This is a question specific to the Evo. In my case I've installed Eibach springs and a Progress rear sway at the softest setting and will be running my Victoracers on the OEM wheels. Not much of that should matter with this question, however in my mind - but I'm noone who really knows, so ...

"... long straight enters a 90 degree fixed radius turn exiting on a long straight..."

Let's work from there. Does the Evo respond better to slower entry and fast exit with little-to-no rear slide or does it prefer to hit it hard, slide a bit and then lay it down to fire out?

Mindful, I have an '03 so only one front seems to have power on exit.

I appreciate knowledgeable/experienced input here! Thanks!

 

Wow, so much here.

I would want to know how much track experience you have, because I don't want to tell you to drill the corner, and find out you are a newbie.

Short answer is, under power, with the softest sway setting, you are 'probably' going to still be on understeer under power one exit. I would say, don't over drive the corner, but go in with purpose, and be back at light throttle by mid-corner, and progressing harder into the throttle as you exit.

If you have time, I would consider getting your alignment done with the R compounds. We had good success with -2.8 up front, and -1.1 in the back at zero toe.

 

what kind of racing? track? autocross? I think the techniques in either case would be slightly different.

For autocross, Its better to remember the saying "slow in fast out". By entering the corner slower, you can better position the car through the corner, and roll onto the power with little to no sliding. You need to be mindful of the front wheel spin. If the inside front starts spinning, all you do is overheat the front tires. I have found that a quick countersteering jerk of the wheel can correct the wheel spin, but a better solution is to be very mindful on how and when you roll onto the throttle past the apex.

just my $0.02

 

The answer is very dependent on how tight the corner is and your terminal velocity on the straight before braking. I'll assume that its an autocross style 90 and your entry speed is 50 mph. I'll also assume that the corner is such that if it was a 360 you could only go 35 mph in it. If you buy into all these assumptions then here's what I would try to do -
Brake in a straight line before the corner from 50 to 40. Then do one of two things. Either trail brake a little as I turn in or let the car settle for a bit under very modest throttle, turn in as you lift off the throttle or a little lfb. All of this should happen somewhere between 35 and 40 mph. The idea being to get a little rotation at corner entry to set up the exit. Stock the Evo does a nice job of being close to neutral IF you can get a little forward weight transfer going at turn in or a heartbeat after.

 

I ask because line thru a corner often baffles me. To be honest I'm still trying to power the car through the course (this is just autocross so far, I'd love to hit a road course on a lapping day soon). I know I need to slow down to go fast - and I'm concentrating on looking ahead. But I have a terrible time visualizing the proper line when I'm picking off the cone 2 ahead...

Mostly I head straight for where I think the best entry point is and brake hard while the wheels are still straight and then turn as I lift and hit the gas. Yes, I said "hit" the gas. I still tend to treat it as an off/on switch.

At least I'm aware of these little flaws, eh? *Laugh*

It sounds as if beginning accel mid-corner and rolling it on from there is best?

Is there ever a good case for incurring oversteer for any type of corner on the auto-x course?

Thanks all ...

 

I would say yes. If you induce oversteer it forces the viscous coupling (ie the center diff) to distribute the power more evenly than if you take a tight line. I have found that this minimizes the front wheel spin to a certain degree.

besides it's entertaining too

but now that I have v710s, I can't get the car to oversteer like I could with the victoracers.

Now this is a totally different argument for those with the active diff. with the '05 and that delicous center diff, it's better to take the "correct line" and let the ECU figure out what to do.

 

You're in an awd car doing autocross... it pretty much is an on/off switch, even at track events it comes pretty close to an on/off switch. I'm not pro at autox, especially not in the Evo, but the only time I'd ever try an incur oversteer in the s2000 was 180s and that was very slight oversteer. Autocross is so confusing, I couldn't tell you the right line... I SUCK at autocross, no matter what I've done... there's not usually enough room or time to play around with the position of the car (course is usually a little over a car width wide), braking points, turn in points, and all that stuff.... Certainly the best prep for a track even though, but once you go track, you'll never go back.

 

If you want these cars to turn, there is no reason to ever have the rear bar at the softest setting, especially with the spring rates you are running...


Percy