Discussion
Hi all this is my first post on here as I joined about 5 minutes ago and I'm sure I'm
probably asking a question that's been answered before but if you could give me some advice or even point me in the right direction it would be hugely appreciated.
I'm currently looking at buying an evo IX or X, I don't intend to take the car past 400bhp and plan on taking it to the track and drag strip, I work 5 minutes from my house but the car will be getting used daily and taken to the local town (6miles away) now and again. What's the best advice with regards to going for a IX 300, 320, 340 and 360 or X 300, 330 or 360? I'm open to any advice.
Thanks in advance
probably asking a question that's been answered before but if you could give me some advice or even point me in the right direction it would be hugely appreciated.
I'm currently looking at buying an evo IX or X, I don't intend to take the car past 400bhp and plan on taking it to the track and drag strip, I work 5 minutes from my house but the car will be getting used daily and taken to the local town (6miles away) now and again. What's the best advice with regards to going for a IX 300, 320, 340 and 360 or X 300, 330 or 360? I'm open to any advice.
Thanks in advance
Edited by Gus_88 on Thursday 13th July 16:06
I don't know much about the X, but the VI is generally regarded as having internals that are safe up to about 350 brake, the pistons being the limiting factor, iirc. I know of cars that have had this remedied with the fitment of pistons and rods from the later models and then been further modded to achieve the gains you want, so it's do-able, and quite straightforward, just not necessarily as cheap as you'd like.
You'll still be needing an uprated fuel pump, decat, cat back exhaust, 3 port boost solenoid and remap as a minimum to achieve 400 brake. Perhaps another £600 - £700. In my experience with my 8, if it makes 380 brake, it's close enough in the great scheme of things to feel no different to 400 on the road. Torque is what makes the difference.
There are stories of standard Xs throwing rods, but I haven't really paid much attention to the frequency of this as that model isn't really on the radar for me.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Edited to add, just noticed I've written a load of info for VI, and you've typed IV, is it really a IV you're considering? Very old car now if so.
You'll still be needing an uprated fuel pump, decat, cat back exhaust, 3 port boost solenoid and remap as a minimum to achieve 400 brake. Perhaps another £600 - £700. In my experience with my 8, if it makes 380 brake, it's close enough in the great scheme of things to feel no different to 400 on the road. Torque is what makes the difference.
There are stories of standard Xs throwing rods, but I haven't really paid much attention to the frequency of this as that model isn't really on the radar for me.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Edited to add, just noticed I've written a load of info for VI, and you've typed IV, is it really a IV you're considering? Very old car now if so.
Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 13th July 10:19
Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 13th July 10:19
GravelBen said:
Sounds like the OP might mean IX rather than IV?
Yep, agreed, having read it again. In which case, I'd be going with a IX every time if it was me. Buy the cheapest model and do all the usual stuff for a few hundred quid, very straightforward to get to 400/400 or close. Reliable generally at that level. Thanks for the replies. I definitely meant to put IX I must have had a brain fart when typing haha, I've edited the previous posts so it reads correct.
I'm thinking the IX will be the more raw machine and if I'm being honest I actually think it looks better than the X the more I look at it (controversial I know). If I was to get it to around the 400/400 mark do you need to think of changing any of the suspension or brake components? Just trying to get figures in my head so I know how much I can then spend on the car.
Thanks again for the advice.
I'm thinking the IX will be the more raw machine and if I'm being honest I actually think it looks better than the X the more I look at it (controversial I know). If I was to get it to around the 400/400 mark do you need to think of changing any of the suspension or brake components? Just trying to get figures in my head so I know how much I can then spend on the car.
Thanks again for the advice.
The original Brembos suffer from judder. The calipers are good, changing the discs to 2 piece items is probably worthwhile. I think Performance Friction do a disc called strap drive for about £600. The IX has Bilstein suspension as standard, I bought some of these used for my 8 several years ago, they ride well and cope with 400 brake fine on a road car. If you plan on mods, the cheapest way in is to buy a lower spec car and go from there, or buy a car that already has what are called stage one mods, similar to those outlined in my first post. If you manage to find a reasonably priced 360 MR, I'd tend not to want to mod that much, as they're becoming prized and are appreciating in value now. That would obviously be affected on a car deviating much from standard.
The MLR is your friend here, there are always cars for sale, you can check the sellers post history to see if the car's been good for them, and there are always useful used parts for sale to help keep the costs down.
The MLR is your friend here, there are always cars for sale, you can check the sellers post history to see if the car's been good for them, and there are always useful used parts for sale to help keep the costs down.
Cheers mate, I'm thinking a 360 is just slightly out of my price bracket, I'm looking at spending £18000-£20000 all in that's including mods.
I keep hearing horror stories about the 6 speed transmission too, does this only have issues when pushing big power? I like the thought of a 6th gear if I'm driving it on motorways to take to the track and strip you see.
Cheers again
I keep hearing horror stories about the 6 speed transmission too, does this only have issues when pushing big power? I like the thought of a 6th gear if I'm driving it on motorways to take to the track and strip you see.
Cheers again
The six speed is weaker than the 5.......torque is its enemy. Mine's done 49k miles, had a clutch in at 44k, the box has been fine, but 4th gear is the weak link and if the car makes more than about 400lbs/ft, that and the standard rods are at risk. Mines at 391 brake and 395 lbs/ft, it's been around that for 6 years, so far so good as far as the box is concerned. Depending on who maps it, you'll get a high and low boost map. If you intend to regularly compete in the car, you will obviously be more likely to provoke a failure on a 400 lbs/ft car.
The other thing you'll keep hearing about is the AYC pump.........they can and do fail due to corrosion from the elements getting in due to them being located under the car behind the n/s rear wheel. £600 to fix it. Heater matrix at about 10 years old is possible.......mine let go, dash had to come out, about £400 for the matrix, and the job's a royal PITA.
Check for corrosion under the car generally, they aren't especially well protected from the factory as far as underseal goes, and a car with a shiny body isn't a guarantee it's not hiding something.
Don't let any of the above put you off, your budget is more than enough to get a good car. Evos are generally very reliable if looked after and modded within their limits. I've had mine for 14 years, it's been remarkably trouble free, given the performance on offer.
The other thing you'll keep hearing about is the AYC pump.........they can and do fail due to corrosion from the elements getting in due to them being located under the car behind the n/s rear wheel. £600 to fix it. Heater matrix at about 10 years old is possible.......mine let go, dash had to come out, about £400 for the matrix, and the job's a royal PITA.
Check for corrosion under the car generally, they aren't especially well protected from the factory as far as underseal goes, and a car with a shiny body isn't a guarantee it's not hiding something.
Don't let any of the above put you off, your budget is more than enough to get a good car. Evos are generally very reliable if looked after and modded within their limits. I've had mine for 14 years, it's been remarkably trouble free, given the performance on offer.
Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 13th July 18:32
I will make sure I have a good look under the car when I come to viewing one then, is there anything else that's worth a closer inspection when it comes to viewing?
Also I see there's a lot of imports for sale on here, are these worth considering or would you advise against? My mate had an evo 6 TME that was an import and had to get the car sealed underneath, is this something you commonly need to do with imports or is it generally done before you take delivery?
Also I see there's a lot of imports for sale on here, are these worth considering or would you advise against? My mate had an evo 6 TME that was an import and had to get the car sealed underneath, is this something you commonly need to do with imports or is it generally done before you take delivery?
With regards to the 6 speed and the limits of the engine, it all depends on how it's driven that is the main factor. Know of a couple that are running the 6 speed at 500+ as well as the fq400 had the 6 speed from new, they are weaker than the 5 speed but don't be put off if the car you want has the 6 speed as it's a better box in terms of ratios and motorway driving. As regards to the rods and pistons, we ran 450+ at 2bar on a OEM 7 bottom end for 3 years and only forged because the cambelt snapped. But on the later engines (8 or 9) you'll get nigh on 400bhp with just a decat, 3 port boost solenoid and a map especially the 9 as it'll be the 80 series turbo. Whatever you buy, check for rust on the rear chassis rails, make sure the 3 ACD modes work as they'll all light up if there's an ayc pump failure as well. I'm not too clued up on the evo x I'm afraid, I know the maf sensor seems to be a common fault and the sst box (paddle shift double clutch option) will get expensive if it goes wrong as well as needing a clutch pack at anything passed 400. The manuals are 5 speed if I'm not mistaken so not the greatest either in terms of motorway cruises but if you're buying one to sit on the motorway all evos are pants at doing motorway miles tbh
To answer your question, they were never undersealed from the factory. They'll all grey imports as such, built in Japan and brought over by colt car company or ralliart when new. All evo x's were built in 2008 in Japan also, be weary of any model evo that's been freshly undersealed as it can hide a lot in terms of rust
To answer your question, they were never undersealed from the factory. They'll all grey imports as such, built in Japan and brought over by colt car company or ralliart when new. All evo x's were built in 2008 in Japan also, be weary of any model evo that's been freshly undersealed as it can hide a lot in terms of rust
Edited by HedgeyGedgey on Thursday 13th July 20:38
Edited by HedgeyGedgey on Thursday 13th July 20:39
That's brilliant thanks for the advice pal. I'm definitely edging more towards the 9 with the 6 speed box, now just got to look at what's about that fits my budget! I've always avoided looking at already modified cars however after some of the advice I've read it's sometimes a more cost effective way of getting what you want. I'm lucky as I've got Auto Torque evo specialist just down the road which I've heard good things about.
That was my thoughts, there's a few for sale online that have been about for well over 6 months. I'll keep looking anyway and again i appreciate all the advice you guys have gave me!
Just out of curiosity, what mileage would you say is acceptable for an evo IX or is it all just down to service history?
Just out of curiosity, what mileage would you say is acceptable for an evo IX or is it all just down to service history?
Edited by Gus_88 on Sunday 16th July 10:30
Gus_88 said:
That was my thoughts, there's a few for sale online that have been about for well over 6 months. I'll keep looking anyway and again i appreciate all the advice you guys have gave me!
Just out of curiosity, what mileage would you say is acceptable for an evo IX or is it all just down to service history?
Condition and impeccable service history first and foremost. Mileage not so much, unless you are really worried about resale value. It took me almost a year to find mine, I saw many low mileage cars that time were utterly fJust out of curiosity, what mileage would you say is acceptable for an evo IX or is it all just down to service history?
Edited by Gus_88 on Sunday 16th July 10:30
ked, I got mine at 60 odd thousand.I keep looking back at evo's, best car i've owned (hankering after a c63 atm and after a test drive i dont think id regret the merc purchase) but you cant quite beat the traction, acceleration, ability to change direction and braking ability of an evo. There is no modern day equivalent. I think you'd have to buy a mint vi to avoid rust issues, mine ran 350 brake for some time but threw a rod so ended up with a viii engine in it, along with the vii and ix engines, theyre good to about 400 on standard internals. Prices have been steadily climbing so do it whilst you car, you wont regret it. Unless you blow the engine up like i did, right before Christmas !
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