My reason for looking at improving cooling was the 285F oil temps that I was seeing after 10-12 hot laps. This was quite a bit higher than what I was expecting, but didn't really have a good baseline for comparison. Is this close to what others are seeing? I was thinking of this as a reliability improvement/preventative measure to cool things off a little.

As for brakes, with the stock pads, fluid, and lines I was able to run 6 or 7 laps before they completely went away. With the HP+, ATE super blue, and SS lines I can now run about 12 laps before the brakes are gone. Let it cool for an hour and I can run another 12. I haven't seen any evidence of fluid issues - no discoloration or air in the lines when bleeding - with either the stock fluid or the super blue. I was thinking it was pad fade, but may be something else with everything getting so hot... The symptoms are that the pedal starts gradually getting lower after 7 or 8 laps and then its pretty much at the floor by the end of 12.

 

Pedal going soft and then eventually to the floor is usually a symptom brake fluid boiling. At this point you should flush the entire system although a regular bleed will help it some if you are stuck for time between sessions. I would avoid getting to the point where it reaches the floor. Stop driving at lap 7/8 given your current setup. No point risking having no brakes at all (ie pedal like the clutch). I also experienced where one wheel gets the pressure and other do not. It is like getting your hand brake pulled at speed and locking up. Def not something you want and risk your ride.

Changing braking style can sometimes help avoid fluid boiling, but not always. You may need to take the next step with cooling ducts & racing pads (higher torque so that you are using the brakes less of the time) and going to a higher temp brake fluid.

Brake Fade usually feels like the brakes got greasy, more and more pressure is required to make the car stop but the pedal does not go to the floor. Feels more like pressing a brick but the car is not slowing down.

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you for the explanation - I will flush the fluid and make sure to look closer at the fluid next time out....fortunately that is less than two weeks away.

 

with good brake fluid you know only one way you are too harsh on the pads. When you stop at the finish line. And all of the sudden the co driver said: Rob the brakes on fire LOL'

And you see the marshals funny face and a lots of smog.


Seriusly.
I think you need to leave the car bone stock with a tune. Then you need a brake pads, and fluid. And two HPDE day. Maybe some auto X and hill climb or track day. Enjoy the car as it is.

after that you will see where you need more improvement. ANd i bet you will know inside, the car is still better.
The EVo is very capable car. SO let her shine first in stock form, so you two can learn each other. Then you need upgrades.
Too much upgrades less driving experience is much much worst then less upgrades and more experience.

Rob

 

Two things on brake flushes and bleeds. One, you can acquire a good pressure bleeder from amazon; motive power bleeder is what I use, and its super handy for flushing; get a magnetic capture bottle or two. The cap for the Evo also handily fits my Ford super-duty truck

Two, a sign that you've boiled fluid isn't discoloration necessarily; you should look for the "tiny bubbles" that come out. Definitely a sign.

Oh, I lied, #3 -- be conscious to avoid forcing fluid backwards up into the ABS when you're changing pads; dirt etc can hurt your ABS.

With a power bleeder, you'll find that it's pretty easy and fast to flush the whole thing with a quart of brake fluid. I know that capacity because I changed my stock fluid out with ATE blue to be able to see the color change from the stuff coming out. So now I know just from "experience" and feel how much fluid to put into the power bleeder to make sure I get all the old fluid out.

 

My first couple of sessions (on a longer track, 1.6m) I had issues with heat, on brakes and in the engine. Even a SES/limp mode once plus one of those ASC overboost problems.

Practice being smooth. You're able to drive the nuts off the Evo and definitely impress with net results, but 'smooth' is king to speed ultimately, not to mention safety and true learning. So next time, build up slowly; don't even go 100% if you don't feel you're improving on "smooth". Let it build throughout the day. If you do that speed increase "smoothly", you'll probably notice like me that all the issues go away. Well, perhaps not the cording of your tires. That comes with smooth speed dang it.

 

Do you have an oil temp gauge? I truthfully have no clue how hot the oil is, since mitsu didn't give the X and usefull gauges.

 

I did add oil pressure and oil temp using an oil filter sandwich to attach the sensors. I was surprised by two things - that the oil temps were so high on the track and that the oil pressure is so high under normal driving conditions, especially when cold. I also added a boost gauge and AFR. While I'm learning to drive I'm also trying to learn what is "normal" for the car so that I can keep an eye on things. A lot to learn, but having a lot of fun in the process.

 

I am definitely working on being smooth - and have seen a significant improvement. My first time out I was very tenative not wanting to hurt the car, but then pretty soon I was overdriving the car. By "slowing down" and working on being smooth I have dropped 3 sec off my best lap times at the 3/4 mile track this year. I still think there's another second per lap in improving the driver...we'll see.

 

I would love to do hillclimbs at some point in the future, but I have a lot of learning to do first. And I need to finish paying for the car....too many opportunities to end up in the trees on hillclimbs to "race a payment".

Completely agree that the evo is a very capable car stock - it's fun to make my STi friends jealous.