Ended the 2018 season:

• 10th in Stl Solo
• 1st in BSCC

The BSCC championship was extremely close – I led by 2 season points coming into the last event, which could easily slip through my fingers – however, with the last minute rain cancellation for the last event, the championship fell to me! With this goal achieved, I plan to shift my focus more towards road racing/track days for 2019, while still managing autocross locally. I maintained my position as 10th in Stl Solo, but with the FS index getting hit hard, as well as a potential push for the M3 into BS, a repeat of this seems questionable at best. I am hoping to hit roughly 8 track days in 2019, which is a huge jump from what I have done in the past, and 10-15 autocrosses. For the first time, the track day events will take priority over the autox events.

Updated 2019 Index & Percentage changes below:

Evo Updates:

The track-prep continues for 2019, with some updates to continue improving the car’s reliability on track and the balance towards neutral from understeer. There’s going to be an even larger emphasis on track racing for the 2019 season, with the following updates:

• Boost Leak Test and Coolant Transfusion
• Tighten up oil cooler lines, updated the lines with new shims in the an fittings
• OS Giken 1.5way Rear Differential
• Whiteline 26mm rear sway bar, updated from 24mm.
• KLC139 front endlinks & KLC102 rear endlinks
• Rotors refinished, OEM shims added for the ST43 set
• Project: Quieter Exhaust
• Update the Evo’s alignment
• Volk CE28n 18×9.5 +28, 255/35-18 RE71Rs

Below is the history of the general changes the Evo has seen over the last few years:

2014 Season: Ohlins, stock bars, WL bushings. Car was very pushy. Added ER ACD tune, which helped turn-in tremendously, but still some kind of mechanical pushiness.

2015 Season: Purchased ciro caster plates and whiteline RSB to fix the push. Turned out the shop installed the coilover springs at 10/8 instead of 8/10. Added all of those and corrected the spring rates, and the car was extremely loose, biting me in mid slalom & transitions.

2016 Season: Added Tanabe FSB, new tires, and cranked up the shocks. Car is now much more neutral. Tanabe FSB added more push, particularly in tight corners. Car still feels unstable though in slaloms, but overall way better. At the end of the season I increased the front camber from -2.7 to -3.3, which helped mid-corner grip a good deal. The later half of the season was dominated by hunting a brakes issue, first was caused by wearing out brakes on track, then due to titanium shims that didn’t work right.

2017 Season: On the new 17×9.5 setup. Picked up roughly/up to 1s over the old 17×8 stock wheel setup. Car is not as loose as in 2015, maybe even starting to push a little more. RSB ran on medium, alignment was -3.3, -1.9 otherwise, with a touch of toe out in the rear. Tune was adjusted to allow quicker engine braking off throttle, as the deceleration was still not up to where I wanted to be – leading to me swapping the brakes for 2018.

2018 Season: Swapped over the off-season to Evo X brakes for larger rotors as well as CE28N’s in 18×9.5. Car felt good, but the weight from the wheel & brake setup was evident. RSB set to stiff to counter the push. The setup for the Evo was shifting to track, with ST43  brake pads and a Racefab wet sump in addition to prevent oil starve. A Maperformance Setrab Oil cooler was added for better oil cooling, a STM front crash beam for strength and minor weight savings, and an Evo 8 wing, as the Evo 9 wings are hollow inside and can bend at high speed. Belts were all updated to Gates belts this year, as well as an STM alternator pulley that is 10% underdriven, wears the alternator less, and has higher rails so the belt can’t jump off at high RPMs. Was on RT615k+, may still be on them for 2019, but they are no good in terms of steering & grip.

• Autobahn South: 1:43.8
• Autobahn Country Club Full: 2:53.06

2019 Season: The OS Giken differential swap & the larger rear sway bar are both part of an effort to shift the Evo’s balance towards neutral. Those are the two largest changes, with minor updates for everything else. I am hoping to do a total of 8 track days this year, 6 in the Evo & 2 in the M3. The first two events, one on Autobahn full and one on Autobahn South, will be done with the new diff, the rear bar on the middle setting, and new 255/35-18 RE71Rs. Original plan was to do B2B testing, but after the disappointing first autox event, I’ve switched plans and decided to push forward with changing the rear bar and tire setup.

The new wheels are on their way, the very last batch of CE28N’s to ever be produced. I am going with the 18×9.5 +28 offset, which is nearly identical to my 18×9.5 +34 offset. With a tiny bit (6mm, 0.24″) more poke out, I run the risk of rubbing with the rear fenders, but given the current sizing, I should be okay. The current set is extremely close to the inside suspension, and with some movement I imagine is making contact at certain points/loads. The new set should fix that.

M3 Updates:

While I knew I wanted to move on from the Mini in 2018, I had no idea at the start of the year I would end up driving an E92 M3. I do kind of miss the Mini at times, for it’s tossability and lightweight, nimble handling, but I’m very happy with the E92 M3. This car has been one of my dream cars since its release in 2008, with its high revving V8 and extremely balanced chassis. The only real weakness is its weight, at ~3500lbs. 2019 updates below, with a few things done late in 2018, as it was already midway through the year that I purchased the car. Not a ton of updates, as the car is going to run in FS, but a few things to note:

• Titanium Lug Nuts
• Ferodo DS2500s
• Interior Swap & Schroth Harness (Late 2018)
• Clear Bra, Windshield Tint (Late 2018)
• OEM Exhaust

Looking forward to exploring both cars in autox and track for 2019!