I will be keeping my 03.

 

Man, if i wanted all the power locks and things, i would get an MR. i dont want all those things, not even the ABS.
Fog lights and Vanity Mirrors , no thanks...

This is the way i look at it
front and rear lights with vortex: $1,000
17" SSR wheels installed: $1,580
Coilovers: $2,000

$4,800 and u got an MR RS :P with better suspension and lighter wheels.

still have $2,200 in the bank. lets see.
Turbo back : $800
K & N : $80
EBC: $320 a manual would cost $80
SAFC: $320
small battery kit: $225

there u go, that should net about 300 whp and is a lot lighter then an MR. for the same price. plus, u pay less property tax if ur state has that. and less insurance too :P

just hope you dont see my RS at a local track event

 

So if you didn't care about any of these amenities, or the al roof, 6 spd, and bilsteins. Why was it that you wanted an MR in the first place?
It sounds like you really just wanted a JDM Evo. I don't know why you thought we would be getting the JDM version of the MR though.


chantaiman51, don't forget the $700 MR Package that includes pedals, guages, shift knob, and other cosmetic options that are overpriced to probably around $1000-1500 on the base Evos.

 

Hehe, you really think your mods will really improve your lap time? I really don't think so. How come you guys don't understand the fact that factory tuned car is better than your home brewed "frankenstein". Not even the car tuned by those so-called expert tuner works. Have you seen the Best motoring video where the bone stock Evo GSR kicking the EVO RS a$$ in Tsukuba? Have you seen the SCC review on those modded evo? They have a bone stock RS competing against a Vishnu tuned evo. The stock evo again beats the Vishnu car.

The stock evo lap time is 1:01.5 and the Vishnu is 1:01.38. And the Vishnu has the following mods:

Vishnu signature turbo back exhaust
forge blow off valve
Samco intercooler hose
Vishnu adjustable cam
HKS 264 intake can
HKS 272 exhaust can
Walboro fuel pump
Xede ECU
Cusco Rear anti rollbar
357hp
319lb-ft
0-60 mph: 3.9sec
1/4 mile: 12.7
Fuel: 100 octane

since the Vishnu is so much faster than the stock in straight away, but the overall lap time is only 0.12 seconds faster. So, what does that tell you, the modded car can't turn. Since Vishnu claimed to be the expert in Evo tuning and they can't even do it right, what make you think you are smarter and better than Vishnu and the engineer @ Mitsubishi.

The mickey mouse type tuning that cost $6k-$7k simply won't work right on track. It might work on dragstrip. So don't say your modded RS will be fast on track. =)

I once did a experiment on my 2 Ducati, each of my 748 and 998 have around $20-$25k worth of parts on it. First, I've installed the 8 lbs Marchesini forged magnesium wheels on the 998, I really like the handling over the stock wheels. So to go a step further, I got the BST 5 lbs carbon fiber wheel on the 748 to see if i can get lower lap time, but its turn out to be slower around track, because the wheels are simply to light and turn in is too fast. Then i changed to a less aggressive steering head angle, but it still doesn't work right. Then, i got race spec ohlins in the back and got R/T ohlins forks, but it still doesn't work right. Then, the wave rotor kit made it even worst. So, this tells me sometimes lighter is not always better, or more expensive parts doesn't work alone, you will need the whole balanced factory tuned package to work. And you can see none of the motogp team using ultra light carbon wheels.

My point is your light wheels, "better" suspension kit, and more horsepower doesn't translate into performance gain in terms of lower lap time. There are simply too many variable for enthusaist to tackle. For the suspension alone, there are low/ high speed compression, rebound, spring rate, static sag, preload, etc.... Moddin your car is fun, but it probably doesn't turn out as nice as you wish.

I am getting the MR, and the only mod I really trust is the type created by engineer team at Mitsubishi. Thats the FQ340 package. And I know the MR FQ340 is the top 10 fastest car tested by Jeremy @ Top gears.

 

my point exactly, RS kicks butt. now add 60 whp to that RS with the lower center of gravity (AL roof) and better suspension (coilovers), ur talking about a killer RS

Well, u can always get a set of used (1 week old) MR suspension. there are a few on the lancerforum , might even save over the JIC coilovers

 

exactly. when i had my ITR, do you know many people i saw with GSRs who spent soooo much time, effort and money to try to the match the ITR's balanced perfromance?? they all said the same thing as MR 600..."i'll take the $5k i saved to buy my GSR and make a car faster than your ITR..." i'd still beat those guys in autox and around the track. it was a joke.

 

Okay, I buy the used MR suspension, then where is my BBS wheels, 6 speed tranny, vortex, and C/F wing, plus tons of other sweet stuff like EBD, ABS, HID, etc....?

I can understand how people don't mind sacrificing alot of "standard amenities" for the lower priced RS. But if the intention is to save the $7K and put it back into the car and think it will be alot better than the MR. I really don't think its that simple.

Let's first look at the intention on why Mitsubishi release the MR and the RS in the first place.

MR is there to showcase Mitsubishi technology and performance know how. It shows what is the best factory evo should be interms of practicality, durability, fuel economy, streetability, etc....

RS has two reasons to exist. First is to reduce the cost of entry, so people doesn't have much money can still enjoy the evo. Second, RS is for people who really want to build a serious race machine. So you can see the RS in Japan actually comes with steel wheels. People bought the RS and hand them over to their favorite builder like HKS, Apexi, or Jun to turn it into a race machine. Remember those Advan or Puma evo in Best motoring videos.

$7k added to the RS won't become a "MR killer".

 

You forgot one thing, bone stock RS is slower than a std evo GSR. At least thats the result from Japanese video. And I saw the MR FQ340 beat the std evo, sti spec c, carrera GT3, M3 CSL, etc... in Top Gears

 

well, if i did get an MR, i would remove the wing for a CF one. change the wheels for lighter ones and get better suspension. so to me, an RS would make more sence. i just think the price of 32-35k is a bit high for the MR, and even makes less sense to pay that much when Mitsu did not include 1k worth of parts that i think they should/could have for that much of a price increase over the normal EVO. as for the 6 speed, from what i hear, its not as strong as the 5 speed and not as smooth. only good for highway MPG.

I agree about trying to make some cars performe better on ur own Vs the factory, some guys just cant get it right. but many/most of them do. mitsu engineers will sacrifice a lot for comfort to be able to market a suspension on a production car, but most other performance suspension and made to handle and thats all. they dont care about comfort. so if ur talking about pure track performance in an AutoX, i think many of the coilovers out there will kill the MR around the track and will pull higher Gs and better slalom.
i am not telling ppl not to get an MR and only go RS. Just sharing my thought to those guys who were either going to take their cars to the extreme and most likely were going to gut most of the power parts out, want to mod the crap out of their EVOs and have an extreme EVO, or to the few of us who either might not afford to pay the MR price out right (they can mod an RS in stages, and wont take a big hit at once) that there are better ways to spend the extra $7k,its up to them to decide how to do so.

 

Okay, let me ask you this. Do you enjoy the process of modding your car? Or do you want your car to be faster around track? If you answer yes to the former. Then I think everybody can agree on that. We all love car and thats why we are here, modding car is fun. That's no question about it. But if you want your car to go fast around track with miminal cost like $7k. I say forget about it.

I say most if not all people failed to make their car actually perform better in a track. The problem is not only on the skill or knowledge of the amateur tuner or pro tuner. Its also has to do with the cost involved in such a project. When you change one parts, then you will have to change another to make the system works coherently.

And we can use your upgrade path as an example, you say you won't buy the MR because you would take off the MR wing, wheels and suspension for "better" alternatives. But why do you think the stock MR is not good enough, or in another word, why the "upgraded" RS is "better"? Look at another modded evo by RB motoring reviewed in the SCC articles. It has alot more than the so called "better" parts which you want on your list plus more:

Ohlins PCV coil overs x 4
energy suspension bushing
18x 8.5 works wheels
245/35/18 Eagle F1 tires
Rotora rotors
Ferodo Pads
Power enter. air filter
Apexi airbox
Mines downpipe
Mines outlet pipe
Attain titanium exhaust
Monster piping
Ralliart spark plug
Ralliart grounding kit
Apexi Super AFC II
Upgraded fuel pump
SARD 700cc injectors
103 octane fuel
Gialla front bumper w/carbon ducts
Gialla hood
Lamda meter
02 simulator
Huge intercooler
Also has tons of other small parts they didn't want to list like struct bars, small battery, BOV, various piping, etc...

Very impressive list of mod and definitely more extensive than what you listed. Do you think RB motoring got the right kind of mods or not? But look at the end result. Its 0.71 seconds faster than stock. Look at the quarter miles time, the modded one is 0.4 seconds faster than stock. So, again the modded one with better body work, wheels, OHLINS suspension is actually slower in turns. The car run on race gas and so set so low to the ground that you can't even drive it to track. It won't surprise me a bit if they throw in a "much cheaper" stock MR in there and beating those "expertly" tuned evo.

So coilover will not "kill" MR stock setup on track, it takes way more than that.

Please don't think I am telling people to only buy MR or RS is bad in anyway. I just want to debunk the myth that modded car is ALWAYS better than stock. And how modded car can always "kill" stock car.

 

I never said the MR is not good enough, but its not $7k better then an RS, atleast not in my book.
Just because RB motoring got it wrong, does not mean all other tuners/guys who mod their RS will all get it wrong. there are also many moded EVOs that will kill a stock one (sparco EVO). Some tuners were able to do it right, and some could not.
You cant convince me that an RS with MR suspension ($1k used) will lose to an MR with $6K(cash left) in mods for the RS. sorry, just hard to believe. i guess we will just have to wait and see.
How do you know what it takes to beat an MR, You dont even know how much of an improvment the MR suspension is over stock. non of us do.

I also never said a moded car is always better then stock and will always kill a stock car, i dont know were ur coming up with all this. i do realize that some times its hard to beat a factory prepped car, but for some reason, i dont think the MR will be one of them.
best thing is just to wait and see how it compairs against the normal EVO. and maybe a few mags will put it up against some tuner cars with moded suspension.

 

Hmmm, scroll back and read your own post, i don't know how many times you said how a modded RS is better, killer this killer that, lighter, faster around track, cheaper, etc.... You don't think I made it up?

So RB got it wrong, vishnu got it wrong, what make you think individual can get it right then? Honestly ask yourself, if you have $7K, can you getting better "parts" list than the items in the Vishnu or RB car? I think you know mods on both car cost more than the $7k right? Can you share your better secret recipe with me?

Its great that you mentioned the Sparco Evo, thats not your $7k modded evo. It doesn't surprise me if the sparco carbon seats, seats belts and steering wheels alone cost like $7k already. The parts alone probably cost $40k plus.

Why do I have to convice you? You can see the lap time yourself. A stock evo RS with no mod beat the RB and Vishnu. A stock GSR is faster than the EVO RS. A evo MRFQ320 is top 10 cars in Top gears.

What do you mean I don't know? Here is the lap time for your reference. The MR FQ320 is
1.26.0 where the EVo 8 FQ300 is 1.28.90

Porsche Carrera GT - 1.19.8
Mercedes-Mclaren SLR - 1.20.9
Ferrari 360 CS - 1.22.3
Porsche 911 GT3 RS - 1.22.3
Lamborghini Murcielago - 1.23.7
Pagani Zonda - 1.23.8
Koenigsegg - 1.23.9
Noble M12 GTO-3 - 1.25.0
Lamborghini Gallardo - 1.25.8
Mitsubish Evo VIII MR320 – 1.26.0
Lotus Exige - 1.26.4
Porsche 911 GT3 - 1.27.2
TVR T350c - 1.27.5
BMW M3 CSL - 1.28.0
MG SV - 1.28.6
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII FQ300 - 1.28.9
Alpina Roadster (Z8) - 1.29.0
Subaru Impreza WR1 – 1.29.4
Alfa 3.7GTA – 1.30.0
Subaru Impreza STi - 1.30.1
Aston Martin DB7 GT - 1.30.4
Audi S4 - 1.30.9
Porsche 911 Turbo - 1.31.0
Vauxhall VX220 Turbo - 1.31.3
Honda NSX Type R - 1.31.6
BMW M3 - 1.31.8
Nissan 350Z - 1.31.8
Mazda RX-8 - 1.31.8
Ford Focus RS - 1.32.2
Lotus Esprit V8 - 1.32.5
Audi TT V6 - 1.32.7
Noble M12 - 1.33.1
Mercedes SL55 AMG - 1.33.2
VW Golf R32 - 1.33.2
Volvo S60R - 1.35.0
Ferrari 575 - 1.35.2
Alfa Romeo 147 GTA - 1.35.6
Lotus Elise - 1.35.6
Aston Martin Vanquish - 1.36.2
Renault Clio V6 - 1.36.2
Honda Civic Type R - 1.36.5
Saab 9-5 HOT Aero - 1.37.9
Maserati Coupe - 1.38.0
Bowler Wildcat - 1.39.4
Bentley Arnarge - 1.40.8
Range Rover overfinch - 1.44.0

I want to duplicate the FQ340 package because i don't think it will be any "slower" than the FQ320 package.

 

IN a totally different direction....does anybody know if the MR will come with air conditioning or a CD player?

 

The MR edition will come with both...

Now, Vishnu's EVO pretty much held its own in the Car and Driver Tuner Shoot Out, so a modded car can be a substantial improvement over the base.

An '05 modded RS, with a calibrated suspension by a master tuner should be a fun ride and a track terror. At the end of the day... and this is based on assuming the engines are the same in the MR and RS (I really don't know the difference based on the spec sheets )... the RS would have the weight advantage and with a comparable suspension and lighter wheels, should technically win... though it'll need a wing.

The USDM '04 RS tested in the most recent issue of Car and Driver bested the base Evo in performance number... except in braking.

 

try $50K+.