Allright guys!

I am clearly bored, and ready to engage in another round of bench racing!

I went to Thunderhill Raceway this weekend for some NASA HPDE 3, which made me think. What car(s), which are near stock (loose term ) car in value less or equal to EVO is capable of kicking EVO's butt on a track like Thunderhill or Laguna Seca. During the 4 sessions I only got passed by 2 cars, both of them were race cars. 993 Porsche Supercup & 2nd Gen RX-7. I am not nearly a good driver, I brake early, get on the throttle late and just plain chicken out through very fast corners giving only 60% throttle. Still EVO RS is pretty quick, I was able to pass C6 Vette w/ a pretty decent driver.

My car is 100% stock w/ only -2 camber up front and stock Yokohamas.

Come on guys, let's get creative!

My IX RS is worth about $24k now. With that amount of money how would you build a faster car w/ off the shelf components. Let's exclude WRX STi just to keep it fun, no Subies. And no 2003 EVOs w/ high mileage and more mods . Let's keep the cars to street legal, eventhough Spec Miata is technically street legal, in other words no race cars.

Here are my cars of choice to defeat EVO:
- Stock S2000 w/ Hoosiers or Kumho V710
- E36 M3, w/ suspension work, bigger brakes and some meaty tires.
- SR20DET 240sx
- C5 Corvette, although for 24k it would have to be pretty darn stock, as even 97 models still sell for low 20k.
- 2nd Gen RX-7

 

If you passed a stock C6 vette with your stock Evo RS, either the vette driver isn't as good as you think or you are faster than you give yourself credit for

 

What I would recommend is that you stop thinking about how "fast" or "slow" you are in group 3 and concentrate on improving your driving. there are too many variables specific to an individual driver to ascertain what car might be faster.

 

Why not 3rd gen RX7? It's low and wide, with a well sorted suspension, and you could get one for 12k in great shape --- even with a few mods, and with another 12k in off the shelf parts, it could be an track Evo killer EASY . . . . Until it broke!

 

MKIV Supra TT, 350Z, Mustang Cobras (not the current Shelby GT500 of course), Pontiac GTO, NSX

I'm not so sure, I'm just throwing out car names.

 

K20 civic or integra

 

Very true!

We all know that HPDE 3 is not a place for speed contest or an environment to set any lap records. I mostly try to relax and concentrate on corner exits. Plus guys told me to stop shifting, I mostly drive in 4th gear, which turned out to be a great advice. Pretty much the slower I try to go, the faster the car gets, smooth is fast, insturctors don't just say it for no reason.

In either case I want to quantify EVO's perfomance.

K20 Civic is a great example actually. There was a black Civic Si there it seemed to be so much faster on straighaways, but I guess somehow I managed to stay ahead of it. I bet it had built motor and seemed like it had some suspension work.

Originally when I still drove my VW, NASA instructor took me for a ride in a Time Trial session. When a Porsche 944 Turbo stole our apex and shot a 4 foot flame at us, I realized that Time Trial is something I really want to do down the line.

I wanted to start w/ 97-98 Audi A4 1.8T or E36 BMW M3 and make it competetive against EVOs, which I saw zipping by at local track and AutoX events. The more I read about EVOs the more obsessed I got w/ them, eventually got one, well two.

I am very amazed by the level of performance stock RS has w/ only camber set to -2 deg.

However, I still have my vision to build faster and much cheaper car than EVO without indulging into custom fabrication and keeping the car street legal, well barely legal , enough to get that sticker.

Just wanted to know what you guys think, it's not a simple challenge because EVO is a lot of car right out of the box.

And you are right there are too many variables, my question "EVO Killas" might even seem silly and foolish to some people cause it is in a way. I just thought maybe I'll extract some creative ideas from the community.

Also I completely agree that 3rd gen FD RX-7 might be the best bet, until the engine blows.

 

If you saw how low the oil pan sits on those K-series powered Civics, you'd reconsider using them on track. Driving off an exit berm would probably be enough to smash up the oil pan on those cars. The K-series engines have to sit low in the EG/EK engine bays in order to clear the hood. This results in misaligned axles that cause accelerated wear. I heard Andrie Hartanto has gone through quite a few axles on his H1 car. I've been wanting to build a K-series EG hatch for a while, but after doing more reading on the subject, I decided that a B-series should be enough.

A lighter car w/ a good suspension and R-comps should be able grip the same as or more than a stock EVO.

 

whats the price range again in this???

..Elise??? <-- can she be in this comp?

 

hell yeah

 

Only car ever able to beat me 'round the track has been a TT GT mustang (550whphish) Not even C6s (non Z06) keep up.

Outside that mustang, it's always only lancers that pass me who are faster drivers and or cars.

I'm not ...very... stock anymore though. ~350whp

 

A RX-7 FC with a LSX based motor would be a great vehicle to track. Plenty of power. The weight dist is like stock from my understanding.

This prob makes for the best all around built car. IMO.

That is sunny day go fast car.

 

2001-02 Zo6, modded S2k come to mind.

 

The reason I got an Evo is because I could not think of anything that would be easier to make faster for close to the same amount of money.

Add to that the fact that it's easy to drive and able to work well on most tracks in more conditions that most any other car and it became an easy choice for me.

At this point about the only other cars I would consider are an STI or a Honda. Reason for the Honda is that they are very well sorted and supported and once you find one and have it together you can track them silly for less money. Light is right ya know.

 

The Evo is so easy to drive... it comes down to who can drive a cheaper car faster. Given the same driver, and assuming the driver is amazing and is just as good at RWD/FWD as he is in an AWD car, there's not a whole lot in stock trim for the money that will beat and Evo. An old C5 maybe. An ultra-used Elise. Not sure about the E36 M3 (this is coming from a BMW guy)... stock they aren't too fun.

Hands down though, an S2000. I have never driven one, but I've had my *** handed to me by a couple of them. Those things are FAST in the right hands-- even stock.