Installed coilovers the other day.

Apexi finally released their ExV's for the Evo 10. I ran these same coilovers back in the day on my Evo 8 and loved them for the price. Where even surprisingly good on track.

Forgot how awkward it is to do the rears on the 10.

I'll give a honest review of them once I get the ride heights set and the car aligned.

 

Ok, got the car aligned to my specs with the new Apexi Coilovers.

Finally the car feels like an Evo. Really happy with the ride, the response and the handling now. Now I just need some real tires.

 

You got that puppy dialed in nicely, well perhaps except for the caster, but if on stock top-hats, not much to be done there. Interesting to see a 0.5 deg difference in front left and front right caster. I had the same thing on my Evo.

 

The Apexi's come with camber plates but not castor adjustable unless I rotate them oddly. Never had the best luck doing that.

I've never had balanced castor on any of my cars so far. My Evo 8 was .4 difference left/right, my WRX was .3 difference and my Fiesta ST is .3 difference as well.

Always higher on the right as well.

 

Bryan: Would you post of a pic of your X with the coilovers installed? Does the car sit lower now?

 

Mine was higher on the right as well. I found that I could get 0.5 deg of caster on the left by slotting the holes in the strut tower by about 1/8". I suppose its not needed, but it was pretty easy to do.

 

I'll try to take some photos when I get a chance.

I set the ride height lower than the car was with the Bilstein/Spec R combo. I slightly regret that now because it's now impossible to get in/out of my driveway without scrapping the lower bumper, even going sideways. It just barely hit it some times before with the Bilstein/ Spec R combo.

My driveway sucks. Oh well just have to get used to it.

Here are my ride heights before and after. Measured center line of wheel to fender lip in inches.

Bilstein / Spec R combo:
FL: 14.75
FR: 14.60
RL: 14.25
RR: 14.25

Apexi ExV coilovers:
FL: 14.10
FR: 14.10
RL: 14.00
RR: 14.00

 

Hey There Razorlab,

Curious, how happy are you with the power? It seems like the little you have done, it really transforms the evo x into a great power car while keeping it very simple and what should be very reliable.

Questions -

would a fuel rail by a good addition to running E85 to help aid in lower your idc's? I have never ran e85 and really have not even looked into it although i have it regulary around me and it seems like it is working great for you.

Cold Air Intake
Tune
Injectors
Pump
Test Pipe
3 port bcs

did i miss anything or did you add a cat back exhaust as well?

do you have a sound clip video of how your car sounds? I really dont want a turbo back exhaust again but i love the idea of making 350 whp with only a test pipe. as much as you search, i can't find anyone with a sound clip of only a test pipe on a evo x

thanks for any input you can give me. by the way - thanks for the documenting of each step. really glad i see this because for that little money invested, it makes a big difference.

i doubt you do, but have you actually just driven your car on a trip with E85? what kinda mileage do you get? i know we dont have evo's for economy but i just dont know what e85 does to our cars as far as mpg goes....

thanks in advance,

steve

 

I'm pretty happy with the power given the car is barely louder than stock minus the induction noise from the intake. I wouldn't mind some more top end power but wouldn't we all...

I wouldn't even bother with a rail with the stock turbo. My high IDC's are from something else that I am still looking into. I had basically the exact same setup on my RA Sportback, but with a larger BBX Lite turbo and my IDC's where lower than this so something else is amiss that I have to find. That is the next thing on my list to do.

That's it. OEM cat-back. The 2011+ OEM catbacks are a tad louder than before as they changed them a bit to make them a bit more growly.

I don't but I can try at some point. It's really not much louder than OEM bone stock exhaust wise. I'd say probably about 95% as quiet as OEM.

My MPG average over 10,084 miles on almost 100% E85 is 14.09 MPG. Mixed city and hwy. My best MPG over a tank on E85 has been 18.34mpg and my best MPG over a tank of 91 oct has been 22.07mpg.

Also keep in mind the Evo isn't my daily driver so when I drive it, I drive it pretty hard.

 

Edited.

 

Did you not see my reply to your question when you asked me before?

Post #127

 

Sorry Bryan for the inadvertent repeat post....my bad. I am posting from my "smart" phone.... The phone is obviously way smarter than I am.

 

No problem, was just making sure you saw my reply.

 

Sorry. I was attempting to edit the wording of the question in my 1st post and by mistake I sent it as a new and separate post.

 

I have GT-Worx springs with Bilsteins and my ride heights are now 14.25" Front and 14.5" rear. The front springs have a gigantic rubber donut now that raises the ride height by about 3/4", so my front ride height must have been about 13.5". No wonder I hate the GT-Worx springs - the ride height is way too low.

The Spec-R's and GT-Worx springs must be different - there's at least 1" of ride height difference at the front. I thought the springs were the same. Obviously not.

I revalved the shocks and the suspension works well on bumpy roads above 70mph. Slower and there's too much compression damping and the ride gets worse. Adjustables are the only way to go. Lesson learned. Apexi in my future?

Here's a photo of the loaded strut with the coil donut to get my ride height to 14.25"