So I've owned 50-60 cars in my lifetime, I'm a bit of a nut. I've owned 2 Evo's, the last was a 2004 back in 2006ish. I've most recently owned a C7, but didn't get to drive it much since I live in WI.

I've got the itch for the next toy and started looking into the X. I've spent the last several weeks lurking on the forum and noticed the activity to be a bit slow. Let me list some thoughts/questions and I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

1. I was hoping to learn a bit about building a fast streetable Evo. Is there a link to some good information on going from stock to say 400-500HP?

2. Should I buy a 15 FE/GSR or used '14 GSR? I obviously would prefer to have Recaro's, but I think there are other options to replace the factory seats. Correct?

3. What are my options on replacing the trunk and wing? I much prefer the subdued MR look with the trunk lip.

4. Are there other Evo sights that are more active or are the forums dying down because the car is no longer in production?

Thank you!

 

1. From stock to 400-500hp reliably-- http://www.cbrdspeedfactory.com/cbrd...croll-rbx-kit/
2. Up to you. Used Evos are hit and miss. Depends on your risk tolerance. You can always swap in Recaros or a crap load of other seats
3. MR trunk swap or remove factory spoiler, have a body shop fill the holes and repaint, stick on MR lip
4. This is the most active one by a loooooong shot

 

Thank you for the reply. Back when I had my last evo, this site was crazy busy. Also, the tuner options/world was a lot smaller. It was almost just Buschur and AMS. I had my evo tuned at AMS, but honestly wasn't that impressed with their service. I found the tune to be so-so and they didn't seem to care. My understanding is that they only tune in-house jobs now, is that correct?

The reason I mention this is because there seems to be a TON of options now and I want to learn more about how to go about my build and spend my money wisely. Also, this is a new platform from my last evo

 

their are hundreds of options.. too many now. GSR is nice but do what u want. Good luck.. a lot to learn / search

 

Yeah, there are plenty if options for turbos and tuners. Ams is good but overpriced. Cbrd isn't cheap, but it's great quality. If you want to make in the low 400 range, just get a mhi from forced performance, injectors, fuel pump, an exhaust and a good tune. The options are endless with these cars.

 

is the Evo a desired car for thieves? I am also thinking of buying one but don't have a garage to park it.

 

That's what insurance is for man don't live in fear. Buy and enjoy.

 

I've never heard the Evo X being high theft, but I'm sure it happens here and there, like every other car

 

2. Depends if owning an FE is something you desire. Personally I don't care for them. From a mechanical standpoint if you're going to mod the suspension to coils then don't bother with the FE since they come with MR Bilsteins... They do make a great combo with Swift or GTWorx springs though. Wheels are first thing I mod so again if you're going to swap them I don't see the point in getting an FE. The Recaros are great but there's also lots of options here for aftermarket seats. Last thing I'll say is if you want a guaranteed unmolested car and you can avoid paying the surcharge price on an FE, then it's worth it over a base GSR. Again consider what I wrote above.

3. I would look for an MR deck lid. Plugging holes and repainting rarely comes out right and its costly.

4. This is the most active but the Evoxforums also has lots of useful info and some traffic. I also found lots of parts there for sale.

Good luck.

 

Since it's not an unreasonable assumption to think that you have a decent amount in liquid funds, I've been asking people what the feasibility is of getting a Canadian Evo X FE and bringing it here, which may not be too huge of a physical hurdle with you being in Wisconsin (and much closer to the Canadian border than most other people on the forums). Are you familiar with what types of paperwork is needed to get a car from there to here? (I'm not.) You'd have a fairly unique Evo that has stock Recaros and BBSs in the FE color that the Enkeis come in while being new. Just a thought.

 

Haven't thought of that! I have no idea what that takes, time to start googling.

 

Yeah, let me know what you find out. I've been curious about the feasibility of that. I think the engine is exactly the same (so there wouldn't be smog issues).

Price-wise, a straight currency conversion puts the Canadian FE neatly between the MSRPs of our GSR and FE, though I have no idea what kind of taxes Canada charges.

 

I wonder if the speedo would be in km's? That would be kind of annoying...

 

Oh dang I didn't even think of that! Haha...

 

I bet on a 40k car to get it to the us from Canada you would probably pay over 5k in taxes and another 1-2k in duty and import fees. Just a guess but I guarantee it ain't cheap.