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It’s not quite perfect, but it’s still interesting to see how a racing driver handles the car and drives his line and how he overtook others. I for myself wouldn’t dare to overtake like he did because I’ll never know how others drive and if they ever see us and was always afraid that there may be contact collisions which happen quite often at the Touristenfahrten.
Here are some action shots and there you can see how low the Evo actually is.
His feedback: the front brakes (Carbonetic SCR-PRO brake disc with R-Spec pads) felt quite interesting for him because the hard rattles comes from it. He needs to check it at his workshop. Besides that, everything was fine with my Evo so I was relieved. Because of accidents and yellow flag, the brakes overheated and at the exit, it even smoked.
We then drove around the village to let the brake cool down. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be my instructor for the next lap because he had to go back home. After a couple hours, when the track was open again, I went on a final lap with my brother as passenger to put down my learning experience from the racing driver. It was also a special lap. Just at the beginning a white Evo 6 crashed that made me sad to see. Just in this lap alone I saw 6 crashes ranged from simple fender bender to totaled car. By the way I couldn’t record my final lap until end because the GoPro memory stick was already full (forgot to empty it at the hotel last night).
After the lap, we all went to the gas station in Kelberg to refill our fuel and then we drove together back home.
My feedback about my Evo compared to the Ralliart
Even though my Evo was equipped with street tires I felt that the Evo was more planted compared to the Ralliart equipped with AD08R. I guess it’s because of the tire width of 265 to 235 which made the difference, as well with the AYC pump. At some section I noticed that the Evo could handle the corner faster and easier. For me, the Evo was a much better upgrade than the Ralliart, even though the Ralliart was heavily modded. I was glad that I have a better base car and was looking forward to further improvements with mods. By lap times, I think that since the crash I wasn’t even that slow even though I brake more often and longer than I did with the Ralliart. This means, that I could have driven it much faster. But this time I want to make little step and try one at a time until I can use its full potential. After the last lap, my brother only told me this: I thought you wanted to go easy with the Evo? I just replied: Yes, I did and I brake a lot too and was slower than I used to be.
I mentioned last time that the brakes overheated. There you can see how the brake caliper looks afterwards. Even the front left wheel cap is gone and on the right side it sits loosely. I should have removed these before tracking my Evo. The rear ones seem to be holding fine and look good too. At the front right wheel, the tires got lot of slits from the carousel even though the fender has been rolled and pulled. The connection between fender and front bumper was trimmed as well. This means that the Evo is too low for the Nordschleife or the suspension should be stiffened up.
When I gave my Evo to the mechanic for checkup, he found out that the brake rotor has reached the minimum thickness. This was the reason why it rattled hard sometimes. Because I’ll track again at the Hockenheimring on October 30th I wanted to replace it to avoid unnecessary risk. So I got new Project Mu SCR-PRO brake rotors with R-Spec pads.
On Eastern I should have driven on the Hockenheimring with the Ralliart but it wasn’t possible because I had cooling issue and didn’t want to risk engine failure. This is the reason I didn’t get a start number. Luckily I could rebook the trackday called Ausblasen in the end of October. Thank you very much to the organizer.
On Saturday afternoon we (me, my fiancée, my brother and my friend) drove together in my Evo to the Hotel Ramada in Hockenheim to spend the night. In the next early morning, after the breakfast, we drove to the Hockenheimring.
I put my Evo in the box with the group Dieziger (the one who rented the box also own a race prepped Evo X) and then I went to the race control building to get the start number. Just after that there was a mandatory briefing.
After that, I went back to my Evo to put on the start number 65.
Before the trackday starts, there’s an opportunity to do some introduction laps and I wanted to take part to get the feeling of this track because it’s been a long time since I raced with the Ralliart the last time. The last time I drove the GP variant and this time it’s the Moto variant and I needed to check out the track outlines so that I won’t drive in the wrong way. Since the introduction lap is a slow one, my fiancée wanted to be my passenger because it won’t be too tiresome for her.
My brother and my friend stayed in the pit lane and they took pictures of my Evo.
After the introduction laps I parked inside the box and prepared the GoPros for the actual trackday because our turn will start in 30mins.
When it was our turn, I put my car in the line and we were waiting for the green light.
This time, my friend was my passenger. At the beginning of this session, I drove couple laps before I went back in the pit to check the tire pressure and let out some air. Even though I’m on street tires I couldn’t drive the Evo as hard as I wanted but it was enough for me for the beginning. The fun is the most important aspect of this day and I didn’t care much about laptimes because I wouldn’t win anything. Then again, it was still annoying for me because I know that I could drive faster if I had semi slicks.
I did many laps until I didn’t have any brake power respectively the pedal got very soft. So I did 2 cool down laps before entering the box. Unfortunately it didn’t work out between GoPro and the Laptimer app, therefore there’s only this video from the pit stop.
At the box, I checked the brakes and was staggered.
No wonder I lost the brake power even though it’s filled with racing brake fluid it was cooked and also spilled out. I think I brake way too long. I still need to learn to brake properly (shorter and harder). Besides I still have to find the correct braking point around the track (especially the corner after the Parabolika section).
After a while, there was free ride until lunch break where all of the different group could race and I wanted to drive again. This time my brother was my passenger.
In this session I drove quickly until I went off course…
It was quite a shocking experience for me. When the Evo was pointing to the guard rail, I only thought like Sh*******t GO AWAAAAY!!! and turned the wheel quickly like a madman to get away from the guard rail. I didn’t want to go too crazy and crash the Evo and shouldn’t ever afford a mistake like this. Luckily, nothing serious happened and I was still shaken and needed a break. So I just strolled along the track back to the pit. At this moment a Nissan GT-R R35 crashed hard against a wall and was totaled. At the pit stop I checked the Evo and except full of gravel dust and some pieces of grass entering the backseat thanks to the window vents.
The track was closed due to the crash, so I drove inside the box and checked the Evo once more for damages. Then I noticed the gravel damage on rear door, rear quarter and rear right wheel.
Well, it’s just cosmetically damage and no real bent metal.
During the lunch break, I went to the gas station to refill the fuel and bought food as well. Back to the track I was thinking if I should continue driving it or not. Soon, I made a decision that I’ll continue it but only slower and more cautious than before. Here are some pics of my Evo and the race prepped one before it’s our turn.
For the next session, my fiancée was my passenger and we put down some cautious laps.
After a couple laps, she had enough and wanted out. So I went to the pit stop to change the passenger. There I checked the tire pressure for the last time. After that I drove with my friend many laps until the brakes got soft again. After two cooldown laps, I went back to the box.
After a while, I wanted to drive for the last time and my brother was my passenger. My friend and my fiancée went to the grandstand at the Sachs-Corner to take pictures and videos from there for a change of perspective.
At this session like the last time I drove quick but cautious as long until I felt that the brakes are getting soft again and after few cooldown laps I went back to the box to end the driving fun at the Hockenheimring. At the box the driver of this race prepped Evo asked me if I wanted to be his passenger. Of course! I was excited to see the difference between mine and his. As soon as I sat down I already looked around to find out many interesting things. I also saw some difference between his Evo X RS and my Evo X MR. After a quick chat, he fired up the engine and I already loved the sound of the single exit exhaust and was a little jealous. My Tanabe doesn’t sound as powerful as his but I need to keep it for street legal reason. It was also a great experience to drive on slicks and I felt more g-force because of the massive amount of grip it generated. The way he handles his RS is like a different world compared to how I handle my MR with SST. His sounded more violent, louder gears banging and the diff whining. Mine in comparison felt calmer, more relaxed and also smooth changing gears. With the slicks the Evo always sticks around the corner like on rails whereas mine was fighting with understeering and loud squealing of the street tires. It was very clear for me that I need to do a lot of mods to my Evo to be able to be competitive and more track focused like his. I was still very happy for this experience and thanked him for the exciting ride. I’d like to sit again the next time.
After his laps I went to the grandstand to join the others and watching other cars blasting through this corner. When we took our group pics we all went back to my Evo and packed everything. Then we drove back home.
Conclusion about my Evo
Power wise I’m satisfied with my Evo because it pulls nice and compared to other race prepped cars mine didn’t fall too short. I even managed to overtake some. Only the street tires were useless. It’s mandatory to have at least semi slicks to be able to have fun at a trackday. I need to work on my braking technique especially finding the braking points. I also need to work on the ideal line as well and use the whole track width. There’s lot of improvements. With the Project Mu brake disc I’m not so quite happy, because sometimes it rattles hard. The initial bite and the brake force is there, but I’m still not comfortable with the hard rattles (it’s noticeable at some videos I’ve posted). This off course moment shouldn’t have happened but in the end of the day it was a good event and I had my fun. This is definitely not the last trackday. Next Easter I will continue with semi slicks and I’ll be curious about my lap times. The fastest lap I put down before this off course moment was 1min 54s and I cannot say if this is fast or not.
The next day, I went to my dad’s workplace to install the winter wheels. When I removed the summer wheels, my dad asked if I had secretly painted the front calipers.
The rear brake disc looks quite used as well but it’s still usable.
At the wheels, I had to scratch off the rubber leftovers. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of it but the shovel was nearly half full.
Here’s the degree of the gravel excursion.
The damage was fixed with touch up paint. It doesn’t look tidy or professionally done but I just call it as battle scars.
When I later brought the Evo to the mechanic he was surprised and only laughed because so far I was the only customer who has a black brake calipers from track abuse. I must have made it really hot. If there were a side pic of my Evo while braking, the rotors would be glowing red. Now there comes the expensive thing, the front calipers needed to be revised entirely because the sealing were cooked up and rendered useless.
OEM Evo X GSR Enkei wheels with winter tires (01.11.2016)
When I installed this wheel set, I liked the look of it from the side. I think it suits really well with the Evo X and this would be my perfect winter wheel set.
But, if watched from different angle, it suddenly looks sh*t because the wheels looks pushed too far inside.
In this case I had to install at least 25mm spacers per wheel or just switch to different set. For this winter I let it on and I’ll have enough time to think of the next set for the next winter.
Nice, blackbos are signs of a proper rite of passage!
What brake fluid are you using?
Yes, this is the most distinct pointer to see if the Evo get used properly or not. I know some who always boast that he’s been on track with the Evo and blah blah. When looking at the brake calipers which were still shiny red with clear white brembo, I instantly knew that I cannot take him seriously.
The mechanic always puts Castrol React SRF Racing brake fluid in my Evo because he has best experience with it and he uses it at his Honda Civic TCR racecar.
SRF is great. It’s probably time for you to consider a larger front brake kit. I had to do that upgrade and it was worth every penny. I went from having to pit early each session to having the exact same brake feel all session long. Granted, we have nothing like the Nurburgring here, but I do have 500whp+ in track trim.
SRF is great. It’s probably time for you to consider a larger front brake kit. I had to do that upgrade and it was worth every penny. I went from having to pit early each session to having the exact same brake feel all session long. Granted, we have nothing like the Nurburgring here, but I do have 500whp+ in track trim.
I went to the stoptech trophy kit. Best decision.
It looks great on your silver Evo.
I upgraded the whole Stoptech brake kit with AMS brake cooling ducts on my Ralliart in the past and was very happy with the performance. When I tested it at the Salzburgring for the first time I could brake hard all day long without a worry and it was worth the investment. For my Evo X I was planning to upgrade it someday. For now I didn’t have enough money yet and this is the reason I’m still with the Brembos.
Did you only upgrade the front or all around? I’m also curious at which racetrack you’ve been. Have you ever been to Lacuna Seca? If I ever plan to go to the US, I’d like to try out this track.
Did you only upgrade the front or all around? I’m also curious at which racetrack you’ve been. Have you ever been to Lacuna Seca? If I ever plan to go to the US, I’d like to try out this track.
Just the front. The rear barely does anything so it's still balanced.
I have been to Laguna Seca when I lived in California, but my main track was Thunderhill. They have two tracks now that they combine to make one big 5-mile track which is the closest we will get to a Nurburgring here in the USA. Now I live on the East Coast of the USA and the closest track is Lime Rock Park in Connecticut but it's only 1.5 miles long.
Mod Update 2 – OEM Evo X GSR Trims & Foglight Delete (21.11.2016)
It’s been a while since I did a mod at my Evo with the Spirit of Competition sticker.
This time I replaced the chrome accents at the window trims, chrome front bezel and the white air vents at the hood & fenders with the black one from the GSR. I could have painted or wrapped these in black as well but I wanted 100% authenticity and this is the reason I purchased the original black one from another Evo X owner. Additionally, I removed the fog light and installed the OEM RS one. Now, it looks much better and this is the way the Evo X should look like. Now I let the images speak for me.
Just the front. The rear barely does anything so it's still balanced.
I have been to Laguna Seca when I lived in California, but my main track was Thunderhill. They have two tracks now that they combine to make one big 5-mile track which is the closest we will get to a Nurburgring here in the USA. Now I live on the East Coast of the USA and the closest track is Lime Rock Park in Connecticut but it's only 1.5 miles long.
Yes, most people who track their Evo always said that only the front bbk is essential and the rear could stay stock. Well, I have a tick, that if I want to do something, it has to be done completely and not half assed. Same goes for the bbk that it has to be done at the front and rear wheel.
Very nice, that you drove at Laguna Seca, I loved this track when I played Gran Turismo. Just checked out the Thunderhill 5 Mile Course and it also looks interesting with the elevation changes. I would definitely like to check it out as well.
Just in this lap alone I saw 6 crashes ranged from simple fender bender to totaled car. 
By the way I couldn’t record my final lap until end because the GoPro memory stick was already full (forgot to empty it at the hotel last night). 
The rear ones seem to be holding fine and look good too. At the front right wheel, the tires got lot of slits from the carousel even though the fender has been rolled and pulled. The connection between fender and front bumper was trimmed as well. This means that the Evo is too low for the Nordschleife or the suspension should be stiffened up. 
