Nitto NT-01 Review
We recently got the opportunity to test out Nitto’s new DOT approved competition tire, the NT-01, on the Project Evo. With the tire sizes available we decided to go with a 275/35/18 sized tire (full tread (6/32”)). The Evo Tuner Shoot Out was around the corner and what better place to see what these tires can do than on the track.

Track Impressions
The Evo Tuner Shoot Out was held at Carolina Motorsport Park. During the week leading up to the day of the event, the track went through countless downpours, which washed off most of the rubber laid down. This meant that the track would be a little more slippery then normal. With less traction available on track, this new tire would be put to the test. We had to break the tires in during the first few laps to ensure the longevity of the tire. After we broke in the set and tire pressures were checked, we decided to go for a few hot laps. Our first reaction to the performance of the NT-01 was total amazement. With the slippery conditions the tire didn’t seem to want to break loose even with full tread. As we completed each lap, we pushed the car more and more, hoping we could find the breaking point of these tires. Again to our surprise, these tires would not let loose. The levels of lateral grip are amazing. To give you an idea of the type of grip we experienced after a few sessions out we noticed that most of time we were practically pinned to the side of the seat. All you could see were smiles within the car as it zoomed by clocking faster and faster lap times.

After a full weekend of abuse, the tires proved to be able to handle whatever we threw at them. Usually when you run on tires that are not shaved (full tread), chunking can occur and this has happened on tires we’ve used before. With the NT-01’s we didn’t experience chunking or any abnormal tire wear. This is partially due to the fact that the NT-01’s have a more shallow tread depth and larger tread block then some of the competition. In fact, throughout the weekend as we wore down the tire tread the grip seemed to improve, giving us better lap times.

Street Impressions
The NT-01’s were perfect on the track, so now we wanted to see how they performed on the street. Keep in mind these tires should not be purchased for street use only because they are rated for dry conditions. They should mainly be used on the track, but can be used on the street. Our street experience with these tires was only conducted coming back from the track event. During that time, we loved every minute of it. The grip was there and we really got a good feel for the road. Our only concern was picking up a nail or anything that could puncture the tire on the way back. The tires can heat up pretty quickly and will pick up most anything on the road. They’ll also be noticeably louder than stock so be prepared for a noisy ride.

Conclusion
Overall we were extremely pleased with these unique tires. Nitto has come up with a tire that can provide extraordinary grip without compromises. We were very happy with our set and we will continue to use the NT-01’s for our weekend track adventures. Our only complaint is the limited tires sizes available. According to Nitto representatives, this problem is being remedied.

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As many of you already know, when you start on a path of modification sometimes it’s difficult to figure out when to stop modifying your car. You initially set up a goal in order to give yourself a sense of accomplishment. The funny thing is when you reach the top of the mountain; you end up saying to yourself “Can I do more?” Everyone knows the downward spiral from here. You immediately start thinking about the possibilities, which start to brainwash you. You convince yourself that your car is boring and you need a change. At this point this is where you end up in a “fork in the road” type of situation. Should I start a new project or shouldn’t I?

You immediately start to rationalize and think back to the pain and struggle you went through to get the car to its initial goal. Thinking to yourself, “That downtime wasn’t too bad”. Well now you know how we felt when we got a chance to try out Tanabe’s new set of Sustec Pro Seven suspension and the TEAS unit to go along with it. We wanted change and this setup could help us with that change.

Before we received the suspension I started to research the set up through the site and any other resource I could find. The list of features the suspension had to offer was very attractive. I immediately looked for the spring rates to see what I was going to be dealing with: 12kg in the front and 10kg in the rear. Pretty high rates but Tanabe claimed that this set up could be used for various driving environments (street and competition), which is very appealing. I wanted to find out for myself.

Installation
After a week of waiting, the UPS man came with the goods. After tearing the box, I could see four nicely packaged coilovers. I had to get these on the car! I immediately got the car on the lift and started the install.

Installation was very simple for the suspension and was completed in less then 2 hours (I love air tools!). The TEAS installation was also an easy install and took us about an hour or so to install. We did spend a little extra time making sure that everything was torque’d down correctly so we wouldn’t run into issues later. After the final inspection, the car came off the lift and was sent out for the initial test drive.

Product Build
We usually don’t talk too much about the build quality on some of the parts we review, so I figured I would take the opportunity to do so with the Teas and Sustec pro. The overall construction of the Sustec pro is pretty nice. The welds look strong and overall appearance looks very good. The hardware (camber plates, height adjustments, etc) were very well constructed as well.

With the Teas, the overall build is very basic and simple (small and light), which is what I prefer when it comes to electronic control boxes. The unit is small enough to fit it most places of the car, so mounting solutions shouldn’t be too difficult.

Initial Driving Impressions (Street Only and the car was not dialed in)
This initial drive wasn’t to test out the handling characteristics of the car, but more so to play with the TEAS. I initially set the damper setting to 1 (front and rear). Driving around with this setting was interesting. The setting was very soft and many of you who like a firm setup will not like this setting. I had to turn the dial up. The next damper setting I went to was 5 (front and rear). Finally we are getting somewhere! The ride was firmer then the previous setting. This setting was a good compromise for the street, firm but not so much that your head gets knocked around.

Finally I decided to see how far we could take this. I tried 10 (front and rear) and 16(front and rear). Wow what a difference. Definitely something I wouldn’t leave set especially for the street. My body was bouncing around like a rock in a can. I have to admit though it was pretty fun to drive the car in the stiff setting because it made the car feel very responsive and minimized body roll.

After an hour or so of parading around town, I decided to get the car dialed in to see how the setup truly feels.

Part 2 – Driving Impression (Street Only with the car dialed in)
Now that the car was dialed in, it was time to find out the car’s road handling characteristics and to really use the TEAS to its full potential (speed sensitive dampener controlling). The impressive thing about the TEAS active mode is you can also preprogram the unit to specifically set the dampener settings on the suspension based on a specific speed (as slow as 5mph).

TEAS Impression
The only other car I’ve ever been in to have some type of automatic dampener control has been the MB E55 AMG, but without the speed sensor option. I felt that this feature would be great on an Evo especially for owners who don’t want the full “Race” setup all the time and would prefer a way to adjust stiffness settings whenever they feel like.

The best place to test the TEAS was on the highway and some of the back twisty roads that most of you are familiar with. The first test was the highway. I set the TEAS to active mode and got on the on-ramp of the highway. The TEAS immediately started to tighten things up during my trip on the on-ramp. Once I merged onto the highway, I gave it a little gas and it continued to tighten things up. Very cool! The next test was driving the car on some twisty back roads.

As I did in the previous highway test, I set the TEAS in active mode and headed out on the back road. The TEAS did its job of stiffening the suspension to accommodate the driving, but there was a big difference between this test and the highway. Highway speeds are always consistent, whereas, other forms of driving where not. Tuning the TEAS was necessary in order to get the right dampener setting for this type driving.

After playing around for about an hour, I finally programmed a setup I liked. The car was crisp and in control.

In Conclusion
Overall I have to say that Tanabe’s Sustec Pro Seven and TEAS is a fairly good package all together. It can be overwhelming at first because of the many different features you can play around with, but once you figure it out it can be a blast to drive around in. As I said before, the one thing I liked about this set up is its ability to accommodate a wide range of driving environments. You also have an option to fine tune your settings and save them as preprogrammed options. Great for the daily commuter and weekend track monkey. All you need is a little patience to get the setup tuned right for your needs and some gas money. Stay tuned for part 2 when we take the car to the track.

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It’s been a while since our last install. We decided to change the pace a little and install something different for the project evo. Spring is around the corner and HPDE (high performance driving events) sessions were getting closer and closer. With this mind, we decided to look into a new Harness Bar for the project evo.

Each person has a different use for a harness bar. We decided to use ours as a camera mount so we can record our track sessions. There are a fair amount of harness bar manufactures to choose from. We were more interested in getting the one that had the best bang for the buck. It came down to Sparco’s and GSC’s harness bar. In the end we felt that GSC had the better product for less and decided to go with theirs.

The packaged arrived within a couple days after I placed the order. It was very well packaged and everything was pretty well organized. The paint job on the bar was nicely done as well as the supporting bars.

Install
Installation was pretty simple. Overall it took us about an hour to get everything installed and adjusted correctly. We decided to use Loctite for the new bolts going in. It may not be necessary but I like the feeling of having something a little extra, especially for something like a seatbelt.

Conclusion
After the install we were happy to see how the bar looked inside the car. We test fitted our camera mount and ran a test recording around town. The end result, the bar worked extremely well for our purpose. The picture was steady and we couldn’t be happier with the result. The harness bar was not only easy to install but it could be easily removed when we have extra passengers in the back. For an everyday driver, you couldn’t ask for anything better for a harness bar.

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Engine Torque Damper

With the current power levels on the Project Evo, something had to be done about the drive train lash we were experiencing. The Evo suffers from a good amount of engine movement due to the soft stock motor mounts. Some issues that results from the motor movement are increased stress on exhaust mounts (and motor mounts), problems shifting, and excessive wheel hop.

Upgrading the motor mounts was the only solution I could think of, until I was introduced to the Stiffy from Ingalls Engineering. The Stiffy seemed like the best solution if you didn’t want to go through the hassle of installing upgraded motor mounts or inserts. Plus it had the ability to adjust the stiffness level, which is a great feature especially if you drive your Evo daily.

The product arrived at my door within a weeks time. Included in the package was the following:

- Stiffy Engine Torque Damper
- Engine Mounting Bracket
- Chassis Mounting Bracket
- Hardware Kit (includes: two 12mm engine mount nuts, two 12mm washers, two bolts, two nylon locking washers, and two washers.)

Installation was simple and took about 30 minutes to complete. Once I finished the install I was out on the road testing it out.

Impressions

After the install I made sure to set the damper to the softest setting before heading out.

Softest/Lowest Setting

Initially I couldn’t feel a difference in the car’s behavior, until I started playing with the throttle. I tried to reproduce the drive train lash I experienced before to see if there was any improvement. I did notice a slight improvement. My shifting was also a little smother than before. Cabin vibrations were very mild, but keep in mind the project Evo has a lumpy idle due to the 272 cams so I’m pretty used to the car being shaky.

Medium/Middle Setting

This setting was a definite improvement from the last setting. Shifting improved and the lash experienced during the last run had reduced. This time around I was able to feel vibrations within the cabin. Again I’m not ultra sensitive to cabin noise or vibrations so this was tolerable for me on a daily basis.

Stiffest/Highest Setting

Finally I decided to go all the way and set the damper to the stiffest setting and head out for the final test run of the day. On this run I could definitely tell that the product was making a difference. Shifting was really smooth this time around. I tried to reproduce the lash again but this time it had greatly reduced from the first setting. Cabin vibrations were definitely noticeable and may be a pain to deal with on daily basis.

At the end of the day I have to say this is a good mod that was easy to install and easy to use. It’s a great alternative to motor mounts, especially if you drive your Evo on a daily basis. A little Dynamat around the strut tower could also help absorb any vibrations experienced, if any. I would also keep the Stiffy set anywhere between the softest to the medium setting for everyday use. I would recommend only using the highest setting on track days.

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(Article I wrote for Sport Compact Car)
Does Four Times The Price Mean Four Times Better?

writer: Ali Allage
photographer: Devin Lefevere

Not everyone can afford the 35 large required to buy a new road-going rally car from Mitsubishi or Subaru. But almost anyone can afford to buy a used Subaru Impreza GC8. And the best used GC8 has to be the 2.5 RS. It weighs over 430 pounds less than its modern day equivalents. It has all-wheel drive and its Japanese cousin came with a turbocharged engine that put out more than 276bhp.

The more numbers we plug in, the more curious we become. Available for around $7000-$8000 at the time of writing, we wondered what the $25,000 premium of a new car was really worth. We had to find out. Mitsubishi graciously supplied us with a brand spankin’ new Evo IX MR, but the challenge would be finding a clean Impreza 2.5 RS. We eventually found Pirouz Sichani from Dynamic Power Solutions in Maryland, who had a 2.5 RS that was pristine enough to eat off. He bought the car new in 1999 and has been wrenching on it ever since.

Sichani’s Impreza is no ordinary 2.5. With the same displacement as stock, the car uses an EJ257 swap with a custom Turbonetics T3/T4OB turbo kit. According to Sichani, the car is capable of about 320 wheel-hp. That’s a lot of power for a car weighing less than 2900 pounds. Often mistaken for a standard 2.5 RS, Sichani reports that many overly-anxious 350Z owners get a big surprise when they try to intimidate this car.

To even out the playing field a little, we’ve thrown in a lightly modified Evo VIII from www.evolutionm.net. It represents a good example of how a few careful modifications fit together to achieve a well balanced car; nothing is over the top. The guys at evolutionm.net claim this Evo dynos at 352 wheel-hp, making it the hardest hitter of the bunch by a reasonable margin.

Initially, we wanted to put the cars on an autocross course, but bad weather foiled that plan. No matter, all three cars are better geared for track duty than the tight coned corners of an autocross anyway. As it turns out, we get some track time at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina, for a full day of testing. As an added bonus, the interim between cancelled autocross and eventual track day allows us to get a feel for the cars as daily drivers.

Impreza 2.5 RS

The giant front-mount intercooler sitting immediately above the aggressive Chargespeed front lip makes the intentions of this particular 2.5 RS perfectly clear. While the lip speaks volumes, it’s a pain in the ass to baby out of parking lots and over speedbumps. The version five STI wing with rear bumper spoiler pieces from the (extremely) limited edition 22B also help make the car look authentic-and predatory.

On the street, the spring rates of the Prodrive P1 suspension are low enough to soak up any bumps, but the Subaru still feels distinctly ‘modified car’. With upgraded front calipers and rotors from the much-vaunted 22B, the 2.5 has no trouble stopping. What we don’t like are the large donuts for tires (225/50 Kumho Ecsta MX) mounted on a stock set of 16-inch wheels. With a slightly thinner sidewall, turn-in could be markedly improved.

The steering isn’t as a precise as the two Evos. Granted, the Subaru is about seven years old, but the high level of power assistance makes the steering feel more Cadillac than performance car. The second issue is the clutch. Anything aftermarket will take some getting used to, but for some reason the clutch doesn’t disengage very easily. It’s difficult to get consistently smooth shifts, which can be frustrating on the daily drive. With some acclimatization, this issue might be resolved.

The 2.5 RS takes to the track like a kid to video games; unbelievable fun to pitch into the tighter sections of the course and use the turbo to blast out. With all the low end torque available, the car seems to build a greater amount of exit speed than the Evos. The power is there throughout the day and never backs off, netting the little Sube a 2.00:12 final time, despite the relatively dinky rubber.

We experience a fair amount of nose-dive under braking, which could be attributed to the same soft springs that are such a joy on the road. With each progressive lap, the brakes start to fade, finally requiring a quick cool-down in the pits. State-of-the-art technology from 1999 is seven years old in 2006. Brakes and suspension are the issues clouding the car, track-wise. Otherwise, it has a lot of potential and could easily be a great weekend track machine and workday wonder.

Stock EVO IX MR

The suspension and power makes the bone stock Evo IX easy to drive and well-mannered on the street. Driving around town, the upgraded Bilstein suspension of the MR does a good job of smoothing out bumps and dips. On power delivery, Mitsubishi claims the new IX has a slight torque increase within the lower rev zone. The butt dyno confirms this from as little as 2500rpm when compared to the Evo VIII. Once past 6500rpm, though, the power seems to flatten out.

Trackside, the car feels alive. The factory brakes, suspension, steering, and power delivery make for an incredibly capable package. The car is a blast. Flying through each corner, the IX is being stressed in every possible way as we push harder and harder, but it feels like nothing can release its stranglehold on the asphalt. It’s clear this Evo is a hassle-free ride, whether used as a daily driver or a track monster. It also turns in a very respectable 2.02:33 lap time on its stock Yokohama rubber.

Evolutionm.net EVO VIII

The suspension modifications and aggressive wheel/tire package on the evolutionm.net VIII stand in clear contrast to the untainted lines of the stock Evo IX. The VIII looks aggressive yet simple, with its unreasonably wide Nitto NT01 tires (275/35) mounted on SSIX 18×9-inch wheels. After driving around for a couple of days, it is clear that, while a relatively tame package, this car has sacrificed some of its daily driveability for ultimate speed.

With the combination of a lowered front anti-roll bar (spacers have been added to allow clearance for the Vishnu Performance downpipe) and lowered suspension, the VIII is extremely difficult to drive on uneven pavement. Even when using caution, the low-hanging metal bits too often produce nasty scraping noises that ring through the cockpit.

Not all is lost to modification, though. It has the best power delivery and manages to create more than a few buttcheek-clenching moments during takeoff on the street. The upgraded Ohlins coilover setup with Hyper Coil springs isn’t as harsh as expected compared to the Bilsteins of the IX. The shocks make short(ish) work of most pavement imperfections, even with a 650-pound spring rate in the rear and a 550-pound rate up front.

Stock Brembo calipers are paired with two-piece GiroDisk rotors and mated with a set of Ferodo DS2500 pads front and rear. The setup results in powerful and consistent braking that exhibits no fade during heated mountain runs.

On track, the metamorphosis from street car to roller coaster ride takes place. We’re pinned to the seat during acceleration, hanging from the seatbelt during braking and cutting into side bolsters during cornering. This is an animal. The modified Mitsu squeezes out 1.56:47, a massive six seconds faster than the out-of-the-box Evo IX MR.

With the combination of moderate driveability on the street and demonic track performance, the Evo VIII impresses all who sit behind its aluminum wheel. Priced between the two other cars, it seems to offer more than either, without the need to change a thing. The 2.5 RS, by comparison, requires some alteration in the suspension and braking department to be a chart topper in such tough company. It would even benefit from a quicker steering rack, but then we’re missing the point of buying the budget car in the first place. The Evo IX MR is, well, an Evo IX MR. An awesome car, but just too expensive this time around.

Photo Gallery

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(Check out my video clips for this article here: CLICK TO WATCH VIDEOS)
I know, not your typical part review, but I wanted to try something new. It’s always nice to see something different and out of the normal routine. This is the first part of what will be many more articles to come about my personal path to obtain my license in order to enter into NASA Time Attack series. The car of choice is the project evo, obviously. With all the part reviews we do with this car, it has everything needed to be a good track car and a serious competitor. By running this car through each HPDE weekend also opens the door to follow up articles on how some of the modifications on the car hold up after a solid HPDE season.

So now let’s start from the beginning. Why am I doing this? This was a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. With the near death experience I went through that ultimately took Mark’s life, I decided that now would be the best time to pursue some dreams of mine. I have the car, so now all I need is the experience behind the wheel. With any project, I always like to plan out what my path will be and try to stick to it the best I can. This project isn’t going to be easy and will be challenging at times, but in the end I think it will be worth it.

What’s the first step? Well there are many choices to make before you get into this. The first and most critical decision is to decide which driving school program to go with. I wanted to go with a driving school that carried a big reputation for having one of the best instructor staff and was able to hold a fair amount of track events in a season. The other nice thing is to have these events at tracks that are close by and easy to get to. I’m sure you’re thinking “why not stick with NASA?”. NASA has a good driving program, however, they are a regional sanction and have events at tracks that may be too far to attend. I wanted to stick with one school as much as I could in order to get consistent instruction (or close to it). Once I get to a more advanced level, I will then go through the NASA ranks to obtain my license. So in the end, the program I decided to go was the one at Car Guys. They’ve been around since the late 80’s and carry the experience that will help improve my ability as a driver. The company owner, Aryan, is a phenomenal driver (One ride along with him in his Z3 and you’ll understand why I use the word “phenomenal”) and with his knowledge/experience, he has developed a very successful HPDE program. I’m not new to HPDE events. I’ve attended a few HPDE sessions before with Nasa and other racing organizations. The only difference now is, I have a goal and this was the program to go with.

The next decision is to really figure out the costs associated with all of this and to see if it’s worth pursuing. Many of you attend HPDE events and know that the costs vary. Between the amount of money for gas, alignments, tires, brakes, fluid changes, HPDE entry fee, etc, it starts to add up. If you are not taking the same path as I am then the costs will probably be much less. You really wouldn’t need R compound tires, race brakes, high temp fluids, etc. You can still go out and enjoy the weekend and do things with your car that you wouldn’t be able to do on the street, without the big bill at the end. Anyways to bring us back to the original point. The total average I was looking at was about $1,200 per weekend. That includes the HPDE entry fee, fluid changes, incidentals, replacement (brakes, tires, etc.), hotel stay at some tracks, and food. Pretty big bill for a weekend! It may look like an overestimate but it’s better to do that then to underestimate. The decision wasn’t easy, but in the end I decided to go for it.

With a plan set in place, I decided to sign up for the 2 day event and get ready for VIR.

First Day
I got in at around 9pm the night before after a grueling 6 hour drive to the track (traffic was horrible). That night I decided to hit the bar and calm down the nerves before the event the following day. Being this was my first time to VIR, I made the mistake of talking with other experienced VIR attendees about what to expect on the track. Usually at this time at night with a couple drinks down, some people can get overly dramatic with their stories to say the least. I was told, “watch out for turn 10. if you lift you’re done for!” or “make sure you’re careful through turn 8 and 9 because someone had a bad accident there last time”, pretty overwhelming stuff the first night.

The weather early in the morning wasn’t pleasant. With a layer of frost on the car, I was hoping that my run group wasn’t going to be the first ones out. Luckily I wasn’t going out till mid morning, which gave enough time for the track to heat up. The advanced run group went out first to help the heat build up as well, which was nice.

With any HPDE event the first thing to do is to get the car tech’d inspected. Basically a check to make sure your car is mechanically able to run on the track. (I should mention that I did receive a tech form in the mail a few days after I registered for the event, in order to get the car checked out by a mechanic before hand. ) The next thing you do is to get ready for the morning class/meeting. The classroom sessions help first timers and even seasoned attendees on how everything is suppose to go. Flag definitions, passing zones, lines, etc are all discussed in the classroom. After my classroom session, I got to sit back a little and just wait for my run group to be called. CarGuys were very well organized when it came to the schedule. Nothing really overlapped and I got a ton of track time that day.The instructor assigned to me was extremely helpful the first day. A pro driver with a very detailed oriented mindset, he gave me a 4 page packet with a survey and rules to follow. At first I was pretty annoyed that I had to read a 4 page packet and fill out a bunch of questions so early in the morning, but after the first session I realized why it was important. It really helped set the tone for the instruction and we were basically on the same page the entire time. What also really helped was that he took me for a ride along earlier to learn the line of the track. Sort of like an orientation before we started our sessions.

The first session out was sort of an “installation session”, basically getting comfortable with track, looking for the flag stations, etc. The next few sessions got better and better. I was faster each session out and was improving pretty quickly. After I was able to pass a couple of C6’s (Z06’s by the way), I knew I was doing something right. Before I knew it the day was already over and I was exhausted. The horror stories from the night before exited my head and all I kept thinking about was the next day. I got a taste and I wanted more!

Second Day
Now one thing that’s really important not to do on the last day, is to get overly cocky about your driving ability. Remember this is the last day and if you drove the car to the track you should really want to be able drive it back home. The classroom session on the second day specifically includes this topic in their discussions. Aryan has done this for years and knows the feeling you get after a good day. That’s why he specifically brings the entire group back to reality by showing a video of an instructor driving a Ford GT, who made a mistake by driving it a little too hard, and ended up in the wall (even instructors can make mistakes). Sending himself and passenger to the hospital and causing $50,000 + worth of damages to the car, something that no one wants to do. It seemed a bit morbid, but it got the point across.

On this day I decided to start off slow in the morning and progressively turn the dial up in the later sessions. With the lessons I learned the day before; I made sure to apply them today and tried my best to make sure I was consistent. After the first session in the morning I was feeling pretty good and my instructor was basically speechless during the sessions. He was surprised at my improvement and basically pointed only a few minor items to fix. At my last session, I was basically passing most of the cars in the group. My instructor recommended me to move up to the next run group for the next event (Nov. 11th & 12th @ Shenandoah).

Project Evo
Let’s face it; doing something like this isn’t really good for the life of the car. But what’s the point of having this much potential and having most of its life wasted on the street. With each session that went by the car would perform without any issues. I would constantly check tire pressures and fluid levels at the end of every session. The car never showed any signs of weakness. The Nitto NT-01’s still have enough rubber for another weekend, which is pretty good considering it already went through a full weekend before. Plus I drove the car 500 miles round trip to the track and back. The brakes (GiroDisk Rotors with Ferodo DS2500 Pads) held strong each day with no signs of fade. This car was born on the track.

Conclusion
This was honestly one of the best HPDE experiences I’ve had in a long time. The Car Guys group really did a good job of keeping things organized. Their instructors were top notch and provided a ton of input to help improve your driving. I felt very satisfied with my level of improvement and really can’t wait for the next event. This was the first step towards my goal and it couldn’t have gone any better. A special thanks to Mhyar (aka Az3ar) for being a great friend and helping out when I needed it. Also it was great to meet other evo owner’s and I hope to see more f you in the next coming events.

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Written By: Mark Modaressi

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Now that we’ve installed some of the “basic necessities” (Please read Project Evo: The Basics – Gauges we decided to make sure we wouldn’t experience any boost issues in the future by upgrading the stock bypass valve on the Evo for a better quality aftermarket unit.

You’ve probably heard lots of talk about blow off valves and the “pshhhhhhh” sound as a reason for getting one, but in reality there’s a much better reason to do so for the Evo.  It turns out the stock bypass valve on the Evo is identical to the plastic unit found on the G2 DSM models.  This bypass valve has a tendency to leak because of it’s poor quality and that can cost a few pounds of boost on the Evo, especially once modifications are made and boost goes up.

We decided to replace the stock bypass valve with a unit from Forge Motorsport, USA. Forge Motorsport offer two types of valves depending on what you’d like and you’re requirements. One is a vent-to-atmosphere (VTA) blow off valve and the other is a recirculating blow off valve. Forge blow off valves use counter balanced springs and dual pistons to prevent them from leaking air into the intake system at idle.

Forge blow off valves have the ability to swap out the spring to adjust the tension on the valve.  All valves ship with the softest spring (green), but a blue spring (medium), and red spring (stiffest spring) are also available if you up the boost and find the need to upgrade. All you have to do is unscrew the top half of the valve using an allen wrench and then replace the spring with the new one.

VTA blow off valves do just that, vent the excess air right to the atmosphere.  A recirculating blow off valve will actually recirculate that excess air back into the intake. This is actually a quieter method and there’s a good reason to do this on vehicles fitted with a Mass Airflow Sensor (MAS), like the Evo.  When driving the MAS will read in a specific amount of air coming in to the intake and wants to compensate for that  air with a certain amount of fuel. If you use a VTA blow off valve then that air will no longer be entering the engine, but the fuel is still compensating for it, so you end up running too rich.  This has apparently caused stalling problems for some people. A recirculating blow off valve will work just like the stock unit, so there shouldn’t be any potential for stalling issues.

Since there was a lot of talk about both types of blow off valves on the site, we decided to install both the Forge VTA and recirculating blow off valves on our Project Evo and test them out for a few days so we could see what each was like and report our findings.

Tools Required:

• 3/8″ or 1/8″ ratchet with 10mm socket.
• Phillips head screwdriver
• Pliers

Removing the stock bypass valve is a very simple process:

1. The stock bypass valve is located just next to the intake. To make things easier, remove the ram air piece from the intake so you have more room to work with.  This involves popping 2 small tabs located in the front. Make sure to push those tabs in to loosen them, don’t try and pull up on them or they will probably break.

   

2. Once the tabs are out, you can remove the ram air piece from the intake. Notice the black piece next to the coolant hose and intercooler piping?  That’s the stock bypass valve we’ll be removing.
3. Now we want to remove the stock bypass valve. There are 3 clamps to loosen in order to accomplish this. Using the small 1/8″ or 3/8″ ratchet and a 10mm socket, loosen the first clamp like so:
   



4. Now remove the second clamp up top.  You can either use a phillips head screwdriver or the same ratchet, depending on your preference:
   



5. Now pull the bypass valve out so that you have more room to work with it to remove the final hose.  Now that you have more room, take a pair of pliers and move the clamp out of the way so you can remove the final hose:
   

Now you’ve completely removed the stock bypass valve.

To install the Forge VTA blow off valve, follow the steps below:

Tools Required:

• 3/8″ or 1/8″ ratchet with 10mm socket.
• Phillips head screwdriver
• Pliers

To install the Forge VTA blow off valve, follow the steps below:

1. First use the special plug that comes with the Forge kit to block the opening back into the intake tract. Now tighten the clamp down using a ratchet.
   



2. Now insert the small hose onto the Forge VTA blow off valve.  Use the pliers to slide the fastener clip over the hose to secure it in place.
   



3. Next, insert the Forge VTA blow off valve where the stock bypass valve originally was.  Now tighten the clamp down using a ratchet or a phillips head screwdriver, whichever is easier.
   



4. That’s it! Now that the the blow off valve is installed, take the car out for a test drive and see how it runs.

To install the Forge recirculating blow off valve, follow the steps below:

Tools Required:

• 3/8″ or 1/8″ ratchet with 10mm socket.
• Phillips head screwdriver
• Pliers

1. Insert the small hose onto the Forge recirculating blow off valve.  Use the pliers to slide the fastener clip over the hose to secure it in place.
2. Now, insert the Forge valve in place of the stock unit. There is some debate as to which end goes in which section. Our own experience led us to follow the same positioning as the stock BOV. When we installed the valve in the opposite orientation, we experienced a strange sqeaking sound from the valve. Forge Motorsport mentioned that either way can work and comes down to personal preference. We recommend trying both orientations to see which works best. Once securely in place, tighten the fasteners using a socket wrench and/or phillips head screwdriver.  We noticed the stock vacuum hose can get pinched, so we recommend purchasing a longer tube from a local hardware store and replacing the stock piece to prevent any potential issues that may arise.

That’s it! You’ve now got a recircualting BOV that shouldn’t cause boost leaks and maintains a very stock like look

Sound Clips: All sound clips were conducted inside the car with the windows up to give an accurate idea of what the sound would be like.

Reviews:

Reviews
Forge VTA BOV	We experienced very few issues when running the Forge VTA BOV.  We were expecting heavy idle issues, etc, but this was barely present. We did still find some issues when coming off the throttle abrubtly. This would send the rpms skyrocketing down below idle and almost caused the car to stall. The sound from the BOV was very clear with a nice whoosh sound once boost was built up and released. Building up boost and lifting off next to a vehicle or pedestrian definitely got heads turning and occasionally a few people jumped In the end, we believe some idle and  drivability characteristics will be sacrificed in order to get that loud “whoosh” sound.
Forge Recirculating BOV	The Forge Recirculating Blow Off Valve is a great replacement for the stock BOV if you are experiencing leaks, etc. There is a little but more of a whoosh sound then before, but it’s very hard to head unless the windows are down and you really build up some boost. Unlike the VTA version, we did not experience any idle or drivability issues with this BOV. If you are looking for a louder whoosh sound, you can purchase an open element intake system to increase sound, but with the stock airbox in place, it just won’t come close to the VTA version.

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Author: Mark Modaressi

The Evo is a great car out of the box… amazing steering, stiff suspension, monster Brembo® Brakes, AWD, and a powerful turbocharged engine is always a nice combination. So what could the Evo be lacking?  Well, the Evo doesn’t require anything for performance, but after driving for a few weeks you may start to wonder what boost levels you are running. That’s when you notice the lack of a quality boost gauge!  Mitsubishi does offer an overly expensive accessory gauge pack that includes a very small boost gauge, but it’s located in the bottom cubby making it nearly impossible to monitor while driving.

We decided to use the aftermarket to find a quality boost gauge to fit to the Evo for montoring purposes.  It’s always nice to know your running correct boost levels. After searching for the best gauges to use, we finally found it… Defi.  We purchased a Defi boost gauge (Black face, 60mm, metric units) and Defi control unit I from SPI Power Excel, the US distributor for Defi gauges.

Defi Link gauges are unique electrical gauges in that they are all controlled by a special control unit (required). With the control unit, the Defi gauges can perform a powerful list of actions:

In addition to the above features, Defi Link gauges use, what is called the “Daisy Chain” system. With this system, all you need to do is connect one Defi gauge to the other… no need for additional wiring or splicing. Once the new gauge is connected the control unit can begin controlling it immediately. You can daisy chain up to 7 gauges onto one control unit.

One word best describes the Defi boost gauge… quality. All Defi gauges come with the required parts to install the unit into your vehicle.  The only splicing needed was for the control unit (4 wires total – constant power, ignition on, lighting, and ground), but after that, it’s a plug and play affair. The boost gauge came with all fittings, harnesses, hoses, and the sender to make for a clean install.  The installation instructions were in Japanese, but SPI Power Excel has a set in English that you can print off their site.

We chose to install the boost gauge on the steering column for easier reading while driving. It’s important to place the gauge in a location where you can still view the stock instrumentation.

Once the gauge was installed, it was apparent how easy it was to read from the driver’s seat. The numbers are very large and clear and the warning system notifies you if you exceed the max boost level (pre set by you). At night, the gauge lights up a bight green and while it doesn’t match the stock amber gauges, the green illumination offsets just right… almost like having an Apline unit in the car.  To view the gauges lit up running the start up sequence please cick here.

We installed the Defi control unit on the driver’s side of the center console for easy access. Our first order of business was to setup the warning level to help catch our attention in case of a spike in boost, etc. Using the control unit is a breeze, just click the select button to bring up the warning set feature for the gauge, then use the up and down buttons to adjust the warning value. The gauge that’s rapidly blinking is the one that’s being modified, so it’s always easy to know what gauge your setting even with multiple gauges installed. Pressing select again will iterate through the rest of the gauges (if available).

With a large feature list including data recording, warning levels, and more, the Defi system has proven to become even more of an asset then we ever expected… and we thought gauges were just for fun

Stay tuned for part 2, when we relocate the stock head unit in order to fit a set of 3 Defi gauges and also add a turbo timer to help cool the turbo.

Installing the Defi Control Unit:

There are 4 wires that need to be spliced. We used the cigarette lighter and radio harness to splice into. You need to make sure to use a constant power wire for the Defi control unit in order for it to save information into memory after the car is turned off. Here’s a table describing the wire connections:

Installing the Sender Unit:

Once the control unit is wired, you need to install the sender and run the wire through the firewall.

1. Use the existing bolt located in the picture below to mount the Defi sender.
2. Locate the fuel pump, which can be found on the passenger side. You will now be using the supplied t-connector to allow the sender unit to receive boost readings. The hose connecting to the fuel pressure regulator pis too small for the supplied t-connector, so remove the entire hose and cut up the supplied hose to replace the stock hose and connect the sender unit using the t-connector.
3. Once you’ve connected the hoses using the t-connector, make sure to zip tie the connection points in order to prevent the hose from popping off by accident.
4. Now that the sender unit is connected, you need to run the wire through the firewall and to the control unit. There is a hole available on the passenger side of the Evo. Remove the plasic cover and run the sender wire harness through there.  You should find it come right through where the stock glove box is located.  You should not need to remove the stock glove box to get to the wire once you’ve run it through a little.

Now that you’ve installed the sender and control unit, it’s just a matter of installing the gauge in the location of your choice (we chose the stock steering column.  Use the provided connections to connect the sender to the control unit and the control unit to the boost gauge.  We ran the wires along the inside of the center console and behind the steering column so that they are hidden from view.

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