leave it stock until you're not excited to drive it in the morning... then mod it.

 

I say you make the decision either to keep the warranty, or not. You mentioned you will auto-x it. If MNA finds out, there goes your warranty. If you search warranty, you will find the thread about the mom who told the dealer she would auto-x. They found out, and voided her son's warranty without her even going in.So if your going to race it, then sounds to me like you should mod it and get more fun out of it. Also you bought it used, maybe wait alittle bit and sees if there are any gremlins you dont know about! I'm staying stock for a while for this very reason, plus i got a baby on the way.

 

Mod it !

 

Keep it stock, that's best!! If you want some nice power, go with the XEDE and perhaps change the BOV with the aluminum JDM unit which seems to work better than the stock plastic one. Those 2 mods will give you around 250 whp on a DD dyno... That's not shabby, you'll be pleased

Unless you are prepared to deal with a noisy, droning car, stay away from any 3" open exhaust. It's possible that there is one out there that's quieter than most, but I've heard a ton of them and they are all loud... Definitely too loud for me. I had a cat back in my '05 MR and I took it off and put it back to stock. I could not be happier

If you want a lot more power and a very race car-like ride, by all means modify it to your heart's content but be aware that there are serious trade-offs in driveability, warranty and cost when you start modifying your car. I've been there and done that. Don't let anybody bullshirt you into thinking otherwise

 

Total BS, there are probably no more than a small number of drivers who can drive the stock EVO to it's full potential. I'd say maybe 1% of all the EVO owners can drive their car anywhere near 10/10s

 

That's why I said "in my opinion" , but you can keep yours stock all you want.

 

I think you both are right. You are just saying different things. It is true that the true potential of the Evo cannot be realized without mods. It has TONS OF POWER waiting to be unleashed with incredible ease and minimal cost.

Likewise, 99% of Evo owners can't maximize the STOCK potential of the Evo due to lack of skill, myself being one of them. I learned this the hard way when I went to autocross for the first time earlier this year. I had no clue what I was doing or how to get the most out of my Evo, but I kept working at it, and probably got to about the 8/10ths mark by the end of the season. This is when I took it out to the road course and went buck wild. In both venues, I had stock suspension, but did use R-compounds. I still contend that I have not become skilled enough to MAXIMIZE the abilities of the stock suspension, and it is my opinion that most other Evo owners are in the same boat, whether they know it yet or not.

 

Keep it stock until you feel it is getting slow. I traded in my 03' that was 100% stock, with only 8200 miles. When I drove it, it always felt fast enough.

 

My 05 is stock and I love it. It's my DD and it has never given me any problems stock and it's plenty fast from the factory to get in all sorts of trouble on the streets. I also never worry about my aftermarket parts causing problems when i go back to the dealer.

 

dsldsl25 - Congrats on the purchase. Nice to see more people form MN on these boards. By the way, what dealer did you get it from? Kline or Metro by chance?

 

Mod it for sure, just keep your stock parts and reinstall them before you sell if you must.

 

I'm not so sure about that.... I don't think any mail order flash is a cheap reliablke way to get 20 whp.... I've never seen a flashed car without any other mods (like a MBC & exhaust) make 20 whp more than stock on a DD dyno.....

I imagine a tuner with the right software and a dyno can tune the car very well with a "flash". After all, it's being tuned specifically for that particular car. OTOH, a piggy back can be likewise tuned and if you need to go back to stock, you can do it in a matter of minutes.... The flash must be sent back or taken back to the tuner to return it back to stock.......

I put a cat back exhaust and an XEDE in my car and it was a "terror" and much too fast for the city streets of Atlanta... I also took the damned exhaust back off the car and now it is much more pleasant to drive. And guess what.. It's still a terror and way too fast for the streets

 

THis is actualy really good advice. After driving aound to break in my MR I finally hit the gas. WHOA!!! Holy Moley. This thing is silly. Then a few weeks later on, I'm like 4th gear blows. So now I drive around with 300 whp. And now, 4th gear feels slow again. Time for cams

 

I go along with this advice. Also, if/when you decide to mod, why dont you just get the basic TBE/MBC/filter/tune and see how you like it? Worse comes to worse and you dont like what you did, you can easily take all of that off and turn your car back to stock and sell the parts you bought for a tiny loss. A small price to pay IMO for finding out good information about what you like and don't like about your car.

 

I go along with leaving it stock for a while at least until you know for sure that you "need" to modify it... However, I don't think that TBE/MBC/TUNE/filter are either cheap or easily undone. The tune is definitely money down the tubes if you don't like it, the MBC/TBE are not exactly cheap either. I had all those and lots more stuff and ended up losing a lot of the money I spent on them...... Oh yeah, I don't see a need to replace the filter until it's time to do it & also I'd keep it stock too. IMHO, the K&N and other filters like that are a total waste of money