Your auto policy will not cover the damages, so your Fu$$ing screwed. Drag racing is much safer in that department.

Lastly, roadracing is much more intimidating. Drag racing isn't like riding a bike, but a person can feel that he/she is at least a little close to his/her rival in the other lane from a skill standpoint. Roadracing is all skill and very little car. Way back in 1993 there was one of the big car magazines with Mario Andretti driving a Toyota tercel racing the journalist in a 1993 Toyota Supra TT. Mario lapped him in a freaking Tercel.

Roadracing is still a blast, but it is very geographic specific, and autocrossing is not roadracing I hate autocrossing two totally different worlds.

 

That is by FAR the best and most reasonable explaination as to why I don't track my car that often.

 

For what it's worth, I have done all 3 of the main forms of racing: drag, auto-x, road. I rank them as you would expect: road > auto-x > drag. Road racing is a pure rush and is the most fun I've ever had doing ANYTHING in my life that was recreational. I had a blast and did wonderfully. My power mods served me quite well despite no handling mods. The one mod I did have for racing purposes was a set of R-comps. Those made a huge difference, and since it was my first time, I still don't think I know how to fully utilize the Evo's stock suspension much less aftermarket suspension. In due time, I'll move upward and onward to coilovers and such, but for now, I'm still trying to learn how to maximize the current setup. I did quite well, but I still have a ways to go...

 

I also think nurburgring is a bit of a drive...and war is right, racing on tracks like laguna seca and such cost a HEALTHY amount of money. first have to get your liscence, ride with instructors, etc...Drag racing is 30 bucks, road racing, closer to 300 i would think, im not sure, ive gone. I would love to go though!!!

 

Also, 1/4 mile times are easy to compare and universal - therefore make sense to talk about online. 1/4mile is a 1/4mile whether you live in Alaska or Florida. If I say I ran 1:26 at my local road course, that will only mean something to someone who is familiar with that track...

I do think Warrentonalotington's point is the best that road course time ain't cheap, whereas many 1/4 tracks you can get on all night for like $10-20... If I had the money for a Ferrari, you can believe I'd be at Summit Point every weekend

 

My EVO is my daily driver. I go to the grocery store with it, I run errands, go joy riding, take the girlfriend out in it....

Right now I dont want to take a chance wrecking my EVO, or even getting a scratch on a road race course...

For now, I'll stick to auto-x or drag...


On the other hand if I wanted to do road racing I'd just buy me an EVO RS and strip it out and make it my devoted track car.

 

All of my friends, and myself are a bunch of road racing junkies. As a matter of fact, the last time I was at the drag strip was over 2 years ago.

The problem is the costs associated with road racing. I find it is much harder to keep a car running consistent lap after lap, than it is for an 11 sec blast in a straight line. On a road course you need to worry about the effects of heat, side-loads, and a host of other things. And what separates a 12 sec DSM from a 12 sec 911 turbo is how they handle these issues track day after track day, but obviously that comes at a price. And thats even before you think about tires, brakes, gas, track time, so on and so on.

With all of that said, I must add that when I first stepped onto a road course almost 6 years ago, at the ripe old age of 16, I realized that I had started something that I won't stop any time soon. It truly is an experience that everyone needs to try at least once.