Im stuck at a cross roads right now. I have had my evo for a few months and have always wanted to have one of the cars that everyone knows around town. Then there is the fact that im 17 and it could just be my pride talking, but anyway.

I am not planing on doing anything crazy, just basic performance upgrades. Turbo Back Exhaust, Intake, BC, and SAFC II. So maby like $2000 in mods, or something close to that.

I have gone back and forth many times on the subject, spend the money...or save it. So i would like to know, from the people who have chosen to stay stock or do some modding of any degree, was it worth the money, time and effort, or would you recomend just savin it for payments.

 

well . . . you're gonna get a lot of mixed responses.

For starters, car - modifying, you'll come to find, is not the most rational thing to do. So, if you want an answer based on what I think is the "right" thing to do, I would have to say save up the money to make payments on the car.

But i think you'll come to find, especially when you have a bit of money on your hands, that the temptation is hard to resist. The pleasure most of us on this board get out of modifying our cars simply overpowers any rational decision-making when it comes to the car.

I think particularly with the EVO, modding is definately "worth" the money as far as performance returns go. But, overall, whether it is "worth" the time and money is something more or less subjective and dependent on your own life factors and situation.

 

ahh, but i see now that the question is whether "moding is worth it" in which case i would have to say that it depends on who you are moding.

 

Yeah, i understand that everyones responces are going to be diffrent, but i almost have the $ in hand, 2 paycheks - car payment away. I am possibly looking for more of regrets or "darn i shouldnt have done that" kinda examples.

 

Do you owe money on the car? If so, modding it may be a bad idea.

 

When I bought the car, I was thinking I was going to leave it stock.

I couldn't wait till I had broken it in to be able to take it to redline.

Well, that was a big disappointment, as most people have come to find out.

I would say that an exhaust (find one with a sound that you like and that gives decent gains) and maybe an ECU reflash would be your best bang-for-the-buck upgrades.

FYI, I have the AVO exhaust.

For ECU reflashes, I like the Vishnu Xflash.

Except for the occasional times when the ECU pulls timing on me (crappy 91 octane here in CA), the car is awesome!

 

I think if you're willing to pay for the mods, willing to go through the work, and willing to pay for the consequences in case things go wrong. Nothing wrong with modding @ all....is it the best thing to do with your $$? Definitely not, but like every other hobby....it might be a waste of $$ in some people's eyes but if it makes you happy what the hey. Just so happens this is a very expensive hobby is all.

 

That one i have tried to explain to my friends that arnt "into" cars, Mama_mog. Its just an $$ hobby. I do owe money on the car, but my dad and i put a good down payment on the car, so i only owe like 1/3 the price.

 

dpardo, do you mind posting a sound clip of your AVO exhaust (sorry to hijack thread), it seems that there is little information on this exhuast and it would be worthwhile for a number of people to hear the exhaust, me inlcuded.

 

well if you're looking for "ways' to start, and not "whether" to start or not . . . i have some suggestions.

If you don't care about the way your exhaust looks, and you want to go the most economical route, I think Buschur makes decent products.

www.buschurracing.com

I do think that there are a bunch of people on here spending money on mods that are relatively useless, however. . . and if you are on a budget, i would stay way from those mods.

They include:

1) an aftermarket BOV
2) an aftermarket intake
3) upgraded piping

If you compare Buschur's "stage 4" cars, and Vishnu's stage 1+ cars, you'll find that they perform remarkably similar to one another (Buschur's actual test car aside, the one that runs 11.6 but that no other stage 4 has seemed to be able to match, all conditions held constant).

I think the big / important mods should come first:

- 3" exhaust, including a downpipe and hiflo cat / test pipe
- fuel management and ignition timing (it would help to have something that can lean out the fuel mixture, AND something that can actually control ignition timing for some torque gain)
- cam gears
- cam shafts

The exhuast shouldn't run over $1000, the engine management would range from $300 - $1400 depending on which one you want to go with, and the cams and gears would run around $900.

 

heh...mama_mog....that's the best variation I've heard yet =O

 

Would you believe a simple muffler delete saves me $4-5 per fill up? Exhaust and some A/F adjustment will give your more power and should give you better gas mileage. So some mods may recoup some costs. Now more importantly, is modding worth losing your warranty?

 

ah yes. . . for engine management, i forgot about the flashes. They are an economical way to go, and definately better than the S-AFC which can't control ignition timing.

 

I will try and get a video clip (with sound) of the car!

 

My suggestion is to leave the car as is and learn to drive it stock to really see what needs to be moddified. Take 2g and do some open track events. You will realize that you can't drive to the limits of the stock car (unless you are a drag racer). Stock the Evo is amazing but at redline it is weak. I got flashed by DynoFlash and had a blast at the track. There were not any cars on street tires that could hand with me. I have a lot to learn but once I feel as though I have found my limits in the stock car I will then modify the suspension and maybe do small power upgrades.

As of right now I want to know exactly what to change on the car before I start blindly changing things