Beautiful...glad you saved this evo!

Dayum!

FL-NC/TN-PA-FL Trip
 

My apologies in advance for the massive photo dump below.

So...I decided to take the Evo for a road trip from FL to NC/TN, then up to PA, and back to FL. The engine ran beautifully and I averaged 23-24mpg highway which surprised the hell out of me TBH. No oil was consumed over that entire distance either, so I guess I did something right.

While in NC/TN, I hit some mountain roads including Tail of the Dragon and...holy ****. This car is everything I hoped it'd be. I'm not going to lie, I was beginning to think owning an Evo was a case of "Never meet your heroes" as I was pretty uninspired with it only moping around in FL going in a straight line, but, once I got it in the mountains, I was in awe. With stock struts and Tein H-line lowering springs, stock sway bars, and some decently sticky BFG GForce Sport Comp 2s...my limit was far lower than the car's. I'm beyond excited to start getting some track time with it as these cars are impressive in their capabilities, even in stock form.

The trip was a total of 3397 miles from my garage, back to my garage, which makes for a total of 5k miles since the car was put back together. I do believe I killed the transfer case somehow as death whine began while coasting down a hill in Northern PA, so that will be going out for a rebuild. I hit a huge bump while coasting and it started immediately on acceleration after...oddly 1500 miles after thrashing it on the Dragon and not immediately after, so, not sure it had anything to do with it, but, oh well.

Anyways, here are some photos from the adventure. I'll try to get the GoPro video up soon, but, it may be a bit before the next update. Hopefully the car will undergo some changes instead of just being repeat pics in different areas. lol.

If you've stayed tuned this far...thanks for your patronage! On to some photos.


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Almost 3 Wheeling!

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Cheoa “Fugitive” Dam

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Cherohala Skyway

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Fontana Dam
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Its Bristol baby!

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Somewhere in Northwest PA

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I’ve never been to NY State, so I had to…

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My buddy in PA assisted me with new fluids and a transfer case to get home with.

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And here's some random scenic photos...

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Cheoa "Fugitive" Dam

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Kinzua Bridge in PA

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Holy smokes the pictures are amazing no need to apologize {thumbup}. Man...tail of the dragon is a bucket list of mine (Socal resident) that must have been an awesome drive. I really like all the stops you made and got pictures of with your Evo. 3000+ miles round trip is definitely a testament on how well you rebuilt that Evo. Now during these covid times is the time to go on a road trip to see the world as I assume traffic is less and you're not putting anyone at risk driving inside a car haha. The picture of the Fugitive Dam was really neat, as I just watched that movie recently very cool (picturing Harrison Ford front flipping off hahaha).

Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

Dang guy, looks like you damn near had all the roads to yourself! You got the X wheels growin' on me.

This. Never was a big fan of these wheels on a 8/9 but.. wow it really looks good lowered against the rally red. Very clean sir.

It has been a while since I have logged on and haven't see the replies. But, thank you! It definitely was an awesome drive and I am planning on going up again in early October...I'm hoping to catch some colorful leaves this time. Haha. I definitely recommend it, but, you have some awesome roads out your way I would love to hit as well. I dream of someday driving one of my cars the entire length of the PCH.


I like the X wheels, though I'm hoping to get something different soon. It just looks to docile to me. I'm thinking 57DRs possibly, but, we'll see.

It has been quite a while since an update, but, I figured I'd post up what has happened over the past year...and link the Tail of the Dragon video I said I'd upload (nothing special, but its a video, lol).

New Shep Stage 2 transfer case installed...Shep also swapped over my Wavetrac as it was apparently in perfect shape. I also finally got hard pipes...I went with a Mishimoto kit and an AEM intake. Just the other day I installed a 3" turboback stainless Buschur Racing exhaust and I am in love. I really don't know why I didn't get an exhaust sooner. It is honestly perfect.

Other mods...I installed my dual gauge vent pod, replaced the "Lancer" in the cluster with "Evolution", installed a double-din Pioneer unit with Android Auto, and also replaced all the tiny lightbulbs that were burned out in the dash. Lastly, please don't disown me, but I installed Subaru BRZ seats. :lol: My local pick'n'pull got a 2016 BRZ in for some reason and I got both seats for $35 each, only buying them because I see they go for about $400+ each online. I was messing around and tried them and, low and behold, the front two bolts lined up and the rear two bolts were easily made to work. I don't know if they're permanent, but they're way comfier and more supportive than the stock seats. Red stitching matches the car at least. lol.

Next up soon, hopefully, is wheels and getting the interior plastics redone (might have them hydrodipped).

Anyway, here are some pics from the year hiatus along with the Tail of the Dragon video and the first drive with the exhaust.

New tcase

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First drive with new tcase

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Hard pipes and intake

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Interior mods

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Stopped by Lake Eustice on my way to St Augustine

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New exhaust

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I've been working with the aviation unit at my work and went for a flight...

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Tail of the Dragon - 2020 (song was off of the Gran Turismo 2 soundtrack and seemed fitting, lol) (also, see the motorcyclist who pulled out in front of me near the end :rant: )




Buschur 3" exhaust drive-by

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I also took a trip to Miami...

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It's been a while since I gave an update, and since there have been some changes...there was another Evo trip to the Tail of the Dragon and up to PA in 2021...then the trip highlighted below in 2022.

Prior to Hurricane Ian back in 09/22, I picked up a set of Gram Lights 57DRs. 18x9.5 +22. I was hoping for silver and may powder coat them eventually, but I don't mind the black either.

Over the fall I took the car on another trip to Pennsylvania and stopped by my buddy Grant's shop (House of Power Tuning) in Hanover, PA. While there we talked long term, and as I was having some minor drivability, MAF, and idle issues that were difficult to chase down and as I still have plans for down the road, I decided to go with a Haltech Elite. I left it with him and headed back to Florida. When I got the call a couple weeks later, I flew up and picked the car up and he got it from 339whp/338wtq on the stock ECU to 370whp/395wtq on 93 octane with the Haltech with no other changes. Almost every aspect of drivability is infinitely better and it still got 24mpg on the trip home. While there, he also installed a Radium dual catch can setup since I was in need.

From there I hit some mountain roads with another friend in his supercharged RSX (making similar power) then headed for home down the Blue Ridge Parkway and on to Florida. There's almost 25k miles on the rebuild so far!

On to the pics.

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This is impressive. Great work.