HYPERTRASH
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FUTILITY
THE ONLY TIME MY CAR WAS ON SPEEDHUNTERS W O R D S + P H O T O S JAME S SINGE R
RIP Lulu 2019

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The Odd Life of a 2003 Mitsubishi
handle for a car I wanted since back when
smelled of gasoline. The tires were on the
Lancer Evolution.
it was just a dream in Option Magazine.
wear bars and out of date. They felt chalky even starting off from a stop light. The EVO
T
hat is my EVO pictured in the back cor-
When I got the EVO, it was kind of a mess.
seemed like if it had the wrong owner, this
ner of the parking lot at Road Race En-
The car needed attention before it could be
would be it’s last owner.
gineering (RRE) after I got rear ended on
a daily driver or be pushed hard. The day
the eastbound 210 freeway between Lake
I picked it up, the car came with a ton of
Without telling SCM they had done the PPI,
and Hill in Pasadena by a 17-year-old
random parts, both OEM and aftermarket,
I made an appointment with them and went
girl in a full-size Jeep speeding. She was
all packed into the trunk and laid out on
in for an early 60k service. The PPI didn’t
texting. She did not even hit her brakes. I
the back seat. A week earlier, the car had
come up with the service advisor when I
was stopped in traffic letting some grand-
gotten a clean PPI from SouthCoast Mit-
checked in. He drove the car back to the
pa driving in the emergency lane merge
subishi (SCM), the biggest EVO dealer in
service area as I settled into the faux leather
in front of me. When I came to, the Jeep
the US. The seller had also gotten a Cali-
wrapped waiting room of sadness typical to
was on my trunk and the front of my EVO
fornia smog certificate. I felt the EVO was
most dealerships. After 2 hours, the service
was buried in the tow hook of the 4Runner.
safe enough to buy but I wanted to bring
advisor came back sheepishly with some
the car to a baseline myself. Now, I was
grave news. The injectors were leaking. The
I got my EVO in 2008 with 50k miles on
sitting in the car, the back seat full of parts
car needed a major service including belts.
the odometer. It is one of about 4500 EVO
wrapped in old towels sitting on cardboard,
There were also a bunch of parts broken and
VIIIs made in 2003. After seeing an ad
and I was already scraping the expensive
missing. All the fluids needed changing. The
for the car, I drove down to Mission Viejo
Do-Luck carbon fiber lip out of the bank
list was exhaustive. Trying to appear calm, I
to look at it in the middle of the night in a
parking lot.
pulled out their PPI from the previous week
Best Buy parking lot. A week later, I traded
and asked to see the Service Manager. After
a 1997 Honda Civic Coupe and $12,000
In the few months the kid had the car,
a lot of talking to other managers, I was sent
for the EVO. I thought it was a pretty good
he really only bolted on the Do-Luck lip,
off with a loaner car and only charged for the
deal. The EVO was originally owned by a
added some JDM window visors, and an
service I had planned to do regardless. The
friend who comes from a long line of drag
STRi boost gauge. He did an oil change
service advisor had not done the PPI, or he
racers. I knew the car had been launched,
at one of his jobs, which was nice. When
had faked it. I was later told he was fired as
and that it had done all the things For
my friend owned the car, he added HKS
a result.
Sale ads say were not done to a car. It
264/272 cams and a manual boost control-
had been modded and put back to (kin-
ler. He had his own 3” turbo back exhaust
While the car was being worked on, I laid
da) stock twice. All the things were done
set up fabbed together but that was long
out all the random parts across the floor in
to this car that makes people not want
gone. He also flashed the ECU back to the
my dining room and looked them over. I sold
to buy a car. However, I also knew that
stock map before selling it. At some point
the HKS Carbon Ti exhaust, the downpipe,
it was meticulously maintained and well
there was an HKS Carbon Ti exhaust on it,
and some of the other bits that came with
under normal asking prices at the time.
and some no-name heat wrapped down-
the car. With the money from selling the
pipe. The car also came with some new in
parts, I bought a set of EVO VIII MR BBS
My friend had sold the EVO to some young
box Denso 660cc injectors and a Walbro
wheels off Scot Gray at RRE. Before putting
kid who did not budget his resources or
255lpf fuel pump. Once I installed every-
them on the car, I had them refinished and
check with his parents before buying. He
thing, with a tune, it would be a really fun
put new 255/40-17 Dunlops on them. I sold
could not afford the car and his parents
car. When I got home, there were 2 wings
the plasti-dipped OEM Enkei wheels when I
refused to help him out. After owning the
in the back seat plus another front lip along
got the car back and put the BBS on. I also
EVO for a summer, he put it up for sale.
with the exhaust and boxes of various
added some JDM EVO VIII MR taillights and
The payments and high cost of maintain-
other parts in the trunk. That seemed like
a clean used JDM EVO IX bumper with volt-
ing an EVO was stretching him to where
a lot of weirdness packed in there. The car
ex carbon fiber burn shield. I sold the OEM
he had 2 jobs to pay for the EVO and to
was also lowered on Tanabe springs. Oth-
bumper, taillights, wing, and other parts
pay for community college. I knew I had
erwise, the wheels and rest of the suspen-
back to the sales manager at SCM. Last, I
to clean up whatever mess he had made
sion was still stock.
traded my trunk with the original wing for a
of the car in a few short months but I also
new wingless trunk.
knew the history of the car before he had
Driving the car to work the first couple days,
gotten it, so I felt it was a project I could
I could tell it was running rich. Everything
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After a couple weeks, I modded an OEM
diator cap, and catch can. Last, I put on the
ter on the track even though my lap times
S2000 antenna to fit the stock EVO hous-
RRE grill plug cover painted it black.
were gradually coming down. After a cou-
ing. After a couple more weeks, I sold
Around this time, I finally got to the track.
ple more weekends at the track, I added
the clear sidemarkers and went to JDM
After a couple track days at Buttonwillow
an RRE lower intercooler pipe and a big-
EVO VIII side markers that matched the
Raceway Park (BRP) with NASA, I decid-
ger ETS 3.5” intercooler for less heat soak
JDM taillight indicators. At this point, I felt
ed I needed to address the suspension,
since all the tracks around LA are in the
the car was ready to be driven daily and
which was still just OEM Koni shocks sit-
desert. My OEM plastic undertray was
pushed hard without worry. Another month
ting on Tanabe springs.
becoming more zip tie than undertray, so
of driving the car went by smoothly, I went
I also installed a Beatrush undertray to re-
to RRE to have the Walbro fuel pump and
Before I went back to the track, I got some
Denso injectors installed with a tune from
OEM EVO IX MR Bilsteins and Swift
place the beat up plastic piece.
the famous Dr. Scot Gray.
Springs off a guy parting out his car. When
I worked my way from HPDE1 to HPDE3 in
I installed them at RRE, I went with a wh-
NASA to get cleared so I could race in the
When I got to RRE, I found Dr. Gray part-
iteline swaybar kit and upgraded bushings.
Redline Time Attack and the Global Time
ing his 2005 EVO VIII and took some more
This setup was much smoother on the
Attack series. However, after doing a doz-
parts off his hands. I picked up his JDM
street over the Koni shocks and Tanabe
en or so track days, plus daily driving for
EVO IX MR 20g turbo, JDM EVO IX MR
springs but it did not feel significantly bet-
work, I needed to refresh some stuff on my
blow off valve, bigger RRE O2 housing, and all the upgraded custom RRE parts to make it fit. I also picked up an RRE downpipe, High Flow Cat, and Stealth Exhaust so that the turbo back exhaust system was all 3”. Since the car was properly baselined, the installs went smooth. By midnight, Scot was on the Dyno at RRE doing a 91 octane tune. I drove the car like this for 2 years. In that time I added a Cosworth drop in filter, a Forge waste gate actuator, and an Avid front motor mount along with maintaining and upgrading the other wear and tear items. Every time I would go in to RRE, Mike W. pushed me to work on my own car more. When I would work on my car,
The dyno sheet from Dr. Gray’s tune.
I would try to add one or two things along with doing maintenance. I added an HKS turbo timer to let the turbo cool after a drive. The OEM clutch line failed in traffic on the 101 so I upgraded to a more stout RRE clutch, pressure plate, lightened flywheel, and stainless steel clutch line. Along with the clutch, I upgraded the brakes to Stoptech stainless steel lines plus Stoptech rotors and pads. I upgraded to Motul 600 fluid because I was planning to get on the track. Last, I put OEM EVO MR brake cooling guides on. I also added a little jewelry from ARC like their Titan shift knob, cooling plate, heatshield, oil cap, raBaseline achieved.
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car. The front bumper was looking rough
sports. Right away, I realized I needed a
under stress keeping your settings intact. I
so I swapped it out for an EVO IX MR SE
suspension guru to set these things up.
also added the Robispec endlink kit, Perrin
bumper. The brakes had also turned from
Since the KW kit was custom designed by
P.S.R.S., Whiteline roll center kit, and Wh-
nice red Brembos to bird poop patinaed
Robert Fuller of Robispec, I decided to go
iteline bump steer kit.
Brownbos, so I decided to have them refin-
pay him a visit in the high desert and made
ished and rebuilt as well.
my way up to Hesperia.
Robi only needed to show me the Auto Gacchiri fender braces to have
While refreshing the bumper and the
It did not take much for Robi to sell me on
me
brakes, I got a chance to upgrade my
his spherical bushing kit. The kit replac-
aligned, and corner balanced the car.
sold.
He
installed
the
parts,
suspension to Robispec KW Clubsport
es the control arm bushings, trailing arm
With this set up all the lean, dive, and
coilovers from another guy parting out
bushings, and toe link bushings—chang-
squat was gone. I could also stand on
his car. I sold the MR Bilsteins and Swift
ing them from soft rubber to inflexible met-
the brakes from over a hundred miles per
springs after swapping in the KW Club-
al. As a result, the suspension cannot flex
hour with one finger on the steering wheel.
The car was leaning in hard on stock suspension and Tanabe springs.
The Robispec setup shaved seconds off my
Unfortunately, as I was getting close to
take his SUV and leave but he insisted and
personal best times with no other changes.
consistently breaking into striking range of
I realized it was the right thing to do.
Right away I got within the 2 minute range
the 2 minute barrier, my car broke going
that is considered a pretty serious time
through the esses in the first session of the
I was not shocked when my engine blew
for Buttonwillow’s CW13 configuration. I
day at BRP. I pulled my car into the garage
but saying I was not bummed would be a
knew I was going to have to upgrade tires
knowing something was very wrong. Mike
lie. I also had a grind going from third gear
if I was going to shave off more time, so I
W. at RRE tried to trouble shoot but after
to fourth gear at redline, so I knew things
planned on stepping up to R comp tires.
trying different stuff, he handed me the
were starting to break loose in my engine
keys to his SUV and said he would tow my
and transmission from over a dozen track
EVO back to RRE. At first, I didn’t want to
events and years of daily LA commuting
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Having this NASCAR weirdness chase me down in HPDE2 was all kinds of sketchy, especially since I forgot to take off my front plate in the first session as usual.
You can still see the car was leaning heavily but at least I updated my numbers and took off my front plate!
besides whatever abuse the previous own-
in EVOs since their inception. Over the
ed a Wavetrac front differential and a Muel-
ers had put the car though. Once the car
years, I have gotten to see RRE do some
lerized competition rear differential. At the
was back at RRE, we decided to pull the
pretty amazing stuff and I had the oppor-
same time, the turbo was sent to CBRD for
engine and the transmission. RRE towed
tunity to work there for events and small
their ported BBK Full turbo and wastegate
the shell to my house so we could care-
jobs. As a result, I felt confident to sit down
actuator. Meanwhile, the engine was bored
fully map out the rebuild without the guys
with Mike W. from RRE to map out a build.
out and stroked to a 2.3L with all forged
having to push my car in and out of their garage every day. RRE was building the 4G63T motor found
internals. The head was ported, polished, First, we sent the transmission to Jack’s
and given a five angle valve job with track
Transmissions for a track focused rebuild.
focused parts including GSC 272 cams
Once the transmission was back, we addďťż
Continued on page 30 -
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Refinished and rebuilt OEM Brembos with BBS MR wheels and Stoptech rotors/pads. 8
ďťż
Before and after sequence of the same corner with the Robispec setup. ďťż
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and springs with ARP studs. RRE added
got it back on the dyno with Dr. Gray. Af-
days left in them, so I decided to upgrade
thier balance shaft eliminator kit since the
ter a few pulls, Scot decided to cap it con-
to NT01s once the NT05s were done.
motor was now balanced and blueprinted.
servatively at 465hp/465tq on E85 for the
They also beefed up the cooling with their
track until I would need more power. Could
After getting used to the car driving to and
Baja oil cooler, and a bigger radiator with
the engine handle way more? Yeah. Note
from work for a few weeks, I headed out
ARC hard pipe. Once everything was in,
that in the engine pictured opposite page, I
to Willow Springs International Speedway
Scot Gray was called on again for a dual
am still running the stock airbox. This build
for a Redline Time Attack event to properly
map E85/91oct tune.
was a stout and stealthy torque monster,
shake down the car at Streets of Willow.
not a dyno queen. The engine was not
From the first lap out, I beat my personal
After having my motor fail on the track, I
even breaking a sweat to produce over
best time. However, it was clear that the
decided it would be wise to have more data
460 horsepower and torque, so running
brakes and tires were not up to the task
beyond the stock EVO gauges, so we also
20-minute track sessions would not be an
of the added horsepower and torque. The
added a Zeitronix Zt-2. This eliminates the
issue for the motor even with driving to and
car was not balanced as it was before. The
need for a bunch of separate gauges and
from the track plus daily driving.
engine greatly overpowered the brakes
makes it so you just have a single screen
and tires. For example, from turn 12 to turn
in the lower cubby out of sight from author-
Driving home, I realized my new problem
13 CCW at Streets, if I floored it, the car
ities and other undesirables.
was going to be traction and braking. First
would spin tires up the hill. It was fun to
gear at wide open throttle only produced
do a burnout up the hill but going into turn
Once the new motor had been broken
huge smokey burnouts. A lot of second
13, I was sliding sideways and I even end-
in, I headed back to RRE for the first oil
gear was breaking loose at full throttle as
ed up backwards in the dirt one session.
change. We went over the entire car and
well. The tires I was on still had a few track
However, when I’d hit turn 13 properly, I’d
1 0 W. of RRE pondering my shattered piston. Mike
slide around it and blast past turn 14 down the straight only to slide around the inside of the skid pad through turn 1 and turn 2. Even with this complete lack of traction under power, with a little throttle modulation, I could effortlessly beat my previous track times. After the Streets event, I knew I only had a couple track days left on my NT05s maximum. With the added horsepower and torque, I felt like the entire time I was driving on the track at Streets of Willow, the car was at its absolute limit of grip under full boost. I decided to do an event at BRP before changing the tires out for R-Comps.
Lod T. working on the oil pan assembly.
At BRP, I hit the 2 minute mark in my first session but my traction was still clearly limited. However, I had swapped my Stoptech pads for some Project Mu track pads, which helped get things more under control. With the braking now closer in line with the power of the motor, I could focus on trying to modulate the throttle to keep the car at the limit of grip. A couple times in the day I snuck below the 2 minute mark but in both cases, I was on the border of going off track. On one lap, I went into cotton corners too hot and lost traction. I was pretty sure I was going to end up in the dirt but instead of lifting off the throttle, I kept my foot on the throttle and counter steered through it. As I corrected out of the first cor-
New motor waiting to be installed.
ner, the weight shift put me into a slide in the other direction catching the apex of the second corner. My front tires barely grazed the dirt at the apex, as the rear end came around and slid perfectly through the other corner trying to keep my foot steady on the throttle. I straightened out and floored it up through the grapevine. I screamed into my helmet going into bus stop. Later my friend John who was behind me said it was the most amazing thing he’d seen at BRP thinking it was skill but it was pure luck. I was positive I was going to be cleaning dirt out of my car for days after that. For each lap I dipped into the 1:59's, I never felt like the
Not the best shot of the new motor but as you can see, if my hood was popped by a cop, “everything is OEM officer.”
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car was consistently under control. By luck alone, I kept it on the track all day, and drove home on chorded tires. After the Buttonwillow event, I knew I needed some fresh tires, so I contacted Elton Lo at Raceline in Temple City to order a set of NT01s. On new R Comp NT01s with the Project Mu track pads I should consistently drop below 2 minutes on my way to my new goal of 1:55. After getting the tires put on at Raceline, I drove home carefully having never driven on NT01s before. The next morning on my way to work, I floored it in first and did not feel the car break traction. After work, I did a hard pull in second gear and did not lose traction at all. Driv-
After an oil change, we did another tune. The purple line is 91oct. The green line is E85.
ing to and from work a few more times, I could tell the car was more planted. I just needed to swap out the brake pads and I was ready to get out to BRP and shatter my personal best times On my way home from work between Lake and Hill on the 210 there is a massive choke point. People always get overly aggressive because of this. My exit is Hill, so I wait until after Lake to get over. I try to avoid the first lane next to the shoulder on the freeway as much as possible, so I got in the second lane over to the merge and waited for all the car fighting to calm down. In LA, when the lanes merge, someone is either in the emergency lane not merging to pass people or someone won’t let
I am really good at forgetting to take my license plates off at the track.
anyone over willing to die before yielding. Things chilled out, so I got over to get off at my exit. When I got into the lane, I saw a 4Runner in my side mirror struggling to get in from the emergency lane but no one was letting him over. The driver came up on my side and I saw it was a grandpa, so I let him over under the Lake Street bridge. As he got in front of me, the traffic came to a rolling stop. I came to looking at the dome light of my EVO. Surprisingly, my foot was on the brake and the clutch. My car was running but the Recaro seat had folded back. Confused, I sat up. A shock of pain went 12
RRE parking at BRP. ďťż
through my neck, shoulder, and back. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the front end of a Jeep parked on my trunk. I looked forward and saw my hood taco'd around the tow hook of the 4Runner. Suddenly, I was shoved forward as the Jeep reversed off my trunk. It slammed down onto the concrete hard. I turned my hazards on and staying as still as possible reached for my phone in my briefcase on the passenger seat. I called my wife. She was on a hike out of cell range. Still confused, I called AAA. After some awkward discussion, AAA realized I was confused, and called 911 for
It’s a hot hatch!
me. I could hear the sirens immediately. I stared at the sky for a long time waiting for the ambulance to fight through traffic. Still confused, I called in to work to tell them I would not make it to my next class. It seemed really important to cancel my class. I remember the paramedics asking me some questions and suggesting I go to the hospital. I remember begging them to grab my briefcase as they took me out of the car on a board. I also remember begging them not to put an IV into my arm on the way to the ER. In the ER, the attending physician seemed annoyed that I was there. I had lost consciousness, I was confused, and I was hurt but not gravely. I had a concussion. He wanted to give me some
Luckily I did not remove the crash beam under the bumper skin like some people do.
Advil and get me out of his ER. I finally got a hold of my wife. She had to break off from the hike and take a cab to Huntington Hospital from Topanga. The ER doctor reluctantly let me wait in a bed for a while but they wanted me out. Someone was waiting for the bed. I started to gather my things after filing a police report I would not later remember filling out. I went outside and waited in a taxi area. My EVO was towed to a yard that drags crashed cars off the 210 every day. I coordinated with them to have the car towed to RRE. Mike W. looked at the damage and deemed it easily fixable. Mike is a seasoned body man with tons of rally
At least I have the memories.
ďťż
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My EVO is now called The HULK EVO owned by Roy Narvaez who is a long time DSM guy.
experience, so I started to feel hopeful. Stuck on the couch recovering from a concussion and thinking the pain in my neck and back would be gone in a few days, I started planning the rebuild. The driver of the Jeep had insurance. Her insurance immediately totaled my car claiming it as a Lancer base model and offered a price lower than what even a Lancer with similar miles would catch. RRE said the adjuster never came out. I contacted my insurance and got them to adjust their claim but the adjuster was hesitant to even go to RRE to look at the car still. After getting lawyers involved, the girl’s insurance offered me a price that an EVO with similar miles would sell for. They also offered to let me buy back the car with all the parts for cheaper than average. I decided to buy the car back and find a donor car to transfer the parts over since only the rear bumper and trunk area was damaged. After a couple months of looking, I found a solid donor car, and transferred the key parts from my old car to the new car mixing and matching what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to transfer back to the salvaged car. Once the transfer of parts was done, Roy Narvaez bought my EVO and transformed it into a professional race car. In the end, the car has had four owners. Roy has had some adventures in the 14
car, most notably doing a kickflip up the side of the
mountain of Pike’s Peak. In any case, my silver EVO lives on for now.
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@jamesinger
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