I thought I would put in one place all the mods I have and how I felt they changed my car. I though this would be of some help to NooBs.

To preface this discussion I should let you all know I was building a NA car for autocross. I built the car to be in FSP.

I have a 2002 Lancer

The first mod I did was a Ram air intake. At the time I was told it would give me better gas mileage. Guess what it did! Then is also gave me a little more power. This mod cost with filter $150.

The next mod I did was put a front strut bar in. from RMR the cost of this mod at the time was $200. This was a great mod for handling. I would not change it for the world.

The next mod I did was exhaust. I used a 2.5 cat back with a magnaflow. This was ok the sound was loud and it sounded good. I feel the 2.5 was a bit to big, not enough back pressure. The cost of this was $250.

After about 2 years I blew threw the cat and needed to replace it all again. I went to a place and got a custom one done with a high flow cat and stayed 2.25 this time. I notice better back pressure and had a little more get up and go off the line.

Then I did suspension. As an autocross car, suspension is the most important. I went with lowering springs first. I went with progress springs from RRM. these cost $169. They where not worth it for my application. With what I was doing with the car, it was causing the shocks to keep blowing. So I pulled out these and put in TEIN BASIC DAMPNER KIT again from RRM. These cost $899. I loved these. The ride was not so bad. not too stiff but not too fluffy.

With this set up I began to break the rear Sway Bar Perches. This was easily fixed with a call to RRM. They carry an Autocross Sway bar perches. Cost of mod $79. You don’t feel a difference from this mod, you just don’t have to replace them any time soon. The next mod I did was upgrade the Anti Sway bar itself. From RRM cost $169. This made a good impact on handling.

I went with the V 1 piggy back from RRM cost $459. This made a big difference in power. it is true what they say. Buy this and be happy with it.

At an autocross event, I realized that my front sway bar bushing was broken so I put urethane ones in. I found these at AutoZone. This made a big impact on steering response. It softened the dead spot in the middle of the wheel. The steering response was quicker. Cost was $15.

I put the B&M short throw shifter. This is helpful from getting from gear to gear. Cost $100. I put the RRM base bushings in about $15 and the cartboy under hood bushings in about $15 this made for a really precise shift.

I put a rear tie bar in from RRM. To be honest I did not feel any difference with this. Cost $89.

The next mod I did was a rear strut bar I got this from a guy on EvoM: RRD. Great mod. helps in the corners. makes the car a bit more predictable. Price was around $100.

I then heard I would get even better gas mileage with a cold air intake. So I plunked one from Injen in there. yes, I get better gas mileage, but no, I cannot feel the difference. About $200.

I then put a header on the car. When I did this I lost lots of low-end power. But this was ok because it looked cool. Cost $349. I guess it was worth it because of everything else I have done to the car since. From RRM.

I sent the intake manifold out to get ported and polished from a member of EvoM. Cost $100 with core. This made a little difference. I broke the fuel rail pulling it out. So I bought a Magnum fuel rail from RRM think the cost was $90. This did help to smooth out the torque curve. But leads to other problems down the road. (Fuel pressure cant really keep up anymore)

I then bought the throttle body from RRM this helped in throttle response. Cost $299. The next mod I did was a Clutch and Fly wheel. BIG DIFFRENCE!!!! Got these parts from RRM $479 for flywheel and stage one clutch $379 cost me $400 to get it all installed. I went with the stage one since this is still a daily driver and I will never be going turbo.

I now swapped out the V1 for the V2 piggy from RRM another $459. I did this because I wanted the tuneability of it. Still loved it.

The next mod was a lightened crake pulley from RRM cost was $99. I felt a little bit of power gain from it but not a huge gain.

I now pulled the head and ported and polished it. Had this done from a friend with a flow bench for $300.

I put a cam gear on at this point. Cam gear was $100. This helped the engine breath my gas mileage is now around 40-45 MPG. Get a WideBand from RRM Cost $399. Nice lights I guess. I got it because I also got a Greddy Emanage Ultimate. This allows you to put in the target AF’s. Love working on it. Huge gains. Got it from http://www.prostreetonline.com/ cost $549. Worth every penny but this needed a mod to work correctly. You will need to get a harness from http://www.mohdparts.com/emanage/.

The next mod I did when I pulled off the timing belt I notice my crank pulley was broken. The keyhole was broken. Not sure how I managed this. So I replaced it with the one from A2 Designs. I also picked up a FPR from him as well. Cost is $90 for pulley. The pulley was great it is under drive, and it comes with the belts. Gave great gains. Lots more off the line its about 25% smaller than the RRM one. It also weighs 5 oz less than the RRM one. The FPR is a great one from A2 just be careful if you get it. Make sure all the bolts are tightened. Cost $99. Helped smooth over the curve.

The next upgrade was to JIC magic I got these because I wanted the adjustable camber plates. This is a big deal for Autocross. Love them should have gotten them first and been done with it, but the cost is a little bit. Got them from Vivid. Cost is $1649.99 Well worth it.

I also have a alpine 310 head unit. This is hooked up to a computer in the car and I can keep an eye on the Emanage software. Total cost was $2000 with computer.

I also have the Evo 8 Recaros (Just for the cool factor) they are comfortable too. Cost was $600. Got them from a member on EvoM.

Other mods for racing where a set of 16 inch Roda Slipstreems 12 lbs rims with toyo RA 1 on them. They are great but I should have went with a smaller rim. This would help the car spool quicker. Total cost was $1200 from town fair tire.

I also have Portifield carbon Kevlar pads all the way around got the set for $170 for all 4 corners. I also have braided steal break lines all the way around got this from the guy at Vivid. These are great mods but be care full if you lock them up and you will, you will flat spot the tires. Cost of the lines where $140 for all corners.

I also use Royal Purple 10 w 40 and royal purple Transmission fluid. I think I got all my mods in this list as I can remember them.

I love my car it is the #1 FSP in New England region SCCA. However I want more out of it. The next mod would be the LSD. I am trying to decide either to go with high compression pistons and a cam and swap classes or should I go with low compression pistons rods and a turbo.

My problem is I need low end power to get out of corners. So please discuss and let me know what you think of my car. I tried to write this to help folks decided from my own experience.

Total cost of all the mods are $11870.99 to date yes its almost as much as the worth of the car. But I enjoyed doing it. It was fun making a slow car go. Yes I know I should have bought an evo but they did not have them when I was buying a car.
Hope this info helps!