This year I drove my Evo VIII from WA state down to Beeville, TX (2200+ miles) to run in the Oct2012 Texas Mile. It was an adventure to say the least. No matter how much preparation or planning I did to make this '05 EB ready for the trip (full tech inspection, running it down local tracks for shake downs, etc), things can just happen

The biggest part to this story is how I had some really great support out there from vendors you've heard about or already know. Without the help from these great people, the car would have had to be trailered back, rather than it being driven there and back. I fully believe recognition is in order to these great shops for all their help, and my many thanks

First qualifying run down the Texas Mile (have to do a controlled pass greater than 140mph and less than 165mph to move up in speed and get your B license allowing you to do up to 190mph) and the car hit 139mph at the 1/2mile but at cruising at 150 the rest of the way it started to knock.
Well one of the turbine exhaust housing bolts backed all the way out and blew the gasket. Was going to just replace the gasket and bolt, however the second bolt didn't want to back out at all - going a half turn loose and half turn tight (the two studs held together fine). With the fear of it snapping and not a machine shop in sight I was able to limp it 90 minutes northwest to JMS Racing .

This is where I met Jorge, a guy they call "The Bear"(can't remember his first name), and the rest of the crew who were prepping to go to a local track and do some drag racing. These guys stopped to talk, lend a HUGE hand in pulling the stuck bolt out (without snapping it) and replacing the two bolts and gasket to get me back out on the Mile. Without them, the Texas Mile would have come to a very abrupt end for me and the EB.
Even got to take a quick ride in Jorge's daily driven beast of a 9 sec Evo.

From there it was back to the Mile - I pumped out 139mph at the half and a fun 165.1mph at the mile!! Car felt really solid at that speed and was still pushing more speed.
Got to see a white 1g DSM run by Casey and Luke do 195mph and a Ford GT push out 263mph!!

On the drive back home the car began to stutter and stumble intermittently going full rich during cruise. After watching the logs, it appeared that the TPS (throttle position sensor) was really acting up by showing 100% load at a part throttle. The computer finally threw a TPS range sensor light while driving to El Paso TX. The nearest place to even find a TPS quickly enough was going to be in AZ.
So with fingers crossed and a bit of luck on my side I limped it up 6+ hours to Vivid Racing where I met with Heath and Arsha.
Purchased the new TPS - and thought I had the problem nipped in the bud as the old TPS, when rotated, felt like an internal spring was popping or letting go vs the new one was as smooth as butter.
Big thanks to both of them and Vivid Racing for getting the part so quickly and helping me out in a time of great need!!

As I stated above, I thought I found the issue - well sure enough the car continued to go pig rich and sometimes at idle super lean. However now that the TPS sensor was changed, it appeared to not do it quite as often. That however could be just a fluke.
Talked with Aaron at English Racing who has been my go to, one of the best tuners in the PNW, and a good friend. I gave him all the info I could about the car and what it was doing. Arron came to the conclusion that, as rare as it is, my Omni 4bar map sensor could be going out.
So once again, fingers crossed I was able to limp it up to Camas WA and swap out the old one with a new one.
Aaron hooked up the laptop and verified everything was looking good and the car was running again like it should.
Bonus - got to talk with Aaron on Automatic Evo's and other fun toys they are screwing with (good times when I get to chat with him about all the cool stuff). English Racing and the guys there are a wealth of knowledge and worth the drive if you were ever contemplating a tuner and shop.

All three vendors mentioned here are definitely places I will spend money with again and I wanted people to know that they have my many thanks for all their help and found a customer for life!!

Thanks again to JMS Racing, Vivid Racing and English Racing!!!

FP HTAGreen
FP 4r cams
Typical bolt-ons
SD tune by Aaron @ English

 

Nice to see an Evo participating in the Texas mile!

More so a mildly modified one like yours.


BTW, anybody know what the Evo record is?

 

Sounds like alot of fun and your car looks sick

 

Quality aftermarket support FTW!

 

got any video of your mile run?

 

lol three problems on a road trip... ugh not sure if it was a good idea that i bought an evo to specifically do road trips with... Figured i wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel because it would be engaging to drive. However this sounds more like its the fear of breaking down that will keep me fully awake on long trips :O

 

On Texasmile site there was a record from a EvoII at 200mph.

Then the AMS EvoVIII ran 228mph but didn't survive the run so I'm guessing it isn't fully official?? Or at least nothing I found out on TexasMile.net or their 200+ mile club.

 

I did get some video - need to put it together though. I'll post here when I get it up.

 

All the prep work I did would typically help in avoiding this. However, anytime you start to change the car more over the stock setting, you'll run into issues from time to time no matter the prep.

Although - pushing it on the TexasMile will show it's weak points, again modified adds a little more to it. You just correct them and push on.
As for using it on a road trip - what a blast!! Fun heading up to the top of Pikes Peak
Great vehicle for as road trip. GF usually gets uncomfortable in long trip and she said she was surprisingly more comfortable than she would have thought.

 

Thanks on the comment.
It was a great trip - even visited a few Man vs Food places on the trip