Ten For Ten
The First Evo X In The 10s
Text by Richard Fong
Photos by Luis Arroyo

Puerto Rico is the jewel of the Caribbean. Known for sand, surf and rum, this US commonwealth is a vacation hot spot. But a lesser known fact about Puerto Rico is that drag racing reigns supreme. Blasting the quarter mile is still a favorite pastime for many Puerto Rican racing enthusiasts.

When Mitsubishi released the highly-anticipated Evolution X, Johnny Fargas was among the first in line to buy one. At the time, the Evo X was brand new and few performance parts were available. Undaunted, Fargas began his quest to take the Evo X to a higher level.

Breath Easier, Run Faster

The new 4B11T engine holds a great deal of promise. Fargas elected to build upon the unmodified longblock and explore its capabilities. The first step was to increase the capacity of the turbo system. Starting with the stock manifold, Artec ported the factory manifold to increase the volume of exhaust gas going to the turbine. Then the manifold received a ceramic-metallic coating by Turbo Coatings. This process keeps exhaust gas heat inside the manifold and ensures that the exhaust gases have the greatest velocity on the way to the turbine inlet. The stock TD05H turbocharger comes from the factory capable of handling 360 horsepower, with a ball-bearing cartridge and a titanium-aluminum alloy turbine wheel. Starting at the turbocharger, Fargas looked to his friends at Yiyito Turbo for assistance. The responsive turbo sacrifices top end power for a quick spool up; therefore to reduce the backpressure in the turbine, Yiyito Turbo ported the turbine housing. The increased volume allows for increased exhaust gas flow. From the turbine housing, Ultimate Racing's stainless-steel downpipe channels spent gases to the AMS stainless-steel exhaust. On the compressor side, fresh air is drawn through an AMS cold-air intake system. Once compressed, the air charge flows through an AMS hard pipe en route to the AMS front-mount intercooler. The charge pipe brings the chilled air to the throttle body and intake manifold.

Powering Into The Tens

To supply additional fuel for the increased volume of air coming into the engine, a 255 lph in-tank fuel pump and an Aeromotive fuel-pressure regulator replaced the stock units. With the necessary volume of fuel available, the factory injectors received new duty-cycle instructions from the EcuTek-tuned factory ECU. A Hallman manual boost controller holds the boost steady at 32 psi as the remapped fuel and ignition curves help the 4B11T engine spin the drums of the Dynojet dynamometer. Through the AWD driveline, the Evo X generated 438 horsepower and a neck-snapping 453 lb-ft of torque.

Clamps And Rollers

Pushing the stock clutch to its limit, the decision was made to upgrade the driveline with an ACT heavy-duty clutch. Now able to efficiently turn the wheels, addressing traction issues became the next task. Adjustable BC coilovers featuring 8 kgf/mm springs in front and 6 kgf/mm springs in the rear now drop the CZ4A chassis. This more aggressive stance better prepared the Evo X for both the street and the strip. For the street, Advan RGII wheels in an 18x9-inch offering mounted with 265/35R18 Falken FK452 tires take their place in the wheel wells. When visiting the track, a lightweight set of Buddy Club P1 Racing SF 17x7-inch rollers equipped with Mickey Thompson 26x7-inch slicks ensure launch traction for quarter-mile sprints.

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