I wish I wasn't so busy with work/life right now...even thinking about taking my first day off work ever since I've ever gotten my first job to put some work into the car

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...o/7a756bda.jpg

 

Looking good !!

 

I'm sorry to say that this battery bracket is no more. Multiple things started to pile up at the same time and quite a few things have happened. Long story below

With our goal to make a product that required no hack-sawing or modifying of the frame/chassis, we were left with extremely tight fitment. The last prototype, the one that should have been a green-light for production, ended up inadequate by our standards. We had a fitting piece, but when it came time to mount the battery terminals and distribution block, there was not enough clearance to leave deviation for production models. There was no way around it, we literally had an inadequate design. This prototype could work, but we won't have accurate enough machinery to use while still keeping costs low.

Then there's the cost. This bracket was obviously an alternative to relocating to the trunk, so it would have to be similar in cost. Since we were making it out of stainless steel, we would hardly be making any money each unit sold. Also, prototypes off of CAD drawings are very expensive. The first one would cost about $350 alone.

Also the market. I'd say 70% of the Ralliart community wouldn't understand the point of this bracket, and probably only 40% would need/use it. To make a batch of these at an affordable $250 range, we would have to make around 25. I have doubts if we'd even sell that many - and with a next-to-nothing profit per unit, we would probably never break even on R&D cost. I was getting fewer and fewer pm's and posts about the bracket as time went on, so I was mainly only fueled by the motivation of myself, razorlab, griffin5, and spider21 - thank you guys for reminding me that I had some support to finish this; I'm sorry it wasn't enough for me to see it through. Over time it didn't feel like enough as time and R&D cost of the bracket went on. I can't believe I went through a year to try and make what looked to be a simple piece.

So that night we deemed the bracket a failure, my tuner left me with two choices. Do some chassis cutting and use this bracket, or relocate to the trunk. The cost of both options is about the same, so it was literally a personal preference choice. The X turbo swap was waiting, but I would have to wait 2 weeks as my tuner/shop was busy getting ready for Buschr Shootout.

Then - one of my good friends/customers - asked me for my sales manager's email. I asked what was wrong, as he just bought the last 2010 SE in Houston (maybe Texas) in Feb. He said the SE was an impulse buy and he wanted a loaded 2011 (came from a loaded GTS), and the sales manager said it was possible (as all of them do). I was already disheartened by the time and money wasted in a simple bracket, all in the attempt to just make some kind of better-than-Evo Ralliart. I had a sedan, I couldn't use the excuse of "there's no Evo hatchback". I couldn't help but be less motivated in the future hurdles of building an RA with lesser suspension and transmission to the Evo. Yes they can be solved, but for the labor price of just this X turbo swap, I could put towards this trade

If someone told you that they were trading in their barely a year old 2011 RA for an Evo, you'd call them stupid and that they'd be throwing away so much money. I'm very smart with my money, and I kept trying to find a reason not to do this. Financially it sounded absolutely stupid. But because of how I structured the deals, I would only be eating some depreciation - but my total amount financed was about the same as my payoff on the RA, AND my monthly payments are almost HALVED. Yes my term was extended another year, but I am expecting to make more money next year and have less expenses with no school, so I will be paying off the car before the term is up anyway. I couldn't find a reason not to do it.

I now drive a 2010 Wicked White Lancer Evolution SE: 234 of 340. 6944 miles, all bone stock and not even sport-mode was used on the SST. There was neither a major financial or mechanical reason not to trade-in for it. The deal was done Friday afternoon. Left is the new MR that made this whole thing happen!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmybr...107973684/?v=1

Quick Impressions/thoughts after a day with the Evo:
- Holy **** S-Sport really is amazing. I really couldn't imagine the SST without it anymore. I didn't think it was a big deal not having it on the RA
- Launch control is wicked sick. I didn't think this was a big deal either with the RA, but after experiencing it, it is truly awesome
- It's awesome how Brembo's are standard. the OEM pads/fluid/lines kind of suck, but I'm so glad the hardware is already included and I don't have to drop more money upgrading these for a while
- Recaro's are damn comfortable. 2011's don't get them anymore in the US, and spending $1k+ to put them in the RA is just money down the drain - the idea of $1k+ for no performance gain at all really didn't sit well with me
- And lastly - HOLY **** EVO'S ARE SLOW. I already knew they were slow from so many test-drives and owning a well-tuned Ralliart, but now that I own one, I CAN NOT STAND THE STOCK TUNE. I thought I would enjoy it stock before going off modding again, but that won't happen
- The Ralliart was really an impulse buy for me. I always assumed I was just too young to afford an Evo and that I would have to settle for an RA - so on the night that I lined up 4/5 sales for a bonus, I bought my RA and gave myself the extra bonus. For how much I want to mod and track my car, the Evo is what I should have bought in the first place. I don't miss my Ralliart at all

So many of you are wondering who were the new, and last, people behind this battery bracket. Well I'd be glad to reveal that now - it was South Side Performance @ Houston, TX. Specifically, Eric (kozmic27), was behind the design, with David helping out with the welding and material construction. Anyone who has met or gotten a tune by kozmic27 knows that he's a very smart and precise guy when it comes to anything - his tunes, installs, information, etc. For those that don't know him at all - just go look at the SSP Evo X MR - he tuned it. He's finally gotten the opportunity to open the SSP location in Houston, TX. I'm very fortunate to be taken care of by one of the best in the Mitsu community

Overall tl;dr lesson from this project for the community: Just put the battery in the trunk. The cost is lower than to make a piece like this. It's seriously not that bad, and there's plenty of room in both the sedan and hatchback to do it. If I had to go through it again, I would have just relocated, but luckily, this whole year of working on it led me into this Evo SE

 

That's a great read, thanks!

Your final solution to the question, "how do I fit an Evo X intake?" was brilliant - "buy an Evo X"!

Rich

 

Exyia congratz on the new purchase. Sorry to see the project die though.

 

Nice, David came to BR last year to tune my RA before he was with SSP. I would have been more interested in this if I knew he was a part of it.

 

I remember him telling me about the time he went to BR for an RA, and thought the car was pretty damn fun!

and David did practically all the welding/drilling. if it wasn't for his precise work, we would have gone through much more steel and spent much more

here's a teaser pic of him back from when we were about half-way through


Eric and David make a great team. Can't wait to get the Evo build going!

 

AHHHHHH, ur killing me! God forgive me, but I'm going straight to hell....
The more I push the RA, the more the limitations become evident, suspension and braking wise. Pretty much everything else can be solved relatively easily.
And so.....I've been having thoughts....dark disturbing thoughts...
Yes I LOVE the Sportback, which is the ONLY reason I haven't gone down to trade this RA in for the EVO. If it weren't for this sick body style....God forgive me...I would be yet another convert
My soul is already in turmoil, and Exyia your post is NOT helping

 

Yeah they came over and tuned about 6-7 cars, all the others were Evos. It took awhile to get the Evos tuned because a couple did injector swaps, or had issues blowing hoses. They didnt get to mine till about 1am so the roads were nice and clear. Also I had just swapped my EBC brakes and new lines so when I jumped on them to prepare for a u turn on the test drive he was pretty impressed how quickly it came down from speed. Plus its a wagon, whats not to love.

Ill probably be making a trip to Houston this fall to check out the new shop and get him to update my tune with the new IC.

 

hahahaha

which is why I took the time to elaborate my story. it wasn't a simple "**** it trading in for an Evo" - it was a personal opportunity for me that was too hard to turn down...I mean, half the monthly payments, only $1k more financed total...if I didn't do it, I would have spent that money doing the turbo swap, brakes, etc on the RA. Way too hard to turn down

props for owning a sportback though. Don't let my trade-in kill your motivation - I can't wait to see more beast-mode sportbacks and I still think the RA is a great car for a lot of people - but as a sedan owner, I didn't have anything unique against the Evo

let me/us know when you're coming down to Houston! the shop is really nice and clean, though we're still awaiting the dyno

 

Hit me up I have my battery in the back on my sportback and have the part numbers needed and instructions to make the underhood look like the EVO on wiring :-)

 

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we really appreciate the effort and lengths you went to Exyia to make this part a reality. Yes it's a shame it hasn't worked out to plan but them's the breaks some times. I hope this thread can continue on and we can keep it a discussion for those of us that still need/see the benefits of this mod. I for one will be continuing to look at all my options to get my closed box intake properly installed in my RA. Current options are:

1. Battery relocate to boot (trunk) to fit my AEM Evo X intake.
2. Investigate the new AEM Ralliart intake with Evo X size inlet adapter. This would not require a battery relocation.

 

share that info

 

3. CBRD X Swap Ralliart Intake

 

It really was a shame to have to let this one go. It was a really good idea, and it looked like it was going to work. Right up until it didn't. Sometimes it goes like that.