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| The flat floor is firmly secured to the bottom of the chassis using studs and fasteners. |
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| The thing to notice here is how the rear diffuser is mounted solidly to the chassis. The diffuser does no good if it breaks off. The diffuser and rear door/quarter panel are more Kern fabricated specials. |
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| DHP makes the adjustable dual element rear wing attached to a stock trunk. |
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| Yeah, the Evo MR vortex generators are actually functional. They add turbulence to the air which adds more energy to the airstream. The added energy allows the airflow to better follow the steeply sloped rear window. Without the vortex generators, the airflow separates from the rear windshield creating a larger wake. So while the vortex generators add drag themselves, they reduce the overall drag of the car by reducing the size of the wake behind the window. Furthermore, because more airflow goes down behind the rear window, the rear wing becomes more effective and produces more downforce. In short, the vortex generators work like the dimples on a golf ball. Mitsubishi wrote a paper about it, so you can search the internet for it yourselves. |
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| Last, but not least, are the affordable and battle tested Enkei RPF1 wheels. These are probably some of the best bang for the buck wheels ever made that are competition worthy. Mounted on the fatty 18″x10.5″ Enkeis are sticky Continential Rolex Cut GT-R rubbers. |
As you can see, a competitive Pikes Peak car isn’t built overnight. This has been a four year work-in-progress for the Kerns at Pikes Peak with each year bringinh lessons. The lessons learned from previous years along with rally racing have led to this super buff Evo with money only spent on things to go faster. It’s not often I look at a car and think, “wow, there’s not really anything different I would do.” I think the Kerns did an excellent job spending money where it counted and the results speak for themselves. To be the fifth fastest car up the mountain in 2012 for a privateer is an amazing accomplishment. Let’s look at the guys that finished ahead of him. 1. Rhys Millen in the factory backed Hyundai Genesis Coupe. 2. Romain Dumas (he has raced the 24 Hour of LeMans every year since 2001 and won in 2010) in a Porsche factory built GT3 R. 3. David Donner in a Palatov D4PPS purpose built hill climb car. 4. Fumio Nutahara in the Toyota Motorsports built TMG EVP002. That’s some pretty impressive company to be in! I’m sure the Kerns have a few more tricks up their sleeve, so I can’t wait to see them attack the mountain in 2013!
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