Decided to shelf the S2000 for 2021 and focus on upgrading the drivetrain and engine before trying to compete with it again. The pressure and stress to get it all together and all the bugs worked out to make the first event of GTA had my head spinning. Combine all that with needing to get more seat time in it and things just weren't lining up.

So with that said I'm going to enter my 03 EVO in GTA "Enthusiast" class and try and make 4-5 of the 7 events on the schedule for 2021. My schedule is looking pretty open for 2021 and I figure it would be nice to get out of Cali and experience some new tracks health and funds permitting.

The events I'm going to try and make it to are:

• The Ridge April 3-4
• Buttonwillow April 10-11
• Road Atlanta May 7-8
• The Ridge July 25-26
• Buttonwillow Finals November 12-14

They have an event at COTA for their season opener on March 6-7 but the cost just to enter that event for practice day and both qualify/race days is $2,000. If we didn't have this Covid thing going on I would try and make it but that's a $2,000 gamble I'm not wiling to take. Also they have an event at Palmer Motorsports in MA but that is so damn far that it would be a 2 week trip just to get there and back.

I want to enter Enthusiast class because my car is pretty much a bolt on street car minus the autopower roll bar and Dallas's uprights and control arms. The car is actually heavier than it was stock at just under 3,500lbs with fluids and nothing else in it. Nothing has been deleted on this car and everything still functions including A/C, sunroof etc. Has an upgraded sound system with big amp and oem style sub in the trunk with full dynamat.

Plan to keep it this way and not looking to rip the car apart to move up to street where I think I would need much more "talent", an engine build with double the amount of hp the car is currently making and so on. So to me it makes sense to put the stock uprights, control arms, go back to a 255 tires (has to be 220tw or higher) and try to add just a bit more power and call it a day.

I've gotten some advice from a couple of you on here (Thank you very much!) about this so parts ordered for upgrades are:

• 71HTA (have 10.5 stock 9 turbo on right now with upgraded tube type intercooler and pluming)
• RRE Tune for full E85 since it's readily available where I'm at and I have the ability to carry a lot with me (already has radium surge, in tank upgraded pump, all new lines and 1200 cc id injectors)
• Replace clutch with ACT
• Upgrade rear wing? Not sure about this so maybe I'll just leave the stock 8 wing on there? It's kinda funny watching it in the rear view mirror vibrating super gnarly on track :O
• Lip spoiler? Maybe a cheap do luck rep or a rexspeed or chargespeed? I'm limited to no more than 3" extension from bumper edge and on the bottom cannot go inboard past the edge of where the tire well starts. Might not even be worth doing anything here.
• RaceFab oil pan (already ordered from Rob so hoping it gets here in 4-5 weeks) Should have done this sooner tbh

Here is a list of the mods currently on the car:

Suspension/brakes:

• Ohlins R&T valved for 12k front 14k rear with swift springs/helpers (I've literally never adjusted them even 1 click. I get made fun of all the time :P)
• Hotchkis 24mm rear bar
• Stock front bar with adj mounts set to soft
• Will be on stock hubs/uprights but will keep Dallas trailing arms, will put the Whiteline RC tie rod ends back on
• Ciro front camber plates (replaced bearings 2 times already)
• Enkei 18x10 +38 with Dallas 17mm spacers in the front (Not sure if these will work with the Goodyear F1 S3 2/55/40/18 tires I'm planning to run but they are listed as fitting 10" on their site)
• Brembo GT-R front and rear brake kit
• ST47 front pads with ST43 rears but thinking about switching to CSG pads since I put them on the S and they weren't as grabby and a bit more progressive in the pedal feel

Engine:

• HKS 264/272 cams (power starts falling off at 6,500 rpm and doesn't feel worth revving past 7,000-7,500rpm
• Custom intake with filter in lower bumper opening
• OEM 9 turbo currently tuned on 91 making 300whp (Tuned at RRE, they just did what they wanted and said this was best for my setup and road course work)
• FP cast manifold (had to replace cracked OEM and Tomei and ended up here)
• Custom tube intercooler and charge pipes
• Megan 02 housing and downpipe
• Custom exhaust with high flow cat, 1 resonator and 1 muffler (Had to make it Laguna safe) PASSES SMOG!
• Upgraded fuel system mentioned above
• Custom catch can

Drivetrain:

• Torque solutions mounts
• TRE Max lock diff with mustache delete
• TRE transfer case with Wavetrac
• ARP wheel studs
• CAE shifter
• Stock original axles, driveshaft

Safety:

• Autopower roll bar
• Sparco Circuit halo driver seat with 5 point harness and hans

That's pretty much it for the most part. Car only has 40k miles on it but looks pretty much stock other than slightly lowered on wheels. Never really felt it needed more power but I don't think 300whp is going to cut it at my weight even in Enthusiast class. As mentioned a couple of you have already been helpful with some good advice leading me to purchase some of the parts above so thank you for that!

The overall goal is to make it to these events and get the experience of traveling to new far away out of state tracks and trying my best to keep it fun. This is why I'm shying away from going with a bigger turbo setup pushing the motor and cooling system. I've watched vids of other guys in the Enthusiast class and adding a ton of power doesn't matter as much as the other classes due to tire size limitations and minimum 220tw. So it seems like a bit more of a level playing field?? Times at the tracks previous years kinda support this idea.

Looking for any input or advice you guys can give! I will update this thread as the year progresses even if I get last place

 

If you're really trying to be competitive, Id start looking for something different than the ohlin R/T. The comp/rebound combo adjustment just isnt going to play well with getting more rear spring which is about the number 1 thing to faster cornering speed once your camber/caster is solid.

Maxing out caster is also something you should be looking to do. But if you're using WL ball joint use the stock tie rod, that will help with bump steer. It actually pairs well with about 3deg added caster.

 

Hey Dallas!

Enthusiast class is limited to only 1 way damper adjustment. Do you think there is a better option in this category than the R&T? I went with the spring rate and helper spring rate size/combo per your direction.
With the Ciro camber/caster plates I think we maxed out at 6 degrees of castor but when I installed your uprights and control arms we ended up around 11 degrees if I remember correctly. The steering became noticeably more touchy/sensitive after I added your lower control arms.

 

Maybe the JRZ RS2? or the MCS 1WNR.

 

When I bought my Ohlins I was at PSI shop in Sonoma and they tried to talk me into buying MCS 3 or 4 ways and I almost pulled the trigger but I felt the system would be way over my head and would be a waste of money given my experience level. I asked them about a lesser option within the MCS range since they seemed to really prefer this brand but they told me that if I didn't want to go with the MCS 3 or 4 ways then my money would be best spent on the R&T's which is what I went there thinking I was going to buy anyways.

I do have a connection to JRZ through a shop but would this be a significant enough of an upgrade over these revalved R&T's? It's not something I ever really thought about replacing since they were so highly regarded around here and I went with the Evom standard recipe.

 

If PSI revalved them for those rates I wouldn't worry too much. If you have any shock dyno graphs of them you can share that'd probably give us some insight about how they've been setup.

The 71HTA should work well for you and should hold power out to 7500 as well.

Doing some aero is probably worthwhile for gaining some time IMO. Building a 3" splitter with some small diffusers would for sure help keep the front of the car planted in high speed corners (I'm a Pro Awe distributor so let me know if you need anything and I can save you some dough). Also, I think @V.8MR has a Nine Lives evo wing kit he could give you a good deal on and I believe that wing should fit within the ruleset.

 

I would be suspect on the 11deg for caster unless you were pushing the wheel WAAY forward (without headlight cause they'll interfere). It took 30mm offset up top and maxing out forward push on the control arm to get over 9deg. I would say the front is very sharp but I could see at speed that being too sharp and fast to want to turn.

The rear springs is just a thing, the more you can make work the more front grip you will have. The old adage of "taking away grip" is just wrong. More spring is just asking that end to do more work. In the Evo's case, you need enough combined roll rate to control the front roll angle, and enough rear spring to increase front grip. But with shocks running too much front compression or rear rebound at speed you'll feel you have too much spring because lift rotation. With aero and shocks working well, you shouldn't have a problem around 800/1200, or 700/1000-1100 range. I personally don't have a problem at 800/1450, but my tolerance for rotation is pretty high. I like a car that dances. Its more lively like the miatas and s2000s but AWD still there to catch you with some throttle to stick it.

 

I have the shock dyno graphs they gave me when I ordered them so I'll try and post up later today. They did show me though that the actual "real" graph is not nearly as smooth but they said they make them look like this to not confuse people like myself that don't know how to read the data. So more or less make it look linear so people ask less questions :P

Ordered the 71HTA over the weekend and ended up cancelling and going to send my 9 turbo to Art Gannari for his 55mm with anti surge upgrade! 71HTA ordered hadn't shipped yet so was able to cancel the order.

As a small business owner I like the idea of working with smaller shops and business's. Not to say I don't support big business because still have respect for the big guys because everyone starts off small at some point.

On the splitter they only allow it to go as far back as the wheel well or end of bumper. Street and Limited allow the splitter to go to back as far as the middle of the wheels/axles. Looking around not seeing much off the shelf options for something like this but I did get a quote for some Alumilite delivered to my office in case I want to try and go at it myself. Any ideas on where I could possibly get something specific that meets requirements or other advice is greatly appreciated! I will message V.8MR.

You are right. I was able to find my receipt from West End and it shows we went from 4 degrees of caster with just the Ciro plates to 6 degrees after we installed your arms. Alignment is 3.5 with 0 toe in front and 2.5 with 0 tow in the rear. Alignment previous to this setup was right at 4 degrees front and 3 degrees rear per your recommendations but West End set it to the current specs on their own and told me we could increase from there after I got some time on track. I really need to learn how to adjust myself and it's part of my goal as I'm doing these events this year.

 

Huh? They thought 5k for MCS 2WNR's is somehow ....less performance...then 2500 for RT's? That doesn't compute. I have the RT's on the 10 and the MCS's on the race car and I can say hands DOWN the MCS's are way better, but still this has me chuckling.

 

I'd focus more on getting your alignment at a happy point than worrying about dampers. What you've got will work fine for now. I think the point that Dallas was brushing on is that the R&T has one adjustment know for both compression and rebound which means there's crosstalk between compression and rebound which is not desirable, especially if you find yourself in a situation where one is adequate but the other needs to be adjusted.

Tyler makes good turbos, I'm sure you'll have equally good results with his 55mm unit.

Not being able to go back to the axles isn't the end of the world. most of the performance comes from the leading edge and diffusers in the splitter. I don't know of anybody selling off the shelf evo splitters though I've sold 5 or so custom designed ones last year. If you'd like I can throw together a template for you to trace onto birch or alumalite and cutout your own splitter that fits the stock bumper. I can email it to you and you'd have to get it printed at a Fedex/Kinkos or somewhere that has a pen plotter large enough to print it out.

 

Necro bumped the wrong thread because EvoM allows you to scroll past current thread into prehistoric ones for some reason...

Regarding the wing, thanks Austin. I'd let go of the 9LR wing for what I paid plus shipping. I only paid $400 for it so its a damn good deal.

 

They were very aggressive with trying to sell me the MCS and I was very open to doing it but when I asked about the non 3/4 way's like 1/2 way they immediately said that the better value was in the R&T. They were all very nice people and took a lot of time to walk me around and show me everything they do in house including rebuilding and modifying brands they don't advertise on their site. With that said if they would have told me the MCS or another brand was a better all around for the $2k I spent on R&T's with tax I would have just followed their direction because I'm pretty easy like that and honest with myself that I don't have a clue what is or is not good for me.

Gotcha on the dampers. I'm going to have to get over the fear of twisting those knobs :P
I have a plotter here at my office so I can print anything you send me full size. Much appreciated!

I'll have to take you up on that offer! Will I need to make or acquire any parts to mount or make it 100% functional?

 

Hows come nobody mentioned him when I started that other thread lol.

 

Should be 100%. It was never even mounted, just removed from the shipping package.

 

Haha don't be afraid to experiment, you can only learn. If the car feels like it's going backwards just return to the previous setting.

Perfect. Shoot me a PM with your email and if you want anything in the splitter like diffusers or skid blocks etc. That will allow me to mark any holes to mount them center/symmetrical for you.

Lol which thread? There's more than one good option out there. If I posted in that thread then it probably wasn't on my mind at that time.

I've chatted with Tyler a bit and he's a smart guy with a good head on his shoulders. I don't run his product but plenty of people have good reviews for his turbos and he's done a good job growing his business the past couple years. I'm also a big FP fan. FP gets a lot of flak, they've gotten larger and larger and as you put out more and more product you're bound to have a few bad eggs. Robert has never left a bad taste in my mouth and I'll continue to support his product until otherwise.