Laz

Hey,

I did a search and I can't really find what I'm looking for. I want to know what the best mods are for the Evo X for the money. As in you pay this much money, and you get this much power. There is a very good thread for 8/9s here: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-100-time.html but again it's only for 8/9s.

A dyno tune is obviously the best bang for your buck for Evo X, but what if I want to do a couple of mods before I get tuned? I've read on here that CAIs are worthless if you're gonna get tuned. Same with air filters. So what's the best modding path for the money if you DO plan on getting dyno tuned in the future? How much power (if any) does a catback exhaust add? Testpipe? TBE? IC pipe? etc. I'm looking at mods that are under $500.

My issue is I don't want to get tuned and then get a few bolt ons and have to redo the tune.

Thanks for any info!!

RallyGoneEvo

iTrader: (4)

If thats the case your best bet is to buy all engine mods then do a tune.

Laz

Which ones? Approximate price? Power gains?

I hate to be picky but finding this information in a consolidated area on this forum is very difficult. Most threads are like "decent power gains" but they don't give any numbers. There has to be average power gains for each mod to the Evo X.

SmoothTT07

iTrader: (1)

Best mods for under $500? I would say an intake and a testpipe. For basics mods, the i/c and its pipes are perfectly fine and changing them wont up your performance. and you'd be lucky to find a quality CBE or TBE for under $500

macPSU

iTrader: (7)

Get an intake, UICP, and turboback exhaust. If you are getting a tune after you install these mods, stop worrying about quantifying the power gains of each one individually. They will all complement each other once you have been tuned.

You won't find much power gain for under $500 though. A catback exhaust alone will run you more than that.

If you don't like that answer, go dig through the dyno results forum and see who has what mods, and what their power gains are.

smoothevo

iTrader: (3)

I don't have any actual dyno data but I would say best bang for you buck are...

1. UICP - 200
2. Test Pipe - 175.00
3. Drop in Filter - 60.00

Total = 435.00 give or take depending on the brad you choose.

I started with the Cobb AP stage one and it was a very noticeable difference. Then I purchase a one piece UICP and didn't expect much but I could really feel the top end pull harder.

David Buschur

iTrader: (53)

The best money you can spend on the car is the tune.

After that it is tough to make a decision for under $500. The offroad pipe is not the answer though. We've tested the offroad pipe vs. the stock cat at 300 whp levels and under on our dyno and the hp difference is minor and sometimes non at all. The EVOX cat is actually a great part, along with the downpipe and 02 housing.

I'd say just up your limit a bit and get a good catback exhaust for the car.

The EVOX is very easy to make fast.

nvme17

iTrader: (1)

*The two posts above were not here when I started my book and I belive help alot to this thread, I'll leave my original post since it took so long to type*

I think this would be a great question to answer without having to get nit picky on brand, but a geneal range of power addition on the typical bolt-on's

I just took delivery of my GSR 2 days ago and have been lurking here for a year and still not sure where to start.

Some of the common mod's I hear about and my noobie thoughts:

Drop In Filter - best if not doing custom tune
Intake - only if going with custom tune (from what i've read on the dyno forum)
UICP - Stock can expand? asthetics?
LICP - not sure, asthetics?
Downpipe - High flow cat, better breathing
Testpipe - Would like to know the power improvement over down pipe
Catback Exhaust (CBE) - The most common upgrade, not much to say
Turboback Exchaust (TBE) - power increase over CBE?
Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) - Is this only needed for auto-x or track due to heat soak?
BOV - I know it sounds cool, is it better for turbo response or idle?
Wastegate - can factory turbo make use of this?
Fuel Pump - can factory turbo make use of this?
Injectors - ditto
anyone else please add to the list or correct my assumptions

I originally was planning on Intake, Exhaust, and Tune.

Now the question is if your doing these upgrades when does it become necessary to replace the factory FMIC, LICP, UIPC, Injectors, Fuel Pump, ect..

How much power does a Downpipe/test pipe give you? Is it worh the headache of passing inspection, emissions, noise, warranty?

One thing I've noticed as a noob is that there is a tendancy to want to mod or replace factory parts for the sake of modding. If there are good enough gains from a mod then I'm all for it but I'd like to know if a $200-500 piping kit is only going to add 5hp or 20hp. This is just an example but I think you know what i'm getting at. I would like to have a 350-400hp car someday but plan on taking it slow.

Was that too much?

EVOLVEU

iTrader: (16)

Take his advice, he knows his s**t!

Olaboy808

I only have a Cosworth drop-in filter (~$30), and a Magnaflow CBE (~$450-500, shipped), tuned by Road Race Engineering, and I get this at 22psi..... obviously, it shows the progress from just the 2 mods added, and final output after "moderate" tune by the man, Mike W. at RRE.

Laz

Thanks for all the info guys. I guess another basic question is what kind of power gains are resulting from CBEs? I sorta hate how the Evo is quieter than my wife's Jetta ha ha ha ha ha. I would love a more aggressive exhaust note, but I'm not very interested in it unless it makes power also.

I am willing to spend more than $500 on this car, but I would like to keep it around that much per mod, ya know? I can go higher but I don't want to dump $1k on it every month.

Mad_SB

iTrader: (8)

Drop in filter
Hot Pipe
test pipe
tune

The main reason for the test pipe is to allow you to be tuned leaner and with a tad bit more timing than with cat in place. Factory catback is restrictive but only by a few hp at the basic bolton level once the car is tuned. A true turbo back exhaust will pickup a good bit of area under the curve, but peak numbers will not be that much different.

08EVOVA

iTrader: (1)

I would save up for an intake, UICP, intercooler and CBE and get a tune. You will notcie a huge difference. What part of NC are you from?

atombomb33

iTrader: (28)

There is a thread by ETS where they go mod-by-mod and show their gains. Not sure where it is, but someone will probably point you to it. If I find it, I'll edit my post and add the link.

EDIT: Found it...

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ts-thread.html

Laz

Wow that's a great thread.

I am really concerned about mods combined with a really good tune though. A really good dyno tune may trivialize some of those mods. Some intakes are basically useless if you have a good tune if I'm reading correctly...same with air filters. Nevertheless this is good info.