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]

It's been a while since my last update, and considering that I just tracked the car, it's probably well time for a current status post.

I went without the car through the months of about April-June while it was with a buddy getting some major cosmetic work from a being abused over the past year. Now, you wouldn't even be able to tell that the car was rear ended into another vehicle, spun out into a concrete barrier on the highway, and had the rear fenders rolled for the wider tires. It's looking good with fresh paint on a majority of the car.

...and it's running good as well. I made a tough call recently and decided that the AEM EMS just doesn't fit with my needs. I removed the EMS, UEGO wideband, and converted the car back to a MAF system from the speed-density. Now I have a Dynoflashed ECU controlling the show. I had my reservations about performing this 'downgrade', but I suspected that even with a 'through the mail flash' that wasn't car specific, I'd benefit from increased reliability, margin of safety, and most importantly, convenience, than using an incremental EMS tune, that I was continually tweaking and changing in attempts to perfect. Once I got the stock ECU back in the car and took a quick drive, I was sure I made the right decision. The car is quite a bit faster than the ultra-conservative tune I had on with the EMS and I can truly forget about the tuning and just focus on enjoying the car now. It's a nice feeling.

Suspension wise, I pulled both rear trailing arms off the car and replaced the bushings with polyurethane inserts from the Energy Suspension master kit. These are supposed to aid in weight transfer and take the stress from the driveline, particularly the rear end. They also help in severe cornering situations by reducing the toe change that causes instability and reduced grip. This is all a matter of degree of course, on a car that handles as exceptionally as an evo to begin with.