I am considering trading in my s2000 for an evo 9 when it arrives and I am curious about upgrades. The s2000 becomes difficult to maintain as a daily driver even with the most mild of upgrades. Is the same true of the Evo?

 

I've got the mods listed in my signature and it's daily driven every day without any problems.

 

Any upgrade taken to the extreme can impact the car's "Fun" when driven daily..

The EVO is a bit of an exception since it takes well to mods, HOWEVER there are a few things that will affect drivability and should be taken into account..

1) Standalone Engine management - Avoid it if you don't like making changes frequently (or don't have the time or can't take the time if an adjustment comes up)
2) Large aftermarket Turbos - Don't upgraded to a much larger turbo since it effects spool and transient boost response, daily driving amplifies the inherant deficiencies in big turbos because you'd rarely be in "Big Boost" Usually people interested in reliable daily driving don't upgrade the turbo but add or modify the stock components
3) Big cams - Big cams affect idle, and fuel mileage, obviously if you drive in traffic alot this may be uncomfortable or the engine may just "Load up"
4) Big injectors - Anything larger than 720cc requires may be difficult to work with and you might find it will load up in daily driving (go rich at very low duty cycles)

Also, modifications that alter or remove emission equipment, if you drive the car daily, there are in some states laws restricting these changes (Its actuall against the law to remove or modify the emission control equipment anyway) In most cases the inconvenience of putting things back to "Pass an inspection" or finding someone who understands modifications and can get it to pass for you may not be possible.

With all of that said, basic bolt-ons, ECU Reflash or a Piggyback, etc.. will improve performance (A good set of upgrades can get you well over 300whp without affecting drivability and reliability) And many bolt-ons and a good tune should also improve your fuel mileage at part throttle closed loop (cruise speeds and idle) operation since your increasing fuel efficiency and removing some wastefully rich tuning.

Hope this answers your questions..

The short simple answer is, if you stick to bolt-ons, and get the car tuned, you don't have to sacrifice your daily driving fun and reliability.. As an example, I have a fairly highly modified car, but I haven't taken the valvecover off this engine yet, I drive the car every day with very few problems due to these mods, and I rarely have to retune unless I make an upgrade or choose to retune.

 

^ well said.

You could still drive the car like corolla with a bigger turbo upgrade, it's just that you're going to lag like crazy until you get to a higher RPM. Then again, you need the EMS to reset the RPM level.

 

Mine is daily driven...

 

I started modding shortly after the breakin period. The Evo is my daily driver. It's been over 2 years and I am still adding a few things here and there. No problems and the car is very streetable. Oh, still on stock clutch too.

What I have done so far:

Helix turbo-back w/ test-pipe
PRO1 exhaust manifold
DnP O2 housing
Buschur UICP
Buschur FMIC
Buschur MAF pipe
HKS 272/272 cams
HKS SSQV-BOV
Fidanza cam gears set at -4,-1
680cc injectors
255lph fuel pump
Ralliart 8.5mm plug wires
Profec B Spec EBC set at 22psi
S-AFC
Perrin short shifter
Blitz DCII turbo timer
Tein S-tech springs
EGT, boost and A/F gauges
Engine stabilizer
Mini-battery

 

My .02 is that it's really upto you. We had a 944 turbo that we started modding for a "streetable track car". It was a car that eventually got to the point of being horrible on the road, yet some people loved driving it (on the road...everybody loved it on the track.) So, in short, some people like something closer to a race car on the street, some people prefer a softer ride on the street...so be realistic about what YOU want out of the car, and what you can deal with every day. I agree with what MalibuJack said though, some simple bolt on's, piggyback/flash, and a tune probably won't be too upsetting to most people. After that, well...it's not like it's addictive or something

 

I have everything you listed and my cars driveability is just as good as stock. The only difference is the lag but your driving technique adjusts to it. You guys must have some really incompetant tuners if your cars driveability changes that much.

 

Are you serious?
1. You can't defy the laws of physics ...
2. Very big turbos will produce more lag, given everything else is the same ... (now if you took out all your cats that is a different story)
3. There is only so much a tuner can do ...

 

I am not looking to make an all out track caar, but as I said any changes to the s2000 and it becomes unreliable without constant tweaking. With the Evo I would be looking to rid the car of body roll and add some sound and a slight bump in power.

I was thinking:

Coilovers
Intake
Header
Exhaust
piggyback ecu

Probably make some minor changes inside and out to make it have a more aggressive look.

Thanks for the replys, I look forward to making the change.

 

good plan...go for it

 

Sounds like a good setup, though you probably wont need headers on this car until you upgrade the turbo, boost controller would probably be better and for a hell of alot cheaper. Also a upgraded fuel pump might be a good idea since your doing a piggyback ecu.

You'll definately have a blast with the Evo, and might be surprised how much power you can get with just simple bolt ons. Good luck!