So I drove by a local tuning shop that moved locations and is now down the street from where I live. I went in and started looking around and talking with some of the staff. They all seemed really knowledgeable and the cars they had to demo were sweet. Anyway I have an 03 OZ Rally and the only "mods" I have done to it were K&N short ram and a Greddy EVO2 cat back. Along with front and rear strut bars its mostly stock. So I got to thinking and talking with the guy there. He said that I should get headers to round out the IHE steps. Then he said I should get a tune and get the most I can out of it. My only reason for NOT going turbo right now is that I will eventually look into getting a WRX in a few years. He recommended some DC headers for around $650 and a tune would be $300-350. Now I have read a ton on this site... And have always heard RRM makes the best headers for my car. But do you think that with those upgrades I would see a nice little boost in my go cart?

 

Not much. If you are set on the WRX, save your money for that. Otherwise if you want to keep the car for a long while and get the most out of it, go turbo.

 

well imo i wouldn't invest into this car unless you are gonna go turbo, especially since you plan on getting the wrx. but if you want to add a few hp then go for it. I plan on turboing mine shortly so i might be able to offer you my rrm header. And maybe my piggyback also (V2). pm if interested.

 

I dont think bolt ons on this car is a waste, when tune by a professional it can make some serious torque. But if you already have something in mind I suggest you start saving your money and you stick to it.

As for myself, I looking into selling the lancer to get a 240sx with a sr20det swap.

 

I felt the same about my OZ. I would love to get an evo in the future and I was just going to leave the OZ stock but lately I've been doing afew things more for show. If your really wanting to get another car just leave yours stock. I know the feeling deep down you want to make this car more fun but if your going to trade it in, the money you put into it wont be worth it, in a private sale you probably wont get more than 1grand above kelly bluebook no matter how awesome the exhaust is. Its something your just gonna have to think about and deside if its worth it to you.

 

Quite possible. Unfortunately not many have had the patients to tune our Lancers and most others have slapped on a piggyback system after adding a few NA mods.

 

Bolt-ons are indeed a waste on the lancer unless you consider paying more than 1000$ per HP to be a good investment. At the moment you are for all intensive purposes stock, an intake does jack-all, an exhaust does jack-all and a header does jack-all save for making some cool sounds (you can hear the exhaust gases rushing through). A tune will yield some HP but how much can't be said for certain. Based on a lot of dynos, lancers run quite rich so leaning out the mixture would help. Another member (TouringBubble) has done some datalogging and it appears that from the factory the timing map is too aggressive (too advanced) and is hurting power so that's something else that can be addressed. I would strongly recommend you spend your money elsewhere (like on a rear sway bar, shifter bushings, evo seats) and just try to make the car as enjoyable to drive as possible. If I had taken my own advice I could have been in a WRX months if not years sooner rather than pissing my money away into a motor that only shows results when turboed.

 

An my opinion don't buy the headers brand new, buy them used but in good condition. If you do small mods like IHE get them for a great price so your not paying a arm and a leg. The only reason why i went turbo cause it was reall cheap and i couldn't pass it up. If you go with the headers i would recommend getting a downpipe customized with it and a RRM test-pipe. That should help but don't be expecting the 20 hp to 30

 

Yeah, I agree with amby. The best value for the money is not found in performance mods on this car. I have the progress sway bar and it transformed the handling of the car. I also put in a fidanza short shifter and the two set of solid speed source bushings. The car is a real blast to drive.

 

as far as best performaing header goes. RRM is short tube and doubles as a turbo mani of theres. Long tube headers 4-1 would be a much better option. Amby is right to an extent but I bet you would be surprised what power you would make by fixing all the ****ty factory aspects of the mitsu tune. Get the free lancerscan and datalogging program with the $80 cord and do some road tuning. Friend of mine tunes his evo that way. Is good stuff. I plan to do the same next summer since my car will be paid off.

 

I think a tune is key, don't bother with the bolt-ons as they do jack-all. A good tune can do wonders though.

 

So there could be hope?

 

Don't hold your breath, it's not like the car is going to gain 10 hp or anything like that, I would guess you could make 5-7 hp which is decent at least.

 

Yep, it's pretty much go turbo or go home in this aspect. Performance wise our cars are on level with mini-vans N/A. So if you don't go turbo, forget about making a lot of power, just go for looks. Because our cars can look a lot faster than they can drive

 

hahahahah amen to that brother