Alright i have gone around and around and around with what i want to do to my car. i love the power but i cannot afford for anything to break.

I autoX and track pretty regularly and after watching not 1 not 2 but 3 cars blow up their motors out at the track this weekend and talking to my buddy with a built wrx thats blown the motor 2 times i have come to this conclusion:

I want a car that is fun to drive on the track has decent power but the most important thing is being able to drive it every day without reliability issues.

The evo is a fun car to drive stock. about 230 whp and handles decently im not complaining. Im going to up grade the suspension with some swift springs most likely and go with some 255/40/17 rt615s when my tires run out.

Only going to go with stg 1 tuned at like 10.8 afr since road racing the car gets pretty damn hot and can even knock at this level.

what i plan on is:
Koyo Radiator
probably a ralliart thermostat <--necessary or no?
APR radiator shroud
Oil cooler <---good company at a decent price?
oil pressure, oil temp, boost gauges to monitor every thing
custom brake cooling ducts <---materals will cost like 10 bucks at home depot ftw.
custom IC spray <--who's bright idea was it to take it away for the 05s anyways

i figure i can have everything for about 1500 bucks probably less.

anyone have anything else to add? suggestions on parts? such as the oil cooler

 

My man, boostinpsi, you just keep going crazy with your ideas. You have DEFINITELY gone "around and around and around" as you said. I don't know if this is the 3rd or 4th time I've answered a big mod list line-by-line, but I think this is the worst one yet. I'm not sure why there were so many blown motors this weekend, but that is NOT normal. In all my track days, I have only seen a few engine failures, and they were only on race cars. I know it happens, but I think you got shellshocked by a fluke weekend, and it's evident in your new mod list, which is crazy overkill for having little power, stock suspension, and stock brakes.

1) Only going to go with stg 1 tuned at like 10.8 afr since road racing the car gets pretty damn hot and can even knock at this level - you won't knock because of AFRs being in the 11s. Plus, when the engine temps get warm, we run rich, so if you got tuned for 10.8, you'd probably end up running low 10s the whole time on the track, which will increase EGTs and waste gas.
2) Koyo Radiator - good mod, but not particularly needed on a car that has low power and that you won't be running hard, since you can't afford to break it
3) probably a ralliart thermostat - definitely not needed even if you were more highly modded
4) APR radiator shroud - looks nice?
5) Oil cooler - definitely not needed
6) oil pressure, oil temp, boost gauges to monitor every thing - good gauges always
7) custom brake cooling ducts <---materals will cost like 10 bucks at home depot ftw. - I look forward to seeing a quality BDCK for $10. I challenge you to do this, but they aren't nearly as helpful as upgraded pads, brake fluid, and SS brake lines.
8) custom IC spray <--who's bright idea was it to take it away for the 05s anyways - the ACD is _far_ more valuable than the built-in IC spray that did nothing and is not something you need
9) Swift springs - what happened to getting real suspension mods?

I suggest:
1) Pads, fluid, SS brake lines
2) Get a normal flash for your car so that you enjoy it all the time, then mix in a few gallons of race gas at the track each time. Even if you don't add the race gas, you'll be fine, but you can add it for added safety margin if you want.
3) Coilovers even if they are entry-level Megans
4) Whatever other mods are allowed in STU - you are removing the clutch to avoid BSP/SM, so that means you need to focus on the class restrictions for STU and make sure your mods fit accordingly.

 

Wait, these engines blew up on an AutoX course or full road course?

I regularly run the California high desert tracks like Buttonwillow, Willowsprings and Street of Willow, where ambient temps during the summer months car reach 115+ degrees (track temps are much higher). These temps might be a hair lower than what your used to in NV but probably not too far off.
Here's what I've found so far. Keep in mind that this is based on full road course events only, not autoX.
Replacement Radiator: might be a good idea but I'm still running the OE unit with little issue. It's pretty stout.
Brake ducting: like Wartallon said, pads/fluid and SS lines go a long way. I did end up installing the RALLIART air guides and removing the dust shields as well. Try that first.
Use quality fluids! Roadrace Engineering recommends a 20W50 base race oil which seems to work well. Change out the other fluids as well. BG Synchroshift and Shockproof (Redline?) fluids are a good choice. The stock fluids under hard use go bad pretty quickly.
The Evo comes with an oil cooler so unless your pushing 400+hp it should work fine.
Again like War. said, a little bit of race gas (100 octane is fine) mixed in for good measure helps to keep those pistons cool. cheap insurance.
I added a high-flow fuel pump and injectors but at your power levels the stock stuff should be fine.
Gauges are your friend!

 

can you help me understand how 100 octane keeps pistons cool?

I suppose cooler than they would be with preignition or detonation?

serious question.

 

...in disagreement with the previous posters, an upgraded oil cooler is a good idea.

I saw 125C continuous on the stock unit. Thats simply too hot for me.

Theres a very popular saying with racers. Don't track anything you wouldn't shove over a cliff. If you're out running a new evo, and don't have the means to fix that engine you roasted, then you need to honestly think twice.

A daily driven track car will suffer in all instances, unless you plan to swap pads/tires, etc every weekend. Theres 200+ lbs of crap inside the cabin to get rid of. Totally unneeded stuff. But if it's a daily driver, you'll keep it in there.

Then we get into safety, if you're still with me. I can't say i'll ever be happy on track without a full cage, 5 pts, and after wearing the hans, i'm hooked. Full cage = non streetable.

 

Man.... advice likes this makes me want to sale my 06 and grab an older/cheaper ride to better equip it for the track. I go through that throught process every few months (especially since I now have a DD 33mpg Honda Accord!) I know you're right too!

To the OP; the daily driven and track car balance is a difficult one! You've gotten some really good advice in here already. Thanks, I appreciate it too!

 

More cooling is definately a good thing especially on the track where the temps get high but do you really need it? If anything I think it is more important to get a conservative tune that won't knock when the temps get high, instead of one that is trying to extract the maximum power.

With that a lot of people are successfully driving their daily driver on the track without any catastrophic engine failure. Just make sure all the fluids are topped off, so that you don't run into a situation where oil starvation occurs. Make sure you do your regular maintenances more frequently and you should be fine ... Just keep in mind, the more power you make the less reliable the car may become. Just don't go overboard on modding for power mods and you should be fine ...

Yea you could drive a POS crappy beater but will it be as fun as driving your EVO?

 

Thats scary, what was the outside temp/location, or did that even matter?

 

Here's a sticky from the engine/turbo section. I found it helpful when setting up my car.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=91203

 

My car is my DD+trackcar, Been doing it for almost 2.5years.. The most important thing you should do is to move up you maintenace.. I also never track my car during the hottest months July & August.. June is still okay

Always fill up with 100octane while at the track.. Change oil before & after each event..

 

80ish. was putting down 300 whp on 18ish psi, stock turbo, evo 8 mr.

in florida, 80 ish is from about feb to december.

 

stock engine oil cooler is fine, However, I would recommend putting a transmission fluid cooler in.

Marty

 

cooler is better, I didn't can my 6 spd either

Had all the stuff to setup a cooler on the 6 spd, but don't honestly see any reason to convert and install it on the 5. Maybe a rainy day project.

 

The Evo is stupid capable as it comes out of the box. I am tracking my RS with MR suspension and to this point the car is beating the a$$ out of every other car it comes across thats not 3 times the price or less than half the weight.

My car had some modest power mods when I bought it to help get air in and out and I added a few more to help keep it moving smooth and cool into the motor. I've also went hard after brakes with pads, 2 piece rotors, good fluid and SS lines.

Next steps for me are better rubber and stiffer suspension and some harnesses to keep me in the seat better as the car is so damn violent and capable that the shoulder belt leaves hickeys on my next which my wifes says is proof that I'm having an affair with the car.

Keep it cool, keep it safe and keep it in rubber and the rest will take care of itself.

Oh yeah, I turn back the manual boost control at the track and add some 100 to the high test to keep the knocks down.

 

i tend to get ideas like this in my head then post them to see what people think.

i am a little shocked at seeing the cars motors let go.

thanks for the advice guys i dont mean to be a bother with the posts like this.

warrtalon, unless i can find someone to buy the exedy ill be stuck in BSP which its looking like that right now.