what makes EVO 9 so good at the track
Asked by Burim Jul 12, 2009 at 01:21 PM about the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Question type: General
I read this review where they stated that the EVO 9 has been proven to be faster than the Lambo on the wet track. How is this possible. The evo specs are not too promissing for what this statment states.
Thanks
Burim
8 Answers
its pretty much about center of gravity and how much grip it has. My friend chamal on here has an evo you should check out its sick! they pull some crazy lateral g's. If you watch the show Top Gear they do a segment on the lambo version the Evo and the lambo spins out at the end. The evo just has a good balance of weight-power-grip-drivetrain. Gears also play a big roll in it as well whether in the axles or the trans. Thats why the STI and the Evo are different. The STI might be better on dirt but the EVO will gobble it up on the track.
To answer that question you have to understand what makes any car good at taking on a track. All the factors that determine how fast the entry and exit speeds are and how hard it can turn at a speed before losing traction. At its core a Lambo is still a luxury supercar and when pushed right to the edge, it cannot match the blistering performance of the Evo. The Evo has one of the most advanced AWD systems in the production cars now and that's a large part of what makes the difference. I'm guessing that when you say "specs" you meant bhp/torque numbers and 0-60 count. On the track its usually not about what your peak power/torque is, but how quickly you can use it, and a turbocharger is the best answer to that. On top of that, the 0-60/0-120 count between the two cars is too close for the Lambo to make up for the lack of handling, especially when human error comes into play.
There is really no one reason that the Evo is as good as it is. The truth is just that the cars is the right mix of ingredients honed and improved over many generations (Evolutions :-P). The chassis is very stiff, severely reinforced from the base lancer chassis, the tight ratio steering (13:1), Brembo brakes, and all aluminum suspension have all been developed specifically for the Evo, with extreme performance goals in mind. The car is potent in stock form, and more than ready to hit the track or rally circuit right off the showroom floor. But what really makes the car great is how well it takes to modding. Check out my profile for more videos and info http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y6lIaGZA4w
Hadn't really noticed the vortex generators at the trailing edge of the roof line till I watched that.... Though it doesn't look like they'd help high-speed stability like they say in the film, but more like it'd reduce thicken the boundary layer and reduce the drag and lift from the rear windshield, but would seem like it would screw up air flow over the stock wing? I don't really have a good grasp on aerodynamics, but that's what intuition tells me. Chamal, you're the expert on all things EVO here, and you're likely the most knowledgeable in general, what's your take on the VG's?
damnit lost track of thought process while typeing... it'd reduce thicken the boundary layer and reduce the drag and lift from the rear windshield= it'd reduce surface interactions by thickening the boundary layer. Reducing the drag and lift from the rear windshield. is closer to what I meant, but it sounds like I know what I'm talking about which I really don't, just thinking out loud... :-D
You are partly correct on the VG not helping high-speed stability in and of itself. It's role is more in assisting to create a more effective airflow to the rear wing. There is a technical SAE whitepaper written on the VG and it goes into all the aerodynamic engineering detail if you are interested you can look it up! Without the factory rear wing though it is more or less nonfunctional. The two are paired to work together.
what makes EVO 9 so good at the track? THE DRIVER. ;D