It was a clean sweep for the Evo at Super Lap Battle 08 in Buttonwillow!!!

Ryan and Martin did an incredible job driving and both ended up with podium finishes!!!

Martin ran the quickest time for our class (and of the entire event) in qualifying and secured the #1 spot running a 1:56.658. After qualifying, I checked tire pressure and left the valve stem caps off. Unfortunately, this was a costly mistake on my part. The valve stem cores were not tightened properly when the tires were mounted and the tires slowly deflated during the break between rounds. Just before the first timed session, I checked pressures and found the tires to be extremely low. I made a mad dash to air up the tires before the session and but had no reference as to what “warm” tire pressures should be. I guessed wrong and after the first session, Martin came in complaining of huge understeer. Checking hot pressures, I found the fronts to be 4 psi less than what we were shooting for. Martin ended up placing 4th in the first round.

Second round I had the tire pressures where they needed to be and Martin went out and drove like a champ. Unfortunately the track conditions were getting bad. Someone had engine problems and dumped oil and / or coolant all over the track, another car went off track and then dragged sand and dirt back on track causing others to spin in the same corner and drag more sand and dirt on the track. Second session times were slower than first session times overall, but Martin ended up running the quickest time of our group just like during the qualifying session.

Third round was do or die time. The tires were practically worn out and we did not have any spares. I swapped the rears to the front and did quick tow change in the rear to help loosen the car up a bit. Jason Aquino made some recommendations on some dampening changes after watching some in car video of the last session. We also did a small wing angle change. I got the tire pressures set and Martin went out for the last session. The changes helped loosen the car up. After a hot lap, Martin came in the hot pits for a tire pressure check and adjustment and had us set the wing back to where we had it. Martin (for the third time of the day) ran the quickest time for our group. The final session netted us our best official time for the event and landed us in third place with a 1:57.067.

I am disappointed that I missed the setup in the first session when the track was good. I am confident that Martin could have run the best time of that session after seeing him do it in every other session. That is racing though. Lesson learned. No excuses. Nils and Ryan did a better job than us.

Congrats to Nils who placed 1st in class with his Evo8 with a 1:56.672
Congrats to Ryan who placed 2nd in class and put his AMS sponsored Evo X on the podium with a 1:56.726

Mad respect to Martin who drove like a champ and battled a missed setup and failing track conditions to place third in the event with a 1:57.067

I am personally super proud of Martin and Ryan and and psyched about how well the two of them did with the new Evo X. Both cars are still very heavy compared to the competition (about 3400# with driver) and both cars are sporting new setups that are still getting the bugs worked out.

Thank you to NOS Energy Drink their support and the drinks that kept us awake and focused, BF Goodrich Tires for tire support, APR for a wing at the last min, Seibon for the lightweight carbon hood and trunk, Frank and Brian at JRZ for the suspension and trackside support, Exedy for a clutch that takes the abuse and of course Mitsubishi for building an incredible car!!

Thanks to Source Interlink Media for putting on a great event.

Special thanks to Jason Aquino for his help and recommendations on the setup.

________________

1,946 miles and 30 hours across vast plains, rocky mountains, and dry deserts. The drive from our small Chicago suburb to K&N Engineering to was a long and tedious one, but in the end it was well worth it. We accepted our first invite to the Ultimate Street Car Challenge and we came out on top.

When we arrived at K&N Engineering, only one car had arrived ahead of us, our friends at 034 Motorsports and their Audi Quattro Coupe. We settled in and watched as the other competitors starting showing up one by one. The last car, Smogrunner’s EVO VIII, made it literally minutes before the cut off time (with only a few hours notice he was called in to fill some empty spots). After seeing all the cars, we knew winning this thing would be tough, if not impossible. Our Mitsubishi Evolution X is a great platform for this event but with so little development time and being thrown together in a couple weeks we were not expecting a win. Its relative newness meant there was little aftermarket support for the car, so we had to engineer, build, and test our own products in a short period of time.

The first day’s tests included the car show, engineering panel, girlfriend test, drivability test, horsepower, emissions, and fuel mileage. We made only one dyno pull for the horsepower test which netted us 487 awhp. Martin was satisfied with that so they unstrapped the car and we moved on to the next test.

With the exception of the horsepower tests, we weren’t told the results until the next morning. At the start of day two, we were told the tally from the first day. We were tied for 3rd place, some 100+ points behind the leader, Cheston’s beautiful Technosquare 350Z. We knew that was a huge gap to overcome, but the real world tests were still to come and anything could happen. We were banking on what we thought would be our strong points over the 350Z, the skid pad and acceleration tests.

The California Speedway was the site for the skid pad, acceleration, and braking tests. The cars were driven by magazine staff for the skid pad and braking tests, but they allowed the car owners or drivers to run the 1/4 mile. I ran the drag race portion putting down an 11.4 @ 118 coming in second to Smogrunner who ran an 11.3 @ 124 in his EVO VIII. The car did very well in all 3 tests and we were a bit more hopeful about our chances during the long drive thru the desert to Buttonwillow raceway, the site of the final tests. Here we would battle it out on the road course and finish up the competition with the gross display of horsepower. Our hot shoe driver, Mark Daddio, had never seen this track before but he did a fantastic job learning the track quickly and posted up a very good time, just a few hundredths from first place.

Now it was my turn to get the car to make some smoke during the gross display of horsepower, but no matter what I tried to do, it ended up being a gross display of understeer. The car was just so good at being manageable that big smokey doughnuts were not in its repertoire.

At the end of it all, we were fairly certain we had finished runner up. We all hopped in the cars and took laps around the track for the magazine photography and video footage. We were then called back to the paddock to find out what the finishing order was. They called the finishers out in reverse order and to our surprise, they called someone else’s name out for second. Somehow we had managed to pull off an amazing comeback to edge out the Technosquare 350Z.

Our hats go off to Smogrunner though… he tied a new GTR for third place with no preparation for the event. He literally got the invitation by phone, left work and made it with minutes to spare. Congrats are due to Smogrunner and his sponsor Tuning Technologies for a great showing out there!

The 2008 Ultimate Street Car Challenge was an amazing event. We would like to thank our sponsors, without their help we would not have been able to do it. Thanks to Sport Compact Car for putting on such a great event and thanks to the other competitors and their amazing cars. It goes without saying that the 1,946 mile drive home was much easier!

link to a video about this years competition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w80faA96kCU

Specs:

Engine:

Stock Short Block
Stock Head
Stock Cam

Turbo:

AMS Prototype GT30R Turbo kit

Intake/Intercooler:

AMS Front Mount EVO X Intercooler
AMS Upper Intercooler Pipe

Fuel:

AMS Prototype Fuel Surge Tank System
AMS Fuel Rail
RC Engineering 750cc Injectors

Engine Management/Electronics:

AMS Ecutek Reflash
AMS Small Battery Kit

Drivetrain:

Exedy Stage II Clutch
AMS Shifter Bushings

Suspension/Rims/Tires:

Endura-Tech Prototype Monotube Coilover System
Stoptech 4 Corner Big Brake Kit
AMS Corner Weight and Alignment
Nitto Nt-01 Tires 275/35/R18
Enkei RP1 18×10.5″

Interior:

Buddy Club Seats
AEM Uego Gauge
Autometer Sport Comp II Boost Gauge

487 awhp

Special Thanks to:

Buddy Club
Enduratech
Exedy
Mitsubishi
Nitto
RC Engineering
Sticker Dude Designs
Stop Tech Brakes
Tial
Vibrant Performance
VP Racing Fuels

Last weekend I flew down to Guyana, South America to assist David Summerbell (better known in Jamaican racing circles as King David)at the final race of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. We ended up with 2nd place in the championship but were able to break the track record at the South Dakota Raceway in Guyana. This particular weekend we placed third, second and then first consecutively. Here are the details of the weekend.

Qualifying

After much practice on Friday and a frantic transmission change that night after forth gear lost some teeth and destroyed the gearbox, David drove TA1 to a very quick time of 35.4 to claim pole position. Second, two tenths back was local favorite Andrew King (who held the track record of 35.07 set early in 2008 in his tube framed RX7) and a little further back in third is Stuart Maloney in his seriously quick EVO 6 with a time of 35.8 he set with a misfiring engine.

Race 1

Race 1 was a debacle from the start. TA1 was ready to go to the grid when the skies opened up with rain. David’s team quickly went to work to prepare the car for a wet race by putting on a set of rain wheels and disconnecting the sway bars. He positioned himself on pole to begin the race but was held there for ten minutes due to the weather. The race was stopped and the cars were sent back to the pits.

Once the race was started the track was wet but drying and TA1 went out on Advan slicks with the suspension set back for a dry track which proved too aggressive for the conditions. TA1 was lose in the corners and couldn’t put the power down. It didn’t help that he got a puncture and was fighting a slowly deflating tire to the end of the race where he finished third.

Race 2

With the weather and track conditions slowly returning to what TA1 qualified in things were looking good to challenge the previous race winner Stuart Maloney in his EVO 6. On went a new set of hard compound tires and a few more suspension tweaks. David started in the third spot on the grid but was in second position by the first corner. TA1 had the power to hang with the leading car but couldn’t get off the corner fast enough to capture the lead and finished second to Maloney.

In David’s efforts to challenge the leading car David set the fastest time of the race meet and broke the track record with a 34.98 second lap!!!

Race 3

Now starting second to Stuart Maloney’s EVO They came to the line in a rolling start to begin race three. David immediately pulled ahead of Maloney and just beat him to the first corner. The two EVOs fought hard for the next four laps with David pulling away. It was then that Maloney’s car slowed in a shower of sparks as his ex-WRC titanium Driveshaft let go and slapped against the ground. David cruised to victory with Doug Gore in second place ten seconds back.

I didn’t get any pics of the final race that David won. But heres a good video on You tube of it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWrrBseiQk

It’s been a real eye opener to race in the Caribbean, with some 15,000 people at the track on race day the passion and excitement for motorsports is intoxicating. This was the last race of the season for David and TA1 and what a season it was. It’s been very satisfying to see the car continue to set track records abroad and for AMS to continue to be part of its success.

Pics from the weekend.

Sunrise at forty thousand feet over the Caribbean.

Big thanks to Patrick and the guys from Team Mo Bay for all the help.

“Forth gear is over rated”

Ex-DTM converted to all wheel drive

RX 3 with a 20B and six speed sequential reving to near 13,000 RPM

Serious hardware

Wheel to wheel exceitment

Well earlier on this year we announced that we would not only be attending this years SEMA Show but also displaying. It’s a huge step for any company as SEMA is the biggest aftermarket automotive show PERIOD.

On top of this directly after SEMA we are to attend the Super Lap Battle Race at Buttonwillow California. This means getting not only our drag car out to the event but also out EVO X time attack car.

The road to vegas when you are driving is a long one…especially when you are driving a big rig. Tim and I piloted this monster over the course of 2100 miles in two days. Our sponsor sticker dude was nice enough to let us borrow their truck to transport our drag car and their pro lite toyota truck for display at the show

Martin and Corey had the job of taking our dodge truck and the EVO X in our enclosed trailer to Vegas as well. Talk about road warriors. These two drove 28 straight hours NON STOP from chicago to vegas. They are sleeping like logs right now but they got the car here in time. Tim and I were able to take our time a bit leaving a full day earlier then Martin and Corey Traveling through, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona we saw all kinds of wacky stuff. Tim wanted to stop at this GEM of a place but I though it best we stick to the itinerary LOL

Of course it was time to mingle in with the other truckers. I figured a cowboy hat at the local flying J was fitting considering it was halloween

outside of Chicago Illinois is a pretty boring place but everywhere else seems to offer something different. These things were just MASSIVE and ALL OVER Texas

HOLY S*&T was gas cheap in Oklahoma….$1.99 for regular!!!!

Driving 33 hours anywhere in a big rig can get pretty monotonous, we did what we could to stay alert. This is what I was staring at behind the wheel of the sticker dude truck.

Finally after a total of 10 hours of sleep at most Tim and I reached Nevada. I wish it was more exciting but given that we had to cover over 2000 miles in less then 48 hours it was all about the job at hand.

Now that we have gotten here I will have all kinds of priceless AMS pictures to post up. We are a collected but wild bunch and we promise not to disappoint. Hopefully i can get some pictures of our really nice display up tomorrow after set up.

Also we are in vegas so you can expect some not so work safe stuff to be posted up here im sure.

Thanks again and stay tuned!!!

Eric

the trip so far has been a great deal of work. Just attending the show as a a shop is tough but exhibiting is a whole new ball game.

Today we spent most of the day getting the majority of our booth set up. We also have a new sponsor now which you will see in the pics below. The Drag car and EVO X time attack car both got some new clothes today!

First a couple of quick shots of the ten before her new sticker job. The front end and wheel/brake setup on this car is just MEAN!

A pair of Sweet EVO Rally cars. An Evo in Rally gear just looks like it was meant to be

A very nice and clean EVO X outside the show sporting some AMS love!

Well you knew it was only a matter of time. Sema brings out all the crazies. This is a real JETski!!! I’m talking a real Jet engine in this thing!!!

Another EVO X this time decked out in JUN and Carbon by design goodies

Lastly here are some preliminary shot of the drag cars new look. I think you can guess who our new sponsor is LOL. she still has some more stickers to get on the car but you can get the general theme.

Nothing too exiting today other than a lot of hard work and no sleep trying to get the booth set up in time for the show. I should have a bunch more pics tomorrow as we finally get the booth finished up and get to unwind a bit before the show starts on Tuesday.

Well today was much of the same finishing up the booth. The show is really starting to take shape. Whereas yesterday it was full of wooden crates and stuff tossed about all over. Today you could really see the booths starting to get wrapped up. We were able to cut loose a little bit today as we were able to finish up early.

Martin our fearless leader getting down and dirty with the vacuum. Look at that technique!!

The EVO X getting some last minute love before the show

Ivan and Martin about out of steam after finishing setting up. Ivan, always the shop clown

Chip Foose polishing up some wheels, see even he gets down and dirty

AMS dines at only the finest of establishments. The Pink taco inside of the Hard Rock. Damn good food

I will leave you today with a finish of the EVO X time attack car all stickered up. Tomorrow is going to be hectic being its the first day of the show but hopefully between Ivan and I we will be able to walk the show and take some more pictures. I will also get some finished shots of our booth up for you guys. Talk to you tomorrow!

Today was Crazy! I think I must of been talking non stop from 10am until 3pm. We met so many awesome new people and great existing customers. We talked to people from

Mexico
Ukraine
Trinidad and Tobago
Jamaica
Slovenia
New Caledonia
Switzerland
Sweden
Brazil
Argentina
and a bunch more I can’t think of at the moment.

I had literally ZERO time to walk to the show and take pictures so this is all I was able to grab before they kicked us out at 6.

I apologize for the crappy cell phone camera pics but its all i was working with. I will upload the good camera here later tonight.

Our booth all set up

The REAL and ORIGINAL ECTO1!!! Bad ass!

Belagio Water Show as we were walking to Caesars for some post show cocktails

Again I will do my best to get some more pictures of the show today.

Also in exactly 2 hours and 40 minutes we will know who the winner of the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Engine challenge is!

Eric

Today was Crazy! I think I must of been talking non stop from 10am until 3pm. We met so many awesome new people and great existing customers. We talked to people from

Mexico
Ukraine
Trinidad and Tobago
Jamaica
Slovenia
New Caledonia
Switzerland
Sweden
Brazil
Argentina
and a bunch more I can’t think of at the moment.

I had literally ZERO time to walk to the show and take pictures so this is all I was able to grab before they kicked us out at 6.

I apologize for the crappy cell phone camera pics but its all i was working with. I will upload the good camera here later tonight.

Our booth all set up

The REAL and ORIGINAL ECTO1!!! Bad ass!

Belagio Water Show as we were walking to Caesars for some post show cocktails

Again I will do my best to get some more pictures of the show today.

Also in exactly 2 hours and 40 minutes we will know who the winner of the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Engine challenge is!

Well earlier on this year we announced that we would not only be attending this years SEMA Show but also displaying. It’s a huge step for any company as SEMA is the biggest aftermarket automotive show PERIOD.

On top of this directly after SEMA we are to attend the Super Lap Battle Race at Buttonwillow California. This means getting not only our drag car out to the event but also out EVO X time attack car.

The road to vegas when you are driving is a long one…especially when you are driving a big rig. Tim and I piloted this monster over the course of 2100 miles in two days. Our sponsor sticker dude was nice enough to let us borrow their truck to transport our drag car and their pro lite toyota truck for display at the show

Martin and Corey had the job of taking our dodge truck and the EVO X in our enclosed trailer to Vegas as well. Talk about road warriors. These two drove 28 straight hours NON STOP from chicago to vegas. They are sleeping like logs right now but they got the car here in time. Tim and I were able to take our time a bit leaving a full day earlier then Martin and Corey Traveling through, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona we saw all kinds of wacky stuff. Tim wanted to stop at this GEM of a place but I though it best we stick to the itinerary LOL

Of course it was time to mingle in with the other truckers. I figured a cowboy hat at the local flying J was fitting considering it was halloween

outside of Chicago Illinois is a pretty boring place but everywhere else seems to offer something different. These things were just MASSIVE and ALL OVER Texas

HOLY S*&T was gas cheap in Oklahoma….$1.99 for regular!!!!

Driving 33 hours anywhere in a big rig can get pretty monotonous, we did what we could to stay alert. This is what I was staring at behind the wheel of the sticker dude truck.

Finally after a total of 10 hours of sleep at most Tim and I reached Nevada. I wish it was more exciting but given that we had to cover over 2000 miles in less then 48 hours it was all about the job at hand.

Now that we have gotten here I will have all kinds of priceless AMS pictures to post up. We are a collected but wild bunch and we promise not to disappoint. Hopefully i can get some pictures of our really nice display up tomorrow after set up.

Also we are in vegas so you can expect some not so work safe stuff to be posted up here im sure.

Thanks again and stay tuned!!!

Eric