When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've built different cars in the past. I've driven everything from a stock Mustang GT to a high-hp (turbo) civic to a 2.0L, fully-built Integra Type-R (also turbo). Once i wrecked my first Acura Integra, I bought the Integra Type-R. After a few mountain runs, i decided i would have fun taking it to the road course (my local track; Buttonwillow Raceway) and was instantly hooked.
updates are throughout the thread, with the latest in post 30.
I eventually sold the R to buy my friend's salvaged WW MR. After rebuilding it, I did a few track days with it tuned on the stock turbo, street tires, and basic bolt-ons. Wow, what a great-performing car!
I sold the Evo out of panic (long story).
Fast Forward after a year and an '05 WRX later, i found another WW MR. SCORE!
I decided to do a build without wasting money. My focus was narrowed to Road Course duty while being comfortable enough to drive to and from the track. I'd only change out parts if NEEDED. I thought it would be fun to see how stock i could keep the car. I researched all i could to avoid the typical pitfalls of Evo ownership i.e. installing parts because they are popular or considered the norm. Pretty much every part on my car was swapped out for a good reason. No bling here.
I'm posting this in case anyone is wondering what can be done with our cars without breaking the bank and not going crazy (IMO) with modifications.
Blah, blah, blah, here is what i ended up with:
-2006 Evo IX MR
-120k or so miles when i bought it in 2012, currently sitting at 128k
-Original motor and transmission, though i have installed new King bearings and OEM piston rings.
-Balance shafts: I left the belt off the rear shaft and my oil pump came with an OEM stubby shaft. I once found a near-shredded belt that scared me from using another. The stubby came with the oil pump.
-GSC s1 cams. I previously had Greddy EasyCams in stalled because they were free. No matter what i did to the car, i was held back by the cams. the low end and midrange were fine, but i needed a bit more up top. I'm hoping the S1s put me right in that sweet spot of mid-range and a bit extra on the high end.
-Kiggly HLA. Because I don't want to kill my engine any time soon LOL. IMO, necessary and silly not to install while doing cams.
-GSC valve springs. I got them cheap so figured "why not"? I would not have purchased them otherwise.
-FP HTZ Green turbo which was settled on after trying an HTA71 and blowing up two MAP ef2.5s. The HTA was AWESOME, but the car needed a bit more "oomph" at the track, so i settled on the green. Results are pending. We all know what happens to the newer MAP turbos, so no need to go there. The Green is relatively small compared to what most people are after. I have a preference for smaller, responsive turbos.
-Buschur TBE. Also free, but we all know a free-flowing exhaust is essential for a turbo car.
-Invidia O2 (horrible fitment, but my TiTek doesn't fit the BR exhaust). This was determined to be a necessary upgrade by my tuner, as the OEM piece is junk.
-OEM radiator. I'm told they cool better than anything aftermarket and they definitely fit best. I'm not worried about the plastic end tanks due to:
-Evans waterless coolant. I like the fact that it won't boil and pressures stay down. I put it in to relieve the stress on the OEM radiator's plastic end tanks and the radiator hoses. A lack of corrosion is a nice benefit.
-AMS FMIC. Picked up dirt cheap otherwise would have went with ETS, etc.
-Injen LICP. The OEM one is utter junk.
-BR cone air filter
-GrimmSpeed 3-port. A MBC would be just fine, but I decided ECU boost is more reliable.
-Walbro 255 fuel pump. Impressive flow for a “small” pump. Made really close to 500whp with it on e85. Not bad.
-FIC 1450cc injectors. Overkill for my pump gas tune, but plenty in case I decide to run e85 at the track. Works great for maxing out the turbo all while keeping nice IDCs.
That's it for power mods. If the Green ends up working too hard at the track, then I'll be considering a Red but I have a Green will be just perfect. I don't really need any more power than I'll get out of it on pump gas (91 oct).
When it came to suspension, I was willing to go a bit further than stock parts, since I feel it's the most important part of a road-course car.
-AST 4100. I got great deal on a set with a fresh rebuild. My KW V3s have no support from anyone, when it comes to re-valving. Some places won't even rebuild them. I'm not good at tuning suspension so having a double-adjustable coilover was really out of my scope of practice. The 4100's single, rebound dampening is more my speed LOL. The OEM Bilsteins were awesome, but I needed coilovers to vet my alignment where I wanted.
-alignment. Specific rake, camber, caster, and toe settings that were suggested by someone who knows much more than I. So far, so good.
-Swift springs. Came with the coilovers
-Vorshlag camber plates. Not necessary by any means. I only got them to space my tires farther from the coilovers and because my alignment specs require them. My Kws used the stock top hats and did just fine.
-Carbone Lorraine RC5 brake pads. Because race car LOL. I'm trying these after using Hawk DTC 60s, which seemed to work really well. I'd really like to try some Carbotechs, but I go with what I get deals on.
-Steel braided brake lines. They were basically cheap, but not needed.
-Castrol brake fluid
-ROBISPEC rear sway bar. Needed to get the car to rotate. Works great- still testing.
-Home made front/rear adjustable sway bar end links. So cheap to build and carbon fiber bushings for flair
-Home made gurney flap on OEM wing.
-Re-stacked rear differential clutch packs.
-Perrin PSRS. Not necessary at all, but I had to snag a set before they were all gone. Worth the feel the car has on center alone. The handling characteristics are a bonus.
-Poly bushings throughout. Necessary. Stock bushings had 100k+ miles and were so tired, the rear wheels would rub on my lower control arms. The bushings had to be replaced.
-Enkei RPF-1 17x9.5. The cheapest, light-weight wheels I could find. Normally I'd run Rotas, but I found a great hook up on Enkeis. They were pretty much the same price as Rotas, so it was a no-brainer.
-Bridgestone RE71r. A bit on the pricey side, but there was a rebate. I'll be going back to R-S3s once these die. They work just fine and are priced really well. I haven't been impressed enough by the Bridgestones to justify the cost. Plus, the 255 RE-71r's treadwidth is pretty danged narrow and looks too stretched on my 9.5” wheel. Too bad the 71s don't come in a 265 or 275 for the 17s.
-ACT HDG6. I was really happy with the HDSS but I fried it the ONE time I went to a drag strip (That's what I get for taking an Evo to the drag strip LOL). I've always used 6-pucks on my old cars, so figured I'd do the same here. I opted for the 6 puck and HD PP over the XT PP on a regular disc.
-Racequip front tow strap. Definitely necessary because I don't want the tow vehicle at the track to rip off my front bumper cover LOL
-Wideband gauge mounted in “Lancer” spot of the gauge cluster and boost/oil temp/oil pressure gauges in the old radio spot.
That's it. Pretty modest compared to a lot of builds I read about here on EvoM. The car does really well on the road course. I've only done one track day with the current suspension and tire set up, so have a lot of learning to do. I managed a careful 2.04.xxx at Buttonwillow that day, but couldn't push too hard because other cars where spinning off course and throwing mud all over the place. It was sketchy. The car definitely has sub 2's in it. The car also kicked *** at the local AutoX where it regularly got FTD. What a beast that HTA71 was (I have yet to get the Green tested and tuned).
I had a bit of bad luck at SOW with one of the MAP turbos. I managed a 1.24.xxx on a semi-hot lap. As I was starting my actual hot lap, the turbo blew. Who knows what the time would have been. I have a score to settle. LOL. It was still good for third place in AWD Limited for the GTA event I ran. That was also on the KW V3s, OEM rear sway bar, R-S3s, and Hawk DTC 60s.
Today, I'm still learning. I ask lots of dumb questions here and read all the threads I can. I'm always looking for info that will make me faster and the car more reliable (it seems the more OEM I keep the car, the less maintenance it needs).
**update: Turbo and oil-feed line info updated on page 2.
**update: dyno sheet added to the end of this post. Track tune on e85. Ran out of fuel while trying for a "kill mode" tune, right around 460whp.
Thanks for reading.
The car when we were advertising the shop (yes, the "roll cage" came out right after LOL):
The shop ended up closing, so this is her now:
And bonus picture of the car in the first shop livery (bleh), at the failed SOW attempt haha. LOL
I had a few people asking what I did for sway bar end links. Here are pictures of the front and rear. I used the how-to that I found on this website, the only difference is my ends have carbon fiber bushings instead of nylon.
A suspension Guru told me I only needed the end links on one side of the swaybar. Can anyone confirm this? LOL. I was able to take out the preload just fine Without having links on both sides.
I've also included Pictures of my wideband gauge install and my "super cheap and easy" gauge panel In the spot where the OEM gauges were.
Great thread man, I love the way your car looks, all the mods have been done with a purpose!
Thank you. The car is super subtle. She doesn't look like much and even looks stock under the hood, other than the air filter.
I have to admit, though... I'm right on the edge of changing that. I'm using a couple sheets of Alumalite for a diffuser and splitter. I was going to do a flat bottom, but that would put me out of GTA's Street class. Then again, who really cares? LOL
If the aero needs further balancing, then I'd be looking at hitting up Ciro for a wing.
Looks great. Really like the approach you've taken with the car, everything makes sense and has a purpose. I'm curious to see what the next phase of aero will bring.
Looks great. Really like the approach you've taken with the car, everything makes sense and has a purpose. I'm curious to see what the next phase of aero will bring.
Looking forward to updates
Thanks. I grew up not having much money.. and then i got into cars. So, my brain is wired to make the most of what i have LOL. To be honest, I have a very modest budget which is my motivating factor for the build. I'm impressed with how the car responds to just the basics, though and I want to see how far it will go. What an awesome car.
I'm picking up the Alumalite this week. The splitter and diffuser will pretty simple, but hopefully effective. I'm really wanting to close up that parachute of a rear bumper cover. Hopefully I won't need to go with an aftermarket wing, though. I'm learning as I go.
No homo. But I love reading your post lol. I havent been on here long, but everytime i search these forums regarding mods and i see you post i take your advice over some of the others on here because you actually track your evo and seem to know what mods works and doesnt for the track and your car.
Have you done any laps at sonoma raceway?
Last edited by e30_pilot; Apr 3, 2016 at 10:30 PM.
No homo. But I love reading your post lol. I havent been on here long, but everytime i search these forums regarding mods and i see you post i take your advice over some of the others on here because you actually track your evo and seem to know what mods works and doesnt for the track and your car.
Have you done any laps at sonoma raceway?
One thing I like about this site is the number of legit racers. I read and re-read all of their posts, take notes, etc LOL. I take that info, what I get from a few really fast people I know, an engineer, and my personal experience (we all like our cars to do different things) and mix it all together.
The main thing I've learned is that you don't need the biggest and most expensive parts to go fast. Once I figured that out, I started saving a ton of money and having a lot LOT more fun. LOL
Sonoma is on my to-do list. Now that I have access to a truck and trailer, I think I'll finally make it.
Did you ever run the Robispec rear sway bar on stock suspension? Not sure if its something I should look into, but I have back issues and don't know if I will ever be able to handle coil overs lol.
Did you ever run the Robispec rear sway bar on stock suspension? Not sure if its something I should look into, but I have back issues and don't know if I will ever be able to handle coil overs lol.
I didn't, no. I ran stock sway bars for a very, very long time. Only after realizing i needed more rear rotation did i decide to swap bars. Since i was dealing with Robi, i decided to try one of his.
For how I like the cars to work, I would add a RSB. I prefer to go that route rather than running stiffer springs to control roll. My tires like the softer springs, too. But that's just me and opinions will vary on that subject. I got my info from people that know MUCH more than I, so i go with what they say.
Car looks great! Best of luck with your mods, and track time! Any interior, and engine bay shots? Keep up the good work! Thanks!
Other than Samco radiator hoses (which i no longer need, due to the coolant i run) and the Cone filter, the engine bay is all stock. Since I live in CA, that is a necessity LOL. There's really nothing to see. People at the tracks are disappointed when I pop the hood.
As for interior, It's also stock, other than my gauge clusters (I can post pics of those, if you like). The carpet, headliner and everything behind the front seats is gone. Talk about a noisy car. It's like a drum haha.
Once I get a roll bar in, I'll do seats and harness. Until then, I'm stuck with the stock seats and seat belts. I used to use a CG lock then figured I may as well use the lap portion of my harness, so that's in there right now.
looks good! what kind of temps are you seeing with evans? When I looked into it way, way back, I remember reading it runs a good deal hotter than water/regular coolant.
One useful thing I did find in all of that research, was RMI25
looks good! what kind of temps are you seeing with evans? When I looked into it way, way back, I remember reading it runs a good deal hotter than water/regular coolant.
One useful thing I did find in all of that research, was RMI25
I don't have a water temp gauge, but my oem one sits where it did with water. I haven't noticed any difference, though I did read average temps should be higher.
Mar 29, 2016, 11:39 PM
