Hi all,

I'm currently looking into purchasing a 2003 Evo with the intent of it being a dedicated HPDE / track car. The primary reason why I'm considering the Evo is for budget reasons. I'm currently tracking an R8 and as you could imagine, parts and labor are extremely expensive. Even tires... I'm currently running 305/30/19 Trofeo R's and the cost is just ridiculous. I've considered the R888R as a replacement but now I'm starting to rethink the R8 as my track car.

Anyway... my questions to you experienced Evo track guys out there are:

* In general, is this an expensive car to maintain for dedicated track use?

* With the car completely stock, what sort of absolute must mods should I be doing? (besides the usual, pads, lines, fluid, tires) .. specifically I'm more interested in reliability mods such as radiators, oil coolers, brake duct options etc.

* Power wise, what's the ideal power level with a car that will be gutted and caged? Any better turbo options? Obviously things like intercooler, exhaust, intake etc will be on my immediate list.

* Wheels and tire sizes... how are the Evo 9 MR wheels weight wise? Any suggested tire sizes?

Thanks guys

 

Stock they are pretty reliable but a t-case and rear diff rebuild will likely be needed soon. T-case cause they arent shimmed correct from the factory (according to TRE) and rear diff to restack the clutch plates.

Other than that, its pretty solid. Once you add more power more brakes (pads, then cooling) are in order but compared to R8 it should seem pretty cheap. Something like the ST43 will be about $450 a set and last more than a dozen days. They are super aggressive and wear like iron but they dust and squeal like crazy.

Suspension has a lot of levels you can go with. Springs on some bilstein HDs with a big rear bar work really well. Can move up to Ohlin DFV or FA something, or go further of course. Tires you can fit up to 295s under stock fenders with a fair bit of work or 265s with almost none.

Its overall an easy car to track and doesnt take much to get faster.

 

Thank you! Appreciate the advice. The car I'm looking at is not going into reverse so sounds like a good time to rebuild both the trans and diff.

 

Get a 2004 RS or 2005 so you get the front LSD and ACD (on 2005+)

Or... just get a LSD transfer case.

Tracking an Evo for budget reasons is kinda silly. Although budget is all perspective.

Evo is a heavy awd car and creates a bunch of heat so they plow through consumables fairly quickly.

If you really want a budget track car, miata, but of course they are slow and boring.

 

If you're looking for a track car and not looking for every .01s on a lap possible then I'd say get an 03-04 base or RS. Reason being that 05-06 has ACD which is better for performance but adds weight, adds another slew of parts that can fail, adds another fluid that needs to be maintained and possibly leak. The 03-04 is purely mechanical AWD so it's simple, but it works.

No matter what it'd be a good idea to have the transfer case gone through and at least refreshed, better to upgrade as they're not the cheapest item to buy and upgrading is cheaper than buying a second. Same goes for the rear end as stated above. The car really rotates well with a properly set up LSD in the rear.

There's plenty of options for upgraded radiators and oil coolers and they definitely help but they're not needed until you start making bigger power.

The stock brakes (calipers) seem to do well for most people. They have a bit of flex but this seems to only really be a concern for those select few who really drive the car for all it's worth. Lots of options for pad materials and rotors. There's a handful of ducting options too.

You'll want an exhaust and an intercooler at minimum. E85 (will need larger injectors) is also a good idea for keeping things cooler. There's a million and one ways you could change up the turbo on the car. I'm a big fan of stock flange turbos because they're twinscroll.

As for the engine, the 4G63 in the evo is a great engine. Very robust and not really any common failure points from a design perspective. The engine in my car was run for 5 years as a track only car before I tore it down and before that, it had never been opened up in its entire life (had 100k on it too when I pulled it).

Stock 5spd trans is pretty robust as well. Some guys like moving to a taller final drive for track/road course applications. I'm still on the stock 4.53 final drive and I top out in 4th at 120. 5th is essentially useless on track since it's so tall, but you can put in a JDM 5th which is a fair bit shorter. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add a TRE cooler plate.

As said, there's pretty much every option under the sun for suspension. I'm a huge fan of Ohlins. Lots of others seem to like Fortune Auto as well.

Regarding wheels and tires. There's no issue getting a 9.5" wide wheel underneath stock body. A 265 or 275 takes minimal work. 17" tires are a fair bit cheaper than 18" tires too.

As for ideal power level, I think that kind of hovers around the 400-450whp area. Beyond that requires lots of work and attention to keep the car together for an extended period of time.

Cost is pretty relative. The more you deviate from stock, the more the price to maintain goes up. As for consumables, they're not *too* bad. I can assure you they're cheaper than an R8 by a pretty decent amount.

Depending on how crazy you want to get with the car you can get aftermarket control arms and knuckles, carbon fiber body panels, dog box transmissions, tubular subframes. Basically, if you can think of it there's a good chance someone makes it for an evo.

 

Welcome to the EVO track day club Bart! Glad to have you. After several cars, I came back to the EVO because parts are galore and lots of proven set ups exists. It's not the cheapest car to save money for track use, but it's one of the most fun when you get one all set up. I could of bought a Lamborghini by now, but like anything, when you love it, you pour money in it. Doesn't matter what it is. Enjoy it! You will love the EVO and feel less guilty staring out with $90k more in your pocket in the beginning.

 

i bought my 04 Evo RS new and have done dozens of track days (and 20+ autocross days) with no trans or transfer case issues, running mostly in the mid to upper 300s whp on street tires. I keep fluids fresh, do not launch the car ever and go easy when the car is cold.