Hey guys, longtime lurker here, and finally considering buying a new Evo. I've just started researching on this site so forgive me if this has been answered before. I've got a fair amount of HPDE seat time and that would be one of the primary functions of my new ride. However, I would like to keep it simple and stay on a tight budget so things don't get out of hand. Therefore, I was hoping some of you track junkies (seems to be quite a few here!) could provide impressions of the stock brakes and suspension and whether they are adequate for the track. If not, what needs to be upgraded, versus what would you like to upgrade. Thanks!

 

some fresh air cooling ducts for the brakes will help.

I know a fellow who has been tracking his evo stock for over a year. He loves it, saves him money and he is fast,( lots of experience).
I on the other hand have coilovers exhaust and other things and still don't know if I can out run him.

 

Aside from the normal stuff (fluids, SS lines, pads, and tires) you don't need to do anything to have a freaking blast out there & embarrass cars you shouldn't be able to. The main problem I have is people in expensive cars sometimes don't want to wave me by lol. A certain Lotus Esprit V8 twin turbo last Friday comes to mind...

 

camber plates.

stainless steel brake lines.

good brake pads.

CG lock or harness.

.... and you'll have a blast!

n

 

and yeah.. some brake air ducts would help. unfortunately the evo is fairly heavy for a track car.

n

 

With the stock parts, you can do quite well, but it's still going to be very expensive to replace pads and tires so often.

 

How about a bigger rear sway bar? I've been reading that there is some understeer from the factory setup.

 

that would always help.....

remember, there is always a fine line between 'need' and 'want'.




n

 

driver the car stock first, then see what needs to be changed to adapt to your driving style. brakes and tires will be the first thing to go obviously. SS lines would be good as both a performance and prcautionary mod. when it comes time to get coilovers save your money and get the best...ohlins, dms etc..

 

To reinforce the need/want thing:

need: Good brake fluid, and a really good clamp on the throttle body intake hose.

Want: Well.. we WANT everything..

Jon K
www.seat-time.com

 

There are very few things in this world that are more scary than blowing off that blasted hose when your blasting around a track--there will be black smoke everywhere and the car will chug agonizingly under boost. My advice: tighten any and every 10mm bolt in the engine bay before a track event.

As the other guys have mentioned, this car may be one of the funnest and fastest track cars right out of the box. The way I look at it is, the less my wife and I spend on mods, the more we have for tracking.

 

Yea first time with that hose, One Lap 03, shifting to 5th at Memphis.. and the car just dies, i finish the lap at 1/2 have throttle, which worked ok, (full throttle was useless) and came in sure we had blown it.. trying to think of how I am going to explain to my friend we just blew the car up, when i got the hood up, i was VERY happy to see it was "just" the hose.

Since then i have become good at finding loose clamps on friends/students Evos that are not on intercooler/intake piping.

Jon K
www.seat-time.com

 

I think at a minimum you should do some suspension work. I got JIC coil overs at all four corners, tuned by John Mueller, plus a rear sway bar, total price about $2,800 including parts, labor and tax. Also, a set of Toyo RA1s ($700 including mounting and balancing). I also think you are better off with racing brake pads, which cost about $140 front (maybe a little less for the rear pads) plus labor. You might get away with the stock brake pads.

If you can afford a $3,500 - $3,900 mod budget, that's what I'd do. The suspension would be cheaper if you do the work yourself.

I wouldn't do anything to the engine/exhaust until I at least got suspension and tires.

 

richard, can you pm as to where you get your ra1s, the few places i checked wanted 200 per

 

Folks, an Eibach spring kit is 200-240 if you shope and a Progress rear sway is cheap too... I think I went to RRE and got both for about $400. I believe that is the closest I'm going to get to coilover, etc. w/o going $2500 in debt ... am I wrong?

Mind you, I mostly autocross - but the drop and feel have been awesome through first impressions.

Note: I selected the Eibach kit somewhat because the drop is EVEN from front to back - not an appearance drop that drops the front more than the rear... Oh, and the other suggestions above are assumed in my input here ...