Hello All,
I have finally enjoyed my bolt-ons and am yearning for more umpph. My current setup has:

Full E.T.S. Bolt-ons (minus their downpipe) to include 3" HP IC Kit and TP with the V2 option catback.
A.M.S. Downpipe
Injector Dynamics 1100cc fuel injectors
Walbro or DW fuel pump
Grimmspeed 3 port
AFR gauge
(Not really part of the umpph but I have Swift Spec-R springs).

I put down 342hp/348tq on a Mustang Dyno running 27#'s of boost. I have had a few high hp rwd cars in the past, but now I can say they aren't similar. I feel I am ready to make the transition to more power responsibly, I just want to do so cautiously as this is my daily driver. I have my reservations about what to buy as I am on a limited budget I.E. I want to have the "warm fuzzy" about what I throwing gobs of my hard earned money into. I would like to go as far as I can without having to replace my block right now. I am fine with a different turbo or cams or whatever else especially okay with supporting mods. I do not ever plan on tracking the car, I prefer the old random encounter and go for it (though that is fewer and far between now. No one seems to want to play with an EVO....) I currently have about 12,600 miles on the car. I have been modded since about 9k. Any and all inputs are extremely appreciated.

Thanks Again,
Reactus

 

You can pickup a manifold like this one. Not bad quality for what I paid for it honestly. Came with both gaskets. Gasket ported and pretty smooth. The collector is ported and it's schedule 42mm 304 SS Cast tubular with robotic TIG welds. 1.25" ID with 3mm walls and 1/2" flanges.

I needed a cheap solution just to test fit - Decided to put it to use after getting it and cleaning it up a little bit....good bargain.

It's made by XS-Power I believe.

 

terrible advice in my opinion.

You want more power? Just buy a cheap manifold and bolt it on! What???

In my opinion:

If you have the full bolt ons and the fuel system is done. Buy a stock frame turbo like FP Green or Red, BBX light or full, MAP EF2-3. Either port your stock manifold or buy a manifold from a reputable dealer like MAP, ETS, CBRD, Full Race, sorry if I forgot someone. You will be happy with the results. You are looking at 2K-2.5K in parts and $500 in labor plus $500 tune.
If you drop in some friendly cams like Cosworth MX-1 add $1000 labor included.

Never buy a cheap ebay part, because you can't afford the real part you want. It's like putting cheap gas or oil in your 30K car, why?

Turbo install/manifold install is not fun and I would hate to have a cheap manifold start leaking when a cheap weld breaks. Then you either have to go back to stock or pay for a manifold again. Been there done that with a reputable product.

If the maker of the manifold is a reputable manufacturer, I apologize, but never heard of them and I read here a lot. If nobody on the forum is using a certain part, I sure as hell would not want to be the first on a platform that has been out for 6 years now.

 

In all honesty, I don't think the off brand header looks like complete crap and it's really just tubular metal who's only function is to channel exhaust gasses to the turbo.

My problem with off brand stuff is when they copy someone else's work. Bypassing all research and development and engineering costs and then underselling the original. Some people who spend $30,000 on their car are at the limit of affordability and cannot afford Volks, Agency Power, AMS or Buschur parts. Not everyone is blessed to be a baller.

 

I do see your side of the argument. However, you could say having less of a budget makes it even more important to spend your money on quality parts. If that means taking more time to save up, so be it.

With a smaller budget, you have even less room for error, do it right the first time. In many cases, you get what you pay for. Someone worked their *** off to afford an Evo? I have nothing but respect for that. But they're not doing themselves any favors by sabotaging themselves with inferior parts.

Oh, and OP, get a stock-frame turbo, stage 1 cams, port/polish OEM manifold and report back!

 

+1 on that.

Also agree with knock off parts.

I guess I was just saying the gains this part may give you, may not be worth the $ and or risk. On a stock turbo it may not net much hp at all, but may add lag.

I'm not a baller, but save until I can do it right. If you are at the threshold of affordability, maybe modding your daily driver is a gamble to begin with???

You can always enjoy it with 350whp. Don't mod it unless you can afford to fix it. Can you afford to spend 1k-1.5k on a clutch job when it goes out? Think Ray it's gas money. (Life)

 

I am kind of a parts snob myself when it comes to my evo but I remember back in the day outfitting my wrx with all kinds of eBay recycled burmese soda can intercoolers, hoses, exhausts, turbochargers .com 18g, etc. and at the time, it was good clean affordable fun just a lot harder to resell things.

That's the important thing to consider is if you ever plan to sell used parts, brands are king.

 

Ignore the troll trying to sell a knockoff manifold in out of the "forsale forum".

Just go for a stock frame turbo like everyone said and get a tune. Will give you a very nice bump in power and you already have injectors and a fuel pump. Just tell the tuner to keep the torque around 380ish or lower and you "shouldn't" have any concerns as far as reliability goes. But every car is different.

 

we have plenty of cars making well over 400whp- reliably-

cb

 

That's the beautiful thing about these cars. Reliable power is easy!

Grab a BBX full and you're good to go!

 

I'm at 400 whp on your Bbx lite and love it.

I think 350 torque is the threshold most tuners/shops are mentioning.

 

on our dyno around 360 is my limit for road race cars- that get abused ALOT!

cb

 

You should use what is tried and true on your respective platform. I ran Greddy parts on my MR2 and the downpipe cracked. People have to weld plates on each side to reinforce them. I see a trend with what people are making and running reliably. What works on a 9 may not work on a 10 and vice versa.

 

I fully agree with everyone for buying the right parts and money is definitely not falling off trees over here. I am almost done saving for a proper clutch and the magnus cmc retrofit. My tuner was recommending an fp black turbo. I just wanted to do everything in small stages. I am hoping to do the turbo and a set of GSC S2's this fall, but nothing is for sure. I am probably looking at a crap ton just for all of that. Plus I don't know the first thing about getting a block built so I can have a "truly reliable" daily driver. Thank you for all of the feedback!

 

Has anybody popped the new cmc that comes with the recall yet?

I hoped I was gonna be alright without an aftermarket cmc.