Our RA's engine bay really is a pretty nice view compared to other vehicles that I've seen and worked on. That's why we live the #RalliartLife lol! Saw your SNAPCHAT post btw. I LOL'd at work ahahaha! Cheers brother!

 

Na I sold the RA when I bought the Evo. I probably should have just kept it but the issue was it was manual, and my GF didn't want to learn. So I drive her car (2015 Outlander Sport) and she drives the winter beater (2000 Neon) lol. But she only drives 0.5 mile a day to work from our house so I don't feel so bad. I drive around 40 miles a day.

 

@bakuro117: Recent 168k km maintenance was done. We also changed spark plugs, tranny fluid, cleaned throttle body, and air filter a little while ago. However, I do not see any record of fuel pump and fuel filter being serviced. How often do you have to service fuel pump and fuel filter?

I think seafoam will help in my case because I did notice my car running better after giving it an Italian tune up. Plus this video from Chrisfix sold me on the product:
@rzrxn: That's some good fuel economy numbers you got there rzrxn!! Indeed it's going to be a lot of fun to work and appreciate these highly underrated cars. One thing I realised for me is that I genuinely like my Ralliart because of all the work learning and wrenching on it. Imo, major props to you all who have the knowledge, skillset, and time management skills to do so.

I'll definitely check vacuum lines.

@truthdweller: Thanks for the link! Fortunately I can read Chinese. The yellow button by the picture of the pulley is the "Buy" button, but you have to log into a Yahoo account in order to purchase stuff.

@RalliartN: I don't have a check engine light on.

I'm sort of a noob at diagnosing cars, but I wonder if an aftermarket amp + inefficient stereo + faulty fcm (which causes the fans to remain on for a couple seconds after the car is turned off) can tax the charging system so much that I get worse fuel economy?

I actually found a post from Cranswick from Club4g which makes a lot of sense to me. The gist of it goes like this: why bother with chasing incremental gains on an NA engine when you can save up for a turbo + tune.

Cheers guys!

 

I drove Cran's turbo and for sure it's another world of performance. Simply awesome. But just remember, besides the simplistic-sounding "turbo and tune", lots of other stuff has to be purchased and the time taken to install it - custom manifold, new exhaust, clutch, maybe LSD for traction, gauges, and more (look at the details from the guys on here who have done the project). Are you going to learn how to tune with software and a laptop resting under the steering wheel? And do you roll your own or hire out the work? Not one bit of this is trivial - are you up for it?

My NA engine fit my money and time, and being a car noob too I learned so much by small manageable step-by-step mods I could wrap my little grey cells around. It was challenging yet I never felt so overwhelmed that I quit. Only now would I feel comfortable tackling a home made turbo project, and I have Cranswick living down the road as a resource. Also I knew what I wanted to do - learn car control on the track, and by adding appropriate cooling mods I can do 30 minute sessions on a hot summer day without coming in to cool down, unlike many "sporty" cars that come out.

Pick a flavour, it's all good

 

What the...?!!! What are the chances?! Awesome, and I'll have to add you as a resource for reading Chinese! Didn't know if you wanted to take that route, for I don't recall having to order overseas for mine, but it might save you a few bucks. So far, so good with it, no complications with it as NA, nor with the extra hundred ponies going turbo.

 

@jcmaz...ask the guys around here, I too was (and still am) a newb with all this, relatively speaking. I only know what I know because of what I learned over the past three years, and that isn't saying much. Some of these guys work on autos, airplanes and helicopters, or computers for a living! You're correct, thank God for these guys, for I couldn't have done it without them.

 

Amen...for me, it was a time in my life when I "bitten by the bug," or something, where I was determined to do something that I'd never thought of doing before. Otherwise, unless you are already blessed with the patience and whatever else it takes to want to do this type of work on a regular basis (not me), it's definitely not something to dive into without it.

 

Test drove an EvoX on my lunch break. Pretty nice. Previous owners did a lot of work to it. Shifter felt like a trucks though, was tall and long, didnt have much engagment. Tune from the Cobb AP felt weird, couldve been because it was a stage 3 tune but had a mix matched assortment of aftermarket parts... idk im not to familiar with the Access Port or how "Stages" are supposed to work. Had a stutter in 5th gear around 4000rpm, didnt feel like a boost leak, more like when my evo's valve seat went bad... Had a weird idle hang during stationary rev. Straight pipe exhaust resulted in some fun but potentially annoying exhaust sounds. I loved the popping and crackling on decel. Had lots of stickers all over it....

The X was definitely intended to be a more street appropriate car. Did not feel near as visceral or involved as the IX or even my RA. But was still an enjoyable ride. Honestly the feeling it gave me was that of a combination between my IX and my wifes VW Beetle. LOL

 

So where has everyone been? Did the RA community uproot and head off somewhere else?

 

All bought Evos Jk yeah not sure does seem quiet compared to years ago.

 

Hello everyone I am new to these forums and it is kind of saddening to read that there aren't many post for the RA's. I am also very new to cars and how to do certain things but I was really hoping to learn anything I can from you avid RA mechanics.

 

Actually, there's a SLOUGH of posts on RA's. You just have to peruse the other sub-catagories:

 

I like to think that we've contributed so much, that there's not much else post...so any new posts these days are usually from new people that didn't search the forum first.

realistically, however, the platform may be dying...

 

Im hoping to start working on a DOHC NA 4g69 before long. Gotta clean up the garage and get caught up on maintenance on a few things. But then I'll start tearing down another one of my engines and getting it ready for the build. This will be the one my brother is helping me do since we split the cost of the Mirage its going into.

My biggest concern with this project is how the timing stuff will work out. The evo and the RA use different sensors for timing and different timing plates on the crankshaft. And Im guessing that means there will be a different cup on the cam as well. We'll see. We're pretty determined to make it work so we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

I too have thought about doing this. I already have an evo 8 head in my garage just need everything else lol. are you going to go high compression or build low in hopes of a turbo later on? hope to see a build thread when you get started.