Immediate caveat, I am a noob.

I recently purchased an 03 EVO and have the itch to tweak. I have been reviewing many of the posts on the evolutionm.net board and am a bit overwhelmed.

I am specifically looking for some guidance on modifying the evo for backroad running with the Porsche club (a former member) and occasional track days at Watkins. I plan on upgrading the brake lines to braided and change the pads out to Ferrodos. I will also be adding a cusco rear sway bar. Those items will probably get me where I want to be with the chassis unless I want to upgrade to Bilstein struts/shocks and possibly Eibachs (for a softer initial spring rate if it becomes too harsh on our frost destroyed roads here in WNY).

What I am really looking for is a way to improve spool up and throttle response. I have always been a N.A. guy and just love the electric throttle response of a high compression N.A. motor. Now, I know that level of response is not likely on a turbo motor, but just a minor improvement would suit me fine. I would also like to see more top end for the back straight at Watkins. Not that I have an intent to drag, but as a benchmark, if I can get into the mid 12's in the 1/4 that would be great. Lastly, because I am in NY, it needs to remain emission compliant.

From what I can gather, I will probably need the following to reach my goals:
1. Manual Boost Controller
2. ECU reflash or piggyback (I am leaning toward Vishnu, Burschur or Dynoflash) tuned to my mods
3. Downpipe and cat back exhaust
4. Blow-off valve (the stock unit has a tendency to have boost leak?)
5. Cams - 264/264 or 264/272 (272 intake may be too aggressive and I could lose low-end)
6. 255 lph fuel pump.

Am I heading in the right direction here?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction.

For emissions compliance I'd go with HKS 264/264 cams, I don't think 272s will pass. For engine management I'd definitely lean towards the Vishnu XEDE (granted I'm biased, since that's what I run, you also don't need the MBC with the XEDE). For the BOV, just make sure you get a recirculating BOV (JDM MR, Greddy type-s or type rs, etc). If you really want to get serious about earlier spool, then you may also want to look at getting a TME turbo.

Depending on how hard you run at the track, you may want to invest in the brake "ducts", oil temp gauge, and an upgraded oil cooler.

l8r)

 

Your headed in the right direction. To further aid spool up, a tubular manifold will help a lot as well as a lower I/C pipe.

 

the direction you are heading is correct. i would first get a better clutch.

 

Hey man, Race at the Glen all the time with SCCA, Porsche Club, and BMWCCA. Back straight I can hit about 135-138. I have used Ferrodo pads, but am partial to the Performance Friction 97 pads. HMS Motorsport in MA can get them (worked there - free plug!). Sounds like your heading in the right direction. I got a new O2 housing, helped spool a little. Definitely do the stainless lines, and run the Motul RBF600 (I have cooked more litres of ATE Superblue than I want to think about - on the track). The ECU reflash helps as well, since the rev limiter is raised, and you can hold lower-gear torque longer. Also, the pump is a great help, since sloshing has caused me to bog after some laps. Some good Toyo RA-1's help, since the stock tires don't cut it too well on track conditions. I personally have 272's in the car, and didn't really notice a loss of low end, and, since at the Glen you are pretty much spooled all the time, save maybe the carousel after the esses. PM me if you have any particular questions since I am there in the Evo a lot. Good luck. You'll love it there. NBot saying it'll better than the Porsche, but much different. I've taken a few 911's and even a GT3 out there, and the Evo is my fave, by far. Same with Tremblant, Limerock, and NHIS. Fun as hell.

 

why? If you're not drag racing and know how to drive stick, then the stock should be more than good enough. I have 31K on mine and it is still in very good shape (inspected a couple of weeks ago)...

l8r)

 

I'ld say you are for the most part headed in the right direction ... but here are a few things I would change:
For faster spool up, free up the exhaust, do the O2 housing, downpipe and catback ...
Then get a ECU flash from either of these companies, dynoflash, Vishnu Xflash, Works P2, Turbotrix, etc ... you won't need a MBC because the flash will control boost ...
S.S. Brake lines is a good mod as are track/semi-track brake pads, use some good brake fluid eg: Motul RF600 ...
Stock fuel pump is fine ... if you're car is stumbling due to sploshing you don't have enough gas in you gas tank ...
Instead of the rear sway bar you might want to install camber plates in the front and slightly increase front camber to 2-2.5 deg ...
Upgrade your tires to r-compound tires ...

From a safety perspective I recommend getting a full face helment and a harness ...

 

Wow!

Great responses from all thank you.

If I understand some of the comments correctly a flash will modify the stock boost levels? I was under the impression that it was mechanically, not electronically controlled in stock form. I was leaning toward a dynoflash or Burschur flash since they are relatively close and both have excellent reputations.

On the exhaust and downpipe, I will do some research, but I am leaning toward the Burschur s.s. exhaust with the maganflow muffler since this car has to be daily driven. Is a high-flow cat really necessary with a down pipe and exhaust improvement (i.e. does it create that much of a bottleneck)?

I will probably get the 255 pump just so I can sleep at night.


S.S. lines from goodrich and Ferrodo pads are on the list, I have a good friend who own's raceshopper.com and supplies these goodies to me at a great price. I also have had fantastic experience with the Ferrodo's as a track/street pad. As for the brake fluid, this is the first I have heard that ATE has some temp problems. Motul is an excellent product.


I also plan on getting an oil temp guage, oil pressure guage and a boost or A/F ratio guage. I already have a helmet and harnesses will be on the list as well. As for tires, I will upgrade to the stickiest summers I can get since I can't afford to have snows, summers and track tires right now.

Thanks again guys!

HM- I will follow-up with a PM, I am interested to hear your thoughts vs. the Porsches. I am still nervous about letting her go.

 

That depends on what kind of flash you get. Some control boost, some don't. Unless money is tight, I'd still go with the XEDE, but that is strictly my opinion - there's nothing wrong with a reflash per se.

IMO the Buschur exhaust is definitely a great way to go. The HF cat is a must ... the stock cat would be a significant restriction, not to mention it's 2.5", not 3".

... too many Evo have had the stock pumps give up the ghost.

Some miscellaneous stuff to think about: shifter bushings, SS clutch line, trunk bar, rear strut tower brace.

l8r)

 

Check this out as far as "boost control"https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=149000

I have the WORKS flash, and it does what it says. I am not dogin' on anyone else's flash, this has worked for me and the guys at WORKS are great.

 

None of those are bad things. Dunno how to get throttle response, I have just learned to drive at 3K+ when I'm doing things that need power. I've heard an ECU reflash helps a lot.

I would say the best bang for the buck that I've seen is simply exhaust + intake + boost controller + ECU reflash. If you add cams, headstuds, and fuel pump to that and maybe a 10.5 hot side, look out. I saw a guy run 12.1x @ 116.x with nothing more than those mods (272e/i though, with a stock clutch even!) A nice-to-have coming from MBC to EBC is I don't have to pop the hood every time the weather changes to even out my boost, and I don't need a gauge. Cheap *** Blitz dual SBC does the trick. Not great but it works, 4 presets and in-cockpit adjustments.

As for the pads, Ferodo DS2500's are awesome street & canyon carving pads, but anything less up front is unacceptable on the track. I wouldn't cheap out & buy Ate super blue fluid either, Motul feels the best & doesn't boil off. I finally was able to have the car resist brake fade the last 2 times I was at the track, but I had to resort to Hawk Blues and buy the brake air guides to accomplish this. The fact of the matter is, it's a heavy car that goes really fast, so it's hard on brakes. You might want to invest in some track-only rotors and pads up front. DS2500's are great for both road and track in the back. Since my Hawk's are gone now I might try some PF track pads...it never ends...

I wouldn't get a swaybar until you have some track experience with it. With a proper alignment it's fairly neutral. 1/16" - 1/8" toe-out on all 4 corners, max camber (~2.3 degrees) up front and ~2.0 in back should get you a nice safe fun setup without worrying about snap oversteer. It's really tossable with that configuration IMHO in all but the very tightest of corners. Mid-corner corrections are really easy in the right gear, but if you bog it in the corners you'll lose that aspect of controllability. Heel Toe is your friend.

You'll need tires soon and ever more. After going from stock to Falken Azenis Sport RT-215's 245/45/17 to Kumho Ecsta MX 255/40/17 to Falken Azenis Sport RT-615 255/40/17, all on the stock wheels, the best tire out of the lot for dual road and track IMHO is the Falken Azenis Sport RT-615 ($160ea discounttiredirect.com). I'm tired of running a dual purpose tire though, so I'm splitting them up. All-seasons for the street & R-compound for the track.

I would put some money away for a clutch, it doesn't give much warning before it's gone. People spend so much $$ on triple-plate carbon clutches and pucked clutches, but I've had my ACT street disk + Xtreme pressure plate for 25K miles now and it's holding up fine. And when it wears out, I can buy another clutch and maybe even another for the initial buy-in of the expensive multiplate ones. Just something to think about.

I have 55K miles on my car now & have done everything from the road course at PIR to auto-x to canyon/mountain carving to even rally-x. I'm not a pro but I definitely have a lot of time behind the wheel with it, so I've picked up some things here & there, so there's my $0.02

Have Fun!