Car is looking great as always PT! Love the nice pics and documentation of the Tomei exhaust setup. Getting me motivated to scoop one up!

 

Nice, car is looking real good excited to see more on this

 

So good Peter, glad Damon linked me to this because I had not seen it when you originally posted it. Keep it up sir!

 

Car is coming together nicely. Good luck with the build.

 

Very clean!

 

Opps double post!

 

great thread

 

Well sorry for the extremely LONG delay for an update. Been mad busy with work and what not.

Secondly, thanks for all the compliments. I've been enjoying this car more and more. Sadly I wish I could drive it more but alas next year will hopefully see me rack more miles on it.

OK, here we go.

I decided to get the windows tinted on the car because of the hot Cali sun. My interior is already sun damaged so Im hoping to keep it from getting any worse.
I took the car to Tint Factory in LA and had them use 3M window tint since I know the quality of that tint is the best in the business.
I'm really happy with it since I can still see at night but the temperatures have been seriously reduced during the day, plus I like the look


Next up, I added a bunch of Cusco bars to the car.

I had to trim the rear carpet to fit the rear bar but Cusco just came out with a quick release latch so you can remove your bar quickly for more space. I'll be getting that shortly.


Underneath I added the subframe brace and frame rail braces. I could have gone overboard with all the bars but decided against it since this is still a street car.


If you look at the first photo, I got the wrong front strut bar (it's for sale BTW) and replaced it with the three point unit up front.


The nice part about the bar is that it comes with the Brake Cylinder Stopper. Some of you may think this is a gimmick but I recently tested one on our FR-S project car and saw the BMC flexing and after adding the brace it went away. This is a worth addition for any track car.


I hated that the foglights color output didnt match the headlights so I ordered a set of matching fog lights from headlightbulbs.com


Can you see the difference?


Jumping inside, I decided to ditch the factory steering wheel and replace it with some more track-spec parts. Personal Steering wheel and Splash hub and quick release.


What I really like about the Splash parts (vs something like NRG) is that it provides the right resistor to ensure the air bag light doesnt come on. Plus, the quality difference is noticeable. I've been using NRG products in a lot of my cars and they are good bang for the buck but when you pick up a Splash hub and quick release it's apparent why it costs more money.


I'm not sure if the suede steering wheel was a good choice since I've been told that the oil from your skin degrades the suede in a few years but what the hell I love the feeling of it. Not to mention the wheel looks so GOOD.

 

There are many turbo options on the market for the car but I wanted a stock frame turbo that wouldn't affect spool up much so I turned to CBRD and picked up a BBK Lite. Unfortunately I dont have many photos of the install since I wasnt around when it was put on.

Here's a good comparison of the stock to CBRD.


The car went to RRE for a re-tune where it made roughly 330whp. That's a bit low for the mods but Mike mentioned that the engine was pulling timing and very prone to knock so there's obviously some underlying issues which will get sorted eventually.

I am thinking it could be worn transmission bearings that are triggering the knock but what do I know. Anyways, Ill have a dyno chart up soon.


I've been running a Tomei test pipe ever since putting on the exhaust but I really don't like to drive it on the street like that since it pollutes (hey everyone needs to do their part) so I called my friends at Vibrant and ordered their newest, most high flowing, OBD2 complaint cat. This bad boy is perfect for turbo cars since it can resist 1500F temperatures with practically zero loss to hp.


I can tell this cat flows amazing because as soon as I started it up I was bummed that it didnt get quieter. That to me is a very primitive but good indicator of how restrictive a cat is.

With some quick mocking up, I had the Vibrant cat, piping and flanges all lined up.


Some quick hits of the TIG welder and it was fully functional.


I really wanted to ensure it matched the angles of the test pipe perfectly as not to upset the alignment of the rest of the Tomei exhaust.


In place and saving the environment

 

Awesome update Pete. Next up, wheels?

 

With the engine work and suspension pretty much complete I needed to focus my attention on wheels, tires and brakes.

A set of 18x9.5 +22 Gramlights 57DR in flat black were my choice of wheel. Shod with the stickiest street tires out there. 255/35R18 Advan Nevoa AD048.


No wheel is complete without a proper set of hub-centric rings (say goodbye to wheel shake) and to complete the look a set of center caps and black Muteki lug nuts were added.


Unfortunately, clearance was a weeeeee bit tight on the rear fenders. And by that I mean I had to roll the **** out of them.


Thankfully, an Eastwood fender roller saved the day. Be careful when doing this though since I was a bit too aggressive on the back and kinked the rear 1/4 panel


I also had to cut the inner lip out to clear the 255's. It was a bit too much work for my liking. Next time I'm sticking with 245's.


Ugh, just look at those calipers. The years of road use have not been kind.


Obviously, the only reasonable solution to faded brake calipers is to replace them with something bigger. Stoptech's 6-piston Big Brake kit.


I weighed both the brembos and stoptechs to find that there was a 2-lb weight penalty to the bigger brakes. It's a small trade off IMO.






They definitely look much nicer than the old Brembos and I can report that performance at the track was superb with these bad boys but I'll save that for a bit later.

 

Ok last update for now...

With the car basically at where I want it. A quick photo shoot was in order. I'm really happy with the way it looks at the moment. I've thought long and hard about making some other exterior upgrades but I'm trying to look as mature as I can driving this car (if that's even possible) so I don't think the body will be receiving any aftermarket mods.













With all those tweaks and suspension mods this car was DYING for a proper alignment so I headed over to the only place I trust with my alignment, Evasive Motorsports.


I was treated to some sweet laser alignment courtesy of their Hunter rack and had the car aligned pretty conservative for street/track use. -2.5degs F / -2.2deg R. I actually couldn't get away with any less rear camber due to tire rub. Damn those 255s!!!




(Excuse the dirt on the image, my lazy in-staff photographer hasnt cleaned his camera in ages.)

Our annual Super Lap Battle Finals with going on in conjunction with GTA so I figured this would be a great chance to shake down the Evo and see how it performed.


Power delivery is really good, feels like stock spool up on the CBRD turbo but pulls hard till redline. The suspension feels really compliant despite me having it set up harder than I'd like to avoid rubbing (yep front tires rub on the inner plastic). Any mid corner lift and the car rotates incredibly well.


I've realized that a proper center diff is definitely needed. The car seems to lack that sharp rotation that I was able to get with the EVO X and rightly so. With no AYC or ACD and an open center diff its prone to push a little mid corner. I've already got a Carbonetic unit that will be installed in the future.


As for the brakes, I tried my best to make them fade but they werent having it. I don't think I've found the limits of the Stoptechs yet since I feel I could definitely brake more aggressively.
The Advans must also get a ton of praise. These tires are r-compound like and resist overheating unlike any street tire I've ever used. They are the perfect choice for any street-class car.

My best lap of the day was a 2:04 which isn't great but not bad considering the tires and hp level of the car. Plus I was driving it pretty conservatively since it's my first time out in it. I'm sure it will be as fast as the Evo X (I ran a 2:00) with some more choice mods.


That's about it for now. I've got an engine build planned and a transmission overhaul that I want to do plus a new clutch and a diff. I'm also debating some Recaro Sportser Seats but I'm not sure the wallet can handle that type of purchase anytime soon.

I picked up a 930 Turbo and parts for that thing are ridiculously expensive. That means I can't just break the bank on this car. However, it will still get the attention it deserves.

 

How about sideskirt extensions Pete?

 

I think I'm in love! Great build!!

 

I'm loving the brakes!!! Do you notice any difference on the street? I know you said on the track there's notable difference.

Also, what is that red, small box in the passenger's side front bumper?