Evo Newbie Considering Modest Mods

[njnetsfan]

Hi,

This is my first time here; I live in SF. I'm the proud and happy owner of a smoking hot yellow '05 straight Evo VIII. I'm considering some very modest mods and/or additional OEM accessories. I want more than 305 horsies. I guess I should mention that I'm something of a cheapskate and I'm paranoid about voiding the warranty and/or getting in trouble w/ police if (I mean when! ) pulled over. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

-sports meter kit vs. buying guages. I like the kit bc/ it has three guages and can go in where the stereo is now
-front brake cooling ducts accessory
-exhaust system: will I notice a difference if I only do the last, muffler delete/modification piece or do I really need to do a high flow cat and a mid pipe area to notice a difference?
-I'm definitely going to do a drop-in filter
-should I mess w/ ECU flash or new ECU yet or consider this later?

Any thoughts/advice appreciated, thanks.

[Fourdoor]

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

Hi,

This is my first time here; I live in SF. I'm the proud and happy owner of a smoking hot yellow '05 straight Evo VIII. I'm considering some very modest mods and/or additional OEM accessories. I want more than 305 horsies. I guess I should mention that I'm something of a cheapskate and I'm paranoid about voiding the warranty and/or getting in trouble w/ police if (I mean when! ) pulled over. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

-sports meter kit vs. buying guages. I like the kit bc/ it has three guages and can go in where the stereo is now

The sports meter kit is trash. And it is expensive trash at that. For one thing, the gauges are little bitty things, hard to read. Oil temperature is useless, voltage meter is virtually useless unless you have an alternator problem, and the boost gauge reads in metric units.

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

-front brake cooling ducts accessory

Not needed unless you are doing serious track work as in road course, not drag strip.

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

-exhaust system: will I notice a difference if I only do the last, muffler delete/modification piece or do I really need to do a high flow cat and a mid pipe area to notice a difference?

You will notice the difference with just the rear section, but you don't really want a muffler delet if you are doing the larger full system later on.... just an added expense you don't need to spend your $$$ on. Save up for the full system.

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

-I'm definitely going to do a drop-in filter

Good plan.

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

-should I mess w/ ECU flash or new ECU yet or consider this later?

I would consider the reflash if you go with a company that gives a substantial discount on follow up reflashes for after you do more modifications.

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

Any thoughts/advice appreciated, thanks.

No problem, hope I helped

Keith

[evo 9]

i just got a evo 9 and i did turbo back system, intake, up pipe, and blow off valve, and the dealer didnt say anything about all that, the told me that ecu or mbc will avoid the warrinty though, but not the bolt on's.

[njnetsfan]

Thanks for the tips. This is great. With respect to exhaust modifications, about how much would doing the whole system (downpipe to rear exhaust) cost? Any recommended parts? Do you think this will this void the warranty?

[Warrtalon]

Originally Posted by njnetsfan

Thanks for the tips. This is great. With respect to exhaust modifications, about how much would doing the whole system (downpipe to rear exhaust) cost? Any recommended parts? Do you think this will this void the warranty?

Much to learn, young Padouin.

You can pay $600 for a full 3" Megan Racing catless exhaust (like me) or pay as much as $1500 for some crazy JDM exhausts. It's up to you, because there are TONS of exhausts for the Evo. You have to decide if you must retain a cat by using a hi-flow cat (HFC) or stick with a test pipe (more power, bad for emissions), loud or quiet, stainless steel or titanium, etc etc. I went with the straightest and cheapest exhaust that had no restrictions and fit well, which means it's a bit loud but works great.

Yes, once you touch the front half of the exhaust, the dealer gets stingy. You can usually get away with a cat-back, but that's not worth a lot of power.