I am entered into the DC Region Fedex Field AC on July 20, my first one. Has anyone autocrossed their evo yet? I was just looking for some pointers. I also found out that I have to race in street prepared because I put the RMR cone filter on it. Oh well now I have an excuse to put a new exhaust on it.

 

Concentrate on looking ahead. That's difficult with cones at an autox so memorize the course. Drive with a smooth grip style, keep drift to a minimum.

 

I'm entered in that autoX too, but in A Stock.

One pointer for you that I myself learned today autoXing at FedEx... you don't need to downshift to 1st every time you slow down below 40 MPH. The Evo does have a relatively flat power curve from 4000 RPM to redline. Use it.

And another pointer... Hope for rain.

 

jbrennen, how was the evo in the rain with the stock tires?? must've been fun as hell!!

how did they put u in A Prepared just for the filter? i thought that was like a free thing..guess it's different for each organization

 

NO! Don't hope for rain..it tore the hell out of my tires. The extra slipping on the surface acts like sandpaper and eats the tires. On a dry surface I don't get even close to the same amount of wear autox'ing.
You have just as good a chance in dry weather anyway. Sure you will have even more advantage in the wet but it isn't nearly as fun..imo...because you can't go as fast...and it eats your tires.
I ran a 56.8 on my first pass in the dry, then it rained and I ran a 60.7, 61.5, 59.0 and a 58.5. The rain stopped and the track was a little dryer on the last run (58.5).
BTW, I got 2nd in my totally stock Evo in ESP..only being beat by an illegally modded 5.0 Mustang

 

At today's autoX, I had five runs within a relatively short period (about 45 minutes). A light rain began to fall about 2 minutes before my fourth run, and continued throughout the remainder of the event -- not a downpour, but enough to require full-time use of the wipers (intermittent wasn't enough). Although it had only been raining for about 2 minutes when I began my fourth run, the surface had slicked up quite a bit.

Those last two runs on the wet surface were a blast. AutoX is supposed to be fun, and the rain stepped up the fun factor a lot. Every corner seemed like a four wheel drift, and the Evo was unshakable -- I was tossing the car into the corners hard and kept it between the cones even when it was about half sideways. Could I have run faster on those fourth and fifth runs on dry pavement? Probably. But I ended the day with a huge smile on my face.

 

The rain actually started in the middle of my fourth run. When the first couple of drops hit my windshield, the first thing that came to mind was "how the hell is the intercooler spray hitting the winshield?" The next thing I know, I'm sliding all over the place. It was fun, but it was also a total shock to see how radically and quickly a few drops of rain can change the grip levels. I'm also amazed that several people set their best times after it started raining. They obviously were doing something very wrong

JW

 

Do a search for "autocross" or "autocross AND evo", I know of at least 5 people on this forum who have autocrossed their Evos. 2 of them are in my region, and I get to see them every month.

 

No no no...

It's:




http://www.rallydecals.com/rallydecals/pfr_diecut.asp

 

Well, we finally got the results from last weekend. Evos finished 1,3,5 in AS. I won by a whopping 0.008. It's tough to draw any meaningful conclusions from our results though, with the rain and mid-day course change and all. I do know that my fellow Evo drivers seem to be creeping closer though. We have another one this weekend, so I guess we'll see if they're getting closer still

Full results:
http://solo.wdcr-scca.org/results/2003/070603.htm

I also see that the only person (Stephen Catlin in a '96 'vette) to beat me in AS so far this year is signed up for this weekend. This will only be the second time he's run against me this year, so it may be my only chance to even the score. I had better make the most of it!

JW

 

It looks like you were the only Evo driver not to set best time in the rain.

I'm guessing that's because of your Kumho Ecsta tires, which probably gave up more in the rain than our stock A046's.

 

I was at least relieved to see your 5th run time was still slower than mine. I thought I had gotten a 62 something on my last run, and it was very distressing to me to think you had gone quicker than me

I wish the line ups for future events showed car make & model. STis are going to start showing up sometime and I want to be ready for them

JW

 

You just keep checking that rear view mirror...

Are you bringing the stock tires out to Rosecroft on 27 July? Then we'll see how we do against one another in more-or-less equally prepped cars.

 

Here is a pic of me this past weekend. I got second in novice. My advice is to floor it whenever it's straight, don't gas when turning and let the car turn and straighten out a bit before you floor it again . Here is a pic Click here

 

I'm thinking about it. I don't want to compromise my competetiveness, but I am worried about what that place will do to my Ecstas. I really would like to get a whole season out of them and after the last time there, I'm not sure how many times they can survive a trip to Rosecroft.

And of course it appeals to the lazy SOB in me who doesn't feel like swapping tires

JW