There was a thread not long ago about custom control arms, but the initiator deleted a lot of the content out when concerns were raised regarding the ability of the stock hub to handle the loads associated with the size tires that you could run with the new arms. Too lazy to search for the thread myself, but it shouldn't be too hard to find...

JW

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=82136

Not a lot of information because the original poster edited out most of his side of the discussion...

 

Well.. there's a lot to do in SM..but..

I think the new big dog has arrived..
http://www.siastuning.com/YelloSpecs.htm
http://www.siastuning.com/yellodetailsPhase2.htm
http://www.siastuning.com/yellodetailsPhase3.htm

Under 2600 lbs, 350 hp, 315s or bigger..

 

Yeah, I saw the e36/46 run afew times earlier this year - fast. I think Richardson's #2 carbonfiber supercharged e36 and Tunnel's #1 alum LWT e36 may be more sorted. Any way those are my picks for the top 3 on dry concrete.

 

BSP is looking better all the time...

 

Well, I don't have any illusions that my car is up to the level of any of the uber-M3s from out west. I don't have the time and I'm not willing (at least for now) to invest the kind of money that those guys have in their cars.

However, based on my experience competing against national championship caliber guys like Grant, Braun, and Tunnell this year, I don't think that the idea of an Evo winning a ProSolo national championship is out of the question either.

I'm sure that with enough effort and money, the Evo could weigh in under 2900 pounds in Street Mod trim. Around 380 WHP should be achievable without going too wild, and without giving up mid-range torque. Joe and Navid have shown that the Evo can run 285 rubber. Beg, borrow, or build adjustable differentials for the car. Add a launch control feature.

Add one championship caliber driver, one season to develop and fine tune the car, and I'll bet on the Evo over the uber-M3s.


But before I start thinking about winning the big show, I've got more realistic goals, like to win a ProSolo. Here on the right coast, my biggest competition has been DG's Talon and Matt Braun driving Lee Piccione's BSP M3. (Tunnell has been at all 3 Pros I've attended, but has been a non-issue in SM at all three; two of them he ran DSP, and the other his car broke.)

I think that if I take care of the two biggest deficiencies in my car -- no front LSD and only running 245 rubber -- the car will be capable of beating them. Whether I can drive well enough, that's another question.


As far as "BSP is looking better" ... I personally like the freedom of SM. If I never win a major event, I'm still having fun and building a kick-*** car at the same time.

 

You're right Jack, and I'm not trying to cry wolf, just noting that the bar has been raised. If there is any car out there that can contend with the M3s, especially in ProSolo and aside from DG, it's the Evos. You get all the 4G63 experience of the DSMs (there's gotta be a better-than-stock turbo option out there?) and I'll bet it could go below 2900 lbs if you get really picky. IMHO, SM is one of the greatest ProSolo classes to watch right now.

 

No worries....

The Evo was on the stock advans too...

Vic loses to an EVO

I will say this however...

Vic is an awesome driver as well as the evo driver... The event was held at golden gate fields. the surface almost qualifies for a rally cross and is known to shread new race tires in 3 runs... (been there, done that). It is also very very slippery (like your on gravel or something ) offering big advantages to AWD.

 

Hey Chris,

How's it going? What did Tang's Evo have done to it to beat Joe and Navid by almost 1.5 secs - on street tires?

 

Nothing but an turbo back exhaust and a very lucky run according to Adrian. I talked with Adrian about it, he just got a perfect run.

It has alot to do with the site in general. It's very very slippery and very hard on tires. Many regulars try to skip the events held at GGF for that reason, unless they are in a points battle.

My Falkin Azenis finally gave up after the last event there this past sunday and could not hold air for very long (long enough to get home fortunetly)

 

Edited first post in the thread to reflect current state of the car and current thinking about future plans.

 

As I have begun progressing in my driving I have noticed somethings, the first is overdriving the tires, you only have so much grip. My times have gotten consistantly better learning when not to overdrive my car, or rather it's tires. (still overdriving a bit too much).

At my last autocross the three faster cars than me all had a lot of rubber, one 315 w/ Victoracers (66.7), one with 325 Hoosiers (64.9)and one with 335 Victoracers (65.5). I'm on 245 Hoosiers, and this was my fourth autocross ever and I managed a 67.2 (I have a 66 in the car, I ran a 66.5 with a cone). Now, besides their 10+ years under their belt (the gentlemen with the 64 was last years national ESP champion), they have a considerable tire advantage. And as I progress I can feel when I'm overdriving my tires, but it seems that with more tire I could push harder in the technical areas?

So, is a widebody kit, like the APR kit to fit 300MM or larger Hoosiers legal in SM? I don't have the money now, or the experience to warrant it just yet, but I'm not that far off from wanting/needing it to start winning. Realistically with a the larger tires, front LSD, and a few more power modifications, I don't see why an Evo with the right driver couldn't be a national winner.

And are aftermarket larger brakes legal?

 

metaphysical:

First, on the tires. Yeah, a 245 Hoosier on an Evo is definitely what I would call the minimum acceptable tire. But IMO, the difference between a 245 and a 275 or 285 is probably only good for a few tenths of a second at the most. I haven't heard of anybody seriously considering a tire bigger than 285 on the Evo. I know that I have trouble getting enough heat into my 245 rear tires -- and the bigger you go, the colder the tires will run. Rear tires over 300 tread width would probably barely pick up any heat at all. And 245 Hoosiers aren't bad tires at all. I've picked up a ProSolo trophy and a Divisional trophy (both for 3rd place in SM) on 245 Hoosiers; locally, I am consistently winning SM and placing near the top of the PAX.

In SM, body modifications to fit the tires are legal. In the front, you can run basically any fenders that you want -- run fiberglass fenders with 3 inches of flare if you want. Or you could cut a few inches of metal off the existing fenders -- ugly but legal. In the rear, you cannot replace the quarter panels, but you can cut, roll, or flare the fender portion; to stay "safe" for rule purposes, you should keep the modification to the minimum required for safe tire clearance. Note that a few SM competitors choose to simply allow the tires to protrude significantly outside the bodywork, and then just run stiff enough springs to keep the tire from rubbing on the fender under compression. For a good example of this, take a look at Dennis Grant's Talon: http://www.wincom.net/trog/car.html

On the brakes... Just about any braking system that you want is legal in SM. If you could get them to fit, you could run the brakes off a Formula 1 car. Only two specific requirements of note -- all four wheels must have brakes, and a functional, redundant emergency (parking) brake must be present. I happen to think that the stock calipers on the Evo are pretty good for autocrossing; you may want a more aggressive pad, and you can save a fair bit of rotational unsprung weight by switching to two-piece rotors. Stainless steel brake lines are probably a good upgrade as well; I'm not sure how much they'll help, but they can't hurt and they'll hold up to hard use better than the rubber lines. I doubt that a "big brake kit" would be worth it for autocrossing; bigger generally means heavier, and you won't be working the brakes hard enough to really see the benefits of improved cooling.


As for an Evo being a national winner in SM... I'd like to think that's possible as well. I think that a decently-prepped SM Evo could win a Tour or ProSolo event with the right driver. I came within 1.3 seconds of winner Matthew Braun at the DC ProSolo this year; he's a multiple National champion, and I had been autoXing for about a year. Could that 1.3 seconds have been covered by a better driver? I personally think so.

To have a decent chance at an SM National Championship, either pray for rain or be prepared to spend a lot of time and money. The handful of top SM cars nationally are extremely well-prepped.

 

Hrm, good points. Ideally I want my car to be very competitive at Autocross and on a road course. The autocross just happens to be 15 minutes away and be at one of the best locations in the country, and we have an awesome group of guys including some national champions (ESP and DMOD2).

The StaSiS two piece rotors are very expensive, almost making the STOP-TECH kit look very nice, lighter, bigger, etc. And you can only run so much of an aggressive pad (heat) in autocross, so a larger pad surface would definetly help. But the cost vs. benefit ratio puts it one of the last modifications on my list.

I don't have the cash to win a national champion, and I don't feel like tearing almost everything that's legal to lighten the car. But, it's in the back of my head, because I'm a competitive person and might have a better cash flow when I'm out of school. My last event was the first time running Hoosiers, and I ran brand-new (never heat cycled) Hoosier Road Racing compounds, at first they were very unsticky, but towards the end I was the fourth fastest car with some heat in them. My car is probably around 320 to the wheels and I think it would be quite easy to get around 420 without hurting spool at all. That power paired with the John's JIC magic, the quaffe differential (ideally a center diff with more rear power), and the wide Hoosiers it could definetely be competitive.

I figure the cost of an RS plus about 15K would be the ballpark to get the Evo to maximum street mod potential. So, does anyone have $45,000 they want to lend me.

 

I have the Baer Eradispeed+ rotors; I got them from Pruven Performance: http://www.pruvenperformance.com/evobrakes.html

Cheaper than the StaSIS rotors. I don't recall exactly what I paid -- it was less than the price listed on Pruven's website, but not a lot lower.

For me, the money isn't really an issue -- I'm not rich, but I'm comfortable and have the funds to do pretty much anything I want to the car. But one of my goals has been to do all of my own labor on the car, and time is a big issue -- between work and family, I generally end up taking vacation days from work to do any car upgrades/maintenance/repair. Doing the replacement rotors was pretty much a no brainer. I got a substantial savings in unsprung rotational weight and it's an install that I can do in an evening.

I'm basically in the same ballpark with respect to power. I don't think the car needs more horsepower for autocross -- well, it's not the primary need anyway. I don't find myself wishing for more top end pull. What I need is less lag and more mid-range torque. I would much rather increase my car's peak torque (which is around 300 ft-lbs at 3900 RPM) than try to increase peak power. Or, by improving turbo spool, have that 300 ft-lbs available more "on demand" than it is now. For that reason, a stroker kit is something I'm going to look into seriously as a winter project -- stroker kits are supposed to both increase torque and decrease lag.

I think for $15K in mods (assuming you do the work yourself) you could cover most of the "major" performance improvements. But don't fool yourself that $15K will "max out" the car. A truly "maxed out" SM Evo is certainly going to use a completely redesigned suspension, a custom transmission, and probably an adjustable center differential. Honestly, I don't think that $30K will let you "max out" the Evo.