If you've never autocrossed before, you owe it to yourself to dodge a cone at least once. It's fun, safe, will teach you how to handle a car at its limits and there's no better satisfaction than spanking cars that cost twice as much with a faster time.
And as you get more into it, it always pays to scour the SCCA Solo rulebook (found at www.scca.org) when aiming for any particular class. It's no fun being bumped up classes in a 120bhp Civic and having to take on tube-framed, huge-winged Modified class cars. For SCC readers, the Street Touring (ST) and Street Prepared (SP) classes are the perfect stomping grounds for those who are serious about modifying their cars.
Classified specifically into B Street Prepared (BSP) under the SP umbrella, Project Evo IX will be retaining the stock turbo and brakes, but will receive a custom coilover suspension, an increase in boost, a turboback exhaust, select urethane suspension bushings, wider wheels and, unfortunately, race tires and gas. Unfortunate because of the price. Any octane of unleaded gasoline is allowable in BSP, as well as any DOT-approved race tire of any size. This means that, if you really want to win and take it to the limit of the rules, run Hoosiers or Kumho V710s (285-width for an Evo) and a bare minimum of 100-octane.
Drivers who have used them know that Hoosiers and V710s are the worst kind of performance-enhancing drug. They hit hard and fast, but leaving you wanting more. The twin-grooved semi-slicks will barely last a weekend at full softness and they're not exactly a bargain to begin with.
We're going to use two wheel/tire sets on Project Evo IX, one for the street and one for the track. But because we're trying to balance autocross with open track use as well, we're going with a longer-lasting race tire (than Hoosier) that still offers loads of grip (so we don't get dusted in BSP) and will cost less in the end (the heavy Evo eats tires at the track). With wheel size and width virtually open in BSP, we're going to try Project Evo IX with 18x9.5 Hyper Gunmetallic 5Zigen ZR+520 wheels and Toyo Proxes R888 tires. We won't be packing maximum heat for the Solo national championships, but we should be fine at the regional level.
The Toyo R888 tires have all the obvious R-compound prerequisites: huge tread blocks, stiff sidewalls, a soft compound and wide sizes. When we asked Toyo for details, the company was confident in the tires' ability to provide grip and long life, and also do well at autocross events-which don't see much in the way of tire warm-up time before going on course. We ordered a set of conservative (for an Evo) 265/35/18s. When they arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they run wide for their size. Mounted on a 9.5-inch wheel, the R888s measure 10.7 inches sidewall to sidewall, which is comparable to a 275/35/18 Toyo T1R street tire. The R888s are also surprisingly quiet during daily duty.
The only reason we know that precious tidbit is because of a stock wheel failure. At The Streets of Willow Springs circuit, Project Evo IX came cresting over a blind hill at near triple-digit speed into a quick braking zone. A wheel dipped too much to the right here, a rock-filled rut there and, before you knew it, the Evo bounced its right side over a bump. There appeared to be no suspension damage, but telltale steering vibration said it all: the front right stock 17x8-inch wheel was bent. The wheel repair company would later diagnose it as a shifted outer face, a problem that can't be repaired. Thus, the 5Zigen wheels and R888 tires went on (with the stock suspension) for commuting.
Later, displaying our utterly impressive editorial might, we contacted our friend Maurice Durand, manager of product PR at Mitsubishi, and he helped us source a replacement factory wheel. In an effort to stock up on spares, we also called evo guru Robert Fuller of Robispec, who connected us with a cheap set of stock Enkei wheels (thanks also to Chris and Kevin).