MLR Magazine - Issue 56 - Preview

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Official magazine of the Mitsubishi Lancer Register

Issue 56

Wastegate Chatter Official magazine of the Mitsubishi Lancer Register

JRM400RS WE TEST JRM's NEW TRACKDAY

EVO X

NIGEL SWINDELL'S STUNNING EVO 6 RS

CONCOURS Issue 56

INSIDE CLASH OF THE TITAN, HERE COME THE GIRL(S), JAPFEST REVIEW, CAR CARE TECH, EVO MOTORSPORT; MLRSS, MLR TRACKDAY REVIEW, TIME ATTACK, MML WORLD RALLYING, AAA SALOONS, REGIONAL REPORTS AND MORE...!

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Words by Mrk and Lee5 Images by Rich Sams

JRM400RS

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Mrk - JRM400RS As we stood in the grandstands overlooking the infamous Paddock Hill Bend we watched with awe in our smile as Colin Turkington’s WSR British Touring Car BMW blipped seamlessly and rapidly around this small but hugely entertaining Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Patience was not on Lee’s or my mind as Turkington blitzed consistently in the 49’s - quicker by some seconds than any other of the random mix of racecar circling out there - as we waited with excitement for the race practice to end and for the new James Rumsey Motorsport Evo X 400RS to arrive.

JRM which is the now parent company of the well known Sumo Power parts supplier who bought up all 60 of the Colt Car Companies UK allocation of the Evo X RS some 2 years ago. It has been steadily

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selling the cars either in base spec or tuned to suit the National and International rally scene since and the cars impressive results speak for themselves.

Now James Rumsey has turned his attention to the trackday arena by offering this incarnation of the XRS, which comes billed as ‘the ultimate trackday car’, so Lee and I are here to see if his statement is true.

Read on to explore our separate opinions.

My first impressions as the car arrives driven by Rumsey himself into the pits are that it looks hard as nails with the fitted DAMD aero kit. Along with the white Volk Racing 9”wide x 18” Wheels that house huge AP 6pots front and AP 4pot rear Calipers it shouts trackday weapon, but with a clean modern look. It also sounds raw and loud through its twin HKS exhaust with a deep burble that vibrates the air.

A support crew pulls in behind consisting of Jimmy Skyers the engine builder and his technicians Danny and Heinrich, who are all enthused to here as well. A laptop swings open and is plugged into the Motec datalogger for a quick check, and then Lee and I are given the keys. I walk around the car taking in the aspects of the car that are modified by JRM. Most notably is the bespoke bucket Sparco/JRM seats nicely finished in a faux alacantara - which are set a little high, but since our test this is being remedied with new custom mounts and a rear cage. This half cage strikes me as a good idea as a full cage is often overkill and even the norm of a front cage causes an obstruction to ease of use. The race harnesses are attached simply to the cages bar behind the front seats. This also means that the rear

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interior of the car is accessible for passengers or spare wheels.

Under the hood it would look rather normal if it wasn’t for the extra wires that are there for data-logging and analysis of this prototype car, and the very nice red intake pipe. A standard airbox is also fitted but with a Ralliart air filter. The rest of the car is standard and basic RS fare.

On to the circuit to see how this car behaves, and thrills. Immediately I am met with a strong, urgent engine as I leave the pits. Even with a part throttle it’s smooth and feels much faster than the accelerators angle would have you believe. I keep accelerating through the gears where the heavier Carbonetics/Ralliart clutch is of no significance and provides clean smooth changes. Initial steering response is sharp, clean and linear with excellent feel from the

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Words by Mrk and Lee5 Images by Rich Sams

wheel and my seat. Roll is a little pronounced but well damped and is normal for the excellent but more road biased Exctc suspension. First application of the brakes makes for a sharp nod of my head forward such is the crisp bite and velocity of retardation.

Within the first lap I feel secure and very confident in the 400RS’s handling so much so that I press on exploring the outer limits of the handling quickly. The increase in speed highlights the midrange urge out of the corners as explosive. This wonderfully strong pull only begins to tail off above 5500rpm where the power simply levels until the redline, although the delivery does feel a little strained at higher rpm.

There is a degree of understeer at the limit which can be moderated by a small lift.

This was especially apparent after the apex

at Clearways as you drop towards the pit straight, making the exit speed slower. The rear though is securely planted at all times, even through and over Paddock Hill Bend and the deceptively quick Surtees, where you just dab the brakes before entry and throw the car in and skim the two sets of kerbs of this chicane either side before hard on the brakes; making back some of the time lost from Clearways. I believe a stiffening of the rear anti-roll bar would neutralise the understeer and complete the package, such is it’s general rightness now.

What I did have an issue with was the poor choice of brake pad: DS2500, which are road pads and not suited to a heavy car like the Evo on track. Still these were a curio and went off very quickly, but then came back. You had a strong precise pedal and fantastic retardation braking for

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Paddock - i.e. after the long straight allowed them to cool - then a long soft stroke turning into a wooden pedal with half the braking force for Druids; due to two heavy applications so close together. Confidence drained away and slowed the laptimes considerably, but this can be easily fixed with a good choice of ‘track’ pad as the brake setup is excellent.

Another issue that we highlighted was fuel surge on left handed corners with more than a third of a tank remaining. A real surprise to me as I did not realise the EvoX suffered this, certainly the EvoVII, VIII & IX did not until fuel was below an 1/8th of a tank.

Checking the data-logging later we found the quickest lap was in the 56’s quicker by nearly two seconds compared to a Time Attack prepped Subaru that was sharing Brands Hatch with us! So with the correct type of brake pad and more time exploring the brakes I believe that would easily come down by as much as 2seconds making this car rather special and rapid.

This JRM400 has the basics to become the ultimate trackday weapon, as it stands though it’s too soft and not singularly focused enough, but as a result it is

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useable as daily transport or for a blast up the Alps for instance. This also means it is the perfect building block for a trackday novice or for someone who is moving up the performance car ladder as there is so much standard equipment, and a general rightness about it with superb feedback from the steering and the seat of your pants coupled with the impressive midrange drive. Plus it’s ready to be developed further with the strong forged engine, the Motec engine management, larger injectors and uprated clutch all waiting for a larger turbo.

The potential is therefore unlimited, and with the 400RS JRM not only can you personally tailor the car when ordering but you have the vast parts bin from Sumo to delve into. And all with a 15% discount for as long as you own the car. On top of this the enthusiasm from Rumsey and Skyers speaks volumes about their passion and dedication to delivering you a brilliant car suited to your needs.

Lee5 – JRM 400RS It was just a normal Thursday for me - up early for work but today was going to be a good day as after many phone calls and

date changes I was going to get to drive the new JRM EVO X 400RS development car, the location Brands Hatch in Kent.

After meeting up with Mark (Mrk) at the track we both stood there waiting for the X to arrive. Time was not on our side as we only had a few hours to test the car and get as much data as we could and with both of us driving we knew track time would be tight.

After what seemed a very long wait, the JRM EVO X came in to sight and pulled in to the garage, casting my over the 400, the detail of the work on the car is what you would expect from JRM; stunning!!!

As the JRM mechanics got to work getting the 400RS ready I thought I’d take the opportunity to have a look round it. The first thing you notice is the DAMD front bumper then the DAMD aero kit, which suits the 400 very well, as do the white 19” VOLK alloys running Pirelli road tyres which were hiding the AP 6 pot kit up front, 4 pots on the rear, Exe-TC road/race coilovers and to finish it off the HKS twin pipe system. Under the bonnet is very much as you would expect - clean, tidy and with a very standard looking engine with a just few minor pipe work changes and a load of

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On the inside there are some very nice changes with JRM branded Sparco seats fitted with harnesses giving the driver and passenger a much more support and feeling of safety, although the seating position was a tad high for me, but with time ticking away we didn’t get a chance to lower it, so it would have to do for now!

There’s also a rear cage but specially designed so you’re still able to use the rear seats.

After a chat with Jimmy who has done most of the work on the 400, he told us the car was set very neutral but alter this after we did a few laps if it was not to our liking now we could get some track time!

I was first to drive with Mark riding shotgun, as we travelled up the pit lane I don’t know if I was more excited with driving the 400 or more nervous because

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Words by Mrk and Lee5 Images by Rich Sams

Mark was sat next to me, but I was asked to do 3 laps just to make sure the car was running fine so I did some fast paced lap but how would I find the 400??

My first impression out of the pitlane was WHOAA!! - the mid range part throttle was so sharp with no lag from the turbo and the car was ready to pounce with just the lightest of input from my right foot. After my first lap I was just getting used to the car with the way it drove and handled, into my second lap and time to push a bit harder and the first thing I noticed with the 400 is the ride, turn in and sheer grip levels were just amazing for such a big car. It is very well balanced in the corners with not to much body roll, feed back was very good if anything the car was very easy to drive and planted on the track, the engine was very responsive out of the slow corners with the midrange punch coming in very fast and

strong. Although top end power was a bit flat, all you needed to do is just chuck another gear at it and use the nice torque spread, but with 410 bhp at 1.6 bar there is still more scope for power with the 400RS! Now we get to the brakes; APs all round with DS 2500 pads. The first time application was great but then they went very wooden which was very odd for the set up as big brakes is a must for serious track use , after my third lap which was a cool down lap, we returned to the pits for JRM to look at the data and they awaited our comments on the car.

With a few tweaks from James working his magic on the laptop to try and get us a bit more power at the top end Mark was up next for some flying laps and boy can he drive, putting in some very fast laps but I will let him tell you about that!

With Mark’s laps over the 400RS

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returned to the pits for another tweak of the settings this time due to some understeer in Clark Curve. The front was softened up by a few clicks to try and dial it out, the map was tweaked once again as was the tyre pressures, now it was my turn once more to get in and do some hot laps.

On to my first flying lap and some very hard braking into Paddock Hill bend the 400 was very unsettled due to the front be softened up but once off the brakes the car turned in very well and settled down which meant I could take Paddock flat in fourth gear on the run up to Druids, again the brakes went hard meaning I had to brake early, but still allowed me to take Druids in third with great turn in, then with a quick sprint down just pulling forth gear before Graham Hill bend which was again taken in

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Words by Mrk and Lee5 Images by Rich Sams

third, pulling fourth along the Cooper Straight and in to McLaren – my favourite corner at Brands. A little touch on the brakes turn in hard and flat in fourth, all I can say is that the 400’s turn in and grip is out of this world, for me if anything it’s too good!!!! Then on to Clearways and Clark Curve - this is where we had a bit of understeer and it was still there but not as much now, but the 400 would just not break away which would have helped a bit to get the nose in earlier, then on to the Brabham Straight and across the line in fifth with an indicated 120mph pass, so on to my next flying lap which didn’t go so well……………………………….

When coming out of Graham Hill Bend the 400 picked up a misfire at around 6k, so with instructions to come in to the pits if

anything went wrong, it was time to come in to look at the data to see if we could find the cause of the problem. On looking, nothing could be seen in the data and after a chat with the Jimmy and James we put it down to fuel surge in the tank, which was a shame as I was lapping in the high 57s, being only a second off Mark’s times round Brands, which I didn’t think was to bad for me being that I have been away from trackdays and sprints for a year now! You never know I could have gone faster, which just goes to show how well the 400 is set up and easy to drive, so on to my conclusion of the JRM’s EVO X 400RS. Looks mean, clean and not too “in your face”. Engine has incredible part throttle, mid range punch and nice torque. Brakes great first touch bit lacking later on.

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CAR SPECIFICATION – JRM400RS Engine • ECU: Motec M800 • JRM camshafts • Cosworth intercooler & JRM pipe kit • JRM Conrods • Cosworth pistons • ARP studs • Ralliart air filter • HKS twin-pipe exhaust system with sports cat • JRM injectors • High-flow ‘in-tank fuel pump

Brakes • Front: Cosworth AP Racing 6-pot callipers with 356mm discs • Rear: AP Racing 4-pot calipers and discs General • JRM rear safety roll cage • DAMD Aero kit • Volk Racing 9”x18” alloy wheels • JRM/Sparco reclining front seats • Complete re-trim in Alcantara • Cd player with ipod adapter

Transmission • Mitsubishi short ratio, 5spd, 4WD with ACD • Motec MDC with programmable differential control • Carbonetics clutch and Ralliart pressure plate

Performance • Power: 425bhp @ 7000 rpm • Torque: 425lbft @ 4400 rpm

Suspension • Exe-TC road/race to JRM specification • JRM geometry set-up

Price • 45k OTR (dependent on spec)

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Suspension / set up is out of this world and maybe even too good! The interior has had some thoughtful additions to aid the driving experience – and safety.

Which just leave the biggest question of all; would I own one? The answer is yes I would, but could I afford one?? Sadly no!

As for the Issues we had, it’s since been confirmed by JRM that it was fuel surge and a bedding in problem with the brakes, so to rectify these problems they have repositioned the pump location in the housing and will be moving over to the new Cosworth range of pad compounds shortly to rectify the braking problem. This was also one of our main goals with the development car to help JRM move forward to give the best all round package for there future customers to give the best trackday sprint car money can buy.

All in all the JRM EVO X 400RS is a great car with a build quality that is second to none also adding some very nicely thought out additions. Would it make a good trackday/sprint car?? Hell yeah, and boy does it handle or have I already said that???

I would just like to say thanks to JRM and Darin for making it happen as its not everyday you get asked to test a £45k track focussed Evo!

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