I just got back from my little week vacation to Sarasota, FL, from Houston, TX. Driving in the Evo was a blast and it felt so safe and stable, cruising mainly around 85mph. It was hard to maintain that speed, since I would drift into 95's easily. I drove non-stop (except for gas and eating) 1100 miles each way. It's really comfortable in the Evo, I didn't have back problems or rough rides at all, even though my tires were inflated more than normal for the trip to prolong tire life.

Gas mileage for cruising around 85mph, with occasional blasts to 100mph hovered around 23-24mpg, with A/C on the whole time. I did take it up to 130mph once, and it felt as stable as going 50mph!




Here's my front end from start. Notice how clean it is .






I drove there mainly during the night, but was attacked by bugs and large dragonflies. Here's a funny video clip of my front bumper with a screen that I custom fabricated to protect my intercooler. The screen blocked well over 95% of the bugs that smashed into it. Only their guts managed to seep through at speed. No intercooler fins were dent at all, which was the main purpose.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZmQzMXk1NDE%3D




On the way back, I ran over an armadillo, which I really couldn't avoid, going that fast, and with our HID's pointed so shortly in the night. It broke off the right side of my bumper, but I snapped it back on. It's still slightly off-aligned in some areas and is missing a plastic screw from underneath, on the plastic covers. My bra (which I highly recommend on very long trips) took all of the abrasive hit, but left a few scratches when the clips broke off. I'm damn glad that armadillo felt the wrath of my 3000lbs+ beast, as it got smoked by two tires.






I also raced a cop ! I was cruising 85mph on the fast lane when all of a sudden, headlights came speeding up on my tail and kept tailgating me. I was like "oh hell no," so I floored it and pulled away from him til I hit 115. Tired of the race, I changed lanes and slowed down to look at who was trying me. When I saw ornaments on the top of my opponent, I nearly ****ted my pants as he pulled a ricer flyby .




Here's the aftermath of a one-way 1100mile trip:






Here's the aftermath of the armadillo's thick shell nailing my bumper, fixed up as much as I could. What do you think I should do about this? Is it an easy fix at a body shop? I am so pissed off at the armadillo!

 

sad to see a evo end up like that.....

 

i hate road kill... i've hit 2 birds and a squirel with my evo so far, no damage...

 

hope to get my evo soon and do a lil road trip

 

How did you get the screen in there? My Evo has a few bent fins in the intercooler from rocks and I have been looking for a way to protect it.

 

Here's the link of me thinking about putting the screen over the intercooler:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=35234

Apparently, it did no harm, no heating issues, nothing. In fact, I'm gonna cut some more of these disposable screens and use them on any semi-long trips. I used window screen that I bought at Home Depot, but I had to buy a whole roll of it. Then I used grocery tie wraps to secure them in place.

 

Thanks

 

Looking forward to an installation guide!

 

Sorry to hear that, Where abouts did the dillo get cha, or you get it?

 

did the cop pull you over? sorry to hear about the bumber. i just had to get a new rear bumber and right tail light because of a dodge durrango.

 

Wait a minute....let me make sure i understand you right...the cop watched you go from 85 to 115 and didn't pull you over? That's some good cop!

 

Haha, yep! I was spared one that night .

 

I was somewhere in Louisiana at the time. The "dillo" was in the middle of the fast lane, more towards the right side, staring stupidly at me a split second before it was compressed. I tried to swerve to the left to avoid it, but I didn't wanna swerve out of control just for a rodent. I guess it was better hit on my right than the middle of the bumper, where it probably woulda just cracked in half.

I'll make few more screens in the next few days and write a 'how to' with some measurements, the easiest way possible.

 

So does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do with the misaligned panels?