Accelerate Mpls

The Trailer

Early this morning while we were all sleeping at approximately 3 am EST the Evolution Motorsports team had an accident in New York.  Thankfully no one was injured though the trailer is a total loss.  The three cars inside of the trailer were the Porsche 997.1 EVT1200, 997.2 EVT650 and the Gumpert Apollo.  The 997.1 EVT1200 took the brunt of the damage while the Gumpert Apollo left the trailer without a scratch.  The summer tour has been put on hold after July 18 and will hopefully resume after August 10.

Cars Still Inside the Trailer

Todd Zuccone - Founder of EVOMS and the State Troopers

The press release is below.

URGENT – IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Evolution MotorSports & Gumpert Racing
Summer Tour Suffers Set Back
Traffic Accident in New York Destroys EVOMS Trailer

Facts:
• Evolution MotorSports & Gumpert Racing 3 car hauler accident in New York
• Everyone OK
• Occupants: Todd Zuccone- Founder of EVOMS, Matthew R. Carrick- subcontractor
• Cars on Board: 997.1 EVT1200, 997.2 EVT650, Gumpert apollo
• Summer Tour Dates after 18 July on hold.

- – -

12 July 2010 / Tempe, AZ – The Evolution MotorSports & Gumpert Racing Summer Tour suffered a set back this morning after an accident in New York at approximately 3 am EST. All occupants were uninjured, and there were no peripheral accidents for passing traffic.

On board the 3 car EVOMS hauler were Evolution MotorSports founder and president, Todd Zuccone, along with Matthew Carrick, subcontractor for Evolution MotorSports. Mr. Carrick was driving at the time of the incident.

While everyone is okay, the trailer is a complete loss. Of the three cars on the trailer, the 997.1 EVT1200 took the most damage to the hood, front fenders and windshield. There were a few scratches to the 997.2 EVT650 and the Gumpert apollo came out unscathed. These three high performance machines were only 5 miles from their next stop at Legend Porsche on Long Island, NY for events scheduled for the 12 / 13 July.

The Evolution MotorSports & Gumpert Racing Tour, based in Tempe, AZ departed for the East Coast of the USA June 15. The tour has made dozens of stops at Porsche and Performance dealers as well as race track events in Florida, South Carolina, and several stops in the New York/New Jersey area.

The most recent stop was at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, New York on Sunday 11 July for a private viewing to club members. The two Porsches and the Gumpert apollo will continue to be on display at Legend Porsche in Massapequa, NY on Long Island as scheduled for 12/13 July.

At the end of this week, the cars will be on display at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Friday for the “Hooked on Driving” event, on Saturday with Fabspeed for a reservations required tuning event and on Sunday at Fabspeed’s facility near Philadelphia.

The company intends to have the two Porsches back in Arizona for repairs in the week of 18 July along with the Gumpert apollo. Tour dates between 18 July and 10 August must be cancelled. With the success of the tour thus far, the company plans to complete the scheduled tour dates which now has appearances scheduled through the first week of October.

For further information, contact H. Christopher Parvin, Vice President and Managing Partner of Evolution MotorSports at the number listed above.

About Evolution MotorSports, Inc.

Founded in 1997, Evolution Motorsports has been the leader in aftermarket tuning of high performance automobiles. From casual street to aggressive track, Evolution Motorsports research and product development has become the standard by which all high performance automobiles are judged. View the company website at www.EVOMS.com

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting the great folks of Evolution Motorsports.  The crew, led by fearless founder and owner Todd Zuccone, came into town to tune a monster Porsche GT2 for a customer.  They got to work quickly and set up shop at Imola Motorsports with Kevin and his crew for the week.

You know the saying all work and no play makes a something something something?  Well, to avoid that scenario Todd and the crew brought along their latest creation, which they call the “PDK Car.”  This is a 2010 Porsche 997.2 Twin Turbo equipped with the new PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, good luck saying that if you aren’t German) dual clutch transmission, which since this is a 201o model, it has the proper paddle shifters, not those dumb buttons on the steering wheel.

After spending some time talking with Todd, it became very clear why they are one of the leaders in this industry.  When I asked about his company versus the competition, he was very professional.  His responses consisted of statements like “the work speaks for itself” and “really it is about experience”.  After a nice chat, he tossed me the keys to the PDK car.  Of course I had a big stupid grin on my face – because someone just tossed me keys to a 650 hp Porsche.

Below was the set up on the 997.2 TT I drove-

Evolution MotorSports EVT.2 650 HP Performance System
EVOMSit SDI3 ECU Calibration (www.evomsit.com)
EVOMS 65mm Billet VTG Turbochargers
EVOMS ClubSport Headers
EVOMS / Fabspeed 70mm Sport Exhaust w/ GT2 Style Tips
HJS Motorsport 200 Cell Catalysts
EVOMS Billet Boost Diverter Valves

Alright, so I know the real question is what was it like?  Well two things, one I was in the middle of the city and did not have a long time with the car.  Thus I did not have track access.  Secondly, it was rush hour (note to self, plan better for these things).  Regardless the car takes off like a you are being shot out of a rocket.  Keep in mind the turbo 911′s have all wheel drive.  Thus this car was clawing at the pavement from all four corners.  This really made a huge impression with me when launching or even just hitting the gas.  Todd had warned me that the tuning in the software for the PDK downshifts was not 100%.  He was right, it is a little slow on the downshift.  If you pull the left paddle (for a downshift) it has a slight delay and then drops down a gear.  Upshifts are lightning fast and you can feel the shift under hard acceleration.  When I say feel, it feels like a hard fast thud.  Not a sound that makes you cringe however, because it does not sound like it is breaking.  The sound is more of a clean quick shift made at lightning fast speed.  The steering was terrific just like any other Porsche 997.2 TT.  The exhaust sounded great with a strong braaap braaap noise coming with each shift.

The interior was mostly stock, though the seats were not stock – rather they were thin and covered in leather with center inserts to keep you from moving.  They were very tight and you were not going to be moving during an aggressive track session.  The seats also had a harnesses for track days and a fire extinguisher was bolted to the floor directly in front of the passenger seat.  The particular car I was in had a factory navigation and sound system, along with automatic climate control.  That was all fine and dandy, but I turned off the radio and the air conditioning, rolled down the windows and listened to the sweet sound of the tuned 3.8 liter pumping out 650 hp to all four wheels.

They took the car to this past months local Cars & Café , and after that headed over to the track to run some quarter mile figures.  It ran consistent mid 10′s pushing 130 mph.  This was achieved by someone that had never even been in the car.  That in itself is a testament to the ease in which someone who has never gotten into the car can drive it consistently and pull great numbers.

Overall the “PDK car” was a beast.  It was not twitchy or hard to drive, yet it had terrific power delivery.  This is a car that could be tracked on Saturday and still drive to work on Monday.  I already know they are working on a R8 Twin Turbo among other things.  I can only expect to see greater things to come from EVOMS in the near future, and I for one look forward to that.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by Evolution Motorsports

Episode 26 starts with introducing this weeks guests Mirko Reinhardt and Nick Fay.  Moving into the garage we talk about both the EVOMS Porsche 997.2 TT and 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 I was in for the past weeks along with the Porsche Boxster Nick drove.  Last but not least we discuss the Tesla Roadster Sport I drove.  We then move along to the major news of the week segment.  This week included-

• Jeep Product Onslaught
• Chrysler to leave the European market
• Buick Dropping trim levels and adding three models
• Chrysler Sebring Name to Stick Around For Now

Next came our main topic which we have a discussion about the differences between American driving and European driving and the overall differences in car culture.

Last we plug our respective blogs, Cheers and Gears,  AutoBird Blog and Accelerate Mpls.

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