Tire Size Comparisons

From left to right:
275/35-18 on 18x9.5" Volks
245/40-18 on 18x9.5" Forgeline
245/40-17 on 17x9" 5Zigen
245/45-17 on 17x8" Enkei

Below:
Left: the 275's vs 245 street tires
Right: Last years 245-17 vs this years 245-18 on 1/2" wider rims.

Video - NASA Gateway Event

Here's the video from last weekends event.

April 17-18 - NASA @ Gateway

The first NASA Midwest region event was held last weekend
at the Gateway Int'l Raceway 'Roval' roadcourse.

  Saturday I won TTB and set the new track record with 1:08.75. Unfortunately there was some oil spilt on the track and we all had to take different lines through T2 to avoid the oil slick they put down so I feel there's more time to gain here.

  Sunday I jumped up 2 classes to TTS for a few different reasons. In the 4th session I was using leftover A6's from last year and actually spun a near 180 between T5-T6 which is pretty hairy to say the least.  I quickly decided to ditch the old A6's and go back to my setup from Saturday. So I put my TTB R6's back on climbed to within .012 seconds of the TTS leader - another Evo.  We both had to go out for the last session to try and squeeze out some more time and in the end I squeezed out a victory by .7 seconds.

  Along with a pair of 1sts (TTB & TTS) and another track record, I debuted the new Forgeline ZX3R's, new Exedy Twin HD clutch, and new PowerSlot rotors.  Everything (save for the old A6 tires) worked out great.

  There's some tweaking that needs to be done to the suspension and alignment before the next event; but that's nothing new!

  Big thanks to AMS Performance for the powerful & safe tune & the new clutch install, AMSOIL for keeping the car cool and lubricated and Forgeline for help with the new wheels!

Forgeline ZX3R's

Installed pic from the track.  

Nuff said...

New Forgeline Rims have arrived!

Just arrived last night!  Here's the first look at them - Forgeline ZX3R's in custom US Burnt Bronze.  I worked directly with David @ Forgeline to figure out the style, size, offset, spacing and even pick out a custom color!  Hopefully have them mounted Friday before I leave for the track.

First event this weekend - NASA @ Gateway!

 

   We're just a few days away from the first event.  I've had 0 test days this year, but Gateway is my 'home' track so there is some level of comfort there.  The car is essentially ready to go, but there's always something that's left to be done.  I've spent this week putting several coats of Zaino wax on the car so it'll be looking super sweet!  

   There's some misc odd-n-ends but they shouldn't be an issue.  I still need to pack everything up and put it on the trailor.  And last but certainly not least, I expect my new set of Forgeline rims to arrive anyday!  Expect a ton of pics here and on twitter!

2010 prep/maintenance - Rear Brakes, seals, dust boots, fluid & rotors

Through this year, the Evo has about 45 track days and 22,000 miles on it.  All of that is with the stock rear calipers, seals, dust boots & rotors!  As the car uses the front to brake in about a 3-1 pad usage ratio I have been through the front setup many times and finally decided it was time to replace the internals in the rear.  I also took the opportunity to put my Hawk DTC60 track pads back in and do a full fluid flush with AMSOIL DOT4.
Here's a few pics of the fun in progress and a shot of the finished project.

2010 AMSOIL supply!

My 2010 supply of AMSOIL has arrived!  I ran 10w30 'Dominator' engine oil in the Evo last year and the oil analysis reports I can proved that it was a great choice.  No changes this year there or with the AMSOIL DOT4 brake fluid that I quickly grew to love after using Motul for a few years.  New this year; I'll be running a 5w30 synthetic in the tow truck - Nissan Titan.  Also picked up some misc grease.