You should change the gear oil every 4 track days at the most.

 

I do about 8 track days a season (May - October), plus 8-10 autocrosses. It's also my year-round daily driver.

Definitely be aggressive with your fluid change schedule - at least every 6 months with tranny / diff, every 3 months for brake fluid, every 3k miles or 2 days of tracking, whichever comes first, for oil. Some of these schedules others have listed are very aggressive, but if you're doing them yourself it's probably cheap insurance.

Spark plugs at least every 6 months. The brake pad upgrades and cooling are definites, too.

Throw some race gas in - it's another insurance policy.

In addition to the things others have mentioned, I had ARP conrod and head bolts installed on the recommendation of Al F from Dynoflash. After seeing a post about a guy losing a wheel mid turn at NHIS when his lugs sheared off on the front right hub, I'm thinking about the ARP lugs, too.

Definitely your driving style can dictate your reliability on the track. I like to drive about 85% (aka "non-red headed step child beating"), and worst I've had happen is a spark plug boot come loose, and the crankcase breather hose came off the intake. I had a buddy accompany me to a 2 day track event at WGI who really wrung out his Evo, and while the worst I got was a few $50 tabs for 1/2 tanks of race gas, he lost 5th & reverse syncros, plus chewed up a set of new rotors - on Day 1. I tend not to row the gears as much as I could, figuring the few seconds I lose on lap times is better than having to limp or get towed home and face a few grand in repairs.

 

how much and where can i buy a tranny cooler? is there a kit?

 

recommanded branch for the following fluids?

Motor oil:
brake fluid:
tranny fluid:

 

Are we talking track here or street use?

Street wise, stay stock -- please search or check out your owners manual for those.

Track wise:
Oil, may want to use a heavier weight
Brakes, DOT4 (I like Motul)
Trans, BG I or II

 

I just changed my tranny, t-case, and rear diff fluid over the weekend. Since the last fluid change, I've done 8 track days. Total mileage on the fluid is 6300.

I use pennzoil synchromesh in the tranny, and Diaqueen in the t-case and rear diff. Upon inspection, the t-case fluid was much darker compared to the rear diff fluid. The rear diff fluid came out looking like new actually. So it clearly does not need to be changed as often as the t-case fluid. So I'll probably change the rear diff fluid every other tranny/t-case fluid change.

 

I recently changed all the drivetrain fluids for the first time on my '05 RS (13 mo old, 6k miles, ~10 track days).

Rear diff fluid looked pretty good (with diaqueen)
TC fluid was dark (with diaqueen)
tranny fluid was dark and had metal shavings on the drainplug (with Redline MT90)

Another good maintenance item: when the wheel bearings start to go replace the whole hub assembly. That way you'll get new wheel studs as well. Even if the wheel bearings are fine at 2yrs, I plan to do that anyway. I bought lightweight open-ended steel lug nuts and I'm going to replace them this "winter" (California).

 

bump for good thread! Any more suggestions for tracking the Evo as reliably as possible?

 

What about installing an Accusump as cheap insurance if you frequently track your car? It could save your motor..

 

I believe that is the only way to get new front wheel bearings, the whole assembly. At least that's how it was when I bought new ones a couple months ago. Yes they do come with new studs.

 

I had an instructor tell me he thought one of my wheel bearings was bad (claimed to feel a grinding when turning one direction) - but I've never noticed anything other than a creaking sound when standing still and turning the wheel. What should I be feeling/hearing with a bad wheel bearing?