Fantastic 900 mile trip, two BR EVO's...
Fantastic 900 mile trip, two BR EVO's...
What a weekend.
We left the shop Friday at 1 pm with the BR 350 #001 car, my RS and our truck/trailer with the new 2006 Eclipse GT in it. Headed out for the Mod '05 day at the Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois.
Trip started out great, making killer time, running between 65-75 mph. All the vehicles were filled up before we left.
The BR 350 #001 car (this is the car we build and sell through the Medina Mitsubishi) runs the stock flashed ECU. The car has run 12.6 at 107 mph right off the showroom floor. My RS has been beated since the day it was new. The car hasn't been touched for any engine repairs and has been run in the Car and Driver event, the April Mitsubshi VS. Subaru Showdown, our DSM/EVO Shootout, hundreds of dyno runs etc. It's been beaten! The car runs the AEM EMS in it. Also has been as quick as 11.30 and 124 mph in the 1/4 mile. Jumping in it and taking a long trip is something that hasn't been done. With all the abuse it has seen I was personally a little worried. Anything could happen.
To our credit as car builders NOTHING happened except tons of fun on the entire trip and weekend!
The first fuel stop the RS got an amaxing 25.9 mpg! The BR350 got 25.8 mpg! I was very happy. I hadn't tuned the AFR's in my RS as the 880 cc injectors were just added. The 02 feedback was on, Jarrod was driving the car and I was riding in the truck and trailer.
After the first fuel stop I jumped in with Jarrod and did some part throttle tuning. I knew after I did this I would be able to destroy the factory ECU's and the fuel mileage of the BR350, even with my additional power/parts.
We got stuck in the worst city in the world for traffic, Chicago. I hate driving through there. Well you don't drive through it, you sit at a stop and then move 10 feet. It sucks. I have never ever made it through without hitting stopped traffic. In my mind I was hoping the RS with the stand alone engine management, huge cams, big boost and 880 cc injectors would still come close to getting the same fuel mileage as the BR350 factory ECU'd car. The RS is set up to run on the rich side, about 13.2:1 AFR's at idle. It makes the big cams happier
When we hit the stop and go traffic, FOR 3 HOURS, I knew my chances were slim.
The next fuel stop the RS got 23.8 mpg and the BR350 got 25 mpg. I loose but I was still happy considering........
The trip carried on. We didn't pull into our hotel until 10:30 pm. VERY long drive.
Next morning we headed over to the Mitsubishi plant in Normal, IL. What a great time, great day! Met with some of the head people at Mitsubishi and had some very good talks with them! They were very interested in the BR350 package and two of the VP's drove the car and could not believe how great it was! It was an honor to have them drive the car and receive such praise on how great the package was!
Show ended at 3 pm. We were on the road at 4 pm and decided to head back through Indy. Stopped for fuel, 25.8 mph in my RS and 28.3 MPG in the BR350!! Absolutely AMAZING! To my brothers credit he doesn't feel the need to beat a car as much as I do. Daniel was driving the BR350 car of Steve's as Steve couldn't make the show.
Next tank of fuel I decided I was going to drive very easy and see what I could get. We ran 70-80 mph, hit a bad traffic jam again, stuck there for about 2 hours. I had to show a 4 door Grand Marquis with SIDE PIPES who was boss once and whoop up on an Acura RSX once, for me to only jump on my car two times in a full tank of gas is amazing! haha. I ended up getting 26 mpg even that tank of fuel. My brother chose not to fill up, he waited to get home to our Sunoco station as we were fairly close.
Him and I stood outside the last gas station and talked. As many years as the two of us have been doing this (17) we are still amazed. He said, "It's pretty incredible how great these cars are, instant boost and throttle response, over 25 mpg and comfortable, is there another car to own?!" I said, "Yeah, it is crazy, look how fast it is, we just drove for 20+ hours in two days and I still got a best of 26 mpg." He laughed and said, "I was talking about the Steve's car! (BR350), your car is a whole nother story! You just ran 11.30's at 124 mph with it last week and then hopped in it and drove it like nothing, that is even MORE amazing!"
We had a GREAT weekend. For those of you that stopped by to say "HI" or check out our cars THANK YOU! This event was outstanding and it is going to be held again last year. For those of you that didn't make it, you should come down next year!
I sure love EVO's!!
David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com
We left the shop Friday at 1 pm with the BR 350 #001 car, my RS and our truck/trailer with the new 2006 Eclipse GT in it. Headed out for the Mod '05 day at the Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois.
Trip started out great, making killer time, running between 65-75 mph. All the vehicles were filled up before we left.
The BR 350 #001 car (this is the car we build and sell through the Medina Mitsubishi) runs the stock flashed ECU. The car has run 12.6 at 107 mph right off the showroom floor. My RS has been beated since the day it was new. The car hasn't been touched for any engine repairs and has been run in the Car and Driver event, the April Mitsubshi VS. Subaru Showdown, our DSM/EVO Shootout, hundreds of dyno runs etc. It's been beaten! The car runs the AEM EMS in it. Also has been as quick as 11.30 and 124 mph in the 1/4 mile. Jumping in it and taking a long trip is something that hasn't been done. With all the abuse it has seen I was personally a little worried. Anything could happen.
To our credit as car builders NOTHING happened except tons of fun on the entire trip and weekend!
The first fuel stop the RS got an amaxing 25.9 mpg! The BR350 got 25.8 mpg! I was very happy. I hadn't tuned the AFR's in my RS as the 880 cc injectors were just added. The 02 feedback was on, Jarrod was driving the car and I was riding in the truck and trailer.
After the first fuel stop I jumped in with Jarrod and did some part throttle tuning. I knew after I did this I would be able to destroy the factory ECU's and the fuel mileage of the BR350, even with my additional power/parts.
We got stuck in the worst city in the world for traffic, Chicago. I hate driving through there. Well you don't drive through it, you sit at a stop and then move 10 feet. It sucks. I have never ever made it through without hitting stopped traffic. In my mind I was hoping the RS with the stand alone engine management, huge cams, big boost and 880 cc injectors would still come close to getting the same fuel mileage as the BR350 factory ECU'd car. The RS is set up to run on the rich side, about 13.2:1 AFR's at idle. It makes the big cams happier
When we hit the stop and go traffic, FOR 3 HOURS, I knew my chances were slim. The next fuel stop the RS got 23.8 mpg and the BR350 got 25 mpg. I loose but I was still happy considering........
The trip carried on. We didn't pull into our hotel until 10:30 pm. VERY long drive.
Next morning we headed over to the Mitsubishi plant in Normal, IL. What a great time, great day! Met with some of the head people at Mitsubishi and had some very good talks with them! They were very interested in the BR350 package and two of the VP's drove the car and could not believe how great it was! It was an honor to have them drive the car and receive such praise on how great the package was!
Show ended at 3 pm. We were on the road at 4 pm and decided to head back through Indy. Stopped for fuel, 25.8 mph in my RS and 28.3 MPG in the BR350!! Absolutely AMAZING! To my brothers credit he doesn't feel the need to beat a car as much as I do. Daniel was driving the BR350 car of Steve's as Steve couldn't make the show.
Next tank of fuel I decided I was going to drive very easy and see what I could get. We ran 70-80 mph, hit a bad traffic jam again, stuck there for about 2 hours. I had to show a 4 door Grand Marquis with SIDE PIPES who was boss once and whoop up on an Acura RSX once, for me to only jump on my car two times in a full tank of gas is amazing! haha. I ended up getting 26 mpg even that tank of fuel. My brother chose not to fill up, he waited to get home to our Sunoco station as we were fairly close.
Him and I stood outside the last gas station and talked. As many years as the two of us have been doing this (17) we are still amazed. He said, "It's pretty incredible how great these cars are, instant boost and throttle response, over 25 mpg and comfortable, is there another car to own?!" I said, "Yeah, it is crazy, look how fast it is, we just drove for 20+ hours in two days and I still got a best of 26 mpg." He laughed and said, "I was talking about the Steve's car! (BR350), your car is a whole nother story! You just ran 11.30's at 124 mph with it last week and then hopped in it and drove it like nothing, that is even MORE amazing!"
We had a GREAT weekend. For those of you that stopped by to say "HI" or check out our cars THANK YOU! This event was outstanding and it is going to be held again last year. For those of you that didn't make it, you should come down next year!
I sure love EVO's!!
David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com
Evolving Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 294
Likes: 0
From: Norfolk, VA
Great to hear!!! I can't wait to make it up there and get you guys to show me what my car can be made into...I love to hear stories of how much you can push these cars through modification and still feel comfortable driving them
Dave,
Awesome writeup and pretty neat to see the VP's of Mitsu were Happy with you're work
. The Evo is an awesome car. I drove one for a friend of mine from Tampa to Miami and it was a blast to drive. South Beach was another story .
Congrats to you for making Awesome parts for these cars over the years
. Keep up the good work.
Awesome writeup and pretty neat to see the VP's of Mitsu were Happy with you're work
. The Evo is an awesome car. I drove one for a friend of mine from Tampa to Miami and it was a blast to drive. South Beach was another story .Congrats to you for making Awesome parts for these cars over the years
. Keep up the good work.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 97
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From: Mckinney, Tx
The funny thing David is that it doesn't even cross my mind that my car will have a problem when I travel in it. This includes two separate 1500 mile (in two days) trips to Texas. Mid 11's, A/C, 25-27 mpg, 100 degree heat or 25 degrees and snowing. My BR500 
evo never lets me down. Thanks again for a great package with performance AND reliability.
evo never lets me down. Thanks again for a great package with performance AND reliability.
Originally Posted by davidbuschur
They were very interested in the BR350 package and two of the VP's drove the car and could not believe how great it was!
Mike,
Funny you chimed on this as you and your very long trips were on my mind during the weekend. Mike's car is set-up just about like mine, GT35R though and 1,000 cc injectors. Better mileage than my car, I am guessing he has more retraint than I do too when it comes to jumping on the throttle
dzuest,
After they found out about what the car was (BR350) and what we were doing with them as far as modification and how they were sold they did talk with us about offering them in other places. I offered them a drive in the car in the morning, they seemed interested but did not take me up on it. Later in the afternoon I was very pleased that they came back and asked to take me up on the offer.
urbanDK,
Not sure if you were joking or not but there was definetely none of that going on. The entire Mitsubishi team that was on hand (I'd guess a good 50 workers) were all very helpful and had no desire to do anything but be polite and excited to see everyone show up with their modified cars.
I would rate this day at the Factory Mod event as one of the best times I have this year. We (Buschur Racing) felt very respected being there. I was asked for input on a few things, handed business cards from people that I thought were way to high in the company to want to hear from us again.
Very glad to see something like this event take place.
The DSM guys organized a trip to the factory back when they were building the AWD DSM's there. I am guessing about 10 years ago. They did a factory tour and complained a lot about axles and such breaking They did this during a caravan to the DSM Shootout.
I am told there could be 3 of these event held by Mitsubishi next year. A West Coast, a Factory event and then one on the East Coast.
It is great that we have Mitsubishi's attention. It is something I feel is needed now-a-days. Look at how Scion and Subaru advertise and endorse modifying their products.
VERY good things are on the horizon for us.......in my opinion.
David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com
Funny you chimed on this as you and your very long trips were on my mind during the weekend. Mike's car is set-up just about like mine, GT35R though and 1,000 cc injectors. Better mileage than my car, I am guessing he has more retraint than I do too when it comes to jumping on the throttle
dzuest,
After they found out about what the car was (BR350) and what we were doing with them as far as modification and how they were sold they did talk with us about offering them in other places. I offered them a drive in the car in the morning, they seemed interested but did not take me up on it. Later in the afternoon I was very pleased that they came back and asked to take me up on the offer.
urbanDK,
Not sure if you were joking or not but there was definetely none of that going on. The entire Mitsubishi team that was on hand (I'd guess a good 50 workers) were all very helpful and had no desire to do anything but be polite and excited to see everyone show up with their modified cars.
I would rate this day at the Factory Mod event as one of the best times I have this year. We (Buschur Racing) felt very respected being there. I was asked for input on a few things, handed business cards from people that I thought were way to high in the company to want to hear from us again.
Very glad to see something like this event take place.
The DSM guys organized a trip to the factory back when they were building the AWD DSM's there. I am guessing about 10 years ago. They did a factory tour and complained a lot about axles and such breaking
They did this during a caravan to the DSM Shootout.I am told there could be 3 of these event held by Mitsubishi next year. A West Coast, a Factory event and then one on the East Coast.
It is great that we have Mitsubishi's attention. It is something I feel is needed now-a-days. Look at how Scion and Subaru advertise and endorse modifying their products.
VERY good things are on the horizon for us.......in my opinion.
David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com
Originally Posted by evomojo
The funny thing David is that it doesn't even cross my mind that my car will have a problem when I travel in it. This includes two separate 1500 mile (in two days) trips to Texas. Mid 11's, A/C, 25-27 mpg, 100 degree heat or 25 degrees and snowing. My BR500 evo never lets me down. Thanks again for a great package with performance AND reliability.
evo never lets me down. Thanks again for a great package with performance AND reliability.Keith
Originally Posted by Fourdoor
Same here in my old 03 EVO. 11's on pump gas, full weight, cold AC, 27 mpg, all weather running, GT 35R setup. I drove 1000 mile round trip from my place to yours and back many times with no thought of having any problems. I didn't beat on the transmission, but that engine took 26 psi runs up to 8,000 RPM (stock head w/ HKS 272's) on a daily basis for years with no issues.
Keith
Keith
Congrats on the trip dave.
I cant wait to see what you have on the back burner for the new eclipse, I might pick one of these up as a spare car....
Originally Posted by davidbuschur
I was asked for input on a few things, handed business cards from people that I thought were way to high in the company to want to hear from us again.
On that subject, would it be possible to scavenge the cruise control system from a late 90's Eclipse GST or GSX and put it on the EVO? I don't like the aftermarket options that are available very much.
Keith
