Hi guys wanted to start a build thread since im doing something a bit crazy. My 03 evo 8 has been serving as the year-round family car for the last 13 years since the wife and I decided to have kids. My 95 TSI AWD and her 3rg gen eclipse didn't have 4 doors. Well, the salty michigan winters have taken their toll and its rusted to the point that things are falling off. It's got a evo9 turbo at 24lbs, hks272's, 3" turbo back, TRE custom adapted 3.73 final drive transmission, and rebuilt rear diff with the LSD plates done properly.
Now after doing some research I bought a 2015 outlander sport awd with a bad motor for $1500 and the plan is to graft the entire evo8 drivetrain into the outlander sport.

Correct me if im wrong anywhere.

The ralliart and outlander sport share a lot of parts and many of them are also similar or compatible with the evo x. Oddly enough many evo x parts seem to be compatable with evo 8/9 parts, so if I understand correctly I may be able to mismatch parts to minimize a lot of fabrication.

First idea:

RA and X guys put 8/9 rear differentials in to handle high power motors. You can do this with factory available parts. If the OS has a rear subframe similar to the RA/X hopefully I can swap my diff in. If not I may just figure out how to bolt my 8 subframe in like they do for 3rd gen eclipse AWD swaps. My 8 driveshaft will probably be a little short so a spacer(cheap) or custom driveshaft (expensive) will probably be needed. Lets be real ill probably have an aluminum spacer drilled out the proper thickness to make up the difference between driveshaft and rear diff. My 8 has 163k miles, so it could probably do with a replacement. If im lucky 8 halfshafts will spline into OS rear knuckles or 8 rear knuckles might fit. Worst case I swap in RA/X rear knuckles

That would deal with drivetrain in the back.
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Second idea:

OS/RA/X/8 front control arms are apparently interchangeable but attach to the front knuckles at different distances. The X front control arms are about an inch longer than the 8, and I suspect the OS to be similar to the 8 in length. The RA/X steering knuckles are interchangeable. (Still have to check if halfshafts spline into wheelbearings between them) I have seen posted that the RA halfshafts spline into evo 5 wheelbearings(same as 8). Evo 8/9 guys use X knuckles on their cars to effectively do a drop knuckle to lower their car.(nobody has mentioned halfshafts needing to be changed when doing this). Evo 8 front knuckles can be drilled to fit X brakes. Since my OS is AWD the front subframe should have space for its transfer case and driveshaft and the control arm mounts are all the same so one of the available OEM control arms should be the correct length to locate the knuckle in the proper location. The front motor mount on the 8 and X are almost identical, easily modified to work. I've found someone who made custom motor mounts to fit a 4b11 in an evo 9, so it should work the other way around.

if at all possible i want to use the OS front subframe and steering because its easier and i want the electric power steering. Hopefully the opening for the transfer case and driveshaft is in the correct spot for the 8 transfer case and the steering rack won't interfere with anything. If all else fails I'll make the 8 front subframe bolt in at the proper place and use it instead.

Electronics/interior:

This is where I'll have the most trouble. The plan is to swap in the entire evo8 engine harness and ECU and gauges. Install either the factory OS manual transmission clutch pedal and master cylinder or make the 8 master and clutch pedal work. Route shifter cables inside and hope i can make the shifter and its base not look glaringly bad(a 5-speed center console should work nicely). I've been driving my evo without ABS for close to 10 years so im not worried about the ABS sensors and halfshaft's tone rings not getting along. It has no traction control but god how id love to have cruise control lol. I want to reflash the outlander ecu so that as much of the interior stuff works as possible. Not sure how integrated it is. Not sure how im going to do the ignition and key. I want it as simple as possible to use but also secure and hopefully looks OEM on the inside.

Extra stuff:

Im going to start with brakes. Easiest solution at first is to just use the 8 front brakes then eventually upgrade to the X brakes.

I haven't decided if I want to lift it a little or lower it a little, so I guess it depends on which knuckles I end up using. If I have to use the 8 knuckles its going to act like a lift knuckle. The number i saw mentioned was about 10mm, so lifting it would probably be the way to go. I'd like to lower it though since my transmission has a 3.73 final drive and smaller diameter evo8 size tires would keep the speedometer accurate. I could also use the winter and summer tires that I currently use on my 8 then

I recently found serious damage to the cylinder head on my evo8. Its functional but junk for anything more than the 325 or so hp im probably making. Im hoping to buy a running 03 hyundai sonota in the next week or 2 for parts. They have a high compression 2.4 engine licensed from mitsubishi. Its basically an updated non-turbo 10:1 compression 4g64 with a dohc evo 8 cylinder head. Between the 3rd gen eclipse 4g64 I've got stashed, the evo's current 4g63, and the hyundai's G4JS I've got to decide what engine will get swapped into the OS. Im really tempted to get the swap done with the injured 4g63 then once everything is working properly swap in the stock G4JS. It should be able to handle the 325-350hp my current setup would make. Then sell the 4g63 shortblock. Or mix and match parts. Build the 4g64 block and G4JS head with evo8 guts together for the extra safety margin. Put the junk 4g63 head with G4JS guts on the G4JS block stick it back in the sonota and drive it or sell it, then sell the 4g63 shortblock. I like the 2nd one more, but it will take even more time and money.

All of this while trying to figure out when to do my 5-speed swap to my 03 montero sport and putting an engine back into my puerto rican 98 montero SR...

Just realized I haven't done any research into fuel pumps that will fit the OS. Can we use RA or X fuel pumps?

 

Subscribed. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable chimes in.

 

I don't really have any useful input. I have seen something similar done with the older outlanders that were closely related to the evo 8/9 but never the newer one.

I'll definitely be watching for updates as you get stuff in and mounted!

 

It would definitely be more straight forward with a evo x/ralliart, but im working with what I've got.

 

These are the 15" wheels and 31's i was thinking of using. They are off my jeep TJ. I haven't test fit yet, so i dont know if the brakes will clear.

These are the strut tower spacers off the sonata. Same bolt patern as the OS. Unfortunately the sonata struts have a forked bottom attachment point like the 2nd gen eclipse. Im wondering if i could possibly swap the top hats of the sonata struts onto my evo struts but they might have clearance issues even if that could work. The sonata spacers were probably 2cm closer together than my evo's strut tower bolts

The sonata that has donated its 2.4 G4JS for the project. The current plan is to swap my evo8 head components into the G4JS head and run it otherwise unopened. It will be high compression but hopefully the hks272's will keep it happy even with boost.

This is the sad state of my evo. So far rust has only let the side skirt, front bumper, fender and drivers door come loose.