JANG|Evolution

SCCA RallyCross, May 23, 2004

This weekend I decided to get serious about series points. Because I arrived too late to walk the course before racing began, I took it very easy on my first run to make sure I didn't miss a turn & pick up a DQ. Surprisingly, I turned a .91 (measured in 1/100ths of a minute), tying for 2nd out of the 11 cars in the class. On the second run, I started pushing a little harder and came down to .89. With increasing confidence in my memory of the course layout, I pushed to a class high mark of .87 the third time around. On the fourth & final attempt, I was running faster still until late braking with insufficient weight transfer ruined my entry into the tight switchback before the finish, and I ended up with a .88.

I knew the first run was rather conservative and I was briefly disappointed about my mistake in the final pass, but the overall experience was again tremendously fun! Adding icing to the cake, according to the results on the SF SCCA site, I ended up #1 in class and #12 overall out of 58 car/driver combinations for the day. Go stock Evo!

Here are select videos of my timed official runs:

Evo Video - Run 3, .87
Evo Video - Run 4, .88

Adventures in FWD

But wait, there's more! The person I drove up to the event with drove an '03 Lancer ES automatic, and we double-booked it with each of us as drivers so that we could both have some fun in it. I knew it would be an exciting experiment for me, since I had been jonesing for a chance to use an handbrake again (the USDM Evolution has fixed torque split in the center diff, so the handbrake is both ineffective and potentially dangerous to use when moving). On the first pass I went nice & easy as I felt out the car and narratively explained the course. Then I got the go-ahead to pick up the pace next time. I went on to post times of .91, .91, and .90, in the latter creating a 3-way tie for fastest driver in the class. I absolutely fell in love with the drifts, fluctuating the handbrake and gas at the same time while counter-steering.

I know what you're thinking, and yes, you read it right; my times in the ES were actually competitive with the Evo! Oh, what a difference a handbrake makes on a technical course! I only wonder what I could have done if I locked the tranny in 1st gear. After these FWD runs , I was left actually considering the possibility of selling the Evo and nicely fixing up an ES or OZ Rally (same thing, different trim & wheels) for about 1/3rd the price. All I'd need would be new shocks & springs, wheels & tires, and seats, plus probably an Evo shift lever (shorter, to go with the shorter seats), and I would be able to kick butt. I got the Evo in the first place because it's a factory rally car and I'm a huge fan of the sport of rallying. However, seriously, why bother with the huge expense if it's not that fast in the actual rally events I'd be running in? The only other place I drive it is on the street, and I certainly don't need Corvette-class acceleration and Porsche-class handling to get to the commuter train station & back every day. Well, just keep reading. I'll come back to this.

Lancer ES Video - Run 3, .91
Lancer ES Video - Run 4, .90

Revenge of the Evo

"Fun runs" came late in the day and I was determined to make the most of the opportunity to get on the track once or twice more. The track was watered down to cut the dust a bit, but drying time was kept short to allow the most running time possible. As a result, the first cars on the track were slipping & sliding everywhere. Random times I had heard before me were over the 1-minute mark. When it was my turn, I dove in with some aggressiveness (knowing I had nothing to lose). Unfortunately, though I was probably around the 15th car on the track, but the surface hadn't yet come to and I had trouble finding traction. I overshot with the first couple of big turns, but then something amazing happened. Instead of continuing to fight to keep to clean, conservative lines, I decided to try actually using my all-wheel-drive the way it was meant to be on dirt -- sideways! Instead of keeping speed down to manage the car's attitude, I kicked it up a notch to get some "whip" effect from throwing the car's weight around. Before the run was over, I was throwing the rear of the car deep into turns and letting axial momentum slide me around. Now this was rally racing!

In the second fun run, I gunned it right out of the gate, for the first time going for full, pedal to the metal throttle in first gear. Whipping the tail around like a stingray, I took every single turn sideways and really started chaining them together and redlining down the short straights. As I crossed the finish line I screamed out in exuberance, knowing that whatever my time was, I felt faster than a bat out of hell. At the timing table, the results spoke for themselves. This less-than-a-minute thrill ride had yielded in a time that tied for 2nd fastest of the entire day, across all classes, an eyebrow-raising .82! (The high mark was a .81 run set by a pro driver in an Open class Impreza RS 2.5.)

Vengance is mine. I guess I won't be selling the Evo yet!

Random Photos

A couple of the pro cars at the event: