I'm having a midlife crisis (a mild one) and bought a '04 Evo VIII RS for my commuting car. What a load of fun! I haven't had a performance car in >25 yrs and I'm having a &*%load of fun with this. The car has done everything I've asked it to do and I can fit my whole family in it. My 14yr old daughter now wants me to take her everywhere just so she can be seen in the car... even with her old man! Now I'd like to do some mods, but I'm wondering where I should start. I know there are going to be many opinions here, and I don't want to get into a flame war, but I'd like some opinions. Money is really not an issue, but I do drive this car ~500mi/wk, mostly on Kansas highways. Very little city driving overall. The highways I drive are pretty fast trafficwise, typically 80-90mph is standard unless cops are out (radar detector helps here ). I love pulling away from black pickup trucks (they seem to particularly not respect my authoritie, to quote Cartman) on the turnpike who think they want to race. I've had it up to 120+ and had to shut it down due to a slower clump of traffic ahead of me. What a rush! The pickup just got smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror. The car just felt like it wanted to go faster!

If there is an existing thread on this subject could someone please point me to it? I'm 46 going on 18 and I've got money burning a hole in my pocket!

 

Get a Turbo Kit, some nice rims, turbo back exhaust, a set of defi gauges with unit controller of course (Gruppe-S is having a sale), an elec. boost controller, lastly a turbo timer. Then you should be set for awhile. I would add a suspension kit, but it's a family car, the suspension is plenty stiff for trips.

 

haha... well start with an intake, full turboback and some ecu tuning...

 

maybe a stage 1 kit with a bigger intercooler for efficiency. if you want, you could always upgrade you turbo as well. i know the vishu's and bruschur's are really good. aps is pretty good too, which you can upgrade to a stage 3 without removing any stage 1 parts. can't go wrong is either of em.

 

Ummm, I too own a RS! When I found out I could buy this for the price of a Accord I jumped on it. I'm used to 4G63 from my Eclipse days and had to get that boost back!

Since your commuting and doubling as family car, I would suggest a milder sounding turbo-back exhaust. A world of difference in turbo response and driving impression! I added Helix downpipe and Esplier cat-back to stock cat. Not too loud, just little growling. I think you can definitely live with this combo.

I think stock intake is pretty decent, but I plan to add Injen kit along with HKS SSQ BOV. And then I have Tein High Tech lowering spring to put on - mild drop for looks and a little lower center of gravity.

Next, thinking of electronic boost controller, like Greddy Profec B and turbo timer to properly cool the turbo.

Finally, maybe Apexi AFC fuel controller to fine tune the fuel injectors for optimum power curve!

Enjoy the ride,

 

Go buschur stage 1. Buschurracing.com

 

Thanks for the responses so far. I should clarify here that it's not really a family car as I'm the only one who drives it and it's mostly for commuting. I just wanted something fun to drive with plenty of performance and maybe have some fun modding it. I don't want to look TOO dorky as an "old guy" in a car aimed at the 20+ crowd. That's primarily why I bought the RS version! I don't want me teenagers to disown me

 

What exactly do you want from the car by modifying it? That's a good place to start.


By the way, you're a cool dad.

 

i think thats so cool that she wants to hang with pops.you couldn't ask for more.for mods.get some rims,and exhaust.rims=better overlook,and turboback will give you some extra growl

 

XS Intercooler kit and Helix cat delete sounds a good quiet start.

 

Pretty much my story. Before you go throwing money around on hardware take the car out to Hallett for some quality time. I know I have 20 years of Ford sedan driving (yeah, that includes a Crown Vic) to unlearn. At this point $300 in track fees will make you faster than $3000 in parts. And as much fun as an Evo is on the street it doesn't compare to a road course. So, did you get the silver to match your hair, too?

Dave

 

In my opinion if u use the car alot and u want a litile more attention all u really need is a cat back exaust preferably hks hi power trust me ull feel a diffrence and turn alot more heads oh and a hks super sequential BOV

 

Moving to FAQ's Forum.

 

Really what I'd like to get is a little more low end torque and have the high end boost just a bit more (21psi settling a little less than it does stock). I'm more inclined toward ECU and electronic mods right now because the car seems to be pretty decent otherwise, not to mention brand new. I'm going to put the cross bar in the trunk, as my version of the RS came with AC, but not this rear strengthening cross-member. I'd like to have more control over engine operation (I'm a software guy, you know). However, I'm not opposed to adding a better intake. In fact I kind of plan on doing that as well. Let me know what you all think. I live in Lawrence (near Topeka and SCCA hdqtrs), so I might see if I can rent some track time at Heartland Park to REALLY drive the car.

As always any and all thoughts are appreciated. Thanks guys!

PS -- I got a white RS to match my beard (;-)>

 

Goto the Vendors section of the forums and take a look at each of the vendors there. They all specialize in different philosphies, so its good to compair several before deciding.

Personally, I recommend taking a look at Vishnu, but I wouldn't count out any vendors.

Terry S