Consdering you're a daily driver with this car, tires wouldnt be such a bad choice. I highly doubt you'd need any high performance rubber unless you're planning to go to AutoX and any sort of strip racing. Tires are expensive and with just upgrading tires, you won't be able to have the engine mods within your budget.

If you go to the RRM website www.roadracemotorsports.com you can see that if you buy the piggyback ECU, cold air intake(aka "CAI), and axleback exhaust system, the dyno sheet specifically with those items together show a gain of 27WHP(horsepower at it's wheels after the lost energy transfering them from your engine to your wheels). THough the gains might be give or take a few hp due to location and other factors, you should be able to feel the gains. So with that package, you'll come up to $459 + $299 + $199(prices might not be correct check website for correct prices) it comes to about $960USD. Maybe have a friend or a relative that knows someone who can install these products to help you, or at least guide you through.

The package of the piggyback ECU, CAI, and the Axleback is probably the most common trio of items owned by Ralliarters.

also, since you say you are kinda clueless about car parts. A cold air intake sucks in more cold air whilst driving and therefore allowing your engine to be more efficient due to the cooler temps and air sucked in. I'm no mechanic or a car scientist, but thats as close as I can come to helping.

 

I agree with Otter. Read this.....then read it again. The more you read and understand, the better off you will be. If you want to learn more about cars in general, there are many books and magazines on the subject. It will take awhile to understand the terminology, but that is what learning is about. When you get confused about something specific on your car....someone on here could probably help (just search the topic first...there is a lot of good information already discussed to death).

Welcome to the Ralliart family. The MIVEC has you!

 

You are absolutely right, I did agree with some of the things you said. And to clear things up, I shouldn't have said anything about your post at all. The reason I said what I said was because you seem to have a different opinion than I as to what kind of help he needed and I wanted to be sure he was not discouraged or mislead by any advice given from someone who doesn't own an RA themselves. The additional information I included in my post was the information you lack because you are an evo owner. I never said anything about tires or suspension, just minor handling upgrades that he could do himself. Our cars need this little bit of help.

I gave him practical advice he could use and suggested he search to find out more information if he was interested. We should let him be the judge on whether my post was helpful or not, thats not for you to say. You stated he needed some obscure parts he probably doesn't even know what they are(no offense, I am just going by what you posted man) You then proceeded to tell him he can't expect much without going turbo, which is completely misleading. If you think going from 145-155WHP stock to 215WHP (PR_Mivec) is not good NA, then you should stay on the evo forums. I am not trying to pick a fight with you, and I am very glad you are trying to help. I just dis-agreed with the way you are trying to answer this post. I am going to edit my first post and remove my comments, I suggest you do the same.

And since he mentioned it, tires are very expensive(600+$ per set mounted for descent rubber), but you should already be saving for a good set of summer tires so you can really see what the car can do (at least thats my opinion.)

 

Are you serious? What's the elevation level, heaven?

 

Exactly. The intake pulls in cooler air (which is more dense), the piggyback changes timing and I think the fuel/air ratios for more power and the exhaust flows better than stock. When all 3 are done, they work together nicely, I think, I wouldn't know for sure

 

the piggyback does not change timing. nothing that we have for the car right now can change timing, aside from slotting the hoes in the sensor, not something you should concern yourself with at this point. The piggyback takes signals from the computer and modifies the signal before it gets to certain parts of the engine to make the car run different. Specifically, it takes signals for the air and fuel mixture and leans out the fuel(meaning giving less fuel than before the piggyback was installed.)

 

Slotting hoes is never a good idea

I gotcha, I didn't really know what the piggyback did, exactly.

 

lol. oops. yeah, slotting hoes would be bad

 

I was afraid to ask the same question asked here, for fear of sounding like a really bad noob... Especially since I've worked on cars for a long time (older cars though, mostly restorals)... One question I do have though, would you recommend a CAI or a SRI? I know everyone has said CAI so far, but what's really the diff? But everyone gave me some good things to think about and definately good help... I didn't ask, but thanks!

 

That RRM clutchline doesn't really change the clutch feel, it changes the clutch response. If you want to change the feel get the Works clutch line. But as I've stated plenty of times on here, replaces the top section of the clutch line is a b!tch, so you better have some patience. That will make you clutch a lot more stiffer. That along with the RRM line will make for a nice clutch upgrade.

 

Plus doing your own work will help you learn about, not just your car, but cars in general significantly.

 

I disagree. While having a knowledgable mechanic around is a great thing you shouldn't be deterred from doing you own work if you don't have one. A lot of mods can be done quite easily on your own and other with a buddy helping. As long as you follow the direrctions, do your homework, and ask others (on here for one) you will be fine. When it comes to mods that replace parts under the car or the engine and trans need to be pulled then YES, get a mechanic. For the simple ones I'd suggest doing them yourself. It will help you learn about cars a lot faster.

 

You shouldn't be afraid to ask questions like he did. Being a clueless noob is nothing to be ashamed of. As long as you come across right on here you will not be bashed and your questions will get answered pretty quickly. It's he noob's that come on here with a post that says, "Where can I get the best intake" or "Will Evo seats fit in our cars." Questions like that can be easily answered in seconds on your own if you took the time to look around. Say things like that I you might as well put you flame retardent suit on cuz the fire is coming. lol



Oh yea, to answer your CAI/SRI question: This is a debate that has been going on forever. Technically the SRI is the better option. This is because air will get to your engine faster due to the shorter distance and straight line flow. BUT, there is the little issue of air temperature. In a daily driver (especially during the summer) the air taken in by the SRI will be significantly hotter than a CAI since it gets it air straight from the engine bay while the CAI gets it from the outside. This is why most people will recommend the CAI over the SRI. Now if you pretty much only use the car for racing heat isn't really much of an issue and an SRI would be the intake of choice. But most of us use our cars for daily driving with some doing the occasional racing, so a CAI would probably be the most beneficial.

But as I previously stated, this is a long debated issue and either one is an upgrade over the restricted flow of the stock intake. And speaking of stock intakes. No one has mentioned the KNN replacement air filter. It is a cheap option (about $70). It replaces the stock air filter and wont give you the gains compared to a SRI/CAI but it will help out some. Plus it never needs replacing, only cleaning.

 

well the exact difference states in the name of those items. COLD AIR INTAKE sucks in cold air from the outside thus creating cooler temps into the engine to become more efficient. While a SRI, SHORT RAM INTAKE, like bigdoggy said, is much closer to the engine(less distance and bends) therefore more efficient that way. SRI's show benefits to racers on the strip I believe, but for daily driving and comparble gains, why not let your engine ease off the heat and get a CAI. I suppose you being from Japan it doesnt rain enough to flood the streets right? So you wouldnt have to worry about hydrolock(when water gets into ur CAI)

 

Well I am in Japan, but the car's in Hawaii with my wife... Yes I know the first thing you're going to think, "well then definately, you don't have to worry about rain"... But after that we're heading to Washington, so I'm pretty sure the SRI will be my better choice...