First time racing an EVO!!
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Evolved Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,760
Likes: 22
From: Reading, MA
First time racing an EVO!!
Well finally I’m not more an EVO virgin!! Had a chance to race in a stock EVO this weekend and had a pretty good time! Especially considering that this came after a month short of full three years of absence from the autoX. It felt good to be there and it was fun to push the EVO around as well.
The car was basically stock (it will stay in AS for a while as far as I know) except for the 245/45/17 V710s. Still, I raced it in ESP with some of my old buddies. Didn’t see overall results yet, but managed to finish second after the Charles in his 2G DSM about 2 sec behind. He is saying that a cone was called on that fast run of his, but still his run was good!
There was some clearance issues with the wheels (17x8 Kosei with 35mm for offset) and tires combo and I believe that 1/4" spacers would help regarding to that. Overall it was really nice! I do have an option to compare it mainly with a 2G ESP DSM, and here is what I was able to see from the first event:
1. Stock brakes are no match for the Porterfield R1 pads. Better pads are a must and I do expect the brakes to be much better then what is now on a DSM
2. Grip was also lower compared to the DSM. That part was expected since stock shocks are no match for the triple Penskes that a DSM is equipped with.
3. I know it is not fair to compare the stock EVO with quite prepared DSM, but even with very weak engine on the DSM it was quicker then the one in EVO. I believe that better flowing exhaust and K&N filter would help it for the EVO, but that still came as a surprise.
4. I believe that above surprise was aided with a very high clutch engagement that EVO has vs. 2100 ACT on the DSM. The stock clutch gives such a soft feel to the EVO that give me such a wrong impression. Even more surprising was when whey told me that for a stock clutch there is almost nothing that can be done to fix it.
5. Another interesting thing came from the ACD and its operation. The car was on 42 psi all around mainly due to the fact that owner doesn’t like it too loose. On the other hand, I prefer looser cars and I usually compensate that part with smaller steering inputs. With an active EVO, that looseness is controlled with the steering angle sensor (among others) and in order to get it to be loose you need to turn more then I personally prefer. The car would correct it self rather quickly, but there would still be that short adjustment needed. That is why I believe that looser rear end (like more psi in rear tires or other known tricks) would allow the rear end to dance more with smaller steering inputs, which would be so much more to my likening!!
Overall, with more seat time I believe that I could drop those times from low 63s down to 61 pretty quickly. Considering how many mistakes I had there, I guess car did pretty darn good. What surprises me even more is that I see no serious EVOs in AS at all. There was an attempt with an STi from a very good driver a while back but it ended up as a no match for the C4s and Porsche.
So, it was great to race again. I wish I could do this a bit more often but I was told that there is always the next year. So let’s hope that the next one will have more of racing then last few!!
Fedja
The car was basically stock (it will stay in AS for a while as far as I know) except for the 245/45/17 V710s. Still, I raced it in ESP with some of my old buddies. Didn’t see overall results yet, but managed to finish second after the Charles in his 2G DSM about 2 sec behind. He is saying that a cone was called on that fast run of his, but still his run was good!
There was some clearance issues with the wheels (17x8 Kosei with 35mm for offset) and tires combo and I believe that 1/4" spacers would help regarding to that. Overall it was really nice! I do have an option to compare it mainly with a 2G ESP DSM, and here is what I was able to see from the first event:
1. Stock brakes are no match for the Porterfield R1 pads. Better pads are a must and I do expect the brakes to be much better then what is now on a DSM
2. Grip was also lower compared to the DSM. That part was expected since stock shocks are no match for the triple Penskes that a DSM is equipped with.
3. I know it is not fair to compare the stock EVO with quite prepared DSM, but even with very weak engine on the DSM it was quicker then the one in EVO. I believe that better flowing exhaust and K&N filter would help it for the EVO, but that still came as a surprise.
4. I believe that above surprise was aided with a very high clutch engagement that EVO has vs. 2100 ACT on the DSM. The stock clutch gives such a soft feel to the EVO that give me such a wrong impression. Even more surprising was when whey told me that for a stock clutch there is almost nothing that can be done to fix it.
5. Another interesting thing came from the ACD and its operation. The car was on 42 psi all around mainly due to the fact that owner doesn’t like it too loose. On the other hand, I prefer looser cars and I usually compensate that part with smaller steering inputs. With an active EVO, that looseness is controlled with the steering angle sensor (among others) and in order to get it to be loose you need to turn more then I personally prefer. The car would correct it self rather quickly, but there would still be that short adjustment needed. That is why I believe that looser rear end (like more psi in rear tires or other known tricks) would allow the rear end to dance more with smaller steering inputs, which would be so much more to my likening!!
Overall, with more seat time I believe that I could drop those times from low 63s down to 61 pretty quickly. Considering how many mistakes I had there, I guess car did pretty darn good. What surprises me even more is that I see no serious EVOs in AS at all. There was an attempt with an STi from a very good driver a while back but it ended up as a no match for the C4s and Porsche.
So, it was great to race again. I wish I could do this a bit more often but I was told that there is always the next year. So let’s hope that the next one will have more of racing then last few!!
Fedja
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,760
Likes: 22
From: Reading, MA
Did you get to post a picture or two of your car anywhere? I saw that you where planing to, but I couldn't see if it happened or not. If not, send me a few to one of my emails.
Good to hear from you old man!
Fedja
Good to hear from you old man!
Fedja
Originally Posted by MrAWD
Did you get to post a picture or two of your car anywhere? I saw that you where planing to, but I couldn't see if it happened or not. If not, send me a few to one of my emails.
Good to hear from you old man!
Fedja
Good to hear from you old man!
Fedja
Nice to see you behind the wheel again...and an Evo at that!