My DD

[96_zjlarado]

Here's my baby 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR.


Upgrades: (AKA: Reasons why I don't have a winch or bumpers for the ZJ)

-Koyo aluminum radiator
-Trust Oil cooler
-Injen 3" Stainless steel downpipe
-Trust 3" Titanium Cat back exhaust
-"high flow" cat
-Injen Intercooler
-Injen upper and lower polished aluminum charge pipes with intake and open element filter
-JDM Mitsubishi Evo FQ-400 Blow off valve (recirculated to intake)
-Forced Performance "White Rabbit" turbo
-HKS 272 intake and exhaust cams
-RPS Carbon/Carbon clutch
-ECU reflash
-Blitz FATT DC turbo timer/lap timer/volt meter/temp gauge
-Tanabe Sustec Pro 7 coilovers with electronic damper adjustment in glove box, adjustable camber plates and pillow ball mounts
-19" Ray's Engineering/Volk Racing CE28 wheels with Toyo T1R tires (Factory 17" BBS wheels with Toyo RA1 Race tires for track)
-DC Sports Titanium Upper front and rear strut braces
-Inner fender bracing to stiffen up the body
-Tanabe front and rear subframe bracing
-Fiber Images Carbon Fiber hood and trunk
-Custom Carbon Fiber Roof
Probably a few more things I'm forgetting too. On to the pics!

[seans]

Very nice! Almost the exact opposite of your offroad ride. You've a little "ying/yang" automotive philosophy going on.

[J B]

Wow, how much cash do you have invested in that thing?

[tywilson88]

sounds like you got a few pennies in that thing... i had the opportunity to drive one of those MR editions... they are fast. i bet yours is real quick with all those xtra goodies.

[Hurricane 4x4]

Very nice! Almost the exact opposite of your offroad ride. You've a little "ying/yang" automotive philosophy going on.

At least the evo is 4wd

I test drove a new stock evo about a year ago and it was one of the fastest cars I have ever driven. I bet yours rips

[ILikeMud]

I wish we got those here, stupid 5mph bumper laws.

Nice car.

[5.9 ANDY]

ddeeaamm!!!! that thing looks SWEEEEEET!!

[96_zjlarado]

Very nice! Almost the exact opposite of your offroad ride. You've a little "ying/yang" automotive philosophy going on.

Kinda. they're both white with black wheels.... one is just higher than the other. The ZJ goes anywhere I want slowly and the EVO goes where I need to go really really fast.

I've always liked having the best of both worlds.

[96_zjlarado]

Wow, how much cash do you have invested in that thing?

TOOOOO much! I'd say close to $50k including the cost of the car.
I work at a performance shop on the my weekends, so I get a lot of stuff at cost or just a little above. Makes it a little easier on the wallet.

[redline61]

Very nice, makes me miss my RX7. Man cars drive so much nicer on the road.

[96_zjlarado]

Thanks for all the compliments guys! It's a quick little sucker, but it gets a lot of unwanted attention from Mr. PoPo. I think they get a little confused when they see it because I drive it like a granny...... unless i'm on some twisty back roads at night.

We did a photo shoot for a magazine in a few months back of our R34 GT-R Skyline and I got to go zoomin around some back roads chasing it and then we got turned around and it was chasing me. you should have seen the group of cars that ended up behind us trying to get a good eye full of the Skyline! It was rediculous!here's some pics i took with my camera. Didn't get any action shots tho. still waiting on the mag guys to send all of them to me.

[ILikeMud]

I'm sorry but the Skyline is hotter.

[J B]

I never was impressed with the R34. A lot of people are fans of the car, but stock, it's performance wasn't spectacular, by any means.

[Hurricane 4x4]

Oh and also nice beer fridge.




You should make that into a kegerator. I made one last week for a friend's apartment. Kits are only about 60 bucks if you can find suitable co2 tank and regulator... and about $170 if you need to buy the tank and reg. And because its co2, kegs will stay fresh just as long as bottled beer. We used to buy busch light in cases. But now we drink yuengling and actually pay less per beer. Not to mention we don't have to recycle hundreds of cans every month

[J B]

TOOOOO much! I'd say close to $50k including the cost of the car.

Another reason that I'm really not overly impressed with a lot of the imports. No doubt your car is fast, but you still have to dump some serious coin into one to make it a contender.

[ZJ Pappy]

Sweet car you got there....but I like the Subaru STi's better.

[Skyline]

I never was impressed with the R34. A lot of people are fans of the car, but stock, it's performance wasn't spectacular, by any means.

I beg to differ. Keep in mind that an R34 is a 6 year old car today. In it's time, there were a couple of cars that were a little faster in the 1/4 mile, and a couple that were a little faster in top end, but there was nothing you could buy that was a fast in real world conditions. All you need to do is look at the records that Nissan set at the Nuhrburing. The R34 set faster lap times than ANY production car, and most of those that were anywhere close to the R34 were several times the price. The level of sophistication of the drivetrain has yet to be matched by anything USA legal.

[Skyline]

Another reason that I'm really not overly impressed with a lot of the imports. No doubt your car is fast, but you still have to dump some serious coin into one to make it a contender.

A contender for what....blowing the doors off a GT2?

There is NOTHING even close to the performance potential of an EVO for $30,000 except perhaps an STi. These cars handle, stop and accelerate as well as a Corvette for 2/3 the price. Or a Porsche for 1/2 the price. Actually, they handle real world roads a whole lot better than a 'Vette. I would love to know what new car you think is a better performance value?

[J B]

A contender for what....blowing the doors off a GT2?

There is NOTHING even close to the performance potential of an EVO for $30,000 except perhaps an STi. These cars handle, stop and accelerate as well as a Corvette for 2/3 the price. Or a Porsche for 1/2 the price. Actually, they handle real world roads a whole lot better than a 'Vette. I would love to know what new car you think is a better performance value?

With his setup, yes, he'd blow the doors off a new Vette. But then again, he's got race tires for the track, which make a HUGE diffrence, and 99% of Corvette drivers, and probably about as many Porsche drivers, can't drive worth a shit. They're simply guys who had the coin to buy a car like that, and the potential of the car is well beyond their skill as drivers.

That's important to note when you see some of these cars at the track getting their asses handed to them by lesser cars. Hell, I've seen videos of stock S2000s beating Vettes and Vipers on the track, and the S2000, although it handles well, is an underpowered turd.

Any RWD car is going to require more skill to drive, because the AWD makes up for a lot. The lack of AWD makes the driver's lack of skill much more apparent. But, these AWD cars are also nose heavy, and the AWD system adds mass (rotating mass at that).

But with his Evo sitting at $50k worth of cost, You could have a Vette at that price and still have money for race tires, which will do WONDERS for the vette, since the factory run flat tires are the biggest pieces of shit imaginable. In fact, that's THE first mod anyone does to a vette if they're going to race it at the track...the factory tires. Many people have seen huge gains just changing the run flats for the exact same tire, in a "conventional" version.

And a stock Evo doesn't handle stop and accelerate as well as a Vette for 2/3 of the price. A stock Evo is capable of the 1/4 mile in the mid 13s, which is about a second behind the Vette (in other words, car lengths), and that's due to the AWD. It's power to weight ratio is worse than the Vette, so it's no surprise that acceleration is going to be worse once you get past that pesky traction issue.

But, the Vette is 50% more in cost than an Evo, so the comparison is largely worthless.....not too many buyers would be seriously evaluating both cars and comparing them to each other given the price.

Back when the Camaro and Firebird were in production, you were able to get about 85% of the Vette's performance for about HALF the price. Granted these cars aren't as refined as the Evo, but they could be had for a tad cheaper too. The Mustang, which is the only American model that competes price-wise, IMO, just isn't up to par on the performance scale, because Ford has easily recognized that it doesn't matter if it's slower or shittier, they'll sell all of them they can build anyway, which is a damn shame.

[MoonWorks]

There is NOTHING even close to the performance potential of an EVO for $30,000 except perhaps an STi.

Correction! VW R32!

And yes I have one.

[ZJ Pappy]

That's important to note when you see some of these cars at the track getting their asses handed to them by lesser cars. Hell, I've seen videos of stock S2000s beating Vettes and Vipers on the track, and the S2000, although it handles well, is an underpowered turd.

I guess this is one of those "gotta see it to believe it" things because I don't believe that at all.

Any RWD car is going to require more skill to drive, because the AWD makes up for a lot. The lack of AWD makes the driver's lack of skill much more apparent. But, these AWD cars are also nose heavy, and the AWD system adds mass (rotating mass at that).

I don't think an AWD car would be that much easier to drive, different...yes. It takes a different skill set because AWD cars have a tendency to understeer.

The Mustang, which is the only American model that competes price-wise, IMO, just isn't up to par on the performance scale, because Ford has easily recognized that it doesn't matter if it's slower or shittier, they'll sell all of them they can build anyway, which is a damn shame.

I'm pretty sure Ford built the V6 Mustang and the GT this way so they could leave room open for higher end models such as the Shelby etc. I think the GT is a great car, and just like the Evo, it is a great platform for building off of. And I think it is a definite competitor in the performance aspect. My buddy's GT is faster than my Dad's G35 Coupe and my other buddy's Z (all three equipped with manual tranny). It still won't touch my Dad's old 89 Carrera though!

[96_zjlarado]

Oh and also nice beer fridge.




You should make that into a kegerator. I made one last week for a friend's apartment. Kits are only about 60 bucks if you can find suitable co2 tank and regulator... and about $170 if you need to buy the tank and reg. And because its co2, kegs will stay fresh just as long as bottled beer. We used to buy busch light in cases. But now we drink yuengling and actually pay less per beer. Not to mention we don't have to recycle hundreds of cans every month

why, thankya sir. I got the fridge for free from a buddy. His step dad (who owned Oregon Premium Cigar) had just passed away, and happened to leave about $2000 worth of NICE cigars in it like a giant humador. I ended up giving half of them away,...... and i have no clue what relevance any of this has. I should have just left it at " thank ya" and possibly "i plan on it one day, as soon as it gets emptied". I just woke up to go to work, so that may have a lot to do with it. I'm out like a boner in gym shorts!

[96_zjlarado]

I'm sorry but the Skyline is hotter.

It is pure sex. after driving it..... I want one!

[96_zjlarado]

I was actually going to buy my buddy's 01 Z06 for $20k, but it's just not a practical car for me. I REALLLLLLY wanted it too. Car was SWEEEEEET! 530whp black on black and a $3500 stereo system that I installed for him. Problem was that it's not a practical car for me because I have a 4 year old daughter that still needs to be in a car seat, and since I try not to drive the ZJ too much on the street because of the tires sticking out so far, I wouln't be able to take my girlfriend with me. Soooooo, if I wanted to go anywere with my kid and my girlfriend, we'd have to take her car.... and it sucks! I needed a 4 door, or at least a car that had a back seat with some room. Suprizingly enough, the evo has more leg room in it than the zj.

[tywilson88]

that skyline is NICE. i bet that costed more than yours too. i would take either of them