theCARhack

We've got a new project at the shop; a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, or EVO for short. While we're well known as a premier performance shop for European sports cars, in actuality we work on all cars that have a sporting pedigree. And the EVO certainly has that in spades...

One of the first things we tackled on the car was the exhaust system. The previous owner installed a pretty cheap aftermarket exhaust that droned on the highway and looked just a bit too juvenile for our taste. When it comes to great intake and exhaust systems for Japanese cars we look west to California to our friends at Injen.

We have been impressed with thier exhaust systems from the day we opened the shop and have installed their handiwork on everything from Mazdas to Hondas.

For project EVO, we came up with this:

The welds are Injen perfect, the double walled tip is understated classy, and the sound is balanced with a deep rumble at idle, authoratative howl under load and no droning on the highway. Plus, the design provides useful power across the rev band.

Well engineered products don't come cheap, and unfortunately Injen pulled this unit off the market because it couldn't compete with the cheap foreign brands that were flooding the market. Too bad, because quality never goes out of style. (We still have a few in stock, contact us ASAP if you want one)

Posted by horst at 03:48 PM | Permalink

To wrap up the E92 M3 project-- for now-- we have a few smaller items to report on, specifically brake lines and pads.

Since we added power and handling capability, stopping the beast becomes an issue. The size of the stock brake system on the E9x series M cars is well up to the task of burning off speed under normal conditions. But the stock brake pads are skewed to everyday use providing good, noise free and dust free stops. We're more interested in stopping capability from the pads so we searched for an upgrade.

The best compromise between on track performance and everyday liveability comes from StopTech's Street Performance line of pads. They're inexpensive and have proven to be very capable at the track.

For better braking "feel" we swapped out the stock rubber brake lines with some stainless steel braided lines. By not expanding under pressure, the braided lines provide a better, more linear feel when you apply the brakes-- especially during very hard braking.

So that's the project E92 for now; but there are a few things left on the agenda like wheels and tires, and a seat. The customer has been scouting out a wheel and tire package on his own-- wheels really are a very subjective thing. Our only caveats to him were to look for a strong yet lightweight design for the wheels, up the width marginally (more so in the front than the back to help counter the inherent understeer of the suspension set-up) and keep the rolling diameter the same.

As for seats, if you're 6'-2" or above, the stock seats do not provide enough headroom while wearing a helmet. The best bet is to find a good, comfortable race seat that is thinner with adjustable seat brackets.

Check back here as the winter season comes and goes for periodic updates.

Posted by horst at 09:48 AM | Permalink