Hey Guys,

Just purchased my first evo. It's a 15k mile, 1 owner, 2006 MR in GG. Some pics below. I honestly am so thrilled. I originally bought this with the plans to restore it to bone stock and essentially preserve it forever. After driving it, and based on my personal philosophy of cars this good meant to be driven, I am going to really dive into this project and make it something unique and special. I will be using this thread mostly for me, but figured it would be a cool place to share progress. I have a lot of work ahead of me. The car already has cams, injectors, intake, modest tune, cat delete, and hks exhaust (so basically a stock evo ). The engine was really healthy and the car although slightly modified was very, very clean. The guys @ VersionEX Auto and VX Motor Sales in Eugene Oregon are awesome and have a lot of cool stuff coming in and out of there. I flew up from south Florida after finding it online and they were extremely cool guys. Before we loaded it up for shipment, we did put a drug dealer 5% tint all around and 70% windshield tint on it. It's not my personal preference but I am not going to risk it in south Florida sun. I just want to protect the interior.

Parts already purchased from some GREAT guys at JD Customs:

• ETS Intercooler
• ETS Titanium (Short route IC piping)
• BSF Titanium intake
• Tial BOV (We'll be going speed density)
• JDC titanium radiator brackets
• Cusco front strut bar
• Cusco front power brace
• Small battery + JDC titanium bracket
• JDC Carbon / alcantara steering wheel
• Bunch of JDC titanium caps and reservoirs, hood prop, sensor heat shields etc
• JM Fab twin scroll manifold
• Rexspeed carbon ebrake handle
• Rexspeed spoiler flap
• Rexspeed carbon cooling plate
• Rexspeed carbon front lip
• Rexspeed side skirt extensions
• Mishimoto engine oil cooler + lines
• Mishimoto radiator
• Mishimoto radiator fan
• Mishimoto silicon hose kit
• Extended o2 sensor
• Ohlins coilovers
• A ton of OEM replacement parts (window trim, wiper covers, filters, fluids, plastic panels, etc etc etc)

These parts are not random. I know they don't make a ton of sense without getting into the clutch, internals, etc but that will come. These parts (in my opinion) were parts showing wear already that I want to replace when I take down the engine bay to aggressively clean and refresh it. This will not be a 600hp build car (as much as I want it to be), however we will have some fun. I just want to be cautious as I start to uncover the history of the car.

I also went ahead and purchased some enkei rs05rr wheels in gunmetal. 18 x 9.5 +22 on 255/35/18 PSS's. I don't know how I feel about these but I needed something to run after the suspension is installed. I am working on some really special wheels that will be a surprise. You evo guys have a crazy fitment game. I want to dial something in thats less poke and probably a little more chill / practical. We'll see what comes of that. I also attached my interior plans- red = leather, blue = alcantara. I am also considering a 100% alcantara option but we'll see. My thought is a dark grey with a light grey deviated stitching that will match my Ferrari 458. Have no decided on seats yet- that will probably come when I pull the trigger on the interior. There's a 90+ percent chance I go with some recaro sportsters in leather / alcantara to match what I do on the trim. I also may pull the trigger on the JDM rear bumper but want to wait a bit and see how I like this with the sideskirt extensions and US rear.

Anyway, I had it shipped here last week when I was out there. It should be down to me in South Florida hopefully by Thursday and the madness will begin. I was told to reach out to performance destination for a base map after this all goes on but if you all have any good recommendations for tuners (either in south Florida or remote), I would greatly appreciate it.

Let's do this.

 

We're so excited to see this build come to life. You've got a super clean Evo to start out with and it's going to look amazing with all these new parts you're adding. We look forward to working with you through the entire build!

 

When I read time capsule I got excited thinking it was a car that was going to be full of mods from the 2000s
(Piggyback, grounding kit, etc)

 

Thanks a million boys. The support (even thus far) from you has been incredible and I cannot wait to dive in.

 

If you don't think this is going to have underglow you're wrong.

 

I also don't know the forum rules so I apologize, but I will have more daily updates on IG @FatPanda21

 

Mods will plop this into the build section and you really should update it for us olds who think a "gram" is for Friday night dodgy decisions!
Also
DAYUM!

 

 

Great find, congrats Leave interior stock

 

Thanks, much love!

 

Excited to see more on this gorgeous car. The parts your ordered are good start to the build and JDC has amazing service for our cars, might I also recommend STM. Will you be going with a jdm evo 9 rear bumper? I too have a huge cart of OEM parts on the way before more things get discontinued.

Also as for the interior, there was an evo ix I seen listed awhile back that had a similar thing done and turned out looking amazing, however given how unmolested yours is Id probably enjoy the plastic interior of 90s/2000s Japanese tuner cars. Its lightweight, not really an eyesore and a part of the "time capsule" experience imo, though it would also be really cool to see the upgraded materials. Either way il be subbed to watch more updates.

 

Sounds like you are headed towards the OEM+ design style. You won't regret it. If you want to stick with a very capable , but OEM turbo, the MHI TF06-18k is good to 500hp on E85. For more than 520hp, but less than 600hp, go with an FP Green or FP Red turbo with MHI housing. They will bolt up to the stock location with no other changes but an oil feed line.

For the interior, I feel like you might appreciate converting to the JDM climate control system. It looks more upscale and refined.

 

Heard that on JDC. I got really lucky with them. Some of the nicest guys I have come across in any car community and they have been extremely helpful and thoughtful throughout the process thus far. I like what you said about enjoying the plastic. That is my big concern, making this car something it isn't. I really want to improve the interior but may start with just replacing the OEM stuff thats scuffed / not perfect and go from there. Appreciate the advice there! Cheers.

Spot on. Funny you say this because I was just going over all the turbo options and it's a bit overwhelming. The one thing I DON'T want to make this car, is an unreliable project car. I get that modding any car will hurt reliability as we know it, but I just want a car I can hop in and drive whenever I want without worrying what hose popped off and how much pain I'm putting the engine through. I will absolutely look into that turbo option. From my little research it looks like this car can be extremely reliable around 400-450WHP and then things start to get interesting. That will be my goal. The ONE thing I really want to dive into with this car is throttle response and torque. Those two things (for me) really create the best imaginable driving experience, and the throttle response on this car (or at least the one I bought) seems to be very bad. I don't know if this is standard, or If I got way too used to my Ferrari / Porsche throttle response, but I really want to explore all possible ways to improve that. My guess would be a smaller, faster spooling turbo, potentially a larger throttle body, and a proper tune and go from there. I know slapping a gigantic throttle body won't solve anything so I haven't touched that yet. We did add a fuel system from JDC, new spark plugs, I will change every fluid in the car, and get all these parts on and see if that helps, then go from there.

Interesting about the JDM climate control, looking into it now.

Truly appreciate your feedback!!

 

You should have the least laggy CT9A as you have a IX with Mivec. There's only so much you can do with a low compression 2.0L displacement motor off boost. Do you have access to E85? While Pal215 gave you very good turbo recommendations if you're thinking of sticking in the 400-450whp range you should also look at the FP HTA71 super core. Also, you mentioned a lot of mods it has but does it still have the factory O2 housing?

 

Not that these turbocharged 2 liter's are known for neck-snapping response, but check if your throttle cable has a lot of slack in it. Mine was pretty bad and when I was done tightening it up all the way at the throttle body the pedal didn't reach the stock plastic stopper lol. I have since replaced the stock stopper with a basic 3D printed one and it works very well.