Working with a tuner here in town, planning the following list as my start into modding my 04 Evo VIII. I want to do this right the first time around and make sure that high quality components are going into the car. Please let me know what you all think.

Forced Performance High pressure Wastegate Actuator
Boost controller (MBC)
Forced Performance 270 plus cams
PTE 680cc injectors
VRS 3" turbo back exhaust
wallbro 255 pump
S-AFC
Slowboy racing FMIC kit
Tein Springs

Advan Racing Model T7 18x9 35mm offset
Tires TBD

Thanks in advance for everyones input. After we get this tuned and I spend some time driving the car and getting used to the change in performance I will continue modifying. Hoping to end with a low 11's high 10's car at some point.

 

Get some nice guages to manage and watch everything but the list looks pretty good to me...Thinking about alky injection at all?

 

for tires get azenis 615s. You wont be dissapointed with them for a street tire.

 

I see a lot of unnecessary items and poor tuning choice, but also you didn't mention namebrands for every part, so I can't be sure you are using the best ones.

- No need for the upgraded WGA
- SAFC is an extremely poor choice, especially when EcuFlash is available for much less while providing more power, more tuning leeway, and tons of features
- Don't need injectors on the stock turbo
- FMIC won't help at all especially on pump gas with the stock turbo
- Tein Springs won't really do much but lower the car and increase ride harshness while slowly killing your shocks
- Haven't heard of nor seen others use the VRS TBE, but it's unlikely that it's a big deal, since most TBEs are pretty equal - just be sure it's 3" without a bunch of resonators
- Haven't heard of anyone using those cams on an Evo, but I do trust FP
- Make sure you get a Forge Unos or Hallman Pro for your MBC (you didn't list a brand)
- I agree that Falken Azeni RT-615s are an excellent tire choice

 

Thanks for the input thus far.

Question for Warrtalon:
Would the WGA, FMIC and Injectors be good to put in if there are plans to upgrade the turbo in the future? Right now, the tuner wants me to get used to the car before just significantly jumping up the performance. Will the WGA, FMIC and larger injectors adversely effect the cars performance if put in without a new turbo?

Thanks for the informaiton on the SAFC and the Tien springs. I'm not really a big fan of AFC's anyways. Who do you recommend for the ECU flash and if I want to lower the ride of the car slightly without damaging the shocks is there another set anyone recommends?

 

Good question, jinos, and I like how your "tuner" wants you to not go crazy and jump from stock to crazy overnight. By "tuner," do you mean someone who is an experienced tuner of Evos, or are you using that word the way most ricer mags use it by meaning someone who modifies cars?

The WGA would not be good at all if you plan to upgrade turbos, because it won't fit your upgraded turbo unless it's a stock-style turbo. Even then, it likely still won't fit, because most stock-style turbo upgrades are IX turbos, which are different than our VIII turbos. The FMIC would likely be a benefit on a larger turbo, but then again you have to make sure it's the right size and fit for whatever turbo you plan on doing. If you do a GT35r, it's going to require a different LICP and then that LICP will need to mate properly to whatever FMIC you get - plus, the FMIC will need to be big enough to serve the flow abilities of whatever turbo you get. Same thing with the injectors - 680s are only one step above stock basically, so if you get a big turbo, you may find yourself having to buy yet ANOTHER set of injectors (880cc or 1000cc).

So, keeping all that in mind and knowing that none of those 3 will be useful with your current setup and list of mods, then I think money could be better spent elsewhere, such as on a ported/coated manifold, ported/coated 10.5 hotside, SS o2 housing, LICP, alky, and a good flash.

If this guy is an actual tuner and is intricately knowledgeable of how to tune Evos using flashing software, then just get the Tactrix flashing cable for $90, then get the free EcuFlash software from openecu.org, then pay $50 to Dynoflash for an e-flash, which will become your base flash from which you begin your tuning. You could start from scratch, but I think it's worth the $50 to get a professional tune that is basically designed for your combo of mods, then you can fine-tune from there as well as re-tune in the future with additional mods. The flash will be useful up to 500-550whp, at which point the stock MAF begins to lose resolution.

I don't recommend doing just springs - go for a good set of coilovers and do it right, imo. If you must do springs, then go with a Robispec setup or something similar.

 

Thanks very much for the information again Warrtalon. I am working with Jake Montgomery of JMTuning. Jake has been tuning DSM's for 14 years and I am excited to have someone with such knowledge in my area. Jake runs a low 10's eagle talon and is sponsored by Forced Performance. I feel that I am in good hands with Jake.

At the same time I always like a second opinion. I have considerable money to spend on the car but would hate to put in throw away components that will only serve a purpose until the next round of modifications start and get sold used.

I too found it refreshing when Jake wanted to hold off on letting me go nutz and spend 25k+ on the car. He felt that I would just wreck the car and myself

The VRS exhaust does seem to be very nice. Here is a link to the TBE info: http://www.diamondstarmotorsport.com/exhaustparts.shtml

Thanks again,
Jon

 

I would have to disagree - that exhaust does not look nice at all, and it's as expensive as a proven BR TBE, so I think you should just start with one of the BR stages and build from there. You won't find many (if any) other Evos running that exhaust and breaking records.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was actually told by several folks at idahostreetracing.com that you in particular would be an excellent source for information. They were right.

I am basically looking for improved performance out of the car while retaining the ability to drive the car daily. The recommendation of JMTuning is that I work on performnace build with the stock Turbo. Would I ever see any benefit from WGA, Injectors and FMIC on a stock turbo?

I was also told by several folks to go with the BR TBE so nice to hear that from another source.

If it's not too much trouble what would you recommend for the optimal performance / reliability build. High quality components of course as I have no constraits financially.

 

Well, look at the link in my sig. The package I designed that is sold by Buschur is exactly what I recommend for the stage 1 mods. Beyond stage 1, I suggest:

- GSC cams (264 or 272) for $450 (FP cams may be good, but I haven't seen any Evos using them yet)
- BR coated SS o2 housing
- BR ported/coated stock manifold
- BR ported/coated 10.5 hotside
- BR LICP
- SMC alky
- Custom Dynoflash (or whomever flash)

All of that on top of the WT/BR stage 1 is good for 360-380whp with around 400wtq on 26psi daily driven with the stock turbo. I have pretty much all those mods except that I don't have the LICP yet. Before cams, I put down 341whp/361wtq, but then I moved to 6000' altitude where my power figures are no longer comparable (much lower due to no air).

At this point, an upgraded FMIC is actually good for me and would be good for you, because when you're pushing 26psi daily, that means you're almost always at the limit of the stock turbo's efficiency, and when you run sustained boost over 20-25 mins like I do when road racing, heatsoak becomes an issue. For a daily driver that isn't road raced or raced at all, the FMIC is more expensive than it's worth. With alky, upgraded injectors are not needed one bit, but if you don't do alky and try to squeeze out every ounce of power from the stock turbo, then you may reach the limit of the stock injectors...or at least YOUR limit of safety on the stock injectors. Generally, though, you don't need them with the stock turbo. The WGA is tough...I actually have a Forge WGA, which is very nice, because I thought it would benefit me while running my 26psi daily with alky, but I really didn't see much, if any, change in the amount of boost sustainment. This is because it's not so much that the stock WGA is weak, but that the stock turbo simply cannot flow enough air to keep up with the engine's flow abilities, so the boost naturally tapers. If you FORCE the boost to stay linear to redline, then it just blows hot air.

 

Yea I'm going to have to agreee that instead of the FMIC take out your crash bar to show more intercooler and buy a lower intercooler pipe or full piping...Water Injection is a good safe method of cooling intake temps and reducing knock, also a good way of cleaning your plugs and combustion chambers. And instead of the SAFC get the ECU Flash as menchened above. a good set of plugs and wires helps to. O and a wideband. try an O2 housing and exhaust manifold...you got a lot of money being saved by not buying all that unnecessay stuff so means mroe to spend..

 

Agree with most of what you said, highly disagree with the FMIC statement. Here is a dyno graph on pump gas changing nothing but the FMIC, both runs same day, just before and after.



Sorry to stick my nose in here, but since he asked specifically about our product, I thought this was fair to point this out.

Mike Huml

 

Dang dynos dont lie...do they!?! a 55hp gain is pretty good...was this done on a stock turbo or aftermarket turbo? Because this graph will explain alot if done on an aftermarket turbo...

 

Dynos can lie, though, because the car is stationary with very little air movement - only fans. FMICs rarely, if ever, provide any significant gains on the stock turbo. I don't think anyone would believe that a car gained 55whp on the stock turbo by just adding an FMIC - that's ludicrous. It would only indicate that the car had a problem previoulsy, such as trying to run mega boost on pump gas and knocking the whole way or something. On that note, by looking at the weaker curve, that is by no means the proper curve for an Evo whether stock or modded. The power peaks at around 5500rpm, then has major knock activity, pulls timing, then trails off the rest of the way. A regular modded Evo should continually climb to 6500-6800 or so, then plateau and fall off a bit towards 7500 - just about like the second curve. Something was wrong with that car on the first run...

 

99% of the EVO VIII's on our dyno will pick up 25-30 AWHP just from switching to our FMIC. This graph above, he had every bolt on mod, and no means of boost or fuel control. We were as surprised as you, but none the less every car on the dyno will make another 25-30 AWHP regardless of modification over the stock FMIC.

The stock FMIC has considerable pressure drop, which in short means by bolting on a well designed FMIC you will pick up 1-2 PSI, hence the huge power gain in this application.

Mike Huml