Last Saturday was the 10 Year Anniversary Bash for Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, TX. This was a member appreciation event so many of their 800 members over the years were there along with guests, vendors, shops located at the track, and lots of MSR staff. Yokohama was there as a vendor and they asked us to bring out the EVO to give ride-alongs and show off the ADVAN A048 R-compound DOT tire they make. We had another event planned for that weekend (SCCA Divisional) but the thought of free track time, a set of tires and helping one of our sponsors was an easy choice.
Left to right: Brian (Vorshlag) standing with Gregg (Yokohama) and Colby (ADVAN)
We got there at 7 am and went to the PST garage for the tire swap. They did a great job and we were ready to head on track long before the first track session at 8:30 am. Yokohama had two tents setup and were showing off several Yokohama ADVAN tire models. There was an Audi R8 also giving ride-alongs on AD08s but they didn't get started until about 2:30, so we took the bulk of the riders for most of the day in the EVO.
By 8:30 the line had started and it got longer all day
They have two separate tracks at MSR, and members were running mainly on the 1.7 mile course while the vendors and some members ran on the 1.3. We had never run the 1.3 course before so we took a few short stints each in the morning to familiarize ourselves with the course... what a blast! This layout has crazy elevation changes and a very nice spread of corners, with speeds under ~110 mph on most straights. The A048s stuck like glue and had the superior turn-in feel that we've come to love on the AD07 and AD08. Being an R compound they made more lateral and braking (1.15!) gs than the street tire models, and never overheated after 7 hours of nearly non-stop driving from three drivers.
Brian giving a rider a look at the 1.3 mile course at MSR in the EVO
Amy got her first taste of tracking the EVO and she loved it, and by days end she was pushing the car HARD. Brian took a ride with her around 4:30 and said "she was braking late enough to make me nervous" She, Brian and I kept the car rotating through all day on the 1.3, giving dozens and dozens of people a look at the course on the A048s. The most common comment was "Wow, this thing has grip!" or "It has monster brakes!". We'd give rides of 3-6 laps at a time, come in, switch riders, and head back out. The brakes, drivetrain, and tires kept taking lap after lap, hour after hour of punishment without a complaint. Ambient temps were hovering near 100°F all day but all we did was add fuel (2.5 tanks worth!) and kept pounding miles onto the car. SO much fun it should be illegal.
The pits were chock full of high end machinery
We got to lap with some cool machinery on the 1.3 (most of the hot shoes were on the 1.7) but nothing that could keep up with the 4 door 4 cylinder Mitsubishi. The COBB tuned power was ideal on this course, which had corners and straights that ranged from 2nd to 5th gear. Nothing but 93 octane went in and it made effortless power everywhere in relentless, never ending heat. Between the power, brakes, and grip we could pass anything out there.
Some pretty hot cars were running on track as well
We didn't stop long enough to hook up the video camera, which is a shame, so all we have are some pictures from the event. There was all sorts of high end machinery out there including Lamborghinis, many Porsches and Cup cars, R8s, GTRs, a ZR1, and more Z06s and Vipers than you could shake a stick at. Check it out: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/gallery/...70909553_RMyJY
The A048s tires we had were the Medium-Hard compound (they come in Medium and MH) and looked perfect by days end after hundreds of miles of abuse - we'll get a LOT more lapping days out of these over the next several months. These are real R compounds, of course, and they gripped harder than the AD07 and 08 tires we've run earlier this year on the car, setting a new peak braking number of 1.15g and lateral grip over 1.25g, even in the unyielding Texas summer heat. The unique tread pattern also allows for use in the wet, too. We wondered why haven't more people run these? Cost was possibly a factor but now Yokohama is moving out some inventory and have just about cut the prices in half on most sizes. Want to learn more? Call AJ at Performance SpeedTech at 817-512-4780 for pricing.
ADVAN A048 available sizes:
205/50R15 225/45R17
205/60R15 235/45R17
225/50R15 245/40R17
195/50R16 255/40R17
205/55R16 225/40R18
225/45R16 235/40R18
225/50R16 265/35R18
215/45R17 285/30R18
215/45R17 295/30R18
225/45R17 315/30R18
The folks at MSR put on a great member celebration with excellent food, excellent facilities, and two killer tracks. Big thanks go out to Colby and Gregg at Yokohama for inviting us to this event.
Left to right: Brian (Vorshlag) standing with Gregg (Yokohama) and Colby (ADVAN)
We got there at 7 am and went to the PST garage for the tire swap. They did a great job and we were ready to head on track long before the first track session at 8:30 am. Yokohama had two tents setup and were showing off several Yokohama ADVAN tire models. There was an Audi R8 also giving ride-alongs on AD08s but they didn't get started until about 2:30, so we took the bulk of the riders for most of the day in the EVO.
By 8:30 the line had started and it got longer all day
They have two separate tracks at MSR, and members were running mainly on the 1.7 mile course while the vendors and some members ran on the 1.3. We had never run the 1.3 course before so we took a few short stints each in the morning to familiarize ourselves with the course... what a blast! This layout has crazy elevation changes and a very nice spread of corners, with speeds under ~110 mph on most straights. The A048s stuck like glue and had the superior turn-in feel that we've come to love on the AD07 and AD08. Being an R compound they made more lateral and braking (1.15!) gs than the street tire models, and never overheated after 7 hours of nearly non-stop driving from three drivers.
Brian giving a rider a look at the 1.3 mile course at MSR in the EVO
Amy got her first taste of tracking the EVO and she loved it, and by days end she was pushing the car HARD. Brian took a ride with her around 4:30 and said "she was braking late enough to make me nervous" She, Brian and I kept the car rotating through all day on the 1.3, giving dozens and dozens of people a look at the course on the A048s. The most common comment was "Wow, this thing has grip!" or "It has monster brakes!". We'd give rides of 3-6 laps at a time, come in, switch riders, and head back out. The brakes, drivetrain, and tires kept taking lap after lap, hour after hour of punishment without a complaint. Ambient temps were hovering near 100°F all day but all we did was add fuel (2.5 tanks worth!) and kept pounding miles onto the car. SO much fun it should be illegal.
The pits were chock full of high end machinery
We got to lap with some cool machinery on the 1.3 (most of the hot shoes were on the 1.7) but nothing that could keep up with the 4 door 4 cylinder Mitsubishi. The COBB tuned power was ideal on this course, which had corners and straights that ranged from 2nd to 5th gear. Nothing but 93 octane went in and it made effortless power everywhere in relentless, never ending heat. Between the power, brakes, and grip we could pass anything out there.
Some pretty hot cars were running on track as well
We didn't stop long enough to hook up the video camera, which is a shame, so all we have are some pictures from the event. There was all sorts of high end machinery out there including Lamborghinis, many Porsches and Cup cars, R8s, GTRs, a ZR1, and more Z06s and Vipers than you could shake a stick at. Check it out: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/gallery/...70909553_RMyJY
The A048s tires we had were the Medium-Hard compound (they come in Medium and MH) and looked perfect by days end after hundreds of miles of abuse - we'll get a LOT more lapping days out of these over the next several months. These are real R compounds, of course, and they gripped harder than the AD07 and 08 tires we've run earlier this year on the car, setting a new peak braking number of 1.15g and lateral grip over 1.25g, even in the unyielding Texas summer heat. The unique tread pattern also allows for use in the wet, too. We wondered why haven't more people run these? Cost was possibly a factor but now Yokohama is moving out some inventory and have just about cut the prices in half on most sizes. Want to learn more? Call AJ at Performance SpeedTech at 817-512-4780 for pricing.
ADVAN A048 available sizes:
205/50R15 225/45R17
205/60R15 235/45R17
225/50R15 245/40R17
195/50R16 255/40R17
205/55R16 225/40R18
225/45R16 235/40R18
225/50R16 265/35R18
215/45R17 285/30R18
215/45R17 295/30R18
225/45R17 315/30R18
The folks at MSR put on a great member celebration with excellent food, excellent facilities, and two killer tracks. Big thanks go out to Colby and Gregg at Yokohama for inviting us to this event.
Comment