Wolfgang Hoeck's EVO didn't like the acceleration testing in the wet or the dry. It slowed considerably in the wet to 7.8 seconds from 5.7 in the dry. However, we executed both tests with considerable mechanical empathy knowing this was not a drag car and not wanting to send it home in more pieces than it arrived. In the wet, the car exhibited heavy wheel hop on some launches and sounded from the inside like the protesting drivetrain parts might give up in some spectacular fashion. They didn't, but it sounded awful. Shortly before we performed this test, Hoeck had returned from winning the Group N Class at Pike's Peak and finishing fourth overall in a local club rally, so we suspect the drivetrain noises were a result of alignment settings better suited to climbing Pike's Peak quickly than to accelerating down a dragstrip.
Slalom
Slalom testing tends to be at odds with all-wheel drive. In many cases, all-wheel-drive cars are both bigger and heavier than their two-wheel-drive counterparts, which works against them in the slalom. The benefits of added grip rarely overcome the disadvantages that come with additional weight and size.
Even so, Ziel Motorsport's EVO VII blasted through our cones at an impressive 72 mph. That's within 5 mph of the Hotchkis Celica, which holds our slalom record, and 0.6 mph slower than the last stock EVO VII we tested.
Weird is the only word we know to describe the handling of the HPA-enhanced Audi TT. Not bad, exactly, just a little odd. But what else would you expect of a very short wheelbase, huge horsepower, all-wheel-drive roadster? Maybe we're crazy, but those descriptors don't sit well together in a traditionalist's performance vocabulary. Weird or not, the TT was the second quickest car through the cones at 70.2 mph. The slalom was no exception in the TT's repertoire of weird-but-respectable performances on this day. It took some getting used to, but after perfecting the technique required to keep the topless tank straight, it went pretty well.
As we found out on the road course the day before, the XS Engineering WRX's strong points weren't to be found going around corners. Even so, it was able to improve markedly in the slalom over the last stock WRX we tested. Its wagon shape hurdled through the cones at 68.1 mph, 1.4 mph better than stock. We suspect stickier tires would go a long way in improving this car's cornering as it wore relatively long-wearing Yokohama Parada Spec2 tires in every test.
The portly Skyline was next in line, ripping through the cones at 66.6 mph and feeling very rear-wheel drive in the process. Skylines are traditionally touted as being among the best handling all-wheel-drive cars and we can't argue. This R33 did seem to shrink itself in the high-speed, low-slip angle environs of the slalom, even if it wasn't the fastest car in the group.
Bringing up the back of the pack was the EVO VII rally car. Still using gravel-based alignment settings, it wasn't happy in the slalom, where it seemed like it would rather go backward than forward. Clearly, this car's setup was made for ultra-quick transitions at much lower speeds with less grip. This translated to ridiculous oversteer in our slalom. Fun to drive? Sure. Fast? No. This EVO managed 65.1 mph.
Braking
There's nothing magic about making these cars stop quickly. After all, all of them except the EVO VII rally car utilized ABS to get the job done in short order. And considering the weight of most of these machines, the distances are impressive.
Defying physics enough to stop a 3,400-pound car from 60 mph in 114 feet requires several pieces of exotic hardware. First, sticky tires are an absolute must. Big, powerful calipers clamping huge rotors don't hurt either. Motorex's R33 has all of the above.
The EVO VII is no lightweight, but its massive Brembos and soft Yokohama A-046 tires do the job. Call it 117 feet-10 feet longer than the last EVO VII we tested.