Drag Racing
The Evans Tuning 2011 Yearly Outlook
Jan 10th
Happy New Year! Last year was full of exciting news and updates from Evans Tuning and we certainly have plans to stay on that same exciting path in 2011. Everything from eTuning (our hottest new addition to the tuning services lineup) to our brand new Dyno Database (currently made up of over 670 dynos – it is the world’s largest online dyno graph database) has kept us extremely busy. As one of the most cutting edge tuning shops in the country, we always make improvements and advancements over previous years, and we feel we really have some new and exciting things lined up for this year that will blow you away. Although there are too many things coming throughout the next 12 months to list in detail, we wanted to take a moment to give everyone just a small sampling of what’s to come.
Hybrid EMS
Perhaps our most exciting new development for 2011 will be our new Hybrid EMS! The Hybrid EMS will be able to retain full OBD-2 functionality when tuning with a standalone (more details coming soon). There are endless possibilities to where this can lead; and needless to say, we are very excited. Production will begin with the AP1 S2000 and hopefully branch out shortly to many other makes and models.
Technical Support Updates
For years we have been providing the industry’s best email-based technical support. We respond fast (usually within 24 hours) and effectively to virtually every email we receive (that’s upwards of 15,000 emails in 2010). Because of the burden that email support places on some of our customers, we’ve been working on a better way to help service everyone. We’re creating new internal systems and although we are not ready yet, we will soon be offering limited technical support over the phone.
Dyno Database
If you’ve been following our posts on Facebook and Twitter you have undoubtedly seen all of the updates in the brand new Dyno Database toward the end of 2010. In 2011 we have many more updates planned for the Dyno Database. For starters, we’ll be breaking down more sorting options and adding a video of dyno runs!
Labor Services
Toward the end of 2010 we added 3 new labor services. We are now offering Performance Modifications, Transmission Builds, and Corner Balancing & Alignment services. Although we have been performing these services on a very limited basis for several years, we are now offering them to all. In 2011 we have a few more services we plan to add – details to come.
Web Site Updates
Last year we made huge strides in our web site design and online presence. This year we are starting off with redesigned page layouts and updated information in our Dyno Tuning section, and creating an entirely new set of pages detailing the Hybrid EMS system. Later this year we plan to revisit our home page and make some updates to the more static sections of our web site.
Consultations
Sometimes it’s just easier to bring your car to the shop before you build it. Later this year we’ll start offering personalized recommendations for your setup when you schedule a consultation at our shop.
The Evans Tuning Race Car
Late in 2010 we started building a new shop race car. We’re pretty excited about it and hope to have it done very early this year with dyno numbers and then track times once the tracks open up!
Get Tuned Before The Outlaw Race In October!
Aug 17th
Before I get started with the post explaining why you should book your appointment for tuning early I’ll summarize it. If you plan to have your car tuned before October’s Outlaw Race you should absolutely have it booked as far in advance as you possibly can to make sure we still have slots available! Now, here is why I say that…
Usually at the beginning of race season, we make a post informing everyone that our schedule is starting to fill quickly. We do this every year to help everyone become more aware of the availability and have even started posting updates to Facebook and Twitter throughout the year of when we are booking. One of our largest complaints from customers has been our 2-3 month wait times. After streamlining the systems we tune, and adding eTuning to our repertoire of tuning services, we have successfully kept that wait time under 2 months in 2010.
However, one of the most anticipated races of 2010 will be October’s Outlaw Race taking place at Englishtown’s Old Bridge Raceway Park on the 9th and 10th. As with any race, we expect our calendar to fill up fast with appointments in the few weeks leading up to the weekend. We try to fit as many tunes as possible into the schedule to accommodate the influx of appointments and work overtime sometimes scheduling up to 3 tunes in a single day. Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everyone, and we end up having to turn some folks away in the weeks leading up to a big race.
The closer it gets to race day, the more magnified the problem becomes. We fill in appointments just about every day for daily drivers and road course cars that are not coming in to be tuned for an event like the Outlaw Race. Just two weeks ago we had a lot of calls from customers who wanted to be tuned before Honda Day. Unfortunately, we rarely have any appointments a week ahead of time and were already booking almost a month beyond Honda Day. On more than one occasion we’ve seen the appointments in the final week before a race be predominately for daily drivers, and cars that will not be and have no intention of heading to the track. Most of these cars are in no serious rush to have their setups tuned, however the owners have made plans to get to the cars down to us on those days and can not afford to change them.
Most of this issue can be avoided by booking your appointments early! If you know that you will be running at the Outlaw Race in October, give us a call as soon as possible or schedule your appointment online and make sure that we can get your car in and ready for the track. We look forward to the race and we hope to see everyone there!
Pictures from the TGR Dyno Appointment
Apr 6th
Tim Grey Racing was in for a dyno appointment recently with his new outlaw header setup. Here are some pictures of the setup from the appointment. A video of the dyno runs has also been posted by TGR.
Competition Clutch Huge Stocking Order, Huge Savings!!!
Jan 23rd
A few years ago I was seeing alot of cars coming into the shop with a relatively new clutch brand named Competition Clutch. I had seen some advertisements in magazines, and had seen them set-up at the NOPI race series but never really looked at them much past that. My personal grudge against the majority of the aftermarket clutch brands is using an excessive pressure plate on the clutch to hold the torque, which causes super high pedal pressure and typically a lot of clutch chatter when releasing the clutch pedal. There is nothing worse in stop and go traffic than a clutch pedal that feels like you are pushing against a wall of bricks. Despite leaving you with a well toned left leg, its extremely annoying especially compounded with a “on/off” engagement from the clutch. Race friendly, maybe. Daily driver friendly, no. To my surprise the first few cars using high torque rated Competition Clutches (stage 4 and 5) had surprisingly light pedal pressure and engagement despite being rated to hold 350-450 ft-lbs of torque. The stage 2 clutch which was rated at 275 ft-lbs of torque felt almost like stock in pedal pressure and engagement. I was shocked, and immediately wanted one in my own car! More >
Evans Tuning 09' Yearly Outlook
Dec 29th
Looking ahead to 2009, there are a lot of great things in the works here at Evans Tuning! We have several of our own products in the testing stages right now that will be released shortly, as well as updating and expanding our online catalog and forum.
While drag racing has always been in our blood, we had taken the 08′ season off to “take a step back” and re-evaluate what our next project is going to be. After much diliberation we are currently working on the ultimate street turbo honda, and should have a well documented build for the public by spring. With any of our cars at the shop, we are working with several manufactuers to do some extensive product testing that should have very encouraging results. As always, we will share our testing results to give you options in putting together your turbo builds. We are hoping to bring innovation to our project that will redefine and “set the bar higher” for what to expect from a street car.
Evans Tuning is very excited about what 2009 will bring to you as the consumer, and what we will be able to share with the community.
