EVO Experts and those who just generally know about new EVO's

[Gibbo]

To get a safe 400bhp you need more than what you listed. You will need a better exhaust system, the uprated fuel pump, the ECUTek remap, an CAI and possibly a bigger FMIC. All that fitted will cost a fair bit more than 1k. You will not make a genuine 400bhp at the flywheel from an FQ300 for 1k. Ive researched this a lot as I was considering an Evo before I bought my Subaru.

The info I have is:-
Ecutek - £550 +VAT including dyno time
Fuel Pump - £130 +VAT fitted
Downpipe - £60 +VAT fitted

That sees 380-400 horses according to Matt@TRL

Like you say a CAI and exhaust do help, but I've priced this all up last night and spoke to many EVO owners who used TRL and are very impressed with the results. However its only the EVO 9 FQ cars that tune so easily, an EVO 8 cost substancially more, so maybe this is where your thinking of the higher prices?

 

[Gibbo]

Its the same engine apart from MIVEC. I will be really surprised if you get 400bhp from that.

http://www.wrc-tech.net/mitsubishi-performance-evo9-wrc400.htm

Hi there

Fair enough, all I am posting here is what people over at the Lancer register have actually done.

Those who are just literally fitting the Ecutek upgrade are seeing 365-380BHP with just that mod, which for £550+VAT is fantastic value for something that does not void warranty.

If I got an EVO 400/400 is just a figure, if I ended up with 388ish for less than 1k then that is fine by my book, as a further 2k for an extra 20BHP or so starts to get expensive for little gains.

I am sure an EVO pushing 380-400 on both BHP and Torque no doubt goes pretty well.

The guys over at Lancer say an EVO fitted with the Ecutek is a huge improvement due to how the power is delivered after the ecutek, supposedly makes the car so more drivable and much quicker.

 

[Gibbo]

I should point out that WRC Tech have gone bankrupt...


The limiting factor for easy modding is likely to be the turbo. I can't help feeling that a turbo designed for 300-340 bhp might reach its limit before 400bh, but I don't know enough about Evos to be sure.


My understanding of anti-lag is that basically it's just a spar unit inside the bo-up-pipe. This ignites the unburnt fuel in the exhaust characteristic of turbo-charged engines, and this raises the pressure to keep the turbo spinning. As long as any exhaust gas is being produced, the turbo keeps spinning. What it does to the turbo lifespan is another question.


M

Hi there

Thats good to know m8, but seems to be quite a few guys on Lancer Register recommending them so maybe they are still going under new ownership?

The Turbo on the FQ range, bear in mind I say FQ range is supposedly good for upto 450ish maximum I believe. You can buy the FQ400 turbo which is good for 500+ but as we know the FQ400 turbo unit has some serious lag.

On the EVO 9's the FQ range so FQ300, FQ320, FQ340 and FQ360 all use the same turbo unit. Also all the FQ cars have the Bilstein suspension that was present on only the EVO 8 MR cars, it supposedly improves handling further.

So basically the EVO 9 FQ cars are all identical. The only difference with th FQ360 is it has an uprated fuel pump along with some carbon stuck on bits.

So essentially in my case its best to find a cheap relative low mileage bargain EVO 9, say an FQ300 or FQ320. Then take it down to Matt@TRL tell him I want CAI, de-cat, ecutek, fuel pump and exhaust fitting with the car tuned for maximum drivability over peak power. So it mapped to bring power in lower, so more drivable but maybe at the sacrifice of a little top-end power. The guys over at the Lancer register with such mods on EVO 9's are seeing 385-415BHP or basically 300-315 at the wheels. For me IF I BUY AN EVO will be plenty and for circa £1000 is a damn good deal. Reports are the mapping completely transforms the car making them so much better to drive and much quicker.

Fair enough the EVO might not be 50k's worth of car, it might not be particulary special and maybe slightly chavish and as such if I got one many of you may wonder why, lets just say its car I'd like to own, it might only be a short period but still a car I'd like to own, if I got bored of it then I can sell it.

Obviously if I did get an EVO it leaves me with a considerable sum of money left over, which would just be left in saving to accrue interest and add additional savings. This would mean in 6 months time I could either sell the EVO and buy something really special, maybe a Gallardo or much newer Z06 or simply buy an older Z06 and keep the EVO as well. So Z06 for summer and track days and EVO for winter and track days.

I've got a few more cars to drive yet but for a 4WD car the EVO left me impressed, it had steering feel, albeit not that of a Porsche but it did handle fantastic, infact amazingly well and is a very usable day to day car that one can simply use for anything. Obviously when I get in the RS4 and Porsches the EVO idea might dissapear completely from my head and I am sure Elliot is going to try and convince me a CSL is the way forward.

I will be honest I actually want to buy a Z06, Z4MC and an EVO. Each one of those cars impressed me in a different way but unfortunately I can only own one at a time. If I could afford them all then the Mustang would not be going anywhere either because with the great weather the Stang is so much fun to drive.

No doubt when I've driven the Porsches, RS4 and CSL I will no doubt want one of those as well. Hence why I am so confused because each car leaves me thinking well thats was best at this but this one was better at that. I've never struggled so much before with next car decision.

Rest assured whatever I buy, it will get pampered and won't remain standard for too long.

What amazes me about these forums is because I might possibly decide to buy what is a car far lower than my budget everybody is why would you want to do that. Fact is a car does not need to be 50k to necessary be the best at everything, prime examples of this are the EVO and S2000.

 

[Gibbo]

Given that you loved the V8 power of the Z06, but you enjoyed the M Power Z4, but you really quite like a 4 door Evo why not consider a car with aspects of all 3 rolled into one? Say, a V8, M Power 4 door saloon?

Say... an E39 M5

HI m8

Nice try!

Nothing wrong with an M5 and the older ones are absolute bargains, even the new V10's are now getting so cheap, think I saw one advertised at 40k recently. However the M5 is a car which does not appeal to me, I've gotta go with my heart and the M5 is not on the short list.

Yes you are right the Z06 I want for the looks, rarity and that crazy performance, plus the fact its quicker than a certain persons 911 turbo, gotta think of the race to the pub. Even though its not 911 turbo handling, my god its damn good, only let downs been the steering, crap gearbox and its the most expensive, however for the car it is then its also great value. Plus tuning and big power comes easy, should we say 600+BHP for about 2k. Plus the ability to change the leaf springs for coil overs also vastly improves the car on UK roads.

The Z4MC I loved the interior, it was sooo sexy in car standards, I also quite like the looks and dare I say it rarity for a BMW. Fair enough its not so hot on the straights and even though it is quick the power delivery is not at all peaky or torquy. However the gokart style handling, the good steering feel and just the fact it felt special was great. Also the LSD settings make for some fun but it can also go from A-B rather quick too. Supposedly some minor camber tweaks to the suspension can allow these things to keep with a CSL on track, so certainly capable. Off putting thing is they are hard to find and generally depreciate like a bomb. Loosing 5-8k within 12 months ownership.

The Mitsubishi, OK its ugly, its boring to look at and for what it cost its not cheap to run either. However it feels hugely fast, well the FQ360 I drove did, so one can only imagine what a run-in car with close to 400 horses must feel like. Its also got something that most 4WD cars don't have and thats good steering feel thats weighty. The handling and grip are fantastic and as such even though its very easy to drive quick can also be fun though as well, especially in poor road conditions. Bargains can be had and good power gains come cheap if you don't want huge power.

So as you can see each car appeals to me in different ways and as such choosing one is very hard.

The way I see it an EVO if purchased well would be a safe buy, something to play with for 6-12 months.

If I can get a dealer to meet my demands of 48-50k for a Euro car thats 2006/2007 on a low mileage Z06 then yes I'd buy one straight away because at the moment they are fetching north of 55k and as such trying to get a dealer to drop their pants so much is proving hard, but I will keep pushing. So if I got a Euro/UK Z06 for 50k I know in 12 months it would still fetch that kind of money and hence I've not lost a penny.

As much as I like the Z4MC the huge depreciation possibility and the rumours of poor reliability (check pistonheads, owners with issues) is a little off putting on what is otherwise a great car.

We shall next see what I think of the other cars on my list. Porsches will no doubt be best but for circa 50k that gets you an out of warranty of 911 turbo or just in warranty GT3. They could end up costing a bomb to run and as such might be more sensible to wait until I could throw 60-70k at one and thats if after driving one I really want one of course.

 

[Gibbo]

Stop messing about, just go get a CSL

Evo's just have that 'look' about them that i don't like. Most people on the street will just think its some rude boy Car with all its spoilers and bumpers

Hi there

I agree with you on the EVO, I myself think of them as been driven by chavs and rude buys, just the image the car has been given. Elliot come on convince me a CSL is the way forward.

 

[Gibbo]

be interesting to see what you think of the rs4.

Hi there

Yep am looking forward to it. Driven the S4 V8 before, but not the new one. I suspect the RS4 will be a lot quicker in comparison to the EVO once past 80ish when those cubic inches start doing their stuff.

 

[Gibbo]

Most people will look at a CSL and think that it's just another run of the mill BMW with its dull styling.

Hi there

I am bothered about looks a bit, I do like something rare if possible or at least nice on the eyes.

However it is not so important that it controls my buying decision and hence why I would consider both an EVO and M3 CSL, irrelevant of the fact one might have a rude boy reputation and the other is just a glorified 3 series, albeit fantastic handling.

 

[Gibbo]

Hey,

Sorry to go OT but did you ever hear back from the Audi garage in regards to taking the RS4 out?

Hi there

Been out in the RS4 this evening, also had a look at the brand new S5. I shall make a new thread.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Cryingfreeman if you read this I would like you comments as you seem the resident EVO expert.

Please tell me all there is to know about the EVO 9 GT?

The guys over at Lancer Register get so excited at mention of such car that they all rave how ace it is but don't actually tell me why.

Upto now I make out it has no AYC, why is this good as I thought AYC was a great piece of handling technology for UK roads?

The car is supposedly 150kg lighter, which would make it 1250ish KG is this correct because thats damn light?

Does it really have quicker rack steering and a slightly larger and faster turbo?

Would appreciate in extracting everything from you that you know about the EVO 9 GT because from what I can gather it seems its the true drivers version of an EVO.

 

[Gibbo]

its only 5 speed rather than 6 like the GSR, and has some of the refinements that the GSR has but not all, whereas the RS has none.

Hi there

From what I can gather it has the GSR interior and refinements such as electric windows, central locking and aircon. But supposedly its missing AYC, is seam welded, has quicker steering and uses lighter panels along with lighter wheels. Its suggested to weigh 150kg less than the FQ UK cars which are circa 1400kg I believe.

If it does really weigh 1250kg, then one of them kicking circa 350 horses let alone 400 gonna be rather crazy.

Still I thought AYC was supposed to be like really good thing to have as it keeps the car going gives more grip etc, so how does removing it make the car better?

 

[Gibbo]

Im not cryingfreeman, but off the top of my head - 5-speed gearbox, more gauges, aluminium roof, LSD instead of SAYC. Produces more torque than the GSR and others due to using a magnesium compressor wheel inside the turbo. Apparently its more responsive and has a much quicker spool-up. The 5 speed gearbox is needed to use the extra torque more appropriately I think. Its the same as an RS but with a GSR interior.

Hi there

So in other words its most probably the best EVO to have?

Is having an LSD better than having AYC?

Also from what I can see these don't suffer the same kind of depreciation as the more regular models due such as the GSR's and FQ's.

I like the thought of quicker turbos and more torque, its all good to my ears.

 

[Gibbo]

Its an import only, so dependant on what you want, you may find that a UK model would suit you better if you wanted warranty etc. If youre going down the modding route then all Evo's are of a similar spec and provide the same base to mod with. I dont think the turbo produces more power, but its spool up is supposed to be a lot quicker, probably a good thing as I have found when driving Evo's that they take a while to spin up fully.
Im not sure about the AYC/LSD thing. A guess would be that Mitsubishi didnt include the AYC to save weight...as the AYC provides LSD performance by balancing torque to each wheel and is a much more advanced system.

Hi there

Well looking at the link Cryingfreeman posted the turbo seems to like tuning more. That guy got 420BHP from just air filter, fuel pump, magnex exhaust and ecutek and it cost him very little. The same on a UK FQ will see circa 380ish so a good 40BHP less so one can only assume the turbo on the GT is better for tuning and certainly spools quicker.

Thanks Cryingfreeman its certainly a car to consider, shame its not as lightweight as I thought though, still not bad.

Just spotted this:-

The Mag Turbo in the EVO 9 GT clearly holds onto its power and torque right upto redline along with spooling up quicker wheras the other turbo in the GSR and FQ car does not hold power/torque upto redline and spools slower.

All I can say is I'd love to experience that car. 420BHP in something like that has got to be special, its gotta be ferociously quick especially sub 100mph and no doubt still damn mean past a ton as well. A guy has offered me a drive in his 385BHP GT but he is down at Heaththrow, damn that sucks.

 

[Gibbo]

If your after a light weight Evo and to some still one of the best then Evo 5/6 RS is what you need. Probally older than your after though?

Mint 5rs can be had for under 10k which would leave you plenty spare for mods Then maybe have as second car
http://lancerregister.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156940

The 5rs's are 1260kg

BTW for insurance try Pace ward on MLR. They cover all models and mods without hassle,also track day cover etc.

Hi m8

Nope ideally only want an EVO 9, as its new, its got the Mivec which helps and well in theory each generation of EVO should be better than the last but I can see why an EVO 5 is good due to the lack of weight.