mocohead
03-19-2012, 06:07 AM
This past weekend I instructed with the BMW CCA at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Due to awful weather conditions I did not get laps in my own car (blinding sand storms, high winds, rain...). However here are some thoughts about the parts on the car I did drive for the few laps I did drive.
1. Federal 595 RS-R - These tires held up very well and show virtually no signs of wear. I am very impressed with how much abuse they took and how fresh they appear. Grip is sufficient and they have very clean break-away behavior. Lots of audible warning and easy recovery once they were sliding. I got the chance (unfortunately) to drive them over a sandy race track and through a downpour on the drive home. While a bit noisy I think the tire is a great choice, especially for the money.
2. Hotchkis Sway Bars and end links - I continue to think these sway bars are the absolute best handling improvement for the dollar of any suspension upgrade on the market, ESPECIALLY on a daily driven car. Daily driver ride quality does not suffer but on the track the turn-in is incredibly immediate and the lift-throttle rotation is always just enough. You really feel that front bar helping the car point to the apex!! For anybody that wants to improve the handling of their Evo X, instead of worrying about stance or ride height, sway bars are a fantastic first step. Spend the extra money to get a front bar installed - it does not make the car understeer and adds a fantastic feel.
3. CarboTech RP2 brake pads - This is the CT XP10 in a longer lasting endurance compound. They work really well even cold, unlike the Hawk HT-10 I used previously. With a max temperature of 1650 degrees, there was no way I would fade them on the test car's street tires. Pedal feel is really, really, really solid. Unlike the Hawk pads, I did not experience pad transfer to the rotors, and none of that awful judder I ALWAYS got with Hawk products (yes i bedded them according to the recommendations). As a matter of fact, these pads are so good cold I recommended leaving them on the car until the owner's new CT 1521 street pads arrive.
4. Alignment - what more can I saw about West End Alignment than people have already said. The settings on this car worked fantastic as a compromise between daily driving and track. It was neutral, rotated just right and was pretty fast. Darin at West End really knows his stuff!!
Here is a link to part of my session Saturday. Since I had a student in the car and was driving a test car I was not pushing that hard as we are not permitted to give E-Ticket rides to students. But it is the only video where the weather was nice enough to get decent quality video... http://vimeo.com/38760576
Thanks for reading my reviews. I hope my opinions and experiences are helpful to people thinking about any of these purchases.
1. Federal 595 RS-R - These tires held up very well and show virtually no signs of wear. I am very impressed with how much abuse they took and how fresh they appear. Grip is sufficient and they have very clean break-away behavior. Lots of audible warning and easy recovery once they were sliding. I got the chance (unfortunately) to drive them over a sandy race track and through a downpour on the drive home. While a bit noisy I think the tire is a great choice, especially for the money.
2. Hotchkis Sway Bars and end links - I continue to think these sway bars are the absolute best handling improvement for the dollar of any suspension upgrade on the market, ESPECIALLY on a daily driven car. Daily driver ride quality does not suffer but on the track the turn-in is incredibly immediate and the lift-throttle rotation is always just enough. You really feel that front bar helping the car point to the apex!! For anybody that wants to improve the handling of their Evo X, instead of worrying about stance or ride height, sway bars are a fantastic first step. Spend the extra money to get a front bar installed - it does not make the car understeer and adds a fantastic feel.
3. CarboTech RP2 brake pads - This is the CT XP10 in a longer lasting endurance compound. They work really well even cold, unlike the Hawk HT-10 I used previously. With a max temperature of 1650 degrees, there was no way I would fade them on the test car's street tires. Pedal feel is really, really, really solid. Unlike the Hawk pads, I did not experience pad transfer to the rotors, and none of that awful judder I ALWAYS got with Hawk products (yes i bedded them according to the recommendations). As a matter of fact, these pads are so good cold I recommended leaving them on the car until the owner's new CT 1521 street pads arrive.
4. Alignment - what more can I saw about West End Alignment than people have already said. The settings on this car worked fantastic as a compromise between daily driving and track. It was neutral, rotated just right and was pretty fast. Darin at West End really knows his stuff!!
Here is a link to part of my session Saturday. Since I had a student in the car and was driving a test car I was not pushing that hard as we are not permitted to give E-Ticket rides to students. But it is the only video where the weather was nice enough to get decent quality video... http://vimeo.com/38760576
Thanks for reading my reviews. I hope my opinions and experiences are helpful to people thinking about any of these purchases.