Modification Regrets?
 

anyone put something on their car and wished they would've gotten a different brand,part, or just straight out never did the modification in the end?

for me it would be my clutch, i have really bad lock-out past 6500rpms and no matter what i cant change it. i wish i would have got a Exedy Twin disc instead. sad thing is i had the money at the time too... i dont know why i went with ACT:(
when i get my built trans, i will not hesitate to put a twin disc in. live and learn i guess

Actually the ONLY part that I had a regret about was the clutch too. And now, I do have an Exedy Twin and love it :)

No regrets with the Evo yet, although I did hate my GM BCS for a while before finally getting it all sorted out.

With my DSM I regretted the full set of poly Prothane motor-mounts and crappy GroundControl coilovers. With my S2000 I regretted getting the 4.57 rear end since the gears were so noisy (I should have done the quieter 4.57R or 4.56 gears).

lets keep em coming guys
this will help out the new guys so they get the right stuff the first time too{thumbup}

I bought my car with a ton of mods on it (don't recommend it, but I got a super deal), and I have spent most of the time de-modding it. I have ripped out an electronic boost controller, re patched all the wires from the alarm that was put in, replaced the generic large FMIC with a stealth Perrin FMIC, got rid of the TurboXS exhaust.

I definitely do not recommend the turboXS exhaust to ANYONE. It is way too loud.

On that same note, It also has a turboXS blow off valve (vta). I absolutely hate this blow off valve. It is so loud. I look like a ricer and I drive an Evo ffs. If you're looking for a VTA blow off valve that is loud enough to wake the dead, TurboXS is your beast. Personally I'm going to the MR Diverter valve. I drove in an MR with one at English Racing, so much more sexy.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with what else is on there.

Btw, when i had my transfer case and transmission rebuilt by English Racing, I put an OEM clutch in, instead of the ACT that was in it. So much smoother and funner to drive.

i wish i hade enough money for an exedy twin but i went with the act and now regret not waiting

the only thing i regret is buying a modded evo...now my car wasnt heavily modded but i spent the first 2 months getting the thing running right. i replaced upper intercoolr first because it was leaking. i went with ets and i love it. hated the forge BOV that was on it so i went with a IX MR and i love it except the semi stalling issue (hopeing it will go away with a tune) then i still had a fluttering issue and i put on a forge WGA and that finally did the trick. i just put on a ams licp and have no complaints with that either. now i just have to get this thing tuned bc it had a walboro 255 and it was flashed before i got it but its in need of a tune bad im getting horrible gas mileage and people cant drive behind me because its like raw fuel coming out of my exhaust haha but im doing hks 280s, head studs, head gasket, kevlar timing belt, waterpump and all assoc. pulleys and tensioners, and a ix turbo with tubular manifold. hopefully that stuff will be in next week so i can go get a tune and finally have this thing running good. so yea if i could do it again id buy a stocker

adjust your clutch pedal and get underhood shifter bushing that combo will help big time

i tried it all dude
i had the buschur shifter bushings and it just made it all worse
moving the pedal doesnt help either

How many miles are on the clutch? Is it possible you didn't break-in / seat the clutch correctly? I usually drive really nice to my car for the first 200 miles. I blue glazed a fresh flywheel on my ranger with 300 miles on the clutch.

the clutch has about 15k on it...
was driven very easy for the first 600 miles
lets not get off topic, i didnt make this thread to talk about my clutch. as long as i shift around 6500 im fine anyway.

If I could start over again, My first mod would be a 35r turbo kit.

I'm new to Evos, but I've been around race cars all the time. I've seen the same clutch in one car working perfect, work like crap in another. Sometimes its about the installation of it. A mechanic can get careless and not install it correctly and it will run like crap.

No regrets Joe

i always do thorough research before purchasing :D

keep em coming guys this is a good thread! Interesting

i installed the clutch myself, everything was perfect and i never get careless on my car... how many ways can you install a clutch anyway?

but again, this topic isnt about my clutch

I like all the mods I currently have now. But the money I spent, I could've gotten a 35r kit first and be faster.

btw. I love my exedy twin disk. =D

Does exhaust count? I've had my ets 3.5in exhaust on the car for a week now and I'm in love with it. Definitely the best exhaust for the evo imo. Unfortunately, its going to be for sale soon because loud exhaust + evo = cops {thumbdwn}

Catback. Replaced mine 3x. I want quiet yet free flowing w/ no drone.
Now I am extra careful before buying any part(s) Do ton of research before spending my hard earned dough.
I now wait longer not to purchase first. I wait until the hype flame burns down or be on the look out for a better part.
I keep telling myself don't be a cheap ass! Purchase the right parts new or use only once.

I sorta regret getting the FP Green. I just feel I could have saved some money by going with a IX turbo. I know the Green pulls a bit harder up top where as the IX turbo falls off, but I really don't race and even though I'm getting into it I feel that the Greens a bit laggier than the IX and the IX turbo may have helped more in autox.

Also I would have been able to get cam gears which I wish I had to help get some torque. For now I'm going to hold off on selling the green and get some cam gears and see what happens.

regret greddy ti-c... only because all the "stainless steel" piping besides the titanium muffler is now rusting like the end of the world and i'll need to replace the entire exhaust shortly if i don't sand it all down and paint it. horrible.

I regret going with a big turbo. Car pulls like crazy once it hits, but its no fun on the street and I dont even attempt to compete in auto-x. To make it even worse, the only dragstrip in Maine is an 1/8 mile.

Next regret is Seibon CF!

well i'd have to say my buddy club racing spec coilovers. the pillow mount bearings went bad after a few months of them being on the car, now anytime the suspension moves, turns or you look at it too hard it makes horribly loud popping/creaking noises. there's no way to make it stop other than to just buy new suspension...again. another shortcoming is the fact that there is no bracket for the brake line so you kinda just have to rig it up somehow. well i had a nasty incident on the highway at about 90mph after one of the brake lines wiggled itself loose and came in contact with the wheel. result? ruptured brake line at 90mph when an 18 wheeler cut me off. not exactly the best time to have the pedal go all the way to the floor with no prior warning. i switched lanes to give myself a little more room, but the traffic was slower, downshifted twice, grabbed the e-brake, and slowed the car down to the speed of the truck in front of me. i had to drive like that for about 5 miles till the closest exit, then get the car towed back home, then wait 2 days for another brake line to come in....yeah

next mod i regret: SEIBON CARBON FIBER TRASH!!!!! i bought a seibon carbon hood and trunk. the hood was okay, but the mesh was horrible. painted that black...no problems...but they were coming... as for the trunk, it NEVER fit the way it was supposed to. it was only slightly off in the beginning so i left it, but then it slowly got worse and worse and warped, and got to the point to where it wouldn't close properly, and everytime i would close it, it would hit my rear bumper and knock paint off of it. i sent pics to Seibon and they basically told me to go to Hell. yeah, **** YOU SEIBON. well i got rid of that crap in favor of a Chargespeed unit. back to the hood.....well the hood turned green/yellow after about 3 months, then the clear coat went to total ****. hazy, white, and yellow. well i had it sanded and recleared...it's shinier now, but still yellowish. the only reason i didn't replace it is because i took a job where i was going to be doing a lot of highway driving, and i didn't want to mess up a good Chargespeed hood. now that i've moved closer to my job and the 170 mile (one way) commute is over, i'll be investing in a Chargespeed.

My #1 single biggest regret? the Exedy stage 1 clutch.... words can not describe how much i hate this thing. it's made my car a total pain in the ass to drive. the engagement is not only too high, but it's made worse by the fact that i had to adjust the clutch pedal, so now it's even harder for me to come off the clutch (i'm 6'4", long legs and big feet and now the clutch is even closer to me than before) and i get locked out of every gear at or above 7k. i can not shift at or past redline in any gear. i really don't even like driving the car sometimes. i should have just put another stock clutch back in the car, which is what i plan to do. i'm just going to rip that POS out, burn it, then dance on it's ashes, and put a stock clutch back in. i got 70k+ out of the stocker, and i'm a better driver now than i was then, so i should get even more life out of another stocker. just thinking about how that clutch has ruined many driving experiences since i put it in is pissing me off.

So Im guessing you don't like the exedy stage 1 clutch huh???

THe one regret i have about my EVO is getting a generic FMIC. The fitment sucks ass and its not completely bolted on. I should have gotten the 3'' ETS intercooler. I'm saving up for the ETS FMIC.

I'm lucky because I have met some good people on this board which pointed me in the right direction.

Im very new to the evo world but have been around them for a long long time. I learnt thru others regrets. Mods i have are very basic i.e BR Intake, BR MBC, JDM BOV, Megan Racing Cat back with Ultimate racing test pipes. Just got my self some HAWK HPS pads and Im yet to regret.

and as EVOSSL said it.. "I keep telling myself don't be a cheap ass! Purchase the right parts new or use only once."

Very interesting thread! {thumbsup}

yeah... never enough ...

so seriously:

-ACT clutch , after i replaced with Exedy twin , the difference is not even funny.

-Weapon-R oil catch can. Cusco worked waaay better for me.

-Also i learned a hard way , the performance numbers are just as important as a product weight. Example XSEngeneering FMIC is a Godzilla. SO Might a little less HP number FMIC with waaay less weight is a better choice.

-Grounding system, i don't even want to get into it.

-Battery relocation kit from summit racing / i should have know it better/

- Greddy RS, Agency power BOV, The APS is much more better, /the best for me so far/

- buying stereo system for the Evo.

- intake set up. for the 4G63 i find the best for me on road race is a following:
Apex'i intake box with feeding tubes, HKS RS induction pipe, Apex'i power intake cone. And you dont wanna know how i got there. :)

wow sounds like you got a lot of regrets man^^

wanna go into detail a little bit on them?

i probably do it longer then some guys, and i like to find the best ones for me and the car /not just whp ,reliability and smooth running engine too/ , and i'm not really happy with the "better one". :)

What are you interesting most about my regrets?

what was wrong with your ACT?

The majority of ACT clutch users that experience lock-out, installed the clutch themselves....

i dont wanna hear that crap
i had 2 ASE Master Techs. help me with the installation.

tell me how many ways there are to install a clutch so you dont get lock-out

no regrets as of yet. I try and do as much research as possible before purchasing any products

i regret not having more money to feed my modification addiction....

seriously though, i should have done more research and got an exedy twin plate....

To be quite honest, the only reason I'm driving a X right now is because of an avalanche that started when I upgraded my VIII's tranny and tcase. I also went with an ACT clutch at the time and regretted the whole job. A nightmare and many trips to the shop later, I ditched the VIII. I was very sad at the time, but no one could solve my problem. I'm now happy with my X so it's all good.

seems the general way to go is get the exedy twin, so +1 for that. I dont have any regrets, but as someone mentioned earlier, I also have the Turbo XS exhaust and its quite loud and can get on your nerves on any long drive.

seems like everyone regrets their ACT clutches...

Get an engine damper they are only like 160 and I'm almost 100% certain this WILL stop the high RPM lockout. Alot of people think its just the clutch when in most cases the motors forward and backward movement interferes with the ability to shift especially at high RPM's..

I dont hate my ACT. Ive had it for about 10k now, I rev to 8k and havent had one issue!

Glad to see someone else was able to get their ACT installed correctly.

+1 for another person not jumping on the Exedy bandwagon.

Its really not a matter of poor installation. I'm telling you guys the motor mounts have too much movement in them and a engine damper will solve it..


My biggest mistake is I went with a HKS Carbon-ti and turbo-xs downpipe. I wish I would have gone with the Buschur Bullet TBE. Could have saved myself some money and would have been much happier.:crap:

performance wise i cant really complain about any of the parts i've had.. but NEVER EVER get a bodykit or front bumper made from fiberglass... they are just a pain in the ass to drive around wit if especially if you daily your evo

Why are they a pain to drive with?

tell me how you install it incorrectly

probably cause its low and scrapes/ hits things in the road

About 2 weeks ago i just rebuilt my Gf's 06 Ix with all new Synchros, and one gear due to a missing tooth. WHile it was down installed the ACT Extreme CLutch Kit with ACT Prolite FLywheel. I have no problems, and the car drives amazingly well.
here's some pix of the job done at my shop.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00327-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00328-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00329-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00330-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00331-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00334.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00335.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00336.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00337.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00338.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00339.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00340.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...X/DSC00341.jpg

Mine would be the exedy twin plate. I hate this clutch and would love to put my ACT street disc. back in. Can't get into first gear sometimes, coming out of 2nd,3rd,and 4th gear sometimes I have to force it out of gear. The car stutters when I'm on the hill trying to take off. So many problems by far the worse $1400+ labor I have ever spent.

I regret doing mods! Between the car payment and mods it made me stop going to college and work full time. So now I'm selling the mods that I never got around to putting on so i can pay my debts off and go back to college :)

^^ I'm glad I went to college first, and waited until I had a great job to start getting into performance cars!

^^ i hear that. Im kinda lucky that the fam Biz is Auto Shops...so FREE LABOR!!!

all mods/fabrications are done by me and my crew.

I love my ACT because I don't get lockout. I also installed it myself. I have also loved it when I drove other peoples Evo that complained about it and show them it's not the car. (And don't take that any farther than that. I don't wanna argue.)

I regretted the Injen pipe set-up. Not because it doesn't work, but because it never worked the way I wanted it to. Injen FMIC relies on having the stock pipes to hold the FMIC in place, but when you replace the pipes, the only thing that holes the FMIC in place is the top mount, and the *gasp* undertray. Yep, I said the undertray.

All other modifications I mostly do myself, or find the closest to what I want, then modify it into exactly what I want it to be. All of the other times, I just make it myself. So far I have made my own Harness Bar, Suspension End Links, Built my own custom motor set-up, All my own porting (Including head porting), ground wire kit, undertray modifications, UICPing, Mini Battery, tuning etc.... And the list goes on and on. Anyone that knows me will tell you I am always fu(kin with stuff. It really suck sometimes because nothing is ever "good enough" for me.

The only thing that really pissed me off from day one till I got rid of it two years later is the Injen pipework. Argh. Finally just made my own.

lol......................

Why is that something laugh at? :confused:

Not a mod, but I regret going to a shop other than AMS to have my downpipe and Tru Boost installed. Took over three hours to install them and then the car didn't put down all that much at AMS after I had them flash the car. I think there might be a leak or something.

I just regret buying the HKS 264 Camshaft but not really regret putting it in yet. Maybe in the future, I'll just buy the 272 and reinstall it.

Ecutek...

it is a same as the Exedy single. Hard on your feet and not as smooth as a Exedy twin.
The Exedy is much more user friendly and drive train friendly.
And i would leave it this way :)

nope they dont. Actually my weapon-R dumper is broke at the welding :) another regret :)

no regrets on buying my car modded, but my regret to date is when my wife backed into my car i had the nose of my 8 cut out and now it is drooping on one side. i wish i would have just made them pay for a new bumper but live and learn.

by the way i have an act clutch and gruppe-s flywheel. 250 for break in i don't have lock out but when the car is cold sometimes i get a slight grind 1-2 shift. just need to adjust the pedal up and should take care of it.


STevo

i think we should leave the ACT vs Exedy debate. In that matter any debate.
It is a good thread and informative.
I can learn and so others a lot from it , if we dont go for debates.
Thanks Rob

+1.. good point. There are plenty of threads on act vs exedy. This is not one of them.

This isnt to the clutch response..


But i told u the 3.5 was gonna be LOUD!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

:beer:

I know :lol: I love it ETS FTW :beer:

read my posts and you will figure it out.

All you've posted in this thread is "LOL..................."

yea i tried saying that earlier, this isnt a debate thread...

keep em coming guys

Are there any interior mods you guys regret? Maybe getting that shiny carbon fiber? Maybe a shift knob?

I know I don't like my Greddy shift knob. It feels good and all, but it scratches easily and burns the F*** out of your hand in the summer.

ACT XX lock me out anything over 4000 rpm in 4th & 5th, it drove fine the first 3k after that it been like sh1t. Garbage at it's best. Let me say that I never lunch the car ones, no slip, adjusted it for over 5 month, took the pill out& put in the SS line.

This isn't about clutch quality/install issues but for those of you that are having shifting issues, have you looked into an adjustable clutch master cylinder? Maybe you're not getting enough pressure/travel at higher rpms? Sorry if this is the same as adjusting the pedal, but just thought I'd mention it.

How about aftermarket brake pads? Anyone regret those as well?

well, if its an install issue, then a hell of a lot of tuning shops don't know, how they have to install the clutch... :)
I did it.. no more from me. :)

that's bs. i have an Exedy, and an engine damper... STILL GET LOCKED OUT. i shoulda stayed with a stock clutch

THIS THREAD IS NOT ABOUT THE ACT CLUTCH AND DISCUSSING THE POSSIBLE FIXES FOR THE LOCK OUT CONDITION.....

cant people just post regrets
if you wanna post about the fixes for it or anything else go find a different thread!!!!!!!!

I regret not selling the VIII sooner and getting a IX. I waited a long time

For me it would probably be the Injen upper and lower intercooler pipe kit. Not so much the upper, but the lower is not much better than stock.....I wish I could of gone with the Buschur piece, but hey I was fairly new to the evo scene when I bought it.

I regret putting in my SBR Gt35r kit in when i should of just got an AMS turbokit. I had the money and was being cheap and got the SBR turbokit that mess up my AMS TBE. Had to cut my downpipe.

Not buying a already modded car!! Much cheaper to buy a full build then do it from scratch. There are 2 fully built Buschur cars for low 30's! With over 20K in each of them.

yea i my hand burned off trying to shift i changed it for a carbon fiber knob looks good and doesnt leave me blistered. i have 3.5 i love the sound but maybe its a little too loud.

I do my research before buying parts so no real regrets because I know what I'm getting myself into. However I do get bored quickly so I change setups frequently. I'm sure there are guys here that have gone through 4+ sets of cams, exhaust, turbo kits, etc. It's a never ending cycle. lol

Mine would be getting the Swift springs. Should have just saved it and get some good coilovers. "Do it right once so your done with it."

i regret not getting shifter bushings sooner. they are great.

I regret getting my Greedy Spec II boost controller, the dam thing wont go over 24psi even with race gas :confused: thats why I only have 24 psi in my sig.

Not to be like everyone else or anything but I also hate my ACT it locks-out like crazy:mad: , I cant run the times I should and that frustrates me so much, my car has so much potential and it cant reach it, I know I probably suck at driving my evo but my father has professional drag racing experience(Over in South America) and he more or less runs the same times I do. This is why i'm getting motor mounts and shifter bushings(I hope that helps or ill do this till i pass out):banghead:... no not really ill just scream really loud.

another act regret....
man im glad im not the only one that hates this clutch

+1 stock motor mounts on the car are terrible. That was my first mod - front and both side motor mounts with poly. What a difference. No longer felt like the car was being hit with a sledgehammer on a hard 1-2 shift.

Recently I've started hearing funky noises from my motor, seems to just have happened in the last 2 weeks after we've been getting hit by storms. I put on my exhaust about a month or less ago, could just be I hear it more. It kinda sounds like if you put a marble in a plastic cup and shaked it around every now and then. I hope its not knock or any bearings or anything at all, my car only has a cone filter and an exhaust. no tune, I'm thinking maybe a tune could help it out?
Usually only happens when its cold out and goes away, but sometimes it doesn't and sometimes its just not there at all.
If its because of the mods I swear to god I'm going to flip my ****. Sometimes they make me so paranoid

so ur regret is hearing things?lol, jk.

Mine would definitely have to be not getting a solid front motor mount sooner than I did. When I went to install it I put the car on the hoist, got it up, and their was no mount there PERIOD! The bracket was there, just no mount. This is my first evo, and the 1st one I ever drove hard (coming off of a s2k which is one of the best shifting trannies out there imo). So just imagine how much I thought the evo tranny sucked when i first got it and for the first 3k miles i put on it. Like the guy a couple posts up said, it was literally like gettin hit with a sledgehammer between gears!

Second, my hawk HPS pads. No debate on bedding them in properly or anti sieze on the back of the pads, I did it all. Its like your trying to stop a tank and running over cats at the same damn time. if you want to get noticed at a stop light, get these!

On a side note, I am about a week away from gettin my act put in and from the looks of it ill have another regret soon, lol. Better start savin up for the QuarterMaster Twin!

lol @ cats and tanks.

What I'm saying is that I didn't start hearing these noises until the exhaust...so I blame exhaust! but at the same time I hope its not because of any mods so I can put the exhaust back on and "Hello Mr. Stealership, my car is funky. I dunno what happen. I have Lancer, help me."

you make a good point, I have another regret! See, you can put your stock exhaust back on and take it back to the dealer and have them possibly warranty it.

I regret not taking out my meth before I tried to get warranty work on the drive train! somehow they blamed the meth for blowing my t-case when I had the stock clutch still.......riiiiiiigggghhhhht?!?!?!

It's not really a mod, but I regret not being careful and bleeding the brakes before a track day. My friend drove the Evo 110mph into a sand trap. Luckily, no major damage, just the front lip cracked. Everyone that doesn't enjoy their braking, bleed your brakes. I hated my Project Mu B Force Pads until I ran ATE Super Blue everywhere. Next thing you know, the brakes feel amazing.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...8/DSC_3751.jpg

Ohh, and try bleeding your clutch line too, that improved my shifter feel, though the Exedy Twin improved it 1000x more than the stock clutch.
Dan

I didn't exactly have a bad experience with my Exedy clutch. It was more of an installation problem. I only had about 20k on it and I didn't abuse it at all (I had 60k on my stock clutch and still had quite a bit of life on it) and I had a Fidanza flywheel put in with it and after about 18k miles, the clutch was absolutely shot. Pulled everything apart and the entire back side of the clutch was completely gone and it warped the surface plate on the flywheel. The surface plate reminded me of a pringles potato chip. If you set it on the ground, it would wobble around horribly. The throwout bearing was all jacked up too. Unfortunately, the shop that installed it had to shut down because one of the accounting people embezzled a looooot of money from the shop. I guess you get what you pay for though. Only paid $400 for the install so I ended up paying the difference for a new clutch.

mine is lightly modded, TBE, BC, FP, drop in filter and dyno tune.

The only regret I have is not doing it all sooner. I drove it stock for 2 years before I did anything. But on the other hand the stock time I had allowed me to really research everything I wanted to do and make educated purchases and decisions.

i love my act hdsd clutch have not had a problem with it once and over 30 launches and still not one adjustment....sean ivey tuned installed the clutch and did a great job.

Yeah Sean Ivey worked on and tuned my car as well. Did a great job here too{thumbup}

I regret selling my Evo 8 and had never put my EVC 5, JUN Camshafts, Ohlins Coilovers and the list goes on...in the car and ended up just selling the thing and the parts and now I'm doing it all over again with the Evo X. This time I'm only going lightly modded though, after all I ain't no millionaire and I don't need to be throwing my money away.

the only thing i regret about my cluth is sitting in damn traffic. i bought a competition stage 2 clutch and let me tell you when you sit in stop and go traffic for 2 hours be prepared to want to break your left leg off

I regreted buying that cheap rexpeed engine damper that was made in china. It was the worst product I have purchased to date. Second was my ACT that locked me over 7000 rpm. Third was having put in the 272 cams due to the idle jumping around..but then I put in a HF Cat and the cams purr like a kitten now. That was interesting, I guess they like the back pressure? Fourth was the WG dump that was just getting annoying. Best thing I did was put my HF Cat back on a get it retuned.

my regret is not doing performance mods first, I only did cosmetic mods.

regret not reversing the mods

no regrets =)

Regrets:

I regret my Weapon R catch can.

I regret having a gold vendor install my headstuds 1X1 only to have my head gasket leak.

I regret my revolver cams, but only when I'm idling at a stop light next to a cop:updown:.

I have no regrets as I usually research a lot before I finally decide to purchase any kind of product.