Been a while since I updated.
I took some time off after CenDivs as I was getting pretty burned out with all the repairs, and just the amount of work into the car this year. It allowed me to get my mind back in the driving game a little more, and worry less about the car.
So how did we do?
Myself, I drove more or less what I expected, and finished in 13th of 25. My co-driver Andrew Pallotta, which to his credit only had 10 runs in the car prior, placed 5th in class (3rd on the first day). The car exceeded my expectation for a first season performance. With only 7 months of development, I am extremely pleased with how well the car did.
Things I learned:
1. Correct camber on Goodyears is not the same as Hoosiers.
We found that even at slightly higher pressures, we were rolling over the edge of the Hoosier slicks far more than we did on the Goodyears. We only had 4 total runs on the Hoosiers prior to competition. This will be taken into account for next year when the car will be running all year on Hoosiers.
2. Lincoln has higher grip levels than any of the sites I have run this year (and not broken at).
Sadly most of this year has been spent fixing broken items, or making changes. So I had little time to do any suspension tuning or adjustments besides some alignment changes. I knew before arriving in Lincoln that the car was soft on spring rates, but it really did show at those grip levels. You can see from the pictures that the height of the car and combine soft rates resulted in a lot of roll. Which in the slaloms, felt less like a Prepared car and more like a Stock class car. I have a plan for next years rate adjustments that should help cure a number of issues.
Plans for next year:
1. Stiffer spring rates
The car wallowed through slaloms, and the picture comparison between my car and many other Evos shows how the ride height and lower spring rates effect the cars handling
2. Lower the car more
Something I couldn't do this year due to budgeting. This will be done in a few steps. Wider front fenders to help tuck the tires. Larger backspacing on all 4 wheels will allow me to set the rear wheels inside of the stock fenders. The other benefit to this, is a smaller track width.
3. More weight reduction!
In Lincoln the car weighed in at 2609lbs with 1/2 tank of fuel. That is 9lbs over next years minimum weight. I do still have lots of room to go lower. So the plan is to remove the weight, and relocate it strategically.
4. Water-Proof electrical wiring
Due to having all of the interior cabin stock wiring still in place, I ran 3 windows in the car in case of rain. This makes the car extremely hot inside while waiting to run. I am going to tube wrap all the needed wiring that can't be move, and relocate as much as I can from down low, to behind the dash area.
Also in the plans for next year, back to doing ProSolos! They are just too much fun to give up! Now that I know the drive-train can be reliable, I plan on hitting 2-3 Pros next season, along with a Tour or two. I will also likely have a season co-driver, and likely a Ladies co-driver for some events.
I'll be taking a week or so off, then back at it again. I'll try to keep updates coming as often as I can.
-Mike
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