Really quick write up before I go to work. I'll fill in more details later as they come to mind.

I spent about 40 minutes on the track yesterday really getting to know the X.

First thing I noticed was the sharp turning ability, it was poetry.
2nd was the brakes.. it scrubbed speed hard (real hard) from 200kms down.. no real brake fade after 10 laps at a time.. although I could feel some coming on.
On corners especially castrol corner it was the rear wheel biased, I could slipped out the back a couple of times before the SAWC stuck in.
I could only four wheel drift for a couple of seconds before the car recovered itself.
Oh and half way down the track I would hit 200Km/hr and boost would drop and I couldn't get above 200kms.. I would guess that its speed limited, I will check with the dealer about this. It needs to be removed as the car had still a little bit to go before the redline.
Handling I felt too high on corners, so might need to stiffen the suspension a bit and certainly lower the car.. although I do like the factory ride on the streets.. perhaps some adjustables..
Steering felt light at high speeds over 150km/hr (I didn't like it at all), especially when approaching slight corners.
Traction was excellent in most places, even when hitting the rumble strips..the dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree when hitting corners and sliding.. NOTE I didn't turn off any of the SAWC systems.. (thats for next time)
I kept up with the Rs4 and Rs8 easily through the track until I hit 200km/hr limit :(
No overheating problems, brake disks and pads were fine, engine performed great.. Actually the engined sounded really good at high revs.. power was a little light around redline
Fuel consuption dropped to 4.5.. went to the track with 3/4 full tank, after 40 minutes came back with nothing in the tank and the warning lights on. I forgot to check the average speed. :(I know know better for next time what to record, but I was very focused on feeling the car itself rather than the rest. Good quick sortie.

I came off the track thinking, drop the ride height, get rid of the speed cut.. and just 'another' 100HP and the car would be perfect for a couple of track days a year.




Heres the track:
http://www.motorsport.org.nz/images/Pukekohe.gif

I unfortunatley didnt get to record my times, too busy working out the evo.. and the wife didnt come with me to take photos of the evo on the track :(
But here are some static ones, there were only 4 cars on the track so we could play.. here are the other two that were tracking with me (Audi Rs8, Audi Rs4.. the stradale that was supposed to come as well didnt:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/on2it/IMGP5452b.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/on2it/IMGP5448b.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/on2it/IMGP5450b.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/on2it/IMGP5451b.jpg

Official track records:
Formula Ford Shannon O'Brien, April 2005, Van Diemen RF03 1:01.909 MINI Challenge Peter Scharmach, November 2006, MINI Cooper 1:08.804 Porsche GT3 Cup Matt Halliday, November 2007, Porsche 997 GT3 0:57.937 Production Racing Logan Childs, November 2007, Mitsubishi EVO 9 1:05.882 Toyota Racing Series Daniel Gaunt, November 2006, Toyota Tatuus 104ZZ 0:54.692 V8s Angus Fogg, April 2006, Ford Falcon BA 1:01.313 V8s Development Series Peter Butler, December 2006, Ford Falcon BA 1:04.623

Good review, but 200km/h seems pretty low I hope it's not limited that low for the U.S. specs. Let us know what the dealer says about it.

Great report, I wish I lived close to a track to test out my Evo.

BTW, have you heard of the hidden ASC mode? Normally if you hit the ASC button, you'll see ASC OFF come on the dash. Press it again and ASC is back on. There is a hidden mode where if you press the ASC button for 3 seconds it will shut it down. On the dash you'll see a slip warning mark and a "!".
Here's a simple explanation of the different modes:
ASC ON: The ASC system will control brakes and throttle to control any slip.
ASC OFF: The ASC system will only control the brakes during slip.
ASC ALL OFF: The ASC system is shut down, brakes and throttle are free
There has been alot of reports that shutting down the ASC can shave off about 2-3 seconds of lap time on an average 1 min run short track even for novice drivers.

Also you may want to try shifting the settings of the S-AWC. Magazines are reporting that intermediate to expert drivers may want to shift the S-AWC settings in between corners. Tarmac mode will give you the most oversteering and Snow mode will give you the most understeering, and Gravel is in between. They report that switching to Tarmac mode for hair pin corners can prevent understeering (which is common for hair pins). Snow mode can prevent oversteering in larger corners (especially on the exit of the corner). Knowing the track and switching the modes can shave some lap times when done right.

You kept with with RS4 and R8, not surprised, but I am sure you got pwned in the straights =(...200km limit? - -

I guess what you call an Rs8 we call the R8 here.

But still...considering your car is stock, it's damn impressive!

Also, moving to racing/motorsports.

that r8 is hot. thanks for the track impressions.

What did the audi drivers say about your car? :P

That Rs4 looks badass... but still you get more bang for the buck in a Evo

Sic I thought I had read that Tarmac is completely neutral (no understeer, no oversteer) snow was very safe with understeer and gravel was the one that produced oversteer? I can't recall off the top of my head where I read that but please correct me if I'm wrong.

125mph speed limiter? Christ.

125mph speed limiter? Christ.

I've had my USDM GSR up to 140 as of late... so I know that it is set highter. I was not at red line yet and would have been able to keep accelerating had it not been for a turn coming up.

Sic I thought I had read that Tarmac is completely neutral (no understeer, no oversteer) snow was very safe with understeer and gravel was the one that produced oversteer? I can't recall off the top of my head where I read that but please correct me if I'm wrong.
I have the magazine right in front of me, it says Tarmac mode is more power to the rear and Snow mode is more power to the front. For understeering switch to Tarmac, for oversteering switch to Snow.

Ok, just wondering thanks for clearing it up. I'll try to find out where I thought I read it.

Great info SIC. Good to know, will play with the different settings next time out.

Yes the Rs4 and R8 did pull away everytime on the straight after I hit the 200km\hr. But corners were the X's.

I still am buzzing about the turning capabilities of the evo. It was very good.

Next event will be the drag strip, then the dyno before the mods start.

Good review, but 200km/h seems pretty low I hope it's not limited that low for the U.S. specs. Let us know what the dealer says about it.

Yes I agree 200kms is very low. The rs4 and R8 were hitting around 230-240 at the end of the straight, I would have seen that easily as well I reckon because of the X keeping up with those two. That would be the limit though because certainly the redline would hit around there.

Btw I did race all of that in Tarmac mode.. probably the reason for stepping out the back.

Great write up man. I wont be able to do a track event until April at the earliest :( Damn you kiwi's and the eternal sun!!!!

great review man.that r8 is pretty slick and the evo next to it looks to fit right in.

Thats low, it's 155 Mph in the UK...

Gary A

good to hear you already tracked your X... Local Evo forums people keep asking my when I'll do the same and tell me weekly about the next track days... I agree the turning is unreal with the ASC off and ASC fully off, just when you think the backend is keep gonna out to far it just sticks feeling stupid that you would need to make a correction when it's already doing it.

I've had my USDM GSR up to 140 as of late... so I know that it is set highter. I was not at red line yet and would have been able to keep accelerating had it not been for a turn coming up.

140? Jeebus. Be careful, man.

This car probably can't do much over 150 with a stock gearbox.

I had the pleasure of tearing it up in AGP Turbo's X a couple of weeks ago. The car was amazing. At that point we had already made 345whp/333tq an I had a lot of issues with the ASC. anytime I would exit a high-G corner on the throttle it would pull throttle. I was able to get much better lap times with the ASC off. I had taken the wheels/tires off of my 8 (18X9.5 with 275/35-18 Nitto NT-01s) and was just floored. By the middle of my first session, I was lapping within a second of my times of my heavily modded 8.

This was at Phoenix International Raceway Jan. 26 08

Tony

Good feedback. Especially on how it compared to your heavily modded evo.

I had the pleasure of tearing it up in AGP Turbo's X a couple of weeks ago. The car was amazing. At that point we had already made 345whp/333tq an I had a lot of issues with the ASC. anytime I would exit a high-G corner on the throttle it would pull throttle. I was able to get much better lap times with the ASC off. I had taken the wheels/tires off of my 8 (18X9.5 with 275/35-18 Nitto NT-01s) and was just floored. By the middle of my first session, I was lapping within a second of my times of my heavily modded 8.

This was at Phoenix International Raceway Jan. 26 08

Tony


Wow. How much power does your 8 make?


Sucks that the ASC was being weaksauce. Wonder if it will be tweakable?

SOunds very tweakable given the options that SIC ran through :) ( I wish I knew this before my first run)

Great report, I wish I lived close to a track to test out my Evo.

BTW, have you heard of the hidden ASC mode? Normally if you hit the ASC button, you'll see ASC OFF come on the dash. Press it again and ASC is back on. There is a hidden mode where if you press the ASC button for 3 seconds it will shut it down. On the dash you'll see a slip warning mark and a "!".
Here's a simple explanation of the different modes:
ASC ON: The ASC system will control brakes and throttle to control any slip.
ASC OFF: The ASC system will only control the brakes during slip.
ASC ALL OFF: The ASC system is shut down, brakes and throttle are free
There has been alot of reports that shutting down the ASC can shave off about 2-3 seconds of lap time on an average 1 min run short track even for novice drivers.

Also you may want to try shifting the settings of the S-AWC. Magazines are reporting that intermediate to expert drivers may want to shift the S-AWC settings in between corners. Tarmac mode will give you the most oversteering and Snow mode will give you the most understeering, and Gravel is in between. They report that switching to Tarmac mode for hair pin corners can prevent understeering (which is common for hair pins). Snow mode can prevent oversteering in larger corners (especially on the exit of the corner). Knowing the track and switching the modes can shave some lap times when done right.

wow.....texas suck, we have nothing like that over here.:mad:

great info sic..

wow.....texas suck, we have nothing like that over here.:mad:

Actually, you just missed one:

http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2145

WTF Nobody tells me this??????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

are you sure that you can switch to different programs while running?
in evo 7-8-9 you have to stop for that.
maybe the light indicates that you have change to gravel,but the system is in tarmac.

are you sure that you can switch to different programs while running?
in evo 7-8-9 you have to stop for that.
maybe the light indicates that you have change to gravel,but the system is in tarmac.

Yes. :)