Hello everyone - I’m at the point with my Evo where I’m ready to buy a new built short block. I’m struggling between these 3 options:
MAP - https://www.maperformance.com/products/map-premium-built-2-0l-shortblock-stage-2-2002-2007-mitsubishi-evo-8-9-evo-20mss-s2
English Racing - https://englishracing.net/collections/mitsubishi-evolution-8-9/products/english-racing-mitsubishi-lancer-evolution-8-9-4g63-2-0l-street-600-short-block?variant=31019715011
Buschur - https://buschursllc.com/br-cart/shortblocks/19-buschur-s-evo-89-20l-shortblock.html#/block_core-no_core/crank_core-i_want_a_billet_crank/evo_8_or_9-evo_9/sleeving_service-i_want_the_sleeving_service

Does anyone have any suggestions on which one I should go with? Originally I was set on MAP, but all the good reviews on their sites have a ton of dislikes and people on reddit claim they aren’t in the Evo scene as much as the other two companies. I’m looking to order this in the next or month or two. Any suggestions or helpful insight to steer me in the right direction would be awesome. Thanks!

 

Stay away from MAP unless you want upside down rings and oil consumption.

Definitely go with ER if you want the best.

 

That sucks to hear about MAP cuz I’ve always had such good interactions with them back when I owned my civic. But thank you for the suggestion! I’ve had a couple of other people tell me they are the best option so hearing you say that makes me feel better.

 

English Racing is the OG in the Evo world. One of the best. Never read or heard about anyone having a bad experience with them. They're legit.
Buschurs was really good, sold the business, the new owners had all kinds of issues and problems, Bushers bought the business back and it seems to be doing good now.
I believe that the engine builder at MAP moved onto B&M Performance in the upper midwest.

I see that you're in Florida. You might want to look up AG Autosport as they do a LOT of Evo's in Florida and received a lot of good press for their high HP Evos and tuning.

 

ahh okay so another +1 for ER. Ahh that makes sense if the engine builder from MAP moved because all reviews 2021 and prior had nothing but great things to say about their engine builds.

ah AG austosports is in SoFlo and I’m in north Florida now. I used to live down south, but moved back up north about 4 years ago. Also their most recent review regarding an engine built for this guys evo was pretty bad. Apparently they ****ed up his stuff and weren’t really taking any responsibility for it which kind of makes me nervous.
But I think I am gonna go with ER. Ironically they have the cheapest engine build out of all 3 which is nice.
Have you also heard good things about them servicing cylinder heads? I am thinking of having them build mine and get it ported.

 

If you want to have your cylinder head ported I think HeadGames Motorworks is the go-to.

 

I would just talk to the motor builder on what head to go with. 4 piston does some crazy porting on 4g heads.
I would Say English or RRT for a motor build. I guess RRT has done some good stuff with the Evo platform. . People have still be pretty happy with Dave's Motors now that he is back to owning Buschurs
What i have heard is that MAP got sold to the same people who bough hoonigan and Donut Media. So I think its same name and a warehouse space now under different ownership. They no longer build motors not even sure if they do any builds in the shop.
The motor stuff went to B&M and its like down the street from Map.

 

I haven’t heard of them, but I’ll definitely check them out. Thank you for the suggestion. I just wish I could find a head to buy because I’m trying to keep the current head and stock block as-is, but I’ve searched and searched and can’t seem to find one except for on eBay where the valve pockets are completely scorched or scratched.

 

awesome, thank you for the suggestions! I’ll look more into RRT. Looks like they are rebuilding their website so it’s pretty bare bones right now. I’ll probably give them and ER a call to determine which to go with.
Okay this makes sense. Yea ever since donut got bought out I’ve heard a lot of people left them because new ownership sucks. So this makes sense on why MAP has also gone down too.

I mentioned it in the comment above, but id really like to buy another head so I don’t have to use the current one. Do you have any suggestions on where I could possibly get one that’s in decent shape? I can only find eBay ones from a single guy, but the valve pockets in both are completely ****ed.

 

There is about 1000 facebook groups selling parts find one or 2 and keep an eye out for one. Or talk to RRT or English to see if they have any you could by. They are getting harder and harder to find as they have stopped making them now.

 

2nd Headgames for cylinder heads. Just talk to your builder to see what they recommend.