Only way to top the first track day of the year is for it to be completely wet and cold. This was my first wet track event, and AWD really saved the day here. The instructor likened wet track days to having an additional 300hp – and it was totally true. Most of the RWDs struggled to put any power down, and in spots they could have gone WOT the back end would really start to squirm. Even on the Evo, if the car has been loaded in a corner and I try to get on the gas, the car would get a little loose.

Most of all though, the car would loose it on lift. It caught me by complete surprise the second time in the second corner, where I lost it and had my first four wheels off (or two wheels off for that matter). At that point I realized I was going to really have active hands for this event. The times were much, much slower than in the dry, every single corner being so much slower. By the end the track started to dry out, but it was still tricky as there were still spots that were slick and some that were not. Turns 6, 7, 8 continued to be wet, but most of the North I was able to start pushing a little. Another big tip the instructor gave was that the line you wanted to be on for wet laps is anywhere that ISN’T the dry racing line. This really helped, especially in the braking zones, but it was still difficult to go very quickly at all.

The Evo overall felt pretty good, brakes held up and there were no mechanical issues. That said, it was very cool out, cars weren’t being pushed as hard so they shouldn’t have seen too much force on them. The balance of the car was very interesting – the car felt really loose in certain sections where there was no grip, including requiring full on opposite lock. I’m going to reserve judgment on making any changes until I get a few more dry events in, aside from my plan to put 11k springs in the rear and set the bar back to soft. This should keep the car neutral, while giving a little more power oversteer and a little less reliance on the bar. Don’t really anticipate needing to make any other changes to balance, nor do I expect the ride quality to diminish.

That will still give me degrees of freedom to go looser, with setting the bar stiffer, as well as with the ACD settings – which were untouched and left in its softest setting this weekend. The rear diff seemed to behave better on track, perhaps with longer corners the diff has more time to work up to full lock. The car definitely felt like a more controllable RWD car in the wet this weekend, even with AWD, had to baby the throttle more than I expected.

Blooper Reel:

Set Up:

• 24psi tune, 93 octane, 310hp
• Ohlins DFV, 8k/10k; Shocks 6/6
• Tanabe FSB; WL 26mm RSB; Soft
• ER-ACD Snow; OS Giken Rear Diff
• CE28N 18×9.5; 255/35-18 Bridgestone RE71Rs

Key takeaways:

• First wet track day, car was very loose out there.
• Don’t fear track driving too much after, good for feeling out the limit of grip & car control
• Set the car to slightly more neutral because of so much oversteer
• Slow in fast out will work better for Evo
• Smooth with throttle

Notes (Evo):

• Last time, started with full tank and fuel starved in the 3rd 20 minute session – this time, left with over 3/4ths of a tank – but in the wet, so not driving as hard
• Camber at -3.1, -1.9 rear,  0 toe front 0 toe rear
• 35psi all around on RE71Rs
• ACD (65%): Snow, Dampers 6/6 F/R, Cusco FSB Bracket on 2, RSB on soft
• 2019 Track days (1, 1 on RE71Rs