wtz

Hi All,
Let me begin with my qualifications. I hold an SCCA Pro license. I am not the fastest shoe, but I am damn fast. I am not some hack whos done 3 DE's and now thinks he's Mario Andretti. What you read here is a roadracers opinion.
The track URL is www.limerock.com. The event was with PDA. These guys have some rules so getting a clean lap can be difficult. Conditions yesterday: Heavy rain the previous evening so green track. Cool all day, mid 50's. Not the fastest I've seen this place.
Car prep: 17x8 SSR Comp wheels (had to install longer studs up front and run a 5mm spacer for caliper clearance despite 38mm offset). No spacer in rear. Hoosier rs303's 245/40/17, cold inflation 28 lbs (40 hot). Super Blue brake fluid, Goodridge brake lines, Pagid rs-15 race pads, and a good alignment. Schroth autocross belts just to hold me in place.
The Evo is very easy to drive fast. Steering is a tad over-boosted, more feedback would be better. Car balance: Turn-in is good, then mid-corner understeer develops and will get progressively worse on corner exit without aggressive unwinding of the wheel. With higher speed corners, this behavior is less offensive. Car is a little roly-poly. I think this is more due to the spring height than anything else, but a stiffer rear swaybar probably would help. I could not induce oversteer, but slight 4-wheel drifts seem to be the fast way around the track. Unquestionably, the next mod I will make is a front diff.
The car was stable under braking, not much dive, and no fade all day. However, in the last session of the day, I had fairly extreme brake judder up front. Trying to cool the brakes for a lap did not help. Despite the judder, there was still no fade. I will see how they feel today and report back. My front calipers are now about the color of the valve cover.
The car at speed pukes coolant from the short overflow tube onto the underside of the hood. The intercooler spray made no real difference in lap times. I was running 100 unleaded, which seems to smooth the motor out a bit. The car does not feel as heavy as it is, very tossable.
The gearing is very short. Spent the whole day in 4th and 5th. The soft rev-limiter kicks in at about 7800 rpm (don't ask how I know this).
Bear in mind, I am still shaking the rust off, it's a new car to me, and this was a DE. Fastest lap was 1:03.51. Consistent laps of high 03'2 to low 04's without traffic. I run a T2 prepped Boxster S that is very well sorted and the fastest lap I have ever done in that car is 1:02.55. The Evo stock is within 1 second, and it's very early in the season for both myself and the car. The only two cars on the track turning faster laps were a C-sports Radical and a race prepped Porsche twin-turbo. I think photos will be available next week. I will find the link for you.
The Evo is a very capable track car that will only get better. For the money, there is no better value out there with this combination of power and balance.
Cheers,

Jonasan50

iTrader: (1)

Kick *** summary dude... Thanks, it was very invigorating!!

xtnct

iTrader: (33)

Very nice. I drove that track as well. This track is short but very fun. I did a Solo I in a corrado with race springs, R tires, etc. and only 170hp or so, and I got under 1:10sec. I can't remember exactly, it was either 1:08, 1:06 or 1:04. It was 2 years ago. I was 3rd or 4th in my class, so I was up there. Thanks for your summary, I understand exactly what you are describing.

Did they fix the bumps on the corner coming onto the stright? Which corners did you exhibit understeer at? The double apex 90 deg bender at end of stright? Which corners did you 4wd drift at? Up the hill? or a bit later down the hill?

Can you give a link the PDA? What were their fees? How are their DE's? I did an a few events with NASA 2 years ago, and found them very disorganized and about 1/2 the drivers did not respect the rules. They just wanted to 'race' each other without knowing how to drive. I have been doing events with PCA for the last 3 years and these guys are top notch! Very safe, well organized and the 'ego' of I'm faster than you is not there. Everyone respects the rules (and so you can actually drive faster while bieng safe) and you really have a LOT of fun at these events.

Thanks.

wtz

Hi xtnct,
If you turned a 1:04 in a stock Corrado, turn pro now, you are wasting you talents. The track is still bumpy. Worst understeer was exiting turn 1, double-apex. Drift all the way around. PDA link www.imp-auto.com. I think about 210.00, Lime Rock is very pricey. PDA is a good group, but in the top run group it is racey. PCA is a touch too **** for my liking.
Cheers,

DB8GSR

Wow... amazing on just basically a stock Evo. Good job! I can't wait to try my Evo out to Laguna Seca or Thunderhill just to see how it reacts. I bet you had a blast!

Post some pix... I like pix.

wtz

Still grinning.

twdorris

Which is what I've been wanting to read for a while! SWEET!

Excellent quick setup. What's the width of the stock rims? Did you go with the SSR Comp's just because you had them or was there a problem fitting 245s on the stock rim?

You mean an LSD front diff? Yikes! You bought this car for all the right reasons, my man. :-) I wonder if the "standard" DSM front diff from Quaife will work.

Ew. New rotor time. I hate that. Please let us know what you find on this. A heavy car doing lots of stopping, but still....I don't want to be replacing my rotors with every track event.

Thomas Dorris

wtz

Hi Tom,
I needed a set of track wheels. They are 17x8 because if I decide to prep the car for T2, I would have to run the stock size. Yes, the car would greatly benefit from a front LSD!
Cheers,

Secret Chimp

iTrader: (2)

wtz....great info and review.

What were the alignment settings you had the car set to? Would you modify any of those settings before driving the Evo at your next event?

SC

xtnct

iTrader: (33)

As mentioned, not a stock corrado, and I didn't remember what my time was, I know it was in the top 3 or 4 in my class and under 1:10. Just called my friend, checked the results and it was 1:08.29.

Corrado had Race springs with Koni adjustables, front swey bar, front upper stress bar, roll bar and Toyo RA1 (205/50/15). Stock calipers with Hawk Blues. Engine was the usual stage III mods that bring the car to about 170-180hp.

And yeah, quite a few people on the track tell me to get myself in a real reace car, but the problem I have is $$$$ though.

chronohunter

iTrader: (1)

WTZ, Been waiting for your review You didn't list your alignment specs, I drove an EVO last week at Arizona Motorsports Park (not mine, it comes in 4/11) and I found the same understeer problem, If I used an agressive trail brake I could get the rear end to rotate a little and then go into a very mild four wheel drift. We tried to losen the car up and ended up with 1/4 inch toe out in the front 1/16 toe out in the rear .8 neg camber in the front (maxxed out) and matching it in the rear (down from 1.5neg). On Kuhmo R compound 225's the understeer was reduced but still present. I had to go home but I wanted to try 245/40's on the front and 225/45's in the rear. The front diff will help on the way out but we still need to make more grip in the front. the obvious chioce would be some camber plates (or crash bolts if camber plates are not allowed) up front to try to get 2+degrees so of neg camber (1.3 or so with the crash bolts)
I would like to try it with the front sway bar disconnected a smaller front bar may help too (maybe from a Lancer?) a bigger rear bar would do the same thing (balance wise) but I think the car is stiff enough already. Very impressive shocks/springs chassis, just need to get the balance right. Thoughts?

wtz

Hi Claudius,
Front track only increased by the combined spacer width, so 10mm. Class I want to race in won't allow full-on brake ducting, but I might get away with the brake wind guides (that is if they do anything). Heavy braking at Lime Rock only at the end of the front straight, so the track is not hard on brakes.
Cheers,

wtz

Chrono,
-1.6 front camber 2mm total toe out.
-1 rear camber 0 toe.
Will try to get -2 degrees up front before next outing. I also may be scrambling for rotors.
Cheers,