Here are results of 2004 ESP class at the Nationals. Evo's did quite well but certainly didn't dominate the class. Moving the car to BSP should no longer be an issue for the Evo or STI. Link to complete results:

http://ww2.scca.com/soloresults.php?ID=33

E Street Prepared Drivers: 38 Trophies:11
T 1 141 Sam Strano 01 Chevrolet Camaro White
T 2 99 Mark Jorgensen 98 Ford Mustang Cobra White
T 3 93 Jason Tipple 04 Mistubishi Evo VIII Silver
T 4 186 Steve Eguina 96 Chev. Camaro Ss-RWht/orng
T 5 193 Eric Stemler 03 Mitsubishi Evolution Silver

T 6 78 John Tak 04 Mitsubishi Evo Red
T 7 41 Michael Snyder 02 Chevy Camaro White
T 8 80 Navid Kahangi 03 Mitsubishi Evo VIII Red
T 9 182 Henry Botkin 02 Chevy Z28 Black
T 10 96 Chris Hartman 04 Subaru Impreza STi Silver

T 11 126 Kiko Seibt 04 Subaru WRX STi Blue
12 116 Joel Fehrman 05 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
13 178 Andrew Lieber 04 Mitusbishi Evo Red
14 20 Charles Moss 95 Eagle Talon AWD Black
15 89 Mark Madarash 96 Ford Mustang Black

16 180 Joe Harrison 03 Mitsubishi Evolution 8 Red
17 189 Marcus Merideth 96 Ford Mustang Black
18 86 Kyle Williams 96 Chevrolet Camaro SS-R
19 56 Casey Weiss 00 Chevy Z28 Maroon
20 122 James Elterman 04 Subaru Impreza STi Blue

24 94 Daniel Maloney 03 Mitshubishi Evolution Yellow

Enjoy,

 

yep... Seems that now that the pony cars have some real challengers, they have woken up, smelled the coffee, checked their setups and kicked some "rally car booty"....

Not sure how to read into this with Navids win in the pro-solo. maybe in the pro-solo events the EVO should be bumped, but for the tour, it's pretty clear that the EVO is no "overdog" for ESP.

 

I wouldn't count on that. There are still going to be those saying that the quality of the drivers in the pony cars aren't comparable to the Evo drivers who were nearly as fast.

 

I don't think the SEB wants to be put in a position where they have to explain a move to BSP by claiming that one set of drivers is not as talented as another set of drivers.

Plus, Tipple and Seibt are both previous national champions. Tipple was STS champ in 2001, and Seibt was STX ProSolo champ in 2002.

If the Evo & STi get moved to BSP at this point, there can only be one reasonable explanation -- the **** and/or the SEB want to make ESP into a "pseudo-spec" class for American pony cars. Note that there are no other "pseudo-spec" classes in SP right now, so although the pony car guys will argue for such a move, I think it's unlikely.

 

What's scary is that Kiko would have been (w/o a cone) .44sec behind Tipple and only.22 behind Stemler's maxed out Evo. This in a not fully prepped STI, on presumably 255 victoracers. Maybe the torque and rear bias drive on Sube's are better for AX?

As far as ESP classing, the SEB will meet soon, so we should make one last push to summarize why the Evo should remain in ESP. BSP would be too quick.

The evo drivers did well - crongrats to the trophy winners!

 

First, Tipple was in Stemler's car.

Second, I would have to agree that Stemler's car is likely the best prepped ESP Evo I've heard of, but I don't think it's maxed out. Isn't he running an open front diff?


As far as the Evo vs. STi in SP -- I've heard numerous national level drivers who've driven both who say that the Evo is easier to drive fast, but the STi may have more potential.

 

Isn't he running an open front diff?



as far as i know he still is. but he is a perfectionist, the car is well set up, and both he and jason are great drivers.

 

I think the cars could dominate ESP with another years worth of prep. I know Joel's STi is going to be ridiculious as it is about 70% of what it will be. From talking to other Subaru people I know Kikos car has alot of room to improve. I think next year is going to be interesting if they infact stay in ESP.

 

Actually, I spoke with Eric Stemler about three weeks ago when he dropped himself off the RRE Quaife list. He had an RS front diff installed just before Nationals so he would have some form of front LSD for the big event. Seeing his car on Tuesday, he's done a good job of setting it up. I'm sure there are still a few small things he could do. This is the first time I've viewed the Solo2 Nationals and with all of the large trailers and a few teams with semi tractor trailer car team haulers, I thought I was at a pro race. Some of these autocross teams are very serious $$$$$.

- Mark

 

Kiko was running 275's last event I ran at. I believe they were new 710's.

 

Yes, last I heard he was running a RS TC, but he said it did mess with the ABS, putting it into "ice mode"sometimes. I had brain fade and got Tipple mixed up with Tak in Andy's RS . All those east coast co drivers look the same to me.

I heard the evo is faster also, but the potential of the Sti, due to it being able to be adjusted to oversteer may overcome the Evo's main weak point. I read the '05s made some changes to the drive train to keep up with the MRs. I'm glad to hear they fit 710's in there, last year it was said the Evo could only fit 265s. I reason I brought it up was because Kiko was going to run the more rules limited STU, lucky for the drivers in STU he didn't.

 

I can assure you, Tipple and Tak may have the same initials, but they don't look much alike...

I would hope that you've heard it too; one of the guys who told me that was Junior Johnson, who was pretty impressed by your car.

 

What suspension and tire/wheel setup are those top Evo drivers running? I'd be really interested in hearing what other mods they have also.
That would be great if the Evo stayed in ESP. I think it should

 

I drove 7 hours up to Topeka to spend Tuesday watching the Evo guys run and just checking out how the Nationals event was run. No secrets here, but this is what the Evos were using:

Car 93/193: 18x10" CCW w/ 285/30/18 Hoosiers, Koni 2-way coilovers, RS trunk bar, rear strut bar, RS front LSD

Car 80/180: 18x10" CCW w/ 285/30/18 Hoosiers, JIC coilovers, rear sway bar

Car 78/178: 17x9" FN01R-C w/ 275/40/17 Hoosiers, custom 2-way coilovers, car is an RS so it obviously has the RS front LSD and trunk bar.

Car 94: 17x9" FN01R-C w/ 275/40/17 Hoosiers

There were no Evos running in SM this year, probably will be a few next year, and only one guy in AS.

Most of the ESP cars had done a number of things to lighten up the car, that can be found by searching EVOM. Also for the chance of rain, most of the racers at Nationals will have an extra set of wheels with a set of very soft treaded racing rain tires. It was raining on Wednesday morning (ESP Day 2) in Topeka when I headed home, but looking at the times people ran, it seems like things dried up for the ESP runs.

The basic hardware is similar from car-to-car. The trick is in getting the pieces setup to work well with the particular driver's style of driving. This is what each driver has spent quite a bit of time working on and will continue tuning until September 2005.

 

Just out of curiosity, how much faster were the SM times than ESP?