There are a thousands and a half mods available for the X. This thread is about the actual necessary mods needed for this car. Mods that unless you do, the car feels kind of crippled.

The bottom line:

What are the Evo X absolute necessary mods?

These are the rules.

1. We're not looking into huge horsepower gains - just moderate.
2. The mods must strike a perfect balance between drivability, reliability, everyday use and performance.
3. They should not be extensive and super expensive propositions.

Possible things we are looking at:

1. Suspension improvements to bring the car from good to great.
2. Muffler changes to improve experience from better sound and a slight increase in power.
3. Tune for better experience, slight gain and better response.
4. Interior and exterior improvements

After driving my '11 Mazda MX-5 for over a year and learning about the platform, I now have a list of the absolutely necessary mods needed for that car. This is the same information I'm trying to gather for the Evo X.

Go.

 

Turbo back exhaust, tune, and a clutch got my 3710 lb race weight car into the 11s. That was some good air, car was leaving line hard, and my driving was on. It is more realistically a 12.0-12.1 car on any given day, but I beat up on cars with a lot more "stuff" I do think there is a lot to gain with the other parts.

Suspension...spend the $ on something good.

 

How does the car fair with a slight lowering using springs only? Or do you need the whole combo of shock and springs?

That's sticking with shocks and springs. I know coilovers are better, but I'm the guy who believes a good shock and spring combo is miles better than a cheap set of coilovers.

I'm asking this because it's similar in the MX-5. The car does excellently with a set of adjustable Konis and Progress Technologies springs ($900 or so) - although the drop is mild. To do better than that, you need $2,000+ coilovers.

 

I was very competitive against national champ scca cars on just an Eibach pro kit and some Cobb sway bars. It is far from optimal compared to an $8000 set of ohlins , but it got the job done on most days.

 

In my opinion:

1. Quality lowering springs like swifts (if KW V3's and other coilovers are out of your price range)
2. Upper intercooler pipe
3. Drop in filter
4. Catback
5. Pro tune

I would suggest always giving it good tires and brakes as well.

For track days add:
Motul brake fluid
AMS ss brake lines

 

Here you go

AMS STX400 Evo X Package - http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/A...0-Package.html

Eibach Multi-Pro R2 Coilovers - http://performance suspension.eibach.com/performance_suspension/coil-over/multi-pro-r2

Together you're looking at roughly $5800 bucks for all of this. Granted it might seem a bit pricey, but the end result is a kickass car that will be a blast on the street. Just add some form of FIA approved racing seat and harness, wider wheels, and D.O.T. legal R compound tires and you have the makings of a worthy track car. Granted this is my envision of a perfect, usable Evo X for the street with the occasional track day. Its everything you need all in one bundle.

So to go along with your rules you stated above:

1.) you just made a 100hp gain, thats not really all that much
2.) the mods hit all three criteria you mentioned in rule 2
3.) They're not extensive cause you bolt them all on and plug in the accessport and flash the ECU. takes 5 to 10 minutes max

Now to go along with the things you're looking at:

1.) With the Eibach Multi-Pro R2 you just took the suspension from good to GREAT!!!
2.) The AMS exhaust helps the 4B11 put out a nice throaty exhaust note with great power gains
3.) The accessport is your hand held tuning device that already has the AMS tune loaded into it.
4.) Interior and Exterior is a personal touch. The Evo X looks pretty good as it is IMO. Maybe just add a front lip, a vortex generator, and a gunery flap and you're good. Once again those are all subjective. Interior is solid, like I mentioned earlier add a better driver seat if you want. Maybe a harness bar and saftey harness if you wanna go to the track.

Hope this helped

 

^^^ Interesting. That's very good. What do you estimate completing all those would cost, assuming it's only parts and not labor?

Trying to draw a comparison in costs between modding the MX-5 with the necessary mods and modding the Evo.

 

Yes! This is exactly what I was looking for. I'm sure it'll help a lot of people here too. Thanks.

Overall, the price is good too. It sounds reasonable. The reason I say this is because in modding the MX-5, for me, nothing but Ohlins or Fat Cat Motorsports coilovers would do it for me. So those alone, on the Miata, are half the price of that whole setup you're recommending for the X.

Can you please verify the link to the coilovers. It doesn't work and I tried to put it together to make it work on my browser window, but to no avail.

Thanks again.

 

Sorry about that, here you go:
http://performance-suspension.eibach...r/multi-pro-r2

Also check out Fortune Auto:
http://www.fortune-auto.com/products.htm

 

I would suggest a boost contoller too. Through my research grimmspeed is an excellent option. ~$115 or so and helps alot with the tune.

 

1. Quality lowering springs like swifts (if KW V3's and other coilovers are out of your price range. ) ~$250 but will need an alignment
2. Upper intercooler pipe ~$250
3. Drop in filter ~$40
4. Catback ~ $1000
5. Pro tune with 3 port boost controller added ~$600

Total without labor is $2040 and should wake the car up a bit.

These are all just general prices I have come across.

 

Has anyone bought this ams package and used it on a MR? How did it fair

 

I doubt anyone had used it yet. AMS just released this package not to long ago.

 

I would suggest tires first. And you're only going to get 10k out of your stockers anyway.

Lowering springs are for looks but also handling, I suggest GTWorx Tarmac springs, but Swifts or Eibachs are also good.

A good professional tune is probably the next most important item.

 

I would like to suggest a heavier shift knob if it's a manual transmission.