First off I wasn't sure where to post this so I figured Lancer General would work. If this is wrong then please feel free to move this.

I am getting tired of putting money into my car for this and that and not getting much gain in return. What I want is a car that is fun to drive but nothing too insane. What I'm talking about is the perfect mix of power and handling for me. Looks aren't very important to me right now because my car looks pretty good to me. So I put everything else on hold and looked for a better plan. First I was thinking about trading for a used EVO but the payments would be WAY too high and I would get more satisfaction of making a sloooow car pretty quick(no offense to the people who are satisfied with the stock power). My next thought was an engine swap but from what I have been reading that seems like too much BS for little gain. The best way seems to go turbo and upgrade the stock internals. Then I would go with some coilovers to help out my handling and maybe some other suspension goodies. Also the faster you go the faster you need to be able to stop so I would upgrade my brakes.

I would really love to do the wrench turning by myself. Now since my knowledge of turbos only goes as far as the basics I would obviously wait a while while I do a LOT of research about this subject. As far as my mechanic skills go I would say I am pretty good and I learn new things pretty fast. I also have access to a pretty decent selection of tools.

My thought now is to get a loan for about 5 or 6 thousand and use that to do this. I know banks will do a personal loan to some extent but they usually want to know what you will use it for. What are some of your opinions on what to tell them I will use it for? Car repairs? Engine overhaul? Help me out.

So here is a basic list of what I would do:
-Intercooled turbo kit from RRM along with upgraded stock internals.
-Coilovers(not sure what brand yet)
-Upgraded brakes.
-New clutch.

So its kind of sketchy for now but I will give it a lot more thought and I will do TONS of research before I do ANYTHING.

Any input is appreciated on all aspects of my plans.

 

how much do you owe on your car?
how many miles on it?

 

Do not take a personal loan for car modifications. I know people who do that and I think it's the stupidest thing to do.

If you need a loan to turbo your car it means you don't have the moolah to back you up if something goes wrong. Don't do it.

If you turbo your car with your own money and something goes wrong, then yeah, consider a loan to put it back together. Not the other way around.

Wrenching your car is a hobby, not an investment nor a wise place to spend your money. Hence why you should mod your car only with money you already own.

For the record, if you do the work your-self, 5-6k could get you a pos Honda with a setup that would destroy any Lancer.

 

No personal loans. Bad idea. Just save up and look for a used kit here on the boards.

My honest thoughts (or more of them, I guess... )

IC turbo kit with upgraded internals - overkill. You're on a budget. You'd actually be 100% fine with a Non-IC kit on stock internals as long as you don't try to do too much boost. And it would be much more affordable. And you can upgrade down the road to a more powerful kit and forged internals (when you can afford all that).

Coilovers - a great addition. There's some nice sets that retail for less than a grand brand new. Your car will handle amazing.

Brakes - get pads (Axxis or Porterfield) and rotors. The instant gain in braking force will really surprise you. Anything else after that is kind of like icing on the cake.

Clutch - I wouldn't worry unless your stock one is going. Especially since I already advised you to get a lower turbo kit than you planned for.

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Your plans are great. But your budget sucks. So I'm trying to give you a real-world alternative plan. Just my thoughts.

 

I relize that but I would much rather keep my lancer and work on that.

well there isnt much and my dad gave it to me so I am not making the payments.
I'm at about 52000 miles.


I read into it most of last night and the Non-IC kit from RRM would be perfect for me. Maybe I should just get that first and put my other plans on hold. It probably shouldnt take much time to save up for a nice sued non IC kit. I could do the physical installation of it without a problem. The tuning of it is what worries me but doesnt the RRM kit come with a piggyback thats already tuned for it? or at least enough for me to drive it to a shop to get it tuned if needed?

 

you could probably do a custom 16G intercooled kit for cheap and just get it tuned at a shop. Plus you would be able to learn more about your car.

 

How cheap is cheap?

 

between $2K-$3K

here is a good example: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...&highlight=16g

there are a bunch of other people who have done the same. In fact i'm in the middle of a 16G build for my car

 

Hmmm...this way I could piece it together over time as I have time and money and that way stay motivated because I wont want to stop if I have a turbo sitting in my garage for example. If I was to save up I might lose motivation and just go ahead and buy something else once i have some money saved up.

 

^yeh thats another good reason. i know someone else who is doing this build up for that exact reason. it is easier to buy up the individual components over time than try and save up a solid $3,000.

 

There's also a few cheap used kits on here... I would just go with one of those. And it's not too much more to add a FMIC off of a Evo. There's always an Evo guy trying to sell his stock FMIC and pipes for under 100.

 

It comes with a base map.

 

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Modifying a car like the lancer to a power level that it is any way fast is expensive, not just in terms of raw cost but also in terms of what you have to sacrifice to get it. By this I mean reliability, resale value (people do not want a modified car since it means the car was abused to some degree), maintenance and repair costs. This is why I never turboed my lancer, after hearing all the stories of blown motors, oil leaks, exhaust leaks, etc. I decided I didn't want to deal with that on my daily driver and bought a new car that better fit my needs from the factory.

 

That means just a general tune and it would be a good idea to get it tuned by a shop?

I am aware of that. Like I said earlier I will do a LOT of research before I do anything. Also I will do a lot of thinking. If I do realize that would be too much bs to deal with for ME then I would probably just go ahead and drop the turbo from my plans and go with coilovers and upgarded brakes and a nice stereo.

 

A lack of research isn't the problem, it's just what happens when you take an economy car and try to turn it into a performance car. The lancer was never meant to be turboed, nothing in that motor is designed to handle boost and the massive strain it puts on the motor. When I was still going to turbo mine my brother in-law (a mechanic who also modifies cars) basically told me "that motor will die prematurely, there is nothing you can do but enjoy it while you can." I tend to agree with him given all the problems people have when turboing their cars whether it's small things like idle issues or big things like their pistons melting. If that's fine with you (ie. you don't plan on keeping the car long enough to see it die) go for it. For me I wanted a car I could bag the crap out of and not worry about breaking anything, which is why I went for a WRX. It's fast out of the box (but like all cars could be faster, lol), handles like a go kart, has traction all year round and is made for rallying which makes it a blast on any road. Of course this isn't for everyone, I'm just playing devil's advocate.