I am new to this forum and have never tuned a car. I will be buying a 2013 Evo MR when they are available later this year. After I familarize myself with the vehicle and break-in the engine, I may consider adding some aftermarket parts and tuning vehicle. I am looking for a modest increase in HP/TQ, since I don't intend to race. That said, I do enjoy spirited driving like most here, so the more bang for the buck the better.

My question is if you have a $3,000 budget, what would be the must-have items needed to safely increase horsepower/torque, and perhaps increase mpg? Please be specific and provide item name/manufacturer, description of what it does, and benifit (HP increase, TQ increase, fuel economy, efficiency, etc.).

I am very excited about becoming an Evo owner and look forward to your comments and suggestions for making this great car even better- on a budget.

 

well, a simple put answer.

Bolt-ons: Intercooler pipes, intercooler, turboback exhaust, boost controller, intake

Gauges: at the very least, a boost gauge and air to fuel ratio gauge to monitor the safety of your car

Gas: The reason why i put this is because if your going to run e-85 you will need bigger injectors and fuel pump, if your just doing pump gas 91/93 what ever it is in your area, you wont need it.


Tune: this is very important, find yourself a reputable tuner in your area. This makes all the difference for the car of driveability and power.

Those things will make already a world of a difference and could possibly stay within your budget, granted how much the parts are you get and choose from. Just do your research as well and TAKE YOUR TIME!

One shop i can recommend to you is ETS ( extreme turbo systems ) to buy parts off of. Quality and customer service is amazing from what everyone says. Not bad pricing either. I personally don't have any ETS parts cause every bolt on i got was a hell of a deal. But i have talked to Michael@ets through PMs and seems like a cool guy

Hope this helps, im sure other people will have their opinions too, to also help you out. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me

 

Margie,

For the benefit of newbies like me who know little of about mechanics and engines in general, can you please tell me what each of these parts do and what gains can be expected? I am also curious what HP/TQ increase can be expected by taking a stock car to a professional tuner, without adding anything. Your input is appreciated.

- Intercooler pipes
- Intercooler
- boost controller
- Intake
- Turboback Exhaust

 

Please search or look at some vendor sites. This question has been answered a million times.

If you look at the AMS or Buschur sites they have staged upgrades, the power that will be produced, and all kinds of other information. They can probably help you with any detailed questions if you are going to purchase from them via phone or email if necessary.

IE: http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/a...-x-stages.html

As always - it will be cheaper in the end if you set a roadmap and a plan for what you want to buy. Buying parts twice or paying for 3 tunes instead of 1 increases cost significantly.

 

Also there is a sticky thread on here that references all the abbreviations like, cbe as cat-back exhaust, and ebcs as electronic boost control solenoid.

From everything you listed here:
Your answer will be different based on location, weather, dyno, exact parts, GSR/MR, and heavily on the tune with them. Part manufactures can speak the best about their parts, and like it was mentioned half the forum posts are on these topics so it's easy to find what you need.

If I were to guess I'd say stock a dynojet would show you around 260whp (250 for the MR), and with those mods and a good tune around 340-350whp. This is like ~30% power increase, which is really fantastic comparative to most vehicles with similar mods. But my opinion, it's because the OE tune is really that crappy and rich.

 

So a pro tune using factory baseline setup without upgrades would yield no performance increase? I am trying to figure out what upgrades provide the most bang for the buck and price/performance, without getting to complicated. Besides the exhaust upgrade which I would have a shop perform, can the other things margie listed be done by someone like me with no mechanic skills. Don't get me wrong, I am handy and good with tools, but I have never tinkered with cars much.

Thanks for all your input and for the resources mentioned.

 

Turbo back exhaust plus tune= best bang for your buck.

 

http://www.maperformance.com/ets-int...ion-evo-x.html

ETS Intercooler Set Including FMIC + UICP + LICP
$943 free shipping

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/a...2-p-53137.html

AEM INTAKE
$250-270 (check pepboys, I couldve sworn I bought mine from them for 220)

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/g...2-p-63028.html

Greddy Turboback Exhaust Ti-C
$903 Free shipping



With all those parts, you're sitting at 2100-2200 with tax. Some tuning shops have deals with a 3 port solenoid install and tune for around 600 dollars leaving us at around 2700. 300 for the labor for all the parts. puts you at 3 grand.

With that setup you're looking at around 325-340 WHP and 310-325 WTQ on an MR.

That's as simple as its going to get. IC kit, Intake, Exhaust, Solenoid, Tune. Done.....

Intake should increase MPG, but not by much. I'm pretty sure a stable custom tune will yield better MPG as well....

Dont get a Manual Boost controller, evo x's like the 3 port boost solenoids better.

 

You are spot on with my 12 mr I did 327/300.
Car drives incredible, a 60 awhp gain after a retune.

I feel like I missed out big time, I bought the car in 9/12.
Stock I did 276 awhp 264 awtq.

This was a huge bump in power, plus the driveabilty, is incredible.

Thank you mr, Sean Ivey.

Your a pleasure to do business with, awesome gains.

Look forward to next round of mods & what Ivey tune can just add to the power.

 

ChHow much did he charge you? I was thinking of going to him but I heard he is very expensive and doesn't make a super custom tune. Instead just copies maps off other cars hes done with similiar mods. I may get flames for writing that. But this is what I heard.

Info would be great.

Also of anyone knows other tuners near NYC

 

AMS has a kit for a little over 3k that gets 100hp and 100ft lbs

 

i would say i spent around 3k to do full bolt ons and tune. the tune is the most important so it can be daily driven spiritually. so my break down would be

tune 500-600 (depends on tuner)
Boost controller ~125
Cobb intake - 150
Cobb inlet - 100
Intercooler - different prices everywhere (got my ams for 400) but they go 700-1100
Intercooler pipes (Cobb) 600
Down Pipe (AMS got mine cheap aswell 260) go for 550
Test pipe (any 3 inch doesnt matter) ~100-150
I have stock Catback b/c my neighbors and parents hate the noise.
Guages 350 for AEM set
Rex speed guage pod $80

Dont forget Labor!
Some of the things like the intake, and intercooler, intercooler upper and lower i did my self, stuff like guages, boost controller, downpipe, test pipe i got it installed by either a shop by my house or Nightshift Performance where i am JR Tuned

And i made 330whp 333 wtq