danno wrote:
this track in particular gave me a lot of troube with the really tight corners, when i hit the gas my front wheels were extremely cocked and had to power out for half a second before all my wheels lined up. there's probly a way for me to bring the back end in line faster, i'm not sure how i'd do that, harder, later breaking?
that track, although i liked it, really brought out the worst in me, i'm pretty sure i was breaking too early in a few spots, and while i would get it right in one spot, i'd never get it right in all the spots in one run. ah well, next year i'll have a whole new set of problems, but no excuses! i'm runnin NT-01's next year, damn the torpedoes! it'll be fun trying to catch up to chris and quincy.
Well, certainly take in either the beginner or even advanced training courses they offer. Or both. You will learn a lot, and get as much seat time as you want. I would assume they'll be offering these classes again next year. Highly recommended.
One thing I can see and advise to you, is when you are powering out of the turns, try and use the whole width of the course. It seems as on some of the turns you are making them tighter than what is necessary. When you do that, you are losing speed plus it's hard on your tires. Hard to explain; Easier to show in person while riding/driving.
Also, focus on your slaloms. To me, it looks like you could have pushed it quite a bit harder through there. Get as close to the cones as possible, and you should be "backsiding" them as you go by. I know in my car, I'm pushing it so hard through the slaloms that you "almost" feel like you are going to lose control/get oversteer. You can certainly carry more speed through them from the looks of it.
Use your brakes!!! Anyone who's ridden with myself, knows that I say this nonstop. This was the biggest piece of advice I took from Russ in a training class last year when I first started. I certainly feel this is HUGE especially in an evo because you can carry A LOT of speed in, mash the brakes, and power out of the turns early. You're losing precious time if you aren't doing this.
I know when I test drove the Evo X, the brakes have EXCELLENT feel/braking power for a 3500lb car. Use them to your advantage. In most turns, I am on the brakes as hard as I can be, without locking them up/abs. You know you have it right when you start to hear your tires start to make sound. If they aren't making noise, you are losing time. If they are making too much noise, you are losing time. You have to find a happy medium.
Yeah, I feel as though watching the vid, you could brake later in most turns, however it's hard for me to tell for sure being I haven't ridden or driven your car. My tires certainly allowed me to brake late/deep into most turns; I know you were on the stockers which leave a lot to be desired from what I've read.
I know you are looking at the nt01's which are an R-Comp which means you shouldn't drive on them daily, FYI. You will pick up sand/gravel rocks and chip the living hell out of your paint. I'm not sure if you were going to buy another set of wheels for DD'ing or not.
Either way, you'd be better off going with a street tire
assuming you will still be on the stock suspension. Running an R-comp tire on the stock suspension is going to create A LOT of body roll on your evo. Also, you won't have enough camber with the stock suspension to keep a good contact patch. Even on my 8kg/7kg springs for my coilovers, I'm getting a lot of body roll being on R comps. Sure, you will have more grip, but I can almost bet you will cord the outside edges of the tire abnormally early.
As anyone here would tell you, I would be more concerned about learning/getting better before you step up to tires that won't last very long. If you are looking for a great street tire that you can DD and autox on, certainly take a look at either the Dunlop Star Specs or Nitto NT-05's (only start with 6/32'nds tread depth though). For the price and performance, you can't beat those two choices. If money isn't really an object, look into the Advan AD08's.
Any other questions, feel free and ask!
Later Dan