After resisting for so long with my OEM recaros, I’ve caved and have chosen an aftermarket seat: the Recaro Pole Positions. These seats are not the most hardcore option, but they are a fixed back seat that still provide good support and are lighter than OEM. I’ve chosen the black leather + suede option, at…
This off-season is primarily going to be focused on improving the Evo’s balance. The Evo needs any help it can get in the balance department. The entire ACD pump has been relocated to the trunk, for a shift of 20 lbs off the front and 20 lbs onto the rear. Likewise, the battery has also…
Well, 2021 didn’t quite turn out exactly as I had planned. A number of car issues, large and small, hit me at just the right times to rob or nearly rob me of several events. Going back to the start, my first trip out to NCM nearly ended in disaster – my Falkens delaminated right…
I attended the “full” Midwest Fest for the first time in 2021, as 2020 meant no festival portion for the event last year. Honestly – I preferred last year. There were so many people at the event that you could barely get your car from paddock to grid and back, as tons and tons of…
Another item that was upgraded mid-season – I finally installed 2″ brake ducting on my Evo, using binary’s mounting bracket and some high temp hosing. This was a fairly simple process, and there’s only one way the bracket can attach itself to the back of the caliper. After that, I simply mounted the hosing directly…
While I meant for a series of upgrades to be featured in one single mid-season post, so many things got in the way that it just makes sense to split things into parts, starting with my new cams – a set of GSC S2s. These are a slightly more aggressive cam than I have had…
Hard to believe it’s been 6 months since my last autocross event, but this year has been going by really quickly, with lots of track days and issues with the car. I took this chance to get in a nice, simple, problem-free autocross and to bed in the new front pads. Thankfully, that’s exactly how…
It’s been a while since updating – after getting the podium in Chicago, I took a short hiatus from racing/car related activities. As the 8/8 track day with Chin quickly approached however, I started getting the car ready, until disaster – another issue with the Evo. The car just felt like it was not running…
A crazy comeback this week led to a podium at Autobahn Country Club, for the Grid Life Chicago event. Rewinding 2 weeks, I had to deliver the Evo from ASM to RS Motors, as the latter had an OEM shortblock assembled and ready to go, if it had to come to that. It did have…
Been dragging my feet on this post for a bit. The Evo recently blew at Gingerman Raceway, and we’ve been running around trying to fix it ever since. Now that it has been fixed, a short debrief: I had Tom take a quick spin in the car at Gingerman, and after a quick hotlap something…
First mid-season tweak – I’m bumping from 11k rear springs to 12k rear springs, and dropping the rear bar back to soft. I was a little hesitant, this thing can already be a handful in the cold, but the car still can be a little pushy on a hot track. I left the preload and…
New 70% windshield tints for both the Evo and the Sequoia. The Sequoia I did because of all the long hauling planned in the car. Windshield tinting makes it easier on the eyes, especially after lasik. I don’t really like wearing sunglasses over long hauls, so windshield tinting has always been a go-to for my…
Here we go, first competition weekend of 2021. The Evo has continued to perform flawlessly lap after lap, track day after track day – thank God. The car continued that trend through day 1 of the Grid Life competition. Back to NCM, where I was 2 weeks ago to learn the track and get some…
The stock ATS front differential comes with 30-40kgm of preload – this is a lot of preload. A big part of why they are able to get away with it is due to their carbon disks, which allow for smooth engagement even with a lot of preload. This works great in the rear diff, but…
First off, let’s get the big stuff out of the way. Just as I set off for home after the track day, disaster struck – one of my Falkens, the rear left, started to delaminate on the outer edge, showing its cords. I drove to this event in the Evo with the Prius as a…
QL Motorsport & Car Journal 