Woooo Hoooo !!! Laguna Seca 1/21/05

[Richard EVO]

A great time was had by all (except one) of the many EVOs at Laguna Seca on Jan. 21. John Mueller, Kent Jordan, and the RRE crew were there. So were 8 - 10 other EVOs including my Muellerized/RRE RS.

I personally have been disappointed with my own road course driving lately, the driving skills improvements have been coming frustratingly slowly. But I really took to Laguna Seca like a duck to water. It fast, fun, and very intuitive, except for the "Corkscrew." But John M. drove my car with me in the passenger seat for a few laps and showed me the racing line and how to take the Corkscrew. I improved my lap time over the course of my first day at Laguna by over 10 seconds, and had an absolute blast.

One thing that is a giant pain in the ass is the 92 dB noise limit. I tested at 98.6 dB and got the meatball flag twice. 3 strikes and you're out. I had to shift into 5th and drive at part throttle between turns 5 and 6 (that's where they do the sound test) most of the day, which added a couple of seconds to my lap times for sure.

Anyway, if you haven't been to Laguna Seca, you gotta try it. But bolt on your old stock exhaust and cats before you go.

Thanks to John, Sheila, Kent and all the guys from RRE for all your help and encouragement.

Regarding the "except one" EVO owner having fun comment: Someone had a slight mishap. He's a great guy and took it well. I prefer to give no further details to protect him in his efforts to resolve his damage. Fortunately, he was not hurt.

[halz]

I was wondering when someone would pipe-up about the event..

It looks like the times have been posted, too! http://speedventures.net/event_results.asp
As a measure, I recorded 1:57 on a DL1 datalogger

I was out there in what I decided was the slowest, dirtiest car in the paddoc: a '93 Nissan 240SX! (with some suspension) Then again, I think there was a four door Datsun 510 out there, too..

There were a number of cars that had trouble that day. A '97 Carrera 4S Turbo, parked next to us in the paddoc, had an engine fire while my girlfriend was a passenger as they came out of the corkscrew. If anyone is feeling ambitious, I'm sure the owner will let you buy it from the insurance company!
An S2000 blew its diff coming out of turn 11.
The Evo..
RX7, Miata, Radical.. had off-track excursions. And it looked like an RX8 did something to stall itself, or it overheated.. in one of the only sections of track not in view by cornerworkers; just before 7


Other than those show-stoppers, the day was definetly a blast.. the crowd speedventures attracts has always been great. It was pretty amusing to see people's creative ideas for turning the sound away from the sound-station; silencers, right-angle pipes.. tissue paper.
Your Evos were definetly at a notable volume (and traveling at a notable speed, too!) I think I put some video down of you two going side-by-side down the straight after 11 where someone was eventually over-taken before the bridge.

[Richard EVO]

Here's a link to pics of the Laguna event. http://www.socalevo.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6724

[xchoirboy]

Your Evos were definetly at a notable volume (and traveling at a notable speed, too!) I think I put some video down of you two going side-by-side down the straight after 11 where someone was eventually over-taken before the bridge.

where's the vid :? post it please :wink:

[vtluu]

Couple of photos from yesterday (1/31 with NCRC):

http://imagenode.com/image?i=128

http://imagenode.com/image?i=129

I'll have more comments and results posted soon... Thanks to Alex (halz) for lending me the DL1.

[Bullet]

Nice!

[Richard EVO]

I wouldn't want to be standing on that side of the corkscrew holding a camera while HPDE drivers were flying by!!! :wink:

[vtluu]

I wouldn't want to be standing on that side of the corkscrew holding a camera while HPDE drivers were flying by!!! :wink:
Neither would anybody but rally fans I think. :lol: That's why telephoto (zoom) lenses were invented.

[EVO GRIM]

How was the rubbing tam? those tires look real close in the first pic. Looks like fun though! Maybe next year.

[vtluu]

No rubbing on the rear tires are far as I was able to tell. I found a speck of rubber on one fender lip but I think that was just rubber that got picked up off the track and stuck to the fender. The R-comps picked up a ton of rubber from other people's tires after they heated up. Yay, I gained tread! :lol:

[chrisw]

No rubbing on the rear tires are far as I was able to tell. I found a speck of rubber on one fender lip but I think that was just rubber that got picked up off the track and stuck to the fender. The R-comps picked up a ton of rubber from other people's tires after they heated up. Yay, I gained tread! :lol:

that should be taken care of sunday. :wink:

[Richard EVO]

My RS has a Muellerized/RRE suspension that is about 1.5" lower than stock, and I run RA-1 size 255/40/17 without even coming close to rubbing. I have not crimped the wheel wells.

[vtluu]

My RS has a Muellerized/RRE suspension that is about 1.5" lower than stock, and I run RA-1 size 255/40/17 without even coming close to rubbing. I have not crimped the wheel wells.
What wheels/offset are you using? I have the SSR Comps 17x8.5 30mm offset and I think 35mm (or even 40mm, maybe with a small spacer) would be a better offset as there's about 3/4" clearance between the tire and the spring/shock assembly.

Anyway, doesn't look like I have a rubbing issue either... But if I did, or if I wanted to go wider, Justin (the guy in the OTC STi) recommended this:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/images/us//local/products/detail/p16482.jpg

... and using a heat gun to prevent the paint from chipping. Looked like he did a decent job rolling the fenders on his car. And that was just so he could fit 245s, so I guess we Evo owners can't complain too much. :P

[wilson1]

My RS has a Muellerized/RRE suspension that is about 1.5" lower than stock, and I run RA-1 size 255/40/17 without even coming close to rubbing. I have not crimped the wheel wells.
What wheels/offset are you using? I have the SSR Comps 17x8.5 30mm offset and I think 35mm (or even 40mm, maybe with a small spacer) would be a better offset as there's about 3/4" clearance between the tire and the spring/shock assembly.

Anyway, doesn't look like I have a rubbing issue either... But if I did, or if I wanted to go wider, Justin (the guy in the OTC STi) recommended this:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/images/us//local/products/detail/p16482.jpg

... and using a heat gun to prevent the paint from chipping. Looked like he did a decent job rolling the fenders on his car. And that was just so he could fit 245s, so I guess we Evo owners can't complain too much. :P

where can u get that done at?

[vtluu]

Your very own garage! http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&itemID=6159&keyword=31158

Hey Wilson, if you pay me $250 I'll do it for you. :lol:

[chrisw]

Gruppe-s has one of those tools available.

[evo_dadi]

hey tam i had a couple of pics also but some of them were kinda blurry,damn cheap camera ;) 2mp :P

[leif]

My RS has a Muellerized/RRE suspension that is about 1.5" lower than stock, and I run RA-1 size 255/40/17 without even coming close to rubbing. I have not crimped the wheel wells.

255's fit on stick rims?!?! this could save me some money...

more pix tam! its a rare site when norcalevo has track pix.

[Richard EVO]

Yes, the RA1 255's fit on the stock 17x 8 Enkei wheels. I live in SoCal, but I was in NorCal for a 3 day weekend at Laguna Seca (Fri.) and Sears Point (Sat. and Sun.). On Friday Mueller was there, and he told me that I was getting faster as a driver and I better replace the stock Advans with R-compound tires before I hurt myself. I took his advice.

I really wanted to get a set of wider and lighter Gram Lights wheels and 275 wide tires, but, in the middle of a track weekend away from home, that was not a possibility, plus a set of track wheels is expensive.

So I got the 255s mounted on the stock wheels at the Sears Point tire shop (thanks to Ron Chavez), and the rest is history. They really grip. I drive my EVO on the track about 2 - 3 days per month, and on the street about once a week. Hopefully the RA1s will last a little while. :D

[leif]

Yes, the RA1 255's fit on the stock 17x 8 Enkei wheels. I live in SoCal, but I was in NorCal for a 3 day weekend at Laguna Seca (Fri.) and Sears Point (Sat. and Sun.). On Friday Mueller was there, and he told me that I was getting faster as a driver and I better replace the stock Advans with R-compound tires before I hurt myself. I took his advice.

I really wanted to get a set of wider and lighter Gram Lights wheels and 275 wide tires, but, in the middle of a track weekend away from home, that was not a possibility, plus a set of track wheels is expensive.

So I got the 255s mounted on the stock wheels at the Sears Point tire shop (thanks to Ron Chavez), and the rest is history. They really grip. I drive my EVO on the track about 2 - 3 days per month, and on the street about once a week. Hopefully the RA1s will last a little while. :D

those ra1s will be better once you wear the tread down to nothing (or just shave them now..)

[vtluu]

255s will fit on stock rims--barely. The sidewalls will be slightly "pinched" so they won't be as strong under loading; in other words you won't get optimal performance out of them and might as well get 245s. If you can afford to wait, I'd say get the Enkei RPF1s in 17x8.5 (backordered when I tried to get them a couple weeks ago); $230-ish for rims under 16lbs, seems like ideal price-performance point to me.

18" rims are an option of course, but I decided to go for 17" because they're cheaper, tires are cheaper, mounting is cheaper, and with a bit more sidewall you have a bit more margin for error for, say, rolling over the high side of those FIA berms without bending the rims.

[brwnrice]

255s will fit on stock rims--barely. The sidewalls will be slightly "pinched" so they won't be as strong under loading; in other words you won't get optimal performance out of them and might as well get 245s. If you can afford to wait, I'd say get the Enkei RPF1s in 17x8.5 (backordered when I tried to get them a couple weeks ago); $230-ish for rims under 16lbs, seems like ideal price-performance point to me.

18" rims are an option of course, but I decided to go for 17" because they're cheaper, tires are cheaper, mounting is cheaper, and with a bit more sidewall you have a bit more margin for error for, say, rolling over the high side of those FIA berms without bending the rims.

hey tam when are you going to post a review on the pzero corsas?

[smack]

My RS has a Muellerized/RRE suspension that is about 1.5" lower than stock, and I run RA-1 size 255/40/17 without even coming close to rubbing. I have not crimped the wheel wells.
What wheels/offset are you using? I have the SSR Comps 17x8.5 30mm offset and I think 35mm (or even 40mm, maybe with a small spacer) would be a better offset as there's about 3/4" clearance between the tire and the spring/shock assembly.

Anyway, doesn't look like I have a rubbing issue either... But if I did, or if I wanted to go wider, Justin (the guy in the OTC STi) recommended this:


... and using a heat gun to prevent the paint from chipping. Looked like he did a decent job rolling the fenders on his car. And that was just so he could fit 245s, so I guess we Evo owners can't complain too much. :P

i have one of these and they work pretty well but if you need to roll the lip flat(i had to for 275's) the paint WILL chip. i used my heat gun and have done this stuff before and it worked for the first pass. most people could get away with this much for 255's with a reasonable offset. i had to go at it again and fold the lip flat and the paint just couldn't flex that much(at least on silver metalic, no metalics may have better luck).
anyway i'll bring it to our t-hill days at the end of the month in case anyone needs to use it.

oh btw, if you have rubbing you will KNOW. it's pretty loud on track :)

[vtluu]

hey tam when are you going to post a review on the pzero corsas?
Having so little track experience (Laguna was my 2nd event) I don't have much of a basis for comparison. After I've autocrossed them a couple times maybe. :)

The most notable difference between my Azenis Sports--as with all street tires--and the PZero Corsas--as with all R-compounds--is the lack of audio feedback. Street tires will screech more or less depending on slip angle, speed, etc., so you have an audible way to gauge how you're driving them. Generally they should sound a little; if they screech a lot it probably means you're overdriving them. You can use that sound in a turn to balance your application of throttle and steering inputs--no sound means you've got some grip left so apply a bit more throttle; too much sound, you're pushing and need to ease off the steering and/or throttle.

R-compounds don't give off much if any sound, so you may be overdriving them and they could break free for example into a sudden oversteer condition (and possible spin to follow) without any audible warning. For that reason some people advise against beginners running R-comps--the street tires with their audible feedback will teach you more about turning at the limit.

Anyway I stayed well within the performance envelope of my tires and only got slightly sideways a couple of times in my last session--both times, no sound, all of a sudden I just felt the car was oversteering. As I said, very slight oversteer requiring only a little bit of correction to straighten the car out.


oh btw, if you have rubbing you will KNOW. it's pretty loud on track :)
Thanks, Navid (my instructor) told me the same thing and I didn't hear anything all day so I guess no fender rolling needed... for now... ;)

[halz]

Your Evos were definetly at a notable volume (and traveling at a notable speed, too!) I think I put some video down of you two going side-by-side down the straight after 11 where someone was eventually over-taken before the bridge.

where's the vid :? post it please :wink:

I, uh.. actually 'borrowed' the camera from Fry's for that day (I was going to use a lipstick cam in my car), because a deal on eBay fell-through. Ended up returning the camera before I downloaded anything from the tape.. Another camera should be coming my way in a few days, at which point I'll post up the shred of video