Have you gone through the HPDE ladder?

Personally, you might want to look at a different car. You'll be way under tired and over powered for TT with that setup. And having that much car in HPDE might hold you back more than rocket you forward. TT requires a lot of a driver. And I look for a lot when I am signing someone off into TT.

 

Smike,
I appreciate your weight in this subject. See above, no not yet, lots of private track days under my belt and even a handful of TSD Rallies.

You sound like my mechanic...he wants me to buy another dedicated race car in a lower class as well...I keep telling him if I buy another race car its going to be a rally car.

I do plan on some stickier tires and I do appreciate the fact that the car is capable of more then what I can currently dish out. If you were close to MI I would ask you to meet me at Gingerman or Grattan for a ride along and give me your input on where you see me as a driver currently.

 

Sell the car and buy Nathan's or hamflex's car if you want a good TTS car. If you don't run 275 or bigger you will be out gunned. Also, your HP is going to be too much. You are going to want around 330whp and upwards of 360-400tq for a good TTS setup.

Fwiw, the Midwest /great lakes region TTS group of cars are VERY fast.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Yah, TTS or more like TTU for that car.

The highlighted statement is a reason you should probably hold off on doing more mods, like the aero. If you're not wanting to jump back into something slower, I would at least learn to get the most out of your current setup and dial that in before adding aero. Or, once you get to TT, you'll be like a dog chasing it's own tail when making setup changes lol.

Smike's post is kind of a reason why I am currently building a 240sx for TTE. I went from a Scion tC to the Evo about 2 years ago. I thought I had gotten enough out of the slower car and wanted to step it up. Well it was evident this past December that I had picked up some bad habits with the Evo when I drove my friend's N/A Subaru 2.5rs. I started to rely on power to get a fast corner exit rather than my speed through the corner.

There is a saying that I have stamped into my track car that I love (don't remember where it came from):

Slow in, fast out is what makes a good driver
Fast in, faster out is what makes a great driver

^ I hope I didn't butcher it too bad as I am not looking at it.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck and hope you have a blast!

 

I am close. We're at Mid Ohio in 10 days. Already did Grattan this year. PM me your next track day. I might be around.

Trust me - TT is a lot different than open track days.

Now I had an Evo too but just my opinion here again -- Evo hides a lot of driver errors / let's you get away with more than you can with other cars. Not negative...but if you want to grow and develop as a racer they will hold you back.

Are you prepared to write off the car in a worst case scenario?

TTS/U/R is the top of the food chain. How competitive do you want to be? Win? Have lots of money on hand.

 

^^ I have making my entry into TT (TTS) this year and 245's will not get it done on an Evo. 275's will be going on my car to get the 0.4 favorable adjutment on power to weight. I will be shooting for 375 awhp, 3150 lbs and 275 Hoosiers to try and get competitive.

So true. When you do get a TT checkride and decide to give it a go, it's good if you can do so at a smaller event and get a feel for it. Going to Road Atlanta with a 50+ TT car field and some very fast people in every group was a shock. All the fast people are on A6's and drive 2-3 laps at a blistering pace, then pit. I presume the same goes down at Mid-Ohio events.

 

I am offended by this!! Would you tell someone to give their first born child up for adoption because it has a learning disability and adopt a smart kid???

My Evo is my baby, I refer to it as my first born child. I will never ever sell it. I don't want to buy someones TTS car. At 350whp I was faster then my Evo, now that its 400whp I still need some time. I jumped up the power when I could keep up with the V8's in the turns and then they would pull on me in the straights. I would rather build another car the way I want it, to compete in a lower class. I may run the 335i with some wide stickies on it until I get faster.

 

Yea the car is definitely closer to TTU then TTS, either way I wont be all that competitive considering the amount of experience drivers in those classes have.

I don't necessarily mind racing something slower, but I was thinking a Group 2 or Production Class Rally Car for a slower car. I LOVE the dirt, the reason I bought the Evo in the first place was my love of Rally. Road Racing is cheaper though. Have you seen the Rally entry fees these days? Not to mention its not if you crash it, its when you crash it.

I completely understand smoother is faster, and I love the quote.

Thank you I appreciate it!

 

Will PM you.

I hope so that is what I am looking for, something different and with cars that are faster then me. I am tired of always being behind someone slower then me and having to wait for a straight to pass.

I can see that, the Evo is quiet easy to drive fast if you understand what it takes to be fast. I see your point of learning to be faster on a much more unforgiving car then an Evo.

Write off the car as in total it? Or sell it? I am perfectly ok with crashing the car and having to take whatever I can scrap off it and put it on another Evo. Yes I would not really be all that happy with that scenario, however we put roll cages in them for a reason. Also if I decide to crash it, I want it to be on a race track not the freeway. Selling it is not an option.

I don't really expect to win, at least not until I get some real competition time under my belt and get the car developed for the class. I would be happy with middle of the pack to be honest. Money is not an issue for me. No kids, No wife, not even a girl friend, just a booty call. I make great money for my age and I will make a lot more in the next couple of years. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to drive it on the street very much anymore and that if I have been building it for the past 9yrs to road race, I should actually go out and race it.

I am more then humbled by the advice I have been given and I may go out and buy a lower powered race car to build up my driver mod until I can actually go out and race the Evo to its potential. Only time will tell.

 

No problem!

I haven't seen what rally fees are as it really does not interest me. But you should see how much it cost to replace armco, k-walls, fencing, and anything else you may hit if you have an off at a track. Same friend with the 2.5rs wrecked his WRX at a track and had to pay quite a bit for the tire walls he blew through on the way to a tree.

The last part I highlighted also goes for tracks too. Evey HPDE class I was ever in, the classroom instructors always reminded us that it is not a matter of if, but when you hit a wall (or anything else for that matter).

If you want to challenge yourself during the DE's, don't compare yourself to the others in the DE. Check the TT time sheets and see where you stand against those in the class your building for.

If you don't want to buy a slower car you could always do a rental.

 

245's would be to attempt at staying it TTA, that is If I can figure out what I am willing to take off the car to get the points down, not to mention it really needs a trans/transfer case/diffs built. Really the car is not fast enough if you ask me. I wanted 500whp on 110oct but my turbo is on its way out. Turned the boost up to 28psi on the dyno and it fell on its face at 5500rpm, its efficiency range is 31-38psi. I have been just beating on it til it dies and then I will come up with a solution. Stock frame turbos are for the weak btw. 8700rpm redline + stock frame turbo = Fail. I was thinking a T4 TS GTX3076. I figured I could still limit HP, have great response and the ability to make more power when I want to just play.

Smaller event, good suggestion, is Grattan a smaller event? That is my home track, I have more time on it than any other.

All of this good advice I am getting, makes me feel like I need another toy until I can make good use of the Evo as a TTS/TTU car. On the other hand someone has to come in last.

 

Rally entry fees over $1000/event, and you plan to crash the car every event. One of the Rally Cars my mechanic was sponsoring rolled the car in every event he entered and still placed in every event. I never really thought about having to pay for a tire wall if you hit them. Good to know. I have spun off into the grass countless times, haven't hit a wall...yet. The most expensive track day I did cost me an engine though. 120mph on the front straight at Grattan trying to play keep away from a Formula Mazda, car stopped pulling, brake into turn 1, back on the gas nothing but smoke. Kind of funny how all the people that wouldn't talk to you because your faster then them all of a sudden show up all empathetic.

Funny you should mention a rental, my mechanic suggested I go to enterprise and rent a Civic.

 

On 245's in TTA, you will never keep up with the C5 Vette's. Nate pretty much worked out the blueprint to make an Evo a competitve TTA car, provided the driver is up to snuff. Check his blog and follow that example. Of course most of his records and wins were using the 255/35/18 Hoosier (which is actually the same size as the 275), but now NASA is on to that tire and you have to take 275 size points for it. The Vette boys were using it as well.

If you have not done the rear diff, you are probably well off TTA/S pace.

And on the cost thing, TTA is nearly as crazy as TTS if you ask me. People breaking out fresh sticker A6's almost every event.

 

Nobody can really show you the right path. There are sooo many factors and alot is up to you. From the sound of your post you are doing things just fine.

I also can respect not wanting to sell your car. I have been building my car for 9 years and its a never ending thing. If you do things right you can have a car that can be fun and useful in many forms of motorsports. Build a car you can TT now and Rally when you get bored of that.

 

It's always fun to watching every top tier TT car roll out the second sessions each day on Sticker tires.