evolution, I have evolved Options

[awd4kicks]

This black EVO looks truely Bad A$$ with evil intent! Seen it over the weekend...

[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.

[SCCA Stang]

as far as the added parts on your EVO... good catch!!!

also, you say you have an aftermarket FMIC.... could it be possable that I could snag onto your stocker???
PM me and we will work out something

and for the unfortunant break-in's and the most recent collision...
Thank god for high priced stock parts... it allows for you to use the money to buy aftermarket ones that are often the same or lower in price that their less desireable stock counterparts.

Good to see that the EVO is coming right along!!!

Ben

[akamiami]

pm sent.

[Kazz5]

Get the hell away from that urban minefield man - I'll be parking up there overnight somewhere inside and I'm scared shitless...

Anyway, yes, nice catch! I have a million questions!

Tell me what you got from the pillow-ball mounts and what you expect the engine dampener to do for you. I don't like the driveline lash and think some shifting problems result from it. I believe some are purporting that the dampener helps that - but it seems to me the tranny's still going to be a bit mobile. Got some insights?

Anyway, go for it, let me know about the cam gear, head stud, and bumpsticks install - I'm gonna wanna hear ALL about it!

Oh, yeah, and get your ass back down here again, eh?

Kazz

[akamiami]

I'm actually holding off on the cam install until I get gears, retainers, and springs as it's really a package combination I think that makes the each part work better. I did put the studs in though, that was simple and easy.

The pillow ball upper mounts in the front seemed to increase turn in slightly. I got them because I wanted the camber adjustment mostly.

I've read a lot on the engine dampers, but haven't had a chance to get the part on my car as the one I bought suffered from a fractured mount and the owner never contacted weapon r to get the revised version they were offering. I'm still waiting for a reply from their rep myself. I'm waiting to pass judgement on the part until I see for myself.

[Kazz5]

That all makes good sense - and yes, if you're going to be in there get everything done now - folks are even upgrading the belt.

Keep us posted!

[natedogg]

Were you planning on degreeing your cams to get the most out of those gears? If so, I'd like to help. It's something I've never done before and I'd like to learn.

[akamiami]

I won't be going so far as degreeing the cams. I would however experiment with the timing of the cams. Most seem to like -4/-1.5. It seems that HKS has tight enough quality control to ensure that their cams are accurate enough from the box. This is backed up by the fact that most guys are seeing the best gains at nearly the same settings with adjustable gears. The only question I would have is why HKS didn't change their cams to effectively negate the need for gears if the accepted settings are so widely agreed upon.

The main thing I'm considering at this point is whether to go with a full blown ems that will allow a speed-density conversion or to simply stick with the maf, and most likely get a dynoflash in combination with SAFC. I'd rather go ems, but the driveability is a concern as well as the feeling that I wouldn't be taking full advantage of it's capabilities on such a mildly modified vehicle. On the other hand, the flash/safc would be more plug-and-play, offer less temptation to continue adding unnecessary modification, but might end up being a wasted effort in the end, should I choose to get bigger injectors, etc..

So what do you guys think? SAFC/FLASH or EMS?

[natedogg]

The only question I would have is why HKS didn't change their cams to effectively negate the need for gears if the accepted settings are so widely agreed upon.

Probably because they are enjoying selling their adjustable cam gears to every Evo owner who wants the most out of their HKS cams. Damn sneaky!

Not having big plans at this point for the Evo myself, the SAFC/Flash combo is more appealing. Course I could see myself having big plans for the Evo in the distant future, in which case it would make sense to go with an EMS. I suppose you could always sell your SAFC/Flash combo if you ever decide to switch up to an EMS down the ro-ad.

[Kazz5]

I've asked a similar question, Kris. I know there's more to be gained out of a good tune beyond the off-the-shelf Works P2. I'm yet to be convinced that the SAFC would bring anything valuable to the table - and there's the logging issue, as in needing a system to log with.

Fuel pump and injectors come soon for me I think if I want to do much more power mods. So that's a reflash (free) or the perhaps inevitable move up to EMS. I keep reminding myself of 2 things. One is that the EMS done right is wildly expensive and the second is that I got the flash because I could always have it reflashed for any mod or generic update the company brought to the table. For instance, the 5K+ launch control they currently have built into optional flashes for our '03s.

Keep us posted!

[akamiami]

the flash wouldn't be sell-able. the ecu is programmed to the keys so to swap ecu's you 'd need to swap lock cylinders as well.

You get free reflashes with the works brain flash, Kazz?

[Kazz5]

I know about the ECU and key being electronically mated.

Yes, the Works flashes are reflashed for free. Check with the other flash companies, I think others do as well. One of the reasons I went Works is that they're tune is considered "safer" ... since it's my DD I need it up and running so tuning it to the fine edge is out of the question - for now.

[akamiami]

that's awesome if the works flashes are free. So if you add cams or injectors you can just pay the shipping and get it upgraded at no cost eh??? Not bad, but for 500 they better be giving you something extra I suppose.

The fat man is charging 200 for his mail-in with a hundred-a-pop for upgrades. I've got at least one guy trying to get me to go that route, but I'm a little hesitant considering all the screwing around I did on analubé before I went to a full system.

ah, maybe I want to be a ricer with a loud bov so that's why I want the ems. Either way, the best price I've found is like 1520 shipped for the ems and a aem 3.5 bar sensor. You guys priced anything out cheaper?

In the meantime, I've got the safc on there and I'll be playing around. Sad, but my biggest concern at the moment is tuning the STFT and LTFT. so much for HP and TQ... I should have bought a hybrid....

[Kazz5]

Did I miss something? Did you get your boost issue resolved?

The pricing I did a while back made my eyes hurt so I've not looked into it again ... there is whatever Vishnu pushes (XEDE?) that now has some "smart" automatic tuning of some sort. That rig's about double the aem I think ...

[akamiami]

I just threw a boost controller on the car and it seemed to wake right up. Never did figure out what the problem was but I know it wasn't the turbo, wasn't the wastegate, nor the boost solenoid, nor the ecu, nor the vacuum lines. So it must have been evil magik.

[akamiami]

In sharp contrast to all this talk of tuning and engine to-do's. I've also been working on the ICE for the evo. Here are some pics of a 25% finished mount for the in-dash I'm already quite proud of.







I had to trim the mount, fiberglass it into the HVAC/radio panel, fiberglass it on the top and now I'm on my third layer of bondo to smooth it out. hmm, bondo...

[akamiami]

Here's a pic of the stock HVAC trim piece so you know what I started with. It also shows what I did not want to end up with. Some tv that definately looks like it doesn't belong. Flimsy...



And here's the monitor I started out with....The mount was much too large to fit the stock panel.



Wait, that tv doesn't match,....they must have changed the design in the last month or so. It'd be nice not to have to deal with the damn buttons.

[natedogg]

Kris's inner ricer finally has release.

[Kazz5]

ICE?