ShakeyJake188's 555bhp Tommi Makinen Edition
Discussion
Hi Guys,
After reading other readers rides threads I though I would write one up for my new car which I have had since April. I have owned a few Evo's previously the first being a Evo 8 GSR in black with 385bhp when I was 21, a fresh import Evo 6 TME in white which I imported myself from Japan in totally standard condition and more recently an Evo 5 in white (another fresh import).
Previous 8
Previous 6TME & 5
Previous 5 in action
As you can see i'm not one to shy away from trackdays so you can see where this thread is heading.........
I put a wanted ad up on the MLR forum looking for a high spec fast Evo, it's something that I've wanted since evo's began but unfortunately high insurance has always put a stop to that with my last 2 Evos being near standard I was itching to get more power! Now, I'm getting older, a few extra years no claims and experience of evo ownership the insurance companies are happy and I finally got a sensible quote for a faster Evo!
Nothing for sale really got me interested, when a good car goes up for sale it's often bought by car dealers who will re-advertise it a week later with thousands added onto the price. Luckily my wanted ad was well received with more cars than I expected offered, but one really stood out, Evoedd's TME.
Why did it stand out? Full underside restoration (which is a huge expense!) re-spayed bodywork, fresh engine build by norris designs and a new Norris designs 5.5 precision turbo kit. Sound good? Hell yes! Theirs more..... Ohlins R&T suspension, Evo 9 RS plated rear diff and a AP Racing 362mm big brake kit.
Obviously a deposit was sent pretty swiftly and the trip from Newcastle to Dorset organized. A quick 6 hour train trip I collected it and it's had me smiling from ear to ear since!
I really wanted to do this thread the give the previous owner credit for this fantastic car and the dedication (and money) that has gone into it over the years of his ownership. I'll also keep it upto date with things i've been doing in it.
So, we will start with the underside restoration. In pictures!
After reading other readers rides threads I though I would write one up for my new car which I have had since April. I have owned a few Evo's previously the first being a Evo 8 GSR in black with 385bhp when I was 21, a fresh import Evo 6 TME in white which I imported myself from Japan in totally standard condition and more recently an Evo 5 in white (another fresh import).
Previous 8
Previous 6TME & 5
Previous 5 in action
As you can see i'm not one to shy away from trackdays so you can see where this thread is heading.........
I put a wanted ad up on the MLR forum looking for a high spec fast Evo, it's something that I've wanted since evo's began but unfortunately high insurance has always put a stop to that with my last 2 Evos being near standard I was itching to get more power! Now, I'm getting older, a few extra years no claims and experience of evo ownership the insurance companies are happy and I finally got a sensible quote for a faster Evo!
Nothing for sale really got me interested, when a good car goes up for sale it's often bought by car dealers who will re-advertise it a week later with thousands added onto the price. Luckily my wanted ad was well received with more cars than I expected offered, but one really stood out, Evoedd's TME.
Why did it stand out? Full underside restoration (which is a huge expense!) re-spayed bodywork, fresh engine build by norris designs and a new Norris designs 5.5 precision turbo kit. Sound good? Hell yes! Theirs more..... Ohlins R&T suspension, Evo 9 RS plated rear diff and a AP Racing 362mm big brake kit.
Obviously a deposit was sent pretty swiftly and the trip from Newcastle to Dorset organized. A quick 6 hour train trip I collected it and it's had me smiling from ear to ear since!
I really wanted to do this thread the give the previous owner credit for this fantastic car and the dedication (and money) that has gone into it over the years of his ownership. I'll also keep it upto date with things i've been doing in it.
So, we will start with the underside restoration. In pictures!
Edited by ShakeyJake188 on Tuesday 3rd October 18:05
As with many older Japanese imports they were never protected properly from the factory so they can require some work if they have been in the UK a while due to the salt used on the roads during winter, luckily the car was treated to an underside restoration and clear under sealed for protection!
As I mentioned I collected the car from Dorset with all this work was carried out by the previous owner, and drove the 300miles back to Newcastle and the car was faultless. I managed to take it on a run up to Hartside cafe in Alston (awesome driving roads for those who don't know) for my first proper drive out in it and it was the best car I have ever driven or been in! Ohlins suspension makes the car handle flat and level on corners but takes the bumps very well and give a very comfortable ride. The AP brakes with Carbotec pads have awesome stopping power from any speed and don't fade with very good feel hot or cold. The Norris designs Turbo kit is epic! Spool and lag don't feel much different than my standard Evo 5! Always boost when you need it and pulls you out of corners like a missile!
To summarise, I couldn't be happier with the car it's everything I have ever wanted in a Evo and is full of desirable parts and they all work together perfectly, in my eyes it's the perfect fast road spec Evo and is a hoot to drive!
Some pics from the first proper drive out which was only a few days after buying it!
To summarise, I couldn't be happier with the car it's everything I have ever wanted in a Evo and is full of desirable parts and they all work together perfectly, in my eyes it's the perfect fast road spec Evo and is a hoot to drive!
Some pics from the first proper drive out which was only a few days after buying it!
Not long after buying it I've done quite a bit of work to it. Having been driving it daily for just over a month and over 1000miles covered it just kept on getting better! It's such a capable and versatile car, it can get me to work and back or attack B-roads at warp speed!
The first thing I done was fit a HKS Kansai lower drivers seat rail for my Evo 5 which, although doesn't sound like much it improves the driving position a good amount and certainly make me more comfortable and obviously, a bit lower. About an inch at the back where your bum is.
Fitted. It was nice to see the original seats in all their glory since they hide under seat covers all the time, they have a habit bolsters easily wearing out but these are in very good condition. very rare to find them in good condition.
Unfortunately my front tyres had scrubbed the inner edge showing some cord so needed replacing. I had a bit of a debate on what to replace them with, the sensible option was to buy a pair of Eagle F1's to replace the ones that were on it but..... wanting to get on a trackday I took this as the ideal time to change to something to give it the grip to match the power. I eventually settled on Toyo R888r's based on the fact I'll take them off when the winter comes (if they last that long )
As always with fitting new tyres it was time for a wheel alignment which I got done by AK Automotive in Newcastle. Known them for a long time now and they always do a good job. I've used other places but these boys always do the best job.
We agreed on this set up.
Toyo R888r's on, unbelievable grip and not as noisy as expected!
Next job on the list was brakes, can we spot the problem?
Well, they used to be grooved discs.
One pad had warn down an awful lot more than the others too.
They were down to 28mm thick from the 32mm they are supposed to be. It turned out hard to find the discs I wanted for these, always fancied J-hook discs because the look cool and they are supposed to give better initial bite which is also what I wanted. Unfortunately, AP Racing only sell grooved discs for these but after speaking to the guys at AK automotive they mentioned they got similar discs for their Ginetta G50 from Rayland Motorsport so a quick call later and I had bought these:
I ended up going with Carbotech XP8's for pads after speaking with Ian who was more than helpful. Never fitted separate rotors before but it turned out to be easier than I thought, I must admit I expected the small bolts to be hard to remove but they only get torqued to 10 lb/ft so came out easily.
Just had to watch out for the sheep when bedding the pads and discs in
I'm more than happy with it now, stops like you're hitting a wall, accelerates like a missile and sticks like **** in the corners!
Finally, I got the car noise tested at Croft the other day and it's 104.5 dB just under the 105 dB noise limit by not a lot so the plan is to put a silenced de-cat in it.
I entered the car into the Javelin sprint series at croft so will update with a vid of that and how I got on.
Over and out,
Jake
The first thing I done was fit a HKS Kansai lower drivers seat rail for my Evo 5 which, although doesn't sound like much it improves the driving position a good amount and certainly make me more comfortable and obviously, a bit lower. About an inch at the back where your bum is.
Fitted. It was nice to see the original seats in all their glory since they hide under seat covers all the time, they have a habit bolsters easily wearing out but these are in very good condition. very rare to find them in good condition.
Unfortunately my front tyres had scrubbed the inner edge showing some cord so needed replacing. I had a bit of a debate on what to replace them with, the sensible option was to buy a pair of Eagle F1's to replace the ones that were on it but..... wanting to get on a trackday I took this as the ideal time to change to something to give it the grip to match the power. I eventually settled on Toyo R888r's based on the fact I'll take them off when the winter comes (if they last that long )
As always with fitting new tyres it was time for a wheel alignment which I got done by AK Automotive in Newcastle. Known them for a long time now and they always do a good job. I've used other places but these boys always do the best job.
We agreed on this set up.
Toyo R888r's on, unbelievable grip and not as noisy as expected!
Next job on the list was brakes, can we spot the problem?
Well, they used to be grooved discs.
One pad had warn down an awful lot more than the others too.
They were down to 28mm thick from the 32mm they are supposed to be. It turned out hard to find the discs I wanted for these, always fancied J-hook discs because the look cool and they are supposed to give better initial bite which is also what I wanted. Unfortunately, AP Racing only sell grooved discs for these but after speaking to the guys at AK automotive they mentioned they got similar discs for their Ginetta G50 from Rayland Motorsport so a quick call later and I had bought these:
I ended up going with Carbotech XP8's for pads after speaking with Ian who was more than helpful. Never fitted separate rotors before but it turned out to be easier than I thought, I must admit I expected the small bolts to be hard to remove but they only get torqued to 10 lb/ft so came out easily.
Just had to watch out for the sheep when bedding the pads and discs in
I'm more than happy with it now, stops like you're hitting a wall, accelerates like a missile and sticks like **** in the corners!
Finally, I got the car noise tested at Croft the other day and it's 104.5 dB just under the 105 dB noise limit by not a lot so the plan is to put a silenced de-cat in it.
I entered the car into the Javelin sprint series at croft so will update with a vid of that and how I got on.
Over and out,
Jake
AWG said:
They look great behind the 527's. How do you find the handling?
Handling is amazing on the back roads, can't un-stick it! just lots of grip and feels pretty well balanced and has a quick turn into corners.... very nice to drive 
In the wet it is really good too, but only when the tyres had lots of tread. Now the R888R's are low on tread they are terrible in the wet, but hey have done about 5000miles!!!
AWG said:
Is that including track days? If so I am mighty impressed!
On the road using R888r's means even driving at 80% is monumentally fast! so not really at the limits of the car.... once on track and pushing 110% it does understeer. I have been making changes to remove the understeer at the limit which I'll put in my next update. Heaveho said:
Dare say I'll see you out and about in or around Newcastle, I'm local to you, and frequent Hartside now and again. Also in an Evo, among other things.
Great looking car you've got there.
Thanks! Which Evo do you have? I might have seen it around before.... I'm always Evo spotting Great looking car you've got there.
f1ten said:
That's a fast road car you have ! What hours were spent on the underside work ? Rough costs ?
It was the previous owner who had all the underside restoration work completed which involves totally stripping the car to it's component pieces which even includes removing the interior so it is light enough to go on the spit for easy access to the underside of the car.Since I didn't really explain the work here is a quick breakdown:
Strip down vehicle
Steam clean, degrease and solvent clean existing stone chip and sealer from underneath the car.
Media blast to bare metal engine bay and complete underside including wheel tubs/archs and cills.
Prepare with acid etch primer, rust treatment, seam seal, 2k primer, stone chip and 2k white colour coat.
Wax oil chassis, inside doors, cills etc.
All parts such as suspension arms, subframes, north/south bar, all brackets, driveshafts, fuel tank etc media blasted and powerdercoated or painted satin black
Stripped and refurbished suspension uprights, steering rack, rear diff, brakes calipers, CV joints.
Replace all fuel and brake lines.
Or in short, everything is stripped and refurbished with lots and lots of new fixings and clips bought.
I do actually have a large breakdown of the work carried out so the above is very brief! With regards labour a total of 480 hours where put into it and at a cost of around £14,500 which spanned just over 2 years!!!
Only had a few small upgrades, I've replaced the wastegate vacuum hoses with some better ones as the old ones were starting to crack, finished them with some reflective heat wrap to stop the hose getting hot and expanding. I've also wrapped some around the cam angle sensor and purchased a neverneverman heat shield as I know they can be problematic when they get hot, especially with a big manifold!
Another job was making sure it passed noise regulations for when I take it on track, although my biggest worry was ruining how the car sounded so I didn't want to quieten it down too much. I decided to order a M2 silenced decat from rosssport. As I mentioned previously it measured 104.5dB on the static test and after fitting it measured......
......104dB. Well, at least it made some difference!
A few months ago I competed in the Javelin Sprint Series at Croft, I've been to Croft more than enough times so no excuses for not knowing the track! It was a very well run event and it was good to get the Evo on a circuit and see how the car is when driven flat out. The answer is...... it's a bit mental to drive even the straights are fun in this thing! Lots of grip from the R888r's tyres and the Ohlins suspension coupled with cusco anti roll bars aren't giving to much roll and the new brakes are very good but I really need a bias valve as the fronts are doing too much of the work and are easy to lock up.
Coming into this event I was apprehensive about where I would end up as the common view is that a lower weight car with good amounts of power would be quicker around a lap then well.... my heavy Evo. Considering that entry list was a mix of lotus exige's, various kit cars (some turbo'd!), single seaters and even a 400hp vx220.
I did originally enter the road car class for four wheel drive cars using road tyres which is B1 but after the morning practice sessions I was moved up to A1 which is for cars with roll cages, stripped out and using slick tyres
.
The end result was 2nd in class and 4th overall considering the car that finished first overall was a supercharged ariel atom with a sequential gearbox I'm pretty pleased with how it performed, finishing ahead of a time attack Evo with full slicks and sequential gearbox and half a second behind a much higher powered Impreza on slicks! My car really is a credit to the previous owner and I never believed it would finish that high up the order, I was thinking mid table or something
Anyway, here is a vid. (Thanks to whoever took the pics!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkDHPd8MKdc
Results:
The handling on the road is epic but when pushing hard around a circuit you start to find the limits of the set-up, and I did..... understeer.... lots of it. It is probably because the front end is very stiff so I have decided to go down the route of stiffening the rear, I had already put the rear anti roll bar on its stiffest setting and even tried increasing the rear tyre pressures quite a lot! Along with stiffening the rear dampers bit to no avail, the understeer wouldn't go away. The last option would have been to increase the rear ride height (to adjust the roll centres) but to be honest it's already pretty heigh. As a result I decided to order some stiffer springs for the rear.
Fitted.
Ohlins road and track come standard with 100N/mm springs on the front and 80N/mm on the rear and I've bought a pair of 100N/mm springs form D.Faulkner to go in the rear. Yes it's a big step up in rates but it really needs it, I'm hoping this will also stop the understeer killing my front tyres! More upgrades to come in the near future, my aim is to give it more caster but unfortunately no one seems to make Caster adjustable top mounts so I might have to get some made.
I got bored one day so decided to write up a spec sheet as their wasn't one when I bought it, and here it is.....
Engine
Link G4+ ECU with 3 position boost switch and Anti-lag
Norris designs 5.5R Precision turbo kit with Zircotec coating (CNC Machined billet collector manifold with v-band turbo, wastegate and downpipe. Precision 46mm wastegate routed into the downpipe, 4" inlet and 4"inch K&N filter. Duel ceramic ball bearing Precision 5558 billet compressor wheeled turbo)
Greedy intercooler and 2.5" pipework
Wiseco pistons
Crower con rods
All new bearings
ND H11 head stud kit
Fluidampr crank pulley
Kelford 272 Cams
ND cam pulleys
ND Valve springs & retainers
ND 1.3mm 86mm Head gasket
Hard wired Walbro 400lph fuel pump
Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors
Tomei fuel pressure regulator
Gizzmo MS-IBC boost controller
Innovate LC-1 lambda sensor
Coil-on-plug kit & alloy cover
Alloy rad & 12" Spal fan
Alloy header tank & swirl pot
Alloy catch can
Silicone hoses throughout
Larger oil cooler with braided lines
RS-R 3" exmag GT2 exhaust and M2 silenced de-cat (104dB static)
Drivetrain
Excedy twin plate clutch
RS rear diff
Suspension
Ohlins DFV road and track with adjustable top mounts and custom spring rates
Polybushed throughout (except rear diff so it's not noisy)
Cusco 25mm front anti roll bar
Cusco 23mm adjustable rear anti roll bar
Adjustable rose jointed drop links
Tein front and rear strut braces
Brakes
AP Racing 362mm front brakes and braided lines
J-hook Reyland Motorsport front discs
Carbotec Xp8 pads all round
Performance friction 665 fluid
Wheels/tyres
XXR 527 18x8.75"
225/40/18 Toyo R888r tyres
Exterior
Carbon fibre front splitter
Carbon fibre side skirt extensions
Carbon fibre rear spats
Carbon fibre rear arch covers
Carbon fibre bonnet vent
Carbon fibre wing mirrors
Carbon fibre rear spoiler blade
Carbon fibre exhaust trim
One piece headlights
Misc
Defi Oil pressure gauge
Defi Oil temp gauge
Defi Exhaust temperature gauge
Defi Controller unit
Re-trimmed suede/leather steering wheel
Odyssey race battery in boot
Neverneverman Cam sensor heat shield
Carbing engine undertray
Another job was making sure it passed noise regulations for when I take it on track, although my biggest worry was ruining how the car sounded so I didn't want to quieten it down too much. I decided to order a M2 silenced decat from rosssport. As I mentioned previously it measured 104.5dB on the static test and after fitting it measured......
......104dB. Well, at least it made some difference!
A few months ago I competed in the Javelin Sprint Series at Croft, I've been to Croft more than enough times so no excuses for not knowing the track! It was a very well run event and it was good to get the Evo on a circuit and see how the car is when driven flat out. The answer is...... it's a bit mental to drive even the straights are fun in this thing! Lots of grip from the R888r's tyres and the Ohlins suspension coupled with cusco anti roll bars aren't giving to much roll and the new brakes are very good but I really need a bias valve as the fronts are doing too much of the work and are easy to lock up.
Coming into this event I was apprehensive about where I would end up as the common view is that a lower weight car with good amounts of power would be quicker around a lap then well.... my heavy Evo. Considering that entry list was a mix of lotus exige's, various kit cars (some turbo'd!), single seaters and even a 400hp vx220.
I did originally enter the road car class for four wheel drive cars using road tyres which is B1 but after the morning practice sessions I was moved up to A1 which is for cars with roll cages, stripped out and using slick tyres
.The end result was 2nd in class and 4th overall considering the car that finished first overall was a supercharged ariel atom with a sequential gearbox I'm pretty pleased with how it performed, finishing ahead of a time attack Evo with full slicks and sequential gearbox and half a second behind a much higher powered Impreza on slicks! My car really is a credit to the previous owner and I never believed it would finish that high up the order, I was thinking mid table or something
Anyway, here is a vid. (Thanks to whoever took the pics!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkDHPd8MKdc
Results:
The handling on the road is epic but when pushing hard around a circuit you start to find the limits of the set-up, and I did..... understeer.... lots of it. It is probably because the front end is very stiff so I have decided to go down the route of stiffening the rear, I had already put the rear anti roll bar on its stiffest setting and even tried increasing the rear tyre pressures quite a lot! Along with stiffening the rear dampers bit to no avail, the understeer wouldn't go away. The last option would have been to increase the rear ride height (to adjust the roll centres) but to be honest it's already pretty heigh. As a result I decided to order some stiffer springs for the rear.
Fitted.
Ohlins road and track come standard with 100N/mm springs on the front and 80N/mm on the rear and I've bought a pair of 100N/mm springs form D.Faulkner to go in the rear. Yes it's a big step up in rates but it really needs it, I'm hoping this will also stop the understeer killing my front tyres! More upgrades to come in the near future, my aim is to give it more caster but unfortunately no one seems to make Caster adjustable top mounts so I might have to get some made.
I got bored one day so decided to write up a spec sheet as their wasn't one when I bought it, and here it is.....
Engine
Link G4+ ECU with 3 position boost switch and Anti-lag
Norris designs 5.5R Precision turbo kit with Zircotec coating (CNC Machined billet collector manifold with v-band turbo, wastegate and downpipe. Precision 46mm wastegate routed into the downpipe, 4" inlet and 4"inch K&N filter. Duel ceramic ball bearing Precision 5558 billet compressor wheeled turbo)
Greedy intercooler and 2.5" pipework
Wiseco pistons
Crower con rods
All new bearings
ND H11 head stud kit
Fluidampr crank pulley
Kelford 272 Cams
ND cam pulleys
ND Valve springs & retainers
ND 1.3mm 86mm Head gasket
Hard wired Walbro 400lph fuel pump
Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors
Tomei fuel pressure regulator
- **ing hard engine mounts
Gizzmo MS-IBC boost controller
Innovate LC-1 lambda sensor
Coil-on-plug kit & alloy cover
Alloy rad & 12" Spal fan
Alloy header tank & swirl pot
Alloy catch can
Silicone hoses throughout
Larger oil cooler with braided lines
RS-R 3" exmag GT2 exhaust and M2 silenced de-cat (104dB static)
Drivetrain
Excedy twin plate clutch
RS rear diff
Suspension
Ohlins DFV road and track with adjustable top mounts and custom spring rates
Polybushed throughout (except rear diff so it's not noisy)
Cusco 25mm front anti roll bar
Cusco 23mm adjustable rear anti roll bar
Adjustable rose jointed drop links
Tein front and rear strut braces
Brakes
AP Racing 362mm front brakes and braided lines
J-hook Reyland Motorsport front discs
Carbotec Xp8 pads all round
Performance friction 665 fluid
Wheels/tyres
XXR 527 18x8.75"
225/40/18 Toyo R888r tyres
Exterior
Carbon fibre front splitter
Carbon fibre side skirt extensions
Carbon fibre rear spats
Carbon fibre rear arch covers
Carbon fibre bonnet vent
Carbon fibre wing mirrors
Carbon fibre rear spoiler blade
Carbon fibre exhaust trim
One piece headlights
Misc
Defi Oil pressure gauge
Defi Oil temp gauge
Defi Exhaust temperature gauge
Defi Controller unit
Re-trimmed suede/leather steering wheel
Odyssey race battery in boot
Neverneverman Cam sensor heat shield
Carbing engine undertray
bicycleshorts said:
Car looks great.
Is it reliable enough to use as a daily though?
Thanks Drew,Is it reliable enough to use as a daily though?
Yes it is.
CedricN said:
Excellent build! According to the setup sheet you have very conservative negative camber up front, which of course causes understeer. Have you tried different settings? Those r888s would probably like much more.
Thanks. When it was on Eagle F1 tyres it used to have 1.5 degrees camber so when the R888r's when on it's now at 2 degrees. You are right regarding more camber is better for track but the car is mainly a road car doing approx 1000miles a month, in the time I've had it, 0.5 percent of its mileage has been on track! so even at 2 degrees it has worn the inner half of the tyres
and i don't really want the negative from running lots of camber.My idea is to add more Caster by making some new top mounts
if I find myself using it less on the road then I will add more static camber though.em177 said:
He's not a very good driver. Understeer is probably not the worst thing... 
Thanks Euan,Just a reminder mate
Edited by ShakeyJake188 on Tuesday 31st October 09:38
Hello again,
A slightly delayed report
back in August I took the Evo to Cadwell Park to run in the Mitsubishi lancer register sprint series for the first time which was part of the Mitsubishi Evo Festival for the 20th anniversary of the MLR.
I had previously watched the promo videos of the MLRSS over the years but never really had the right type of car to be competitive or I had been doing other things so I was keen to get my entry in.
It was a really well run event and very relaxed which is what I like! I even took part in the Mitsubishi parade at the end of the day which was a nice touch by the organizers, the idea was to line up all the cars on the grid for professional photographs by Steve from Eat My Pixels and then carry out 2 parade laps of the track before the awards are handed out on the podium. Got to say thanks to the organizers for putting on an awesome event, really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately my camera didn't work for my fastest lap as I bought a external mic for my GoPro which stops the camera from working! so here is a random lap from the timed sessions.
http://youtu.be/mpdecw7lwls
I finished 6th overall and 4th out of all the Evos. Quite impressive considering it's my daily driver and I drove it 170 miles from Newcastle to Cadwell park! Finishing ahead of some higher spec Evos and even a sniff ahead of a tuned R35 GTR and even a single seater! It is a shame I ended up in the top class with the Time attack cars as it should have been in the class below but a good day was had overall and I had gone away with a smile on my face and met some very nice people, I can recommend the series to anyone!
I should probably point out that I was a bit nervous coming into this event as the last time I was at Cadwell Park 2 years ago I put my car into the barrier! See below video...
http://youtu.be/olmyJd7cnpE
I don't like crashing..... anyway, since the last time the car was on track at croft I increased the rear spring rates 2kg/mm which has made a good difference to the handling although it is still understeering more than I would like so some more changes will be made before it goes back on track!
Results
Here are a few of Steve's (Eat my Pixels) photos
My terrible photos
Steve's Photos
A slightly delayed report
back in August I took the Evo to Cadwell Park to run in the Mitsubishi lancer register sprint series for the first time which was part of the Mitsubishi Evo Festival for the 20th anniversary of the MLR. I had previously watched the promo videos of the MLRSS over the years but never really had the right type of car to be competitive or I had been doing other things so I was keen to get my entry in.
It was a really well run event and very relaxed which is what I like! I even took part in the Mitsubishi parade at the end of the day which was a nice touch by the organizers, the idea was to line up all the cars on the grid for professional photographs by Steve from Eat My Pixels and then carry out 2 parade laps of the track before the awards are handed out on the podium. Got to say thanks to the organizers for putting on an awesome event, really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately my camera didn't work for my fastest lap as I bought a external mic for my GoPro which stops the camera from working! so here is a random lap from the timed sessions.
http://youtu.be/mpdecw7lwls
I finished 6th overall and 4th out of all the Evos. Quite impressive considering it's my daily driver and I drove it 170 miles from Newcastle to Cadwell park! Finishing ahead of some higher spec Evos and even a sniff ahead of a tuned R35 GTR and even a single seater! It is a shame I ended up in the top class with the Time attack cars as it should have been in the class below but a good day was had overall and I had gone away with a smile on my face and met some very nice people, I can recommend the series to anyone!
I should probably point out that I was a bit nervous coming into this event as the last time I was at Cadwell Park 2 years ago I put my car into the barrier! See below video...
http://youtu.be/olmyJd7cnpE
I don't like crashing..... anyway, since the last time the car was on track at croft I increased the rear spring rates 2kg/mm which has made a good difference to the handling although it is still understeering more than I would like so some more changes will be made before it goes back on track!
Results
Here are a few of Steve's (Eat my Pixels) photos
My terrible photos
Steve's Photos
Back in October I had a little problem with a miss-fire, after dropping the car into EvoTune in Durham the problem turned out to be with the coil on plug kit, so this was removed and standard coils were fitted. Since the car was on the Dyno for diagnostics, a power run was carried out .
Not ideal as it made 555bhp and 480lb/ft on the Norris Designs Dyno a year earlier. It doesn't feel like it comes on boost as hard with the standard coil packs but it still feels pretty damn fast. Although I do realize that two different dynos will give different reading on different days so that will also be a large factor in the difference between the two power readings. It was mentioned by Jamie from Evotune that another map would see good gains, bearing in mind that it was originally mapped to run on 97RON fuel where as I run it on 99. To take advantage of this I've ordered a load of parts over Xmas so I will reveal all when they arrive 
.Not ideal as it made 555bhp and 480lb/ft on the Norris Designs Dyno a year earlier. It doesn't feel like it comes on boost as hard with the standard coil packs but it still feels pretty damn fast
. Although I do realize that two different dynos will give different reading on different days so that will also be a large factor in the difference between the two power readings. It was mentioned by Jamie from Evotune that another map would see good gains, bearing in mind that it was originally mapped to run on 97RON fuel where as I run it on 99. To take advantage of this I've ordered a load of parts over Xmas so I will reveal all when they arrive Edited by ShakeyJake188 on Thursday 4th January 13:18
Just for reference this is the old dyno graph, I thought I posted this earlier but obviously haven't
Since the Evo was my daily driver the plan was to get a second car over the winter and start working on the Evo. Except as always I leave everything last minute and winter is slowly disappearing and I haven't touched it for months.... and the winter car I was using (Lexus LS400) has even ran out of MOT and been sent to Bordermx5s to have it 4.0 V8 removed and put I'm an mx5.
Anyway, I have secured another daily run around so now all the parts I've accumulated since Christmas can be fitted!
Starting with the handling mods, one thing I'd like to get is more front end grip on the limit (on track) adding more camber is a good way to do this but I've already got around 2 degrees and any more than that on the road will give even worse tyre wear and less grip in braking and accelerating, which in a lot of situations is a bad thing! Caster however is fixed on the Evo and not adjustable, a flaw in the design if you ask me. My idea is to increase this as much as possible but unfortunately not many products have been made for this model to increase it, Superpro make caster bushes for the back of the front suspension arm which give a 1 degree increase so I have ordered a pair of them.
Since I'm trying to increase caster as much as possible, another way to get some gains is to use caster adjustable top mounts, although finding a company that makes them that fit my coilovers doesn't exist so I went about designing my own to suit my Ohlins shocks.
First was to measure everything a thousand times so that it fits properly and decide the how much (fixed) camber to have and how much caster adjustment is available to me. Then to draw it up on CAD/CAM.
I do work on CNC machines and work on CAD for a living but unfortunately the company I work for only deal with wood and plastics so the drawing was sent off to PlaysKool Motorsport in Durham for setting and machining so a big thanks to Luke for that, good price, quick turnaround, top job done!
If you are thinking 'where does the camber adjustment come from?' It's adjusted using a whiteline camber bolt on the hub to get it where the alignment man wants it instead of using the top mount.
New rubber to go on before the sprints start. Didn't want to change completely, they offer awesome performance for the cost.
Also ordered some brake cooling ducts and pipe work in case a track day comes along during the year. Don't really need them for Sprints as standard ducts work fine but a piece of mind for the cost. These will duct from the two holes in the front splitter.
THE ENGINE!
That is next but I'm still waiting on parts when they arrive, so I got the Evo out for a hoon
Since the Evo was my daily driver the plan was to get a second car over the winter and start working on the Evo. Except as always I leave everything last minute and winter is slowly disappearing and I haven't touched it for months....
and the winter car I was using (Lexus LS400) has even ran out of MOT and been sent to Bordermx5s to have it 4.0 V8 removed and put I'm an mx5.Anyway, I have secured another daily run around so now all the parts I've accumulated since Christmas can be fitted!
Starting with the handling mods, one thing I'd like to get is more front end grip on the limit (on track) adding more camber is a good way to do this but I've already got around 2 degrees and any more than that on the road will give even worse tyre wear and less grip in braking and accelerating, which in a lot of situations is a bad thing! Caster however is fixed on the Evo and not adjustable, a flaw in the design if you ask me. My idea is to increase this as much as possible but unfortunately not many products have been made for this model to increase it, Superpro make caster bushes for the back of the front suspension arm which give a 1 degree increase so I have ordered a pair of them.
Since I'm trying to increase caster as much as possible, another way to get some gains is to use caster adjustable top mounts, although finding a company that makes them that fit my coilovers doesn't exist so I went about designing my own to suit my Ohlins shocks.
First was to measure everything a thousand times so that it fits properly and decide the how much (fixed) camber to have and how much caster adjustment is available to me. Then to draw it up on CAD/CAM.
I do work on CNC machines and work on CAD for a living but unfortunately the company I work for only deal with wood and plastics so the drawing was sent off to PlaysKool Motorsport in Durham for setting and machining so a big thanks to Luke for that, good price, quick turnaround, top job done!
If you are thinking 'where does the camber adjustment come from?' It's adjusted using a whiteline camber bolt on the hub to get it where the alignment man wants it instead of using the top mount.
New rubber to go on before the sprints start. Didn't want to change completely, they offer awesome performance for the cost.
Also ordered some brake cooling ducts and pipe work in case a track day comes along during the year. Don't really need them for Sprints as standard ducts work fine but a piece of mind for the cost. These will duct from the two holes in the front splitter.
THE ENGINE!
That is next but I'm still waiting on parts when they arrive, so I got the Evo out for a hoon
All righty then, time to get some stuff fitted.
First off was fitting the new caster adjustable top mounts. Easy to fit, only a few bolts but I'll need a full 4 wheel alignment which I'll get done when my tyres get fitted.
Ohlins gold camber adjustable top mounts
New custom caster adjustable top mounts
I'm not 100% on how much caster these will add but I'm hoping it will be a good amount. And to complment the top mounts I have started fitting some caster bushes.
And these camber bolts along with some slightly modified hubs to get the camber back.
The first event for the evo has been booked which is Javelin Sprint series at snetterton at the beginning of April. Can't wait! But still have some work to do.....
First off was fitting the new caster adjustable top mounts. Easy to fit, only a few bolts but I'll need a full 4 wheel alignment which I'll get done when my tyres get fitted.
Ohlins gold camber adjustable top mounts
New custom caster adjustable top mounts
I'm not 100% on how much caster these will add but I'm hoping it will be a good amount. And to complment the top mounts I have started fitting some caster bushes.
And these camber bolts along with some slightly modified hubs to get the camber back.
The first event for the evo has been booked which is Javelin Sprint series at snetterton at the beginning of April. Can't wait! But still have some work to do.....
The plan was always to give this thing more power, after speaking with Simon Norris of Norris Designs who built the engine he confirmed the engine was built to take 800bhp plus.... which for me was very good new, not only did it give a piece of mind for safety when driving hard at 555bhp but it also gives the choice to go for more power in the future. My dream has always been to own a 600hp plus evo, it's easily achievable number for a 4G63 2.0 engine but the main draw back is it costs a lot and sometimes reliability which means it needs to be build right using the correct parts and not cheap badly built aftermarket parts. I am confident it has been build correctly by one of the best in the evo tuning bisiness.
Needless to say I started buying parts a while back to increase power. The first item I bought was a AMS VSR inlet manifold.
Aluminium always goes dull very quickly so attacked it with some autosol.
These have been tested and used a lot with proven bhp and torque gains so was a easy choice to make. It turned out the previous owner had ran anti-lag with it as it has a extra take off to run a throttle by-pass ( far right 27mm diameter take off on the far right)
Unfortunately I don't want to run full Anti-lag as I don't want to change turbos often or refresh the engine more regularly! Although it would be cool aha. I have a mild version of anti lag AKA pops and bangs to keep me entertained! This needed blanking off with some silicone hose and Dan from AK Automotive in Newcastle made me a bung.
I eventually got around to fitting it over this past few week, not a big job and fairly straight forward.
Engine bay with standard ported inlet painted wrinkle black:
New shiney shiney go faster inlet manifold fitted:
Exciting times ahead..... More soon.
Needless to say I started buying parts a while back to increase power. The first item I bought was a AMS VSR inlet manifold.
Aluminium always goes dull very quickly so attacked it with some autosol.
These have been tested and used a lot with proven bhp and torque gains so was a easy choice to make. It turned out the previous owner had ran anti-lag with it as it has a extra take off to run a throttle by-pass ( far right 27mm diameter take off on the far right)
Unfortunately I don't want to run full Anti-lag as I don't want to change turbos often or refresh the engine more regularly! Although it would be cool aha. I have a mild version of anti lag AKA pops and bangs to keep me entertained! This needed blanking off with some silicone hose and Dan from AK Automotive in Newcastle made me a bung.
I eventually got around to fitting it over this past few week, not a big job and fairly straight forward.
Engine bay with standard ported inlet painted wrinkle black:
New shiney shiney go faster inlet manifold fitted:
Exciting times ahead..... More soon.
A nice suprise when fitting the inlet was that it turns out the car has a ported head.... Champion!
Just as a note to anyone else wanting to fit a different inlet manifold is a few other things need changing to suit. Firstly, the upper boost pipe needs adjusting as the inlet sits lower down in the engine bay. Not a massive problem, a quick cut to the boost pipe and add in a fillet piece and sent it off to PlaysKool Motorsport to weld it up whilst I head off to the F1 testing in Barcelona to get away from the snow we were having!
Hate snow... well, when I need to work on the car.
Finished pics later.....
The dipstick tube also needed changing as it has nothing to bolt to on the AMS inlet. For some reason the supplied dipstick tube had an AN fitting in it so this needed removing. Luckily it was glued in so some heat loosened it off and the AN fitting was removed.
Finally, the new fuel line was extended to the bulk head.
Sorry for the dark picture but it's usually dark when I work on the car lol and cold!!!
Next on the job list was rewiring the broken Coil on Plug kit and adding new coils. Old:
A late night with some beer consumed....
Jobs a carrot:
Since I do sprints it was time to think about what to do regarding oil surge. I'd like a dry sump but since they are suitable for cars that do many road miles like mine I've gone for a NR Autosport baffled sump. Here it is against the standard sump:
Not sure why I took this photo but it was interesting to see the oil level on the dipstick on the right when fitting the sump.
And a cheeky one of the beefy rods!
More engine news coming next!
Sent from my SM-G950F using f
king magic
Just as a note to anyone else wanting to fit a different inlet manifold is a few other things need changing to suit. Firstly, the upper boost pipe needs adjusting as the inlet sits lower down in the engine bay. Not a massive problem, a quick cut to the boost pipe and add in a fillet piece and sent it off to PlaysKool Motorsport to weld it up whilst I head off to the F1 testing in Barcelona to get away from the snow we were having!
Hate snow... well, when I need to work on the car.
Finished pics later.....
The dipstick tube also needed changing as it has nothing to bolt to on the AMS inlet. For some reason the supplied dipstick tube had an AN fitting in it so this needed removing. Luckily it was glued in so some heat loosened it off and the AN fitting was removed.
Finally, the new fuel line was extended to the bulk head.
Sorry for the dark picture but it's usually dark when I work on the car lol and cold!!!
Next on the job list was rewiring the broken Coil on Plug kit and adding new coils. Old:
A late night with some beer consumed....
Jobs a carrot:
Since I do sprints it was time to think about what to do regarding oil surge. I'd like a dry sump but since they are suitable for cars that do many road miles like mine I've gone for a NR Autosport baffled sump. Here it is against the standard sump:
Not sure why I took this photo but it was interesting to see the oil level on the dipstick on the right when fitting the sump.
And a cheeky one of the beefy rods!
More engine news coming next!
Sent from my SM-G950F using f
king magicWith the new NR sump and my own coil on plug kit fitted along with the AMS VSR inlet manifold installed with the top intercooler pipe welded up its time for the main ingredient.... the turbo! Bearing in mind the car previously ran a Precision 5558 gen 1 turbo using the smaller .64 AR turbine housing. I always planned on getting a bigger turbo but the question is how big do you go? Flange sizes are the same on a lot of the bigger precision units so fitment isn't a problem, my main concern was lag and top end power. The only thing that was holding my engine back was the standard head which seems to cap the power at around 640-650bhp for this power range I'd have gone with a 5858 turbo BUUUT I actually thought I'd try for more so my plan was to fit a big valve ported head to allow more flow up top and hopefully break 700bhp. I did a deal on a big valve ported head and ordered a Precision 6062 Gen2 .82 turbine housing in duel ceramic ball bearing flavour! Rated to 750+bhp! Unfortunately the deal on the head fell through. I did however also buy a set of oversized valves and new guides to suit. But after removing the inlet manifold and seeing the head had already been ported as per the previous post I didn't have the heart to go ahead and redo the porting as it just didn't make sense!
Next up was tiding up the engine bay which involved removing all of the ally tanks and polishing them up but also riding up the rocker cover as the paint had started peeling off! Thanks to ASBO Coatings in Birtley for the acid dip, blasting and powercoating in championship white.
Old colour:
Removal of the baffles:
Coated:
Baffles back in:
Fitted!
Hard job keeping this thing clean!
I'm way behind on this thread, meaning I have dyno results lol. After taking the car to EvoTune for mapping on the Link G4+ ECU they came across a problem... the inlet manifold was leaking.... great....
When I dropped the car off it had a air leak but since I only finished fitting it at 11pm the night before I didn't have time to investigate. The leak was found at the flange to the throttle body so a new flange was welded on thanks to the boys at EvoTune, it also turned out I need a new set of injectors which is a piece of mind as I was thinking of getting the old ones cleaned and tested!
After mapping the final results were 623bhp at 2.0-2.1 bar of boost.
Engine bay before and after. Looks way better now and I have some good heat wrap to go on the turbo inlet and boost pipes to tidy them up.
Before
After
Next up was tiding up the engine bay which involved removing all of the ally tanks and polishing them up but also riding up the rocker cover as the paint had started peeling off! Thanks to ASBO Coatings in Birtley for the acid dip, blasting and powercoating in championship white.
Old colour:
Removal of the baffles:
Coated:
Baffles back in:
Fitted!
Hard job keeping this thing clean!
I'm way behind on this thread, meaning I have dyno results lol. After taking the car to EvoTune for mapping on the Link G4+ ECU they came across a problem... the inlet manifold was leaking.... great....
When I dropped the car off it had a air leak but since I only finished fitting it at 11pm the night before I didn't have time to investigate. The leak was found at the flange to the throttle body so a new flange was welded on thanks to the boys at EvoTune, it also turned out I need a new set of injectors which is a piece of mind as I was thinking of getting the old ones cleaned and tested!
After mapping the final results were 623bhp at 2.0-2.1 bar of boost.
Engine bay before and after. Looks way better now and I have some good heat wrap to go on the turbo inlet and boost pipes to tidy them up.
Before
After
em177 said:
Lovely car. Shame it's a bit noisy.
Lol more on that when the thread is up to speed.yellowstreak said:
Impressive, most impressive!
Thank you. Nutty9000 said:
What a truly amazing project! Such incredible attention to detail and no expense spared. That inlet is a work of art and puts mine to shame
Have you taken it to Santa Pod yet?
Thanks, I haven't been to Santa Pod as it's a million miles away. I might compete in Ten of the Best this year though as they use a drag strip as part of the competition. It would be interesting to see what time it can get, hoping for low 11s and maybe a 10 if I can get a very good launch! Only one way to find out! Have you taken it to Santa Pod yet?
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