evolution, I have evolved Options

[akamiami]

Well folks, in addition to being the proud owner of a mighty 92 GSX, a troubled 95 TSi, a beater 90 Laser FWD turbo, and currently working on a 99 GST 6 bolt swap, I have purchased a new LanEvo.

Sorry guys, I'm keeping the GSX forever, but the Evo was just too tempting to stay away from for long. I feel guilty for owning a car this sweet, as I should.

[akamiami]

wow, the sad part is that I seem to only be updating this thread about once a year, but I suppose the good part is that this update is a big one.

Leaving off from the last update, I had an all blacked-out evo (headlights, tailights, removed badges, and modified front bumper cover) with a 1g bov and simple suspension upgrades consisting of tien s tech springs and a hotchkiss adjustable sway bar. A cheap diy muffler delete was thrown on as an afterthought. The car was hitting a weak 10-12 psi and I really didn't care that it was quite possibly the slowest evo; ever.

Commenting on those past parts....

The tein s springs were junk. I was under the impression that good companies always made good parts so if a company with a reputation like tein put springs out on the market, even at a ridiculously inexpensive price, it was a bargain, not a pipe dream. I was wrong. The springs sagged, creaked and rode like hell within 2 weeks. I replaced them with a set of springs from hotchkiss in February and I've been pleased with the change.

The hotchkiss sway bar was nice, but it does rub on the cross member which is annoying. This may be from installation error, I need to investigate. The car seems a lot flatter, but honestly, I could use more of that. I'm thinking about replacing the rear trailing arm bushings as well as the front lca bushings for added response.

The exhaust sucked. It was unnecessarily loud and looked like hell compared to the stock tip. I soon replaced it with a full aps 3" exhaust which I mostly enjoy because it's not terribly loud and it appears very stock.

New mods.

Over the past few months I made small additions to the car consisting of the following:

Defi BF boost, oil pressure, and EGT gauges
BM short shifter set at 45% (very short throw with this)
manual boost controller set to 1.3 bar
backed out maf screw (thanks to Natedogg for the reminder)
tein front pillow ball upper mounts
HKS 264/272 (never installed)


Over the course of the past several months living in the West suburbs, the car was broken into twice with varying degrees of damage. But then misfortune struck again as I was rear ended at a low speed in a toll plaza. The little evo was sandwiched between two smaller SUV's (an Xterra and a VUE) which resulted in 5K worth of damage to my bumper fascias, trunk lid, hood, and intercooler. It really wasn't that bad, but evo parts are not cheap. This car seems to be a magnet for insurance disaster....

And now I've reached the primary impetus of this update. The new new new mods and those to come in the near future.

A local friend was selling his evo and needed to return the car to stock. I got involved because, as most know, the wrenches are always for hire and the bargained for deal was I would get a free koyo radiator in exchange for my efforts and my stock core in exchange. Alas, the modification mayhem struck and I saw an opportunity to score some parts at a bargain. I offered a lump sum for the parts I was removing, and he accepted. Here's the booty.

hallman boost controller
272 cams
koyo radiator
greddy cw shift knob - works really nicely with my b&m short shifter
turbo timer
SAFC II
cusco catch can
defi d series - boost gauge
walbro fuel pump
arp head studs
buschur fmic
upper/lower intercooler pipes
tial bov (black anodized top is beautiful!)
buschur intake and filter assembly
weapon r engine damper

There may be more parts, but I'm still midway through the back-to-stock process. I'm faily excited to finish up and get to installing most of the parts on my own car.

The only other thing to note, is that after the recent collision, I purchased a replacement CF trunk lid that doesn't have the holes for the stock wing or a provision for the trunk lock cylinder. It's quite fetching, I assure you. My evo's ass has never looked more appealing. Take a number for your chance to stick it in the tailpipe next time it hits the mean streets of Peoria.