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Road Track Rally - Time Attack X

57K views 351 replies 73 participants last post by  chiraoka 
#1 · (Edited)
So, it all started with a Silver Evo X GSR 5 speed of my business partners, the idea was for him to have a safe and reliable car to do tracks days with as well as a daily driver, but of course we all know how long that was going to last. Just to make things clear, this is not my car however Ive been integral in it's role since day one and for what it's worth it's a car that is now our shop car for our business. Hopefully that makes sense.

The car was bought 2nd hand, it was a dealer demonstrator model with very low kilometers. At the time it had an ECUtek flash, a HKS cat back exhaust and some Ralliart Mud flaps with chrome trims. (baller)



Of course all those things were removed promptly. We replaced the HKS cat back exhaust with a TurboXS 3" turbo back and the only decent Dump pipe (at that time) was the HKS cast dump pipe for us right hookers. We blasted off the ECUtek rubbish and remapped the ECU, replaced the springs with a firm progressive rate spring package, replaced with foglights with the RS foglight delete kit to get more air on the face of the oil cooler. (good idea for SS-T owners because the SS-T cooler is on the other side) Replaced the pads with a Pagid RS19, changed the brake fluid to a Castrol SRF, removed the backing plates off the front rotors and finally fitted some brake cooling scoops on the bottom of the lower control arms.

Happy Days, so we did a few track days with the car.





(For the trainspotters out there, yes that is Mt. Panorama at the famous Bathurst Race Track)

The car was brilliant, a good tune, decent pads and springs and an exhaust is about where most Evo X owners should be in my opinion. Power, handling and brakes all upgraded and supporting each other. It's a good balance.

So the next round of parts was on the cards, and like most people it always seems to start with chasing more power and adding bolt on's like manifolds etc. I won't bore you all with a shopping list of parts, I'm sure you've heard and read it all before, and needless to say ours wasn't anything different. The usual AMS this, Grimspeed that etc.



It's from around this time or just after I took a little more control and interest in this particular car as I could see it morphing before my eyes. The car was now quick, very quick! It fast and powerful enough to get you into trouble and since this car was at a race circuit somewhere around Australia at least every month we needed to make it safe so...



I didn't realise at the time that this wouldn't be the last time I would be seeing this car stripped like this...Hindsight's a wonderful thing right?

More Roll Cage Photos:











It's a CAMS approved cold drawn steel Bolt in roll cage. Now while Bolt in's aren't the optimum choice available, there were solid reasons why we went down this path. The number one reasons is that this particular roll cage is very comprehensive and added to that it's road legal in the state where we live. Secondly, it's a bolt in - bolt out arrangement so if the car ever gets sold you could unbolt it and sell it without an issue. You could even just bolt it in for an event then un-bolt it, but in the real world that will never happen. We are just all too busy.

Driving interstate to Lakeside:



So, after a few more trips to different circuits the car was signwritten and used to promote my business partners other business. Nothing like offsetting income tax with motorsport eh?



By this stage we couldn't count how many times it had been to the track. It was a fast, SAFE and enjoyable car both on and off the road, and it had an outing any chance we could get.





We had some Aero Fitted and made a few other smaller changes to the car, even had the guards rolled a little.











It was at that the Evo Nationals at Eastern Creek that we killed the clutch, which was at that time still stock. Yes, that's right dead bone stock! I must point out at this time something that is really important.

My business partner is really easy on the car, he is all and all, a smooth drive. He has never launched the car and even though he had done over 40,000km's in the car, and been to a few score circuit events, he still had the stock Clutch Master Cylinder and Stock Clutch operating without issues.

Now that car had been operating at just under the 400whp mark (we talk in kW here in Australia, but to make it easier to understand I'll convert things for you) for quite some time, and it was only with the help of a fuel change and retune to 465whp that the stock clutch gave up. Who would have thought that 465whp would have stretched the friendship of the factory clutch.


So we changed that for an exedy twin plate hyper multi and went on our way.



So both car and co. came back from Eastern Creek realising something more had to happen and it's at this point we turned a corner.

I was at the time working at Team Mistubishi Ralliart (kinda why the car was what it was really
) and circumstances had let me start my own business together with my business partner doing our thing, basically building and tuning Evo's. Although we do have other cars in the workshop occasionally, and that's the last you'll hear about that from me because of forum rules and etiquette I won't discuss it any further out of respect, but it still is part of the story, not trying to do stealthy vending here. (plus, I'm in Australia for crying out loud!)

So, we started up shop and turned our attention to the car once again. First things first, we needed to pull some weight out of the car. I guess coming from a motorsport background, to me adding more power isn't always a good thing. As the old saying goes, add power you'll be faster on the straights, remove weight and you'll be faster everywhere!



That's what you get after using some dry ice to lift the sound deadener off the floor, a plastic crate with about 10kg's of tar and deadener. Of course with all that weight gone and just bare floors without carpet, it needed a spruce up so I tidied that up.




In case you are wondering what the holes are for on the passenger floor footwell, The big ones to the left are for the roll cage, there are some large plates that locate up underneath the car that support the leading roll bar down to the floor foot plates. The smaller ones to the lower right are for the fire extinguisher.


Now while we were preparing the body, we are also building two engines for this car, a 2.0 and a 2.2 litre. This is the trial fitment of what we are up to at present. Seems to all be okay, but you have to go through this when getting parts out of America. (when will you people start driving on the correct side of the car!)



And the rest of the car is having everything removed and inspected. (replaced if necessary)






 
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#2 · (Edited)
Now, I should at this stage point out what we are aiming to do with the car. Our aim is for the world time attack series when it comes to Australia again next year, as usual Eastern Creek is to be the Venue and we are going to compete in clubsprint class, so while we are removing weight as per the rules, there will be quite a lot of weight going back in the car, we even have to run on road tyres!

Clubsprint Class rules are as follows:

Clubsprint Class

• All Vehicles must comply with Schedules A & B of the CAMS General Requirements for Automobiles (as specific in the CAMS Manual). www.cams.com.au for more info.

• All vehicles must have current road registration and be driven by the owner of the vehicle. If in the case of company owned vehicles the driver must be a company employee and produce a written letter from the director of the company showing approval to race the vehicle. The driver may also need to produce a group certificate from the employer.

No Pro drivers. (This includes anyone who has been paid a wage or salary or is deemed to be a professional driver by the promoter) will be allowed to drive in Clubsprint Class.

Vehicles

• All Vehicles must be available for purchase from a major manufacturer currently/previously as a factory OEM vehicle.

• No Open Wheel vehicles, Clubman or Kit cars allowed, as determined by the Promoter.

• All vehicles must have four(4) wheels with the steering acting on the front wheels only.

• Vehicles are limited to one engine.

• No centre steer vehicles allowed.

• No rear engine 6 Cylinder or above vehicles allowed.

Vehicle Modifications

All Vehicles must be presented as manufactured unless stated below.

Body

• All convertible type vehicles must be equipped with a hard top or a roll cage that complies with Cams Regulations.

• The use of a Carbon or FRP Bonnet and Rear Wing is permitted.

• The use of an FRP Front Bar, Rear Bar, Side Skirts and Bonnet is permitted.

• Carbon and FRP Guards, Doors, Boot Lids and Roofs are NOT permitted.

Engine

• Engine modifications are free with the following exceptions.

• Vehicles must retain their originally designated engine and configuration. EG; if your vehicle came from the manufacturer with a Naturally Aspirated SR20 then it must retain this engine and aspiration.

• OEM engine mount points must be utilized.

• OEM engine configuration must be utilized.

• All vehicles must use unleaded or E85 fuel.

• Nitrous systems are not permitted.

• All vehicles must have a full exhaust system exiting after the rear axle and compliant with CAMS regulations.

Transmission

• An OEM Gearbox casing must be utilized. For example, a Nissan vehicle must retain an OEM Nissan Gearbox Casing.

• OEM Transmission mount points must be utilized.

• Aftermarket Gear sets are permitted.

Driveline

• OEM Diff casings must be utilized. For example, a Nissan vehicle must retain an OEM Nissan Diff Casing.

• OEM Driveline configuration must be retained (2WD, 4WD).

• OEM Driveline mount points must be utilized.

• Aftermarket diff centre’s are permitted.

Suspension

• OEM suspension mount points must be utilized.

• Coil Over suspension kits are permitted.

• Aftermarket suspension arms are permitted.

Brakes

• Brake modifications are free with the following exceptions

• OEM mount points must be utilized.

Tyres

• All vehicles must run on Tyres with a UTQG rating higher than 120. If the tyres fitted to your vehicle have a UTQG rating under or equal to 120 you may be moved into the Open Class or refused entry entirely.

Wheels

• Wheels size is unrestricted.

Interior

• Interior must remain as it came from the factory with the following exceptions

• Front seats may be replaced with cams approved seats.

• Rear seats may be removed.

• Carpet may be removed.

• Stereo may be removed.

• Air conditioning may be removed.

• Local modification to interior for fitment of a roll cage is allowed.

Vehicle Safety

• All Vehicles must comply with Schedules A & B of the CAMS General Requirements for Automobiles (as specific in the CAMS Manual).

• All vehicles must be equipped with a 1kg hand held fire extinguisher as a minimum, a Fire bomb is recommended.

• All Vehicles must be equipped with a CAMS Approved 4 Point Harness as a minimum.

• All vehicles must be equipped with a driver’s seat that allows correct fitment of the harness.

FOR ALL VEHICLE SAFETY RULES AND REGULATIONS PLEASE SEE SCHEDULES A & B OF THE CAMS GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTOMOBILES IN THE CAMS MANUAL FOR MOTORSPORT. WWW.CAMS.COM.AU

Miscellaneous

• All vehicles must have the World Time Attack windscreen banner in place for the period of the event.

• All vehicles must apply supplied “Event Sponsor” decals as per promoter’s instruction.
So if you have bothered to read what we are trying to achieve, you''ll appreciate there are some things we can do but there quite a few things we can't do, like use Carbon fibre body panels etc. Still, we have been removing everything the rules allow us too and if that means the A/C then so be it.





Fitting the Magnus CMS isn't as straight forward for RHD vehicles, so while we have the dash and engine out it's a dead easy job.




So back to the engine build, and it's here that we came across a few suprizes. Firstly standard OEM rings gaps were average at best, this one was the worst offender. This explains the blow by that from time to time the car displayed. Seriously Mitsubishi, what are you doing...



And rods being bent suprized me, honestly the car was showing no signs or symptoms AT ALL to suggest what we found with the rods. It makes you shudder to think just how close we were to the thing going bang! It also bears testiment to how good the 4B11 is in stock form. In thinking back we reckon it would have done a few track days like this.



So after removing a tonne of weight from the car inside and out, it was time to start putting humpty dumpty back together again, at least on the inside. So, the dash went back in with the a few other bits and pieces. The seat is yet to go back in and the wheel still needs to be changed over for the new wheel and quick release.



Fuel system



Rear bulk head panel is in, and a clean up of the wiring loom



So now the car is in the workshop just waiting for it's vinyl wrap. We had to remove the previous vinyl for the wrap that is set to come, of course everything had to come off the car like the lights, indicators, door handles etc. And we had to clay bar the car just to make sure everything is ready for the wrap.





I have a heap more things that haven't covered yet like the brake upgrades that I lightly touched on earlier in this thread. Then there is the transfer and gearbox rebuild, the suspension and bushings, the fuel system, the seat, harness, wheel and quick release so on and so on. Hopefully this will help others out there trying to achieve the same or similar things.

UPDATE: 9-10-11

Okay, so an update on where we are at currently. Been pretty busy at present with plenty of customers in the shop for vehicle servicing, motorsport prep and tuning. Almost collecting the set here with an Evo 6.5 TME, a VII, VIII MR, IX and a few X's.



With
self imposed deadlines fast approaching, and we have a race at the end of October we believe would be a good test for us in preparation for the Time Attack series, we have our work cut out for us, all we need to do is Build an engine, gearbox, transfer. Then replace all the bushes, replace all the fluids, vinyl wrap the car, fit the seat and cage, steering wheel, tune the car and do some testing before this race we have planned at the end of October. Two weeks is all we have, so it'll be a few late nights I'd reckon.

In earlier posts I have glossed over the parts we have been fitting, only because it's the same thing that everyone else fits, but since I'm basically creating a Diary about this car, I may as well post up what is going back in the car, and more importantly why! First on the list is the seat. We've gone for a lightweight seat with head protection and I think that speaks for itself, and because the car has multiple drivers it has a slider as well. These pics just show the final test fitment before we start bolting the seat in. Half of the roll cage was installed back in the car just to make sure we have enough clearance, and all seems well in the world as you'll see from these pics.







 
#3 · (Edited)
More of the seat fitment:





So now it's just re-installation of the roll cage and fitting up the new ultra light weight 6 point harness.

As for the engine build, it's pretty much just a tidy up of the 2.0 stock block that was in the car. After the piston fiasco we had along with the bent rods, what seemed like the best thing to do was rebuild the stock motor and get the thing running again, It's what I'd call a tickle over with new pistons, pins, rods, springs and retainers, bearings and a light hone plus a few other basic housekeeping items. We do have a stroker on it's way after all, and I'm only chasing 500whp with the stock block, so all should be good in the world with what we are doing with the stock 2.0 litre engine.





Now, because the car will no longer be driven on the road (although it will still keep it's road registration) as it'll just be horrible, we are replacing all the bushes in the car, from the front and rear engine roll stoppers, trans mounts, all of the suspension, gearbox and diff bushing. Personally, I believe this will make a massive difference to the car, and it's only with all of that fitted we will be able to use see the full potential of the suspension we have.



Next on the list is a 76.c competition Thermostat. Although we don't have a heat issue, this is a good safeguard with what we are doing, it's more of a 'ticking all the boxes' exercise in a motorsport application.



Next is the Works Bell Rapfix II quick release hub and short boss kit. We haven't settled on a steering wheel yet for a few reasons, namely because we haven't found one we like as well as not being able to find one with the required amount of dish needed. Just on the Rapfix II quick release, I cannot stress enough how damn nice this unit is. Pictures don't do it any justice, it's a well made bit of gear... That you can be sure of.



Now the gearbox is 100% stock, and as good as the standard gearbox is... it simply wasn't designed to run twice the Hp and Torque (or more) that we have been running. So it was no suprize to me to find that the box being a little 'graunchy' getting into the third and forth actually means we needed all of these parts to re-instate it.



Should be a good thing after we pull out the rooted stuff and whack all those parts back in, this time though we will be running a transmission cooler and a different spec of fluid, plus there are some stealthy tweaks we have made when putting the box back together again. It'll be better than when it was brand new off the showroom floor and more robust to take the Torque. Ideally though, a dog box would have been the first option for us and we will do that next time.

And now for something really fancy, a Ralliart Supertraction front diff. Time to pull the transfer apart!









UPDATE 11-10-2011

Okay, so yet another update on RTR TA-1



Humpty Dumpty is going back together, but we have found something interesting. Our car is an 08' model but we had an MY11 come in to the shop for camshafts, what we found is the older spec runs a chain guide on the top whereas the later spec does not. Have a look at this:



Anyway, it's just another thing to stick into the memory bank. On to the vinyl Wrap, started out this morning and so far it's looking pretty darn good I reckon, then again I am bias.









Trial fit of wheels



UPDATE 16/10/11

Engine has now been finished, and while it's not a bad thing, we do have a 2.2 litre coming so this was just a tidy up of the standard engine after the findings of bent rods and the rubbish rings. The idea of having the 2.0 engine means that we can use for regulatory motorsport events where a stroker is not permitted, so now all we will have to do is unbolt the big turbo and manifold and whack on the standard parts, then we will be legal for a Tarmac Rally event or production car racing which requires standard engine and turbo configuration, albeit with the a few other minor changes to the car like the removal of the rear wing and fit the standard one.

Basic specs:


  • AMS 900 kit
  • Manley 'H' Beam rods
  • JE Pistons
  • ARP Studs and Bolts
  • ACL Bearings
  • Brian Crower Springs
  • Standard Head
  • Ralliart Thermostat
  • AMS A/C Delete kit


So this week coming it's Engine, Gearbox and Transfer all back in the car, systems check with the MUT3, basic tune then the engine run in procedure. Spanner check of everything then off we go to do a shakedown at a local race circuit.

UPDATE 20-10-2011

I did promise some more updates but the team has been so busy it's hard to think of all the things we've done in the last few days. All the stickers have been applied, fluids have have a bleed and now everything is back together. We even ran the engine for the first time this morning, and as far as reports go all good, currently we are still breaking in the engine and it's going to take a while given our procedure we have in place. The goods news is with the resting periods that the engine gets during run in we had some time to square away a few things. Two hooks are on front a rear although we didn't go down the path of the usual tow hook but rather a tow strap. I'm a big fan of these, lightweight, strong and hard to hook up to another car.



Then we started to tidy up the rear of the car which is pretty much finished.



Just a few basic things like some protection strips to the roll cage to prevent paint chipping when the seat buckles are undone and lets face it, green IS the new black.



Finally the interior is fully squared away, took some time to get where we are, but the finished product isn't bad, infact it's not to removed from what a normal road car is like, again we aren't entering in a class like unlimited, it's clubsprint class where the car has to remain road registered and I reckon we are sitting right on the fence with that one! Steering wheel is on with it's quick release, belts have been adjusted for the the driver(s) and we've done a systems check with a glowing report, infact it was kind of funny. We hooked up our MUT3 to the car and I'm sorry to say we did get 30 codes! All of those codes however are relating to having systems removed from the car, we cleared the codes yet one stayed... we do have a DTC relating to a CAN timeout for the Audio system. :clap:

All in all very happy with the way the car has been turned out, and with just the remainder of the engine run in to do, it's off to the racetrack tomorrow for a test and tune.

 
#4 · (Edited)
Here is the finished product of 'the office'



UPDATE 20 NOVEMBER 2011


So, it's finished save some house keeping on the car.

Note: Wheels and Rubber are for transport duties only.





As for tyres, this is what are running currently.



Having run back to back tests against the Yokohama AO50's (yokies being the current benchmark) we were quite happy to find the Hankooks on par. Of course we cannot use these in clubsprint class at world time attack as we have to use road rubber (we'll use the Hankook RS3) we have found them to be a brilliant time attack styled tyre, plus it helps when you run a tyre in a 295/35R18.



It's a shame you blokes stateside cant get Hankook motorsport tyres, they really are good things. Plus their sizes are 'generous' to say the least. As an example here is what Hankook call a 235/40R18 infront of the OEM Dunlop which are a 245/40R18.

Notice any difference?



Moving forward the next thing for us is to remove some weight, while we cannot run these doors in World Time Attack clubsprint class they should prove to be a nice weight saver, and I have to say Seibon do make great carbon gear.



UPDATE 14-5-2012

It's been a long time between updates, but then not much has happened. We've been very busy with preparing customers cars, so much so that we havent had much time for our own car. But this week we are taking time out with preparing both our Evo X and our Golf R. We have a two day event this weekend coming at Winton Raceway, it's just a club run circuit day but the track is demaning and very technical and it provides plenty of data for us. We have had some difficulty in recent times, namely heat issues with water temps starting to get a little high, enough for us to take notice of things. It was from that point a larger radiator was fitted.



Big difference between the stock Radiator and this koyo.







Again we went to the race track to do some more testing and temps have come back down to a more managable level. Happy Days!

From there it's all about Tyre pressures, they are just so damn imporatnt and when you are down to chasing half a PSI you simply need the right tools. If I'm honest I did get a little bit excited when this arrived in the mail late last week.



So today was about getting the fuel lines in a better shape than the were before and to fit the boomba fuel rail which has been on the shelf for a while now, so today was pretty preductive even as I right this now at 6:00pm there are still things being carried out on Stickers. (that's what we've called her since she is covered in Vinyl)



From there it's been about turning the cardboard templates we've test fitted ( the templates aid airflow across all of the cars coolers ) into more permanent arrangements.



Tomorrow it'll be fitting up the new brakes. Fun times.

So tomorrow has come and it's brake fitting time. To give you an idea of how much of a difference there is between the Alcon rotors and PFC's we had fitted, here is a few photos:













Nice huh.
 
#11 ·
Nice write up and @ MarkM wow!
 
#13 ·
yeah, you made 465 on the stock block and turbo? impressive!

What is the benefit of removing the backing plates off the front rotors? Just curious. I assume they're just there for brake dust reasons and removing them improves cooling?
 
#15 ·
Woah so after a few track days the rods were bent like that!?? With just basic bolt ons? What exactly was done to the car (mod wise) during these track days?
 
#16 ·
lol, i don't get the impression that was only a "few" track days. and at 400+whp
 
#18 ·
Thanks for support blokes, glad you like the car so far!

To answer a few questions, the car made 347kW at the wheels (465whp) with just bolts on's consisting or an FP Red, Pon Cams etc. The car was running E85 hence the decent power figure. It was around 400whp on 98 (which is just shy of your 93, probably about 92.5). Yes the block is stock, as is the head and the intake. It actually made that power just using a Cosworth drop in filter which I always found amusing. Of course, all that is going to change soon enough.

In regards to removing the front backing plates? The manufacturer makes the car for all sorts of different climates and domestic markets, so the backing plates for the rotors are there for a few reasons, but stopping dust wouldn't be one of them. The plates would keep heat into your brakes in cold climates with ice and snow, they would also assist in keeping stones out of your brakes. But from experience in our climate (no snow to speak of and rarely black ice) they are a complete waste of time, only holding in heat and it's heat you want to remove. The golden rule to remember is your brakes don't stop your car, your tyres do. Your brakes are there to remove heat, improve that process and things will only get better for you! For guys that are going to really use their brakes, this free upgrade is one well worth doing. For the most part a pad and fluid change, addition of brake cooling scoops and removing the front backing plates would be more than enough for most Evo owners. Motorsport (track dependent) is a different story of course.

As for stones being caught up in the caliper, pad or rotor... I'm yet to see it. Even in a Motorsport application like a Tarmac Rally where you are using the entire width of both lanes plus the 'washout' that is at either extremity of the road which is usually very gravely as such, I still haven't seen it.

As for how many track days? I'm not sure, we lost count. Over 20 under 30 maybe? Some of those were more than a single day event, as an example the 'Bathurst Experience' is held over several days, as is the Evo Nationals. The car was just to be used as a daily driven car that could occasionally do a few track days a year, but of course I think we all knew that was never going to happen. It's pretty had to show restraint with a car like the Evo X.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for answering that. I do live in a climate that gets pretty cold, and do like to find gravel and un-paved roads to have fun.

But I also do auto-x. So now I'm confused, to take them off or not. Maybe I will, planned on getting gyrodisc two piece next summer anyway, if something does go wrong then i can put them back on before the new rotors.
 
#23 ·
Will the front ralliart LSD work with an SST? How is it adjusted?

Will you keep ACD or go with a ralliart center?
 
#25 ·
Update on page 1 of this thread!

Disco, the supertraction that Ralliart make is for a 5 speed manual application only. TMR are the only ones in the world with a proper LSD for a TC-SST application.

As far as the ACD goes, ermmm... yeah it's a Raliart centre.
 
#26 ·
those rod pics scare the crap out of me. I'm between the 20-30 track days point now, but with less power. Makes me want to tear the block apart just to check =/ time to bump internal rebuild up on the priority list!

first mod I did to my car was cutting out the backing plate on my rear brakes. Been that way for almost 3 years, no problems, even with snow.
 
#28 ·
Yeah those rod pics freak me out-- what kind of dyno were you looking at for that power.
 
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