With Hirayama-san's suggestions, Evasive tuned the suspension with Tein SRC coilovers that use 14kg/mm Swift springs, then bolted-on a set of Swift anti-sway bars to minimize body roll. Also added were a Carbing front strut bar, an EM Racing rear cross bar and for even more rigidity, J Speed fender/under bracing with a Carbign Craft 4-point under brace. Along with these modifications and feedback from their driver, Rob Walker (see sidebar), adjustments were also made to the aerodynamics of the Evo. The front bumper is a combination of all sorts, the bulk of it being a C-West front bumper that has been outfitted with APR canards and a Kel's Garage front carbon splitter. The rear quarter panels have HRS/Voltex overfenders, while the rear trunk has a Voltex wing that's set on a Kel's Garage Type 5 bracket, also tuned for optimum angle. One of Evasive's biggest sponsors is Toyo and with their latest release, a DOT-legal R compound tire, the R888, Evasive is not only using them successfully in competition, but is also paying homage with a full body graphic scheme that was crafted and applied by Promax. The tires are mounted to Volk's latest wheel, the RE30 in size 18x10.5 and in a matte black finish.
Evasive has only been competing with this Evo for a short time, since January of this year if you can believe it, and unlike most of the teams in their category, they're not as seasoned-but they're getting there. "Since we lack that experience, we've been pushing ourselves to spend as much time as possible to learn about our car," Mike says. What's next for the Evo? More power? Who knows. Mike finishes with, "What we really want to do is explore the limits of the car. Right now we're limited by what we have, especially on tracks that have long straights. After we get the car to go as fast as it can with what it has, we'll eventually move up to the Unlimited class with a built motor. I don't think we've maxed the car out yet."
Walk This Way
"I've been driving the Evasive Evo since January and in the beginning, it had problems understeering, like all Evos do. We made a lot of changes to the ride height, particularly to the front wheels, and changed the spring rates. The aero made the biggest difference by far. We also went with a narrower tire since we weren't able to get the most grip out of the ones we were using before. I think these changes netted more positive results than, say, if Mike had built the engine up more, but now that we're dialing in the car as a whole, more power will just make it that much better on the track.
I'm a data logger driven kind of driver, so every time I drive for Mike, I like to give him feedback so that he can make the appropriate changes. My objective is to maximize the lateral Gs and to take a look at the minimum speeds, that is the lowest speeds the car can get through on the track. I just want a car that allows me to rotate when going into a turn and will let me get onto the gas as soon as possible. I want it to be stable enough when braking, do a quick turn and gas out of it."