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gt40
01-20-2004, 10:16 PM
Thought this might be of interest to anyone modding their evo... Note the talk about the clutch restrictor!

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 Development

Disclaimer: The information on this web site may or may not be correct. Use of any of this information is entirely at your own risk.

Bought car new in July 1999. Have done over 55,000 kilometers so far.

Email Me Page last updated on June 10, 2002

SITE WILL BE UPDATED SOON
Modifications (in historical order, latest at bottom):

Speed sensor wire to computer cut to prevent operation of 180k limiter. Unmodified car pulled to approx 7100rpm in top (7000 is 240kmh). Midrange was good, response and top end power were poor - there was little point in revving the motor above 6500 as car would accelerate harder by short shifting to next ratio.
Fitted mongoose alarm including twin immobilizer.
Fitted ECM.
Gearbox oil replaced with Castrol VMX as gearbox very crunchy. Apparently the original oil does not have a high enough temperature rating. This oil is a mineral and not synthetic base, but is relatively light and suits Japanese gear boxes.
Fitted Autometer 30-0-30 boost gauge. Initial about 15 PSI.
Terrible under steer. Changed wheel alignment to zero toe at back and front. Set rear camber to correct factory spec (was set incorrect). Rear settings appear to influence handling more than front. Toeing wheels out more on the rear seems to decrease under steer and toeing the wheel in on the rear increases under steer.
Purchased workshop and technical manuals from Coordsport after trying to get them locally for months. Took 3 days to arrive.
Replaced tires with Bridgestone SO2. Noticeable improvement in both wet and dry grip over original tires. Original ones (SO1) were crap.
Fitted front and rear strut tower braces (Ralliart). Noticeable improvement in front end precision. Car does not have front brace as standard.
Replaced Japanese specification 180k speedometer with HKS Kansai 260k item. A 300k item is also available but doesn't match other instruments.
Fitted HKS dump pipe, cat replacement and exhaust. Got HKS Hyper System which is the more extreme of 2 available. Woke car up! Noticeable increase in power and gets on boost quicker. Car will now pull all the way to the rev cutout in top gear (approx 7800rpm), this results in the car going past the 260kmh point on speedometer. Tested on a closed road.
Fitted HKS sport springs. Claimed to lower by around 35mm at front and 15mm at back. Actually lowered by 30mm all around! Improved ride (due to being progressive rate). Car also looks better. Initial body roll no better possibly worse. Final body roll better.
Replaced engine oil with Mobil 1. 5w rather than zero. Not too much tappet noise yet.
Had yet another wheel alignment this time removing drive shafts to ensure that thrust angles where set right. Discrepancy between this and previous one. Slight toe at front, zero toe at back. Car handles well now.
Rebuilt brakes using new (Bradi) 'Group N' rotors at front and machined (worn) rotors at back. Original Brembo pads had got too hot and where crumbling. Fitted Pagid RS 4-2 compound (blue) for both front and rear. Replaced brake fluid with Castrol SRF.
Brakes squealing badly so sprayed with a can of Wurth which was a big improvement. Braking is very good.
Fitted Ralliart radiator hoses (actually made by Samco who also supply cheaper E6 hoses). Replaced thermostat with Ralliart item (opens at 71 deg C, not sure what original opened at but will be higher). The total amount of cooling is determined by the engines ability to radiate heat, not the thermostat (unless it is restrictive), however this will mean that the engine temperature is starting from a lower base when it is suddenly asked to work hard. This may or may not be a good thing due to thermal cycling.
Replaced 0.9 radiator cap with Ralliart 1.3 version. Have not had to top up radiator bottle since.
For what it is worth I have also fitted the Ralliart plug leads. Haven't had any misfiring problems and are running standard plugs.
Removed restrictor in boost control solenoid. Fitted HKS BOV. Improvement in midrange torque. Did experience fuel cut a couple of times though. people say standard OEM valve leaks if in standard position, meaning car can not develop full boost.
Fitted Ralliart intercooler pipes and monster sport induction kit which includes cold air box. Battery now where original air box was. Noticeable increase in power (and sounds like a steam engine under bonnet). Lots of fuel cut though. Car was boosting to 22psi plus.
Replaced restrictor as too much fuel cut. Car was also starting to blow oil from cam cover gasket (needs bigger breather). Has less boost control as there is a restriction in the waste gate actuator line from the compressor. Still goes over 20 PSI before falling to about 18 on sustained acceleration. Still getting occasional fuel cut. Boost can be reduced by drilling out to 1mm second restrictor that is is T connector arm that connects to line to compressor - this will reduce boost overshoot in midrange. Resetting throttle body with Mut may also help. Both of these options reduce power so are less desirable (though safer!)
Put factory BOV back in but turned it around so that it blows shut. This trick stops it leaking at higher boost.
Strengthened bottom end by replacing OEM rod bolts with ARP items. Apparently, the standard ones can break if you are making over 300 horsepower. These bolts are tiny only 8mm. Torque up to 37 ft lbs. Used to be 9mm in older motors. I am sure you want them bigger for a real high power motor.
Replaced AYC fluid, engine oil and filter. Changing oil and filter every 5000 kms. First time for AYC, will do every 10,000 kms from now on.
With reversed BOV get compressor surge (flutter, jolt, judder) if lift slightly (ok if going hard out), while investigating this I have refitted fitted the HKS BOV and loosened spring - only improved it marginally and engine now has a tendency to stall.
Drilled out manifold bolts on PCCS system to 6mm. Didn't notice a difference on brief test drive. There is a solenoid and an accumulator in the vacuum line. The standard ECU opens this when engine is at >4000 rpm and has been at full throttle for at least 3 seconds.
Replaced tires with Yokohama AVS Sport. Certainly better than worn SO2's in the wet. Car felt a bit bouncy so will reduced pressure slightly.
Replaced factory BOV in standard position - less power, more lag, but no flutter and more drivable.
Swapped HKS BOV for Turbosmart one. Turbo smart is blow open type but adjustable.
Removed boost gauge, still reading 3 PSI - looks like its gone up a bit high - yet supposed to read to 30 ok.
Repaired and replaced boost gauge. With standard BOV now peaks at 18 PSI. No fuel cut in warmer weather, still occasional in cooler weather.
New front rotors had warped already, so had them machined plus rears also. Interestingly this further improved the squealing problem. Think this was due to the finish that assisted with bed in.
Bad steering wheel shake so had all 4 wheels rebalanced - they were badly out. Feels much better and high speed stability improved.
Fitted Turbosmart BOV. Reluctant to 'blow off' and back to 'flutter, judder, jolt' and also stalls when stopping quickly (despite being recirculating type). Then engine went flat. Disassembled to inspect and found that piston was sticking. Fixed now and works well.
Hit possum at high speed (possum is a pest in NZ). Oil light came on so switched off and coasted to a stop. The oil filter had been hit and smashed. It is poorly located at the bottom of the engine. Tow home (raising all four wheels to prevent transmission damage), new filter and an unscheduled oil change. Am investigating sump protection, surprising it hasn't been damaged before, given the car is driven on dirt roads, etc.
Gone back to a semi-synthetic oil as this got put in when I changed it! Everyone seems to have their own idea about which is best. Regular oil (and filter changes) are best.
Bought VDO EGT gauge, Hewitt Industries Thermocouple and Hewitt Pyrometer switch (dual alarm). Initial settings 1550F (warning) and 1600F (Alarm) . Recommended before the turbo as it gives faster response and more accurate picture of what is going on - best runner is said to be furthest from where the fuel enters the fuel rail as this should have the lowest pressure. (The fuel regulator is at the far end of the fuel rail). Interestingly if you place the probe after the collector it may actually hotter here than in the exhaust manifold runner (this may NOT apply to turbo engines as there is a temperature drop across the turbo.
Replaced gear box oil again this time with 'Easy Shift 75/90'. Replaced fuel filter (30k is recommended). Adjusted handbrake shoes.
Yokohama tires are now bald (but gripping very well). Have decided to go for much cheaper Toyo Proxies T1-S! These have tread wear rating of 280 (against Yokohama and Bridgestone which are both rated at180). Reviews of these tires are generally pretty good so will be interesting to see how they go.
Brakes warped again so had front disks skimmed.
Have ordered an Evolink (which counts knocks and displays O2 using the using the existing sensors). Does have some nice features like boost control and knock retard. Once setup correctly should be able to alter the tune of the engine to suit modifications such as turbo or cam changes.
Fitted thermocouple into exhaust manifold by drilling 11mm hole and then tapping 1/4 NPT. According to manufacturers, probe needs to extend at least half way. Didn't want NPT fitting to extend into through manifold though as will cause even more flow disturbance than I have added already. The exhaust manifold is pretty ugly and I doubt it is optimal anyway. Drilled hole with motor running (to blow out swarf) working up to increasing sizes. Tapped hole and fitted probe. Had to cut a half circle in the heat shield. Restarted and car was running on 3 cylinders. No obvious reason, so assumed it fouled a plug due to idling so long. Appears to have cleared after a quick blast.
Fitted Toyo's very pleased, good for driving in rain and on also on gravel. They have a little more compliance than the previous AVS Sport that were fitted which seems to suit the car and makes it less bouncy.
Fitted EGT gauge and alarm. Alarm 1 goes off at approx 800C on channel 1. Pulls so far at WOT:- top of third 800C (just), top of fourth 825C, 5th:- 200K (5800 rpm) 800C; 220K(6400) 825C; 240k (7000) 850C, top speed 875C. Temporarily disconnected until I have a chance to adjust alarm due to sounding all the time.
Should never exceed 900 and 850 is safer so car is not rich at at max power/speed. Not sure if it is rich in lower gears or probe is too small to react. Some say a smaller probe is better. May be that it is running out of fuel delivery capability so will check pump voltage and pressure. Increasing pump voltage should help fuel delivery.
EvoLink fitted! No more fuel cut. Computer map is adjustable including boost targets which can be set at every 500 rpm and it is currently set to conservative 1 bar, which is little lower than before. Is possible to data log from computer as an aid to tuning also. Will familiarize myself myself with computer and confirm correct operation, cold start etc before attempting any tuning. Have started an ECU page.
O2 sensor or associated wiring may be faulty as am getting incorrect readings from it. Has been disconnected while the problem is investigated. If o2 is faulty then will replace with shrouded type which is more tolerant to race fuel.
Currently figuring out the best settings for EvoLink (see ECU page)...have bought a spare set of plugs in case I get stuck. Car is noticeably smoother and after increasing boost to 1.1bar (together with other adjustments), just as quick with scope for more. Less jolt/judder than before also (uses MAP sensor now).
Front left strut replaced (under warranty). Back to Mobil 1 oil. Checked wheel alignment and have now set front camber to -2 (been meaning to do this for a while) Does seem to have improved handling. Car still a bit bouncy though - still need better suspension!
High EGT still a worry and out of fuel at high rpm, will need to measure fuel pressure at WOT 7000.
Still haven't measured fuel pressure but have increased boost to 1.2 bar (held) up to 6000 and reducing after there. Peak is above 1.5 bar. Passes 1 bar at 3000 rpm so need to figure out how to make it earlier. Car is a bit loose (sort suspension next). Not sure whether the proxies have given up or its the increased grunt. Driving on more dirt roads now...need to clean the car.
Am now running 1.35 bar (held). This was actually unintentional as it appears the boost control solinoid has is jamed open! Restrictors still in place which are controlling max boost. Have made adjustments to map to compensate.
Rotated and rebalanced proxies. Been on 4 months and over half worn
Increased fuel 4500-5500 in an attempt to stop loosing timing, car feels smoother
put a bung in exhaust for new oxygen probe and moved wires. Reading changes when fan come on or turn on lights, etc. Probably not the right earth..
compensated for incorrect lambda reading and logged
running 1.5 bar (22psi) held 1.7 bar peak (25 psi)
The fuel system is marginal if increasing power. The fuel system has to inject fuel against boost pressure and thus a margin is maintained between the fuel pressure and the manifold pressure (by the fuel pressure regulator). When boost is increased above standard the absolute fuel pressure must also therefore be higher to maintain the margin. Should be 2.25 bar at idle and 3.25 bar of fuel pressure at 1.0 bar of boost. So need to maintain a margin of 2.25 bar also at higher boost pressures. Generally the more pressure the pump is required to make, the lower the maximum flow. Should check the fuel pressure at high load to see if it drops off. Regularly replacing the fuel filter is a good idea but if the fuel system is marginal then it will be better to upgrade it. Graph of power engineering pump here. Also pump is only running on 12 volts rather than 14 possibly due to light wiring or where the feed is drawn from
rewired fuel pump to run on 14 volts by adding 10 gauge wire direct from battery via 2 relays and fuse, ran wire through firewall and under trim on carpet edge on left side and through left side inspection hatch under back seat and tapped into wiring here
data logged again
car is richer, so will not need to replace the pump at this stage
altered fuel map, removed timing in spool up zone and added timing below 4500 and above 5500 (at max boost)
more details on ecu page
back to using standard bov (vented to atmosphere) as turbosmart was sticking. can vta as without idle problems as car is now map sensed
datalog show no difference in spoolup
removed honey comb in air flow meter to reduce restriction, not actually used anymore but makes a suitable connection
cleaned air filter
ordered new clutch will use ralliart pressure plate modified to work with standard clutch plate
should give better grip while maintaining drivability
am also getting some two piece rotors made up by local race brakes shop
Fitted Bridgestone Potenza RE540s DOT legal semi slicks. Very high tread to groove ratio which should help wear...as typical performance tyres are half 'air' Grip is excellent, a bit more understeer but at higher corner speed. Car just about tips over now and can feel the suspension bushes moving. Upgrades needed here! Proxies through to belts, only lasted 7000km and had no grip at end!
Replaced clutch, ralliart pressure plate (modified) with standard disk. Original plate was worn out and flywheel was blue. Fly wheel machined. Tried the clutch out after careful running in but still managed to fry it. Should have got a twin plate. The 7 has a bigger clutch.
Fitted 2 piece rotors with aluminum bells made by local race brake shop (Les Hunter Auto). Using narrower US made hawk HP Plus pads. Still bedding them in initial feeling is a bit soft. Also have performance friction temperature paint on rotors.
Previous ones were also very heavy, increasing unsprung (and vehicle) mass, front to rear weight distribution and negating the effect of alloy suspension components, etc.
Fitted up rated headlight bulbs Phillips Xenon, haven't driven much at night yet.
Replaced fluids including AYC
Fitted aquamist water injection system 1s. Currently using 0.7mm jet (largest supplied with kit). Have ordered a 1mm. Running off intercooler tank. uses a bit of water!.Still measuring the changes.
Have ordered Drummond (australian) 50mm suspension
Also replacing 2 bushes said to wear the most which are front - rear of the front arms bush rear - front track control arm bush
Washed out oil cooler fins - full of bugs and possibly impeding flow
Intercooler testing, flowed standard one 241 cfm at 20.5 inches of water. so if turbo flows around 500cfm at 22psi then pressure drop will be around 2 psi, costing about 20hp
Inlet temps:ambiant 15C cruise 20C full throttle @7000 40C, so ic is good enough
Flowed a bar and plate copy [email protected] inch water. both have crappy end tanks which i feel hurts flow
Increased torque may be causing possible clutch problem, current combo is good for about 310ftlbs only
Spreadsheet - courtesy olive goodwin -mlr, is predicting 325
Fitted genuine Ralliart braided brake lines, bought for half price in ralliart sale. Replaced Castrol SRF brake fluid. Noticeable improvement in brake feel, subjectively feels like you can brake harder. Also old SRF fluid had had it and brakes were failing.
Fitted new Power Engineering fuel pump, involved removing fuel tank, could of just tilted tankd down, but a lot of mud and stuff so removed completely to clean it. Car was very rich so am progressively leaning it off.
EGT does not go over 900 now
Fitted Ralliart NZ camshafts, said to be similar to a HKS 264. made by a cam grinder in Auckland
Also replaced cambelt and tensioner why i was at it(52K).B belt is damaged and also requires replacement.
Initial settings recommended exhaust lobe centre 105 deg before TDC. Intial inlet lobe centre 105 after TDC.
Car was very flat with these settings about 1.5 seconds slower 3000-7000 in 4th. Idle bad
Moved cams to 114/114 performance same as factory cams. Idle better, power better than at 105.
Tried cams at 110/110 but forgot to put cam cover on, and cut powerstering hose. Idle better again, close to factory.
Using data logs from Link computer to compare settings. Plotted graph and could see 'false peak' mentioned by others on mlr at 105/105 meaning cams are mistimed
Hose fixed by ENZED
Logged 110/110. Same as factory settings. Fastest configuration yet.Once ideal split is found try advancing or retarding both cams.
decided that initial settings were wrong so 105/105 may be better still, yet to retry
boost looks better seems to be above 1.6 at all times
new logs on ecu page
New suspension arrived but only rear bushs. May replace other bushes.
Best split timing at 110/110 and then advanced both by a couple of degrees, big broad powerband with this configuration
fitted new suspension, used setup as per instructions, excellent, body control is better, yet more compliant, best of both worlds
brakes skimmed after 6 months, warped
new tyres so3's, this is the 6th set! not as good as a semislick in the dry but using them as a good winter tyre
Current problems:

Car is too heavy.
Clutch restrictor. Does this delay the clutch engaging causing burn problems?
Getting oil into the intake tract from breather. Solution is to replace use the PCV connection in cam cover to plumb a larger line to an oil separator or catch tank. The PCV connection to inlet manifold can be removed by blanking off. Existing 'tiny' breather can be capped off. In the meantime am operating it 'vent to air' into a plastic bottle.
Crank is not that strong. AVO in Australia had a 6 break the crank. According to AVO, JUN had cranks break so developed a stronger one and seeing that pistons and rods were also replace, decided they may as well stroke the engine to 2.2 liters. Not sure if this had a negative impact on the maximum rpm though (update, reported to have gone over 9300 rpm with this combo). Could also nitride or cryo treat existing crank
Possible Modifications:

Throttle body coolant bypass. This makes the intake manifold take longer to heat up/run cooler (thus reducing the intake temps). The reason for heating the throttle body is to prevent icing problems. Not a problem in our temperature climate.
can also get a power gasket to replace one between inlet manifold and head
Fit Intelligent automatic intercooler water spray (if computer change does not allow). This operates the intercooler and radiator external water spray automatically rather than having to press a button which is virtually impossible to do when driving hard!
Fit master cylinder brace.
Rebuild motor for higher power operation. Replace pistons with Denco (local company), JE, HKS,JUN or other pistons, fit Denco (local company uses ross from the us), Crower, Carrillo, Arrow, JUN or other rods, replace crank, use ARP fasteners throughout (including head studs), fit HKS metal head gasket.
port head, said to be restrictive on inlet side only,said to flow 190cfm at 10inch water std, can flow 230 with little effort. not sure what rig was used to test tho
Fit a bigger 'ball bearing' turbo. One of the main benefits of a bigger turbo is that you have increased air mass at lower boost pressure due to turbo compressing more air rather than just heating up existing air. The main disadvantage is that the gain in top end power may be at the expense of a loss in bottom end torque due to boost curve starting later. Not to be confused with 'lag' which is said to be reduced with a ball bearing turbo.
Move battery to boot to improve weight distribution. Would also allow fitting of a bigger battery as the current one is very small (to keep weight down) but is prone to going flat.
Fit bigger injectors. May need to vary fuel pressure (automatically) so it is reduced at light loads otherwise large injectors may give poor idling and low speed drivability problems.
Replace AYC diff with standard diff from RS. AYC diff is a lot heavier, fragile, expensive to fix and may cause a discontinuity in handling ie hangs on and then lets go suddenly. Alternatively can replace AYC center with mechanical LSD center from CUSCO or HKS Kansai.
or could modify ayc inputs or replace computer to make car more progressive (ironically this will reduce grip but make it more progressive)
Take about 200 kg of weight out as the car is far to heavy which means you just need that much more power and braking compared to a lighter car. Possible steps to lighten car
Lighter cross members?
Light weight exhaust - including dump pipe
Remove A/C - doesn't work particularly well either, causes idle problems (or makes them worse)
Buy an RS with thinner metal, but try not to crash it
Drill holes in anything that is non structural
Fit alloy struts
Lighten flywheel
Remove sound deadening
Fit lighter wheels
Remove side intrusion beams
Fit lightweight front seats, remove rear rear seats
Fit lightweight propeller shaft
Remove any unnecessary electrical equipment and wiring
Fit lighter weight ancillary pulleys
Replace exhaust manifold with lighter stainless (or even titanium) piece
Replace glass with plastic
Fit carbon fiber rear wing
Fit carbon fiber boot lid
Fit carbon fiber bonnet lid
Remove airbags
Fit roll cage
Remove ABS
Remove AYC/Or replace diff part with cusco lsd and disable.
Drill brake discs
Replace electric windows with manual
CD 0.353 (0.376 when rear wing is adjusted for maximum downforce)

Engine:
4G63 Engine Oil 10w-30 - 5.1
Gasket Oil Drain Plug - MD050317 1
Oil Filter (Cartridge) - MD322508 1
Air Cleaner Element - MR481794 1
Fuel Filter - MR204132 1
Spark Plugs PGR7A MD338991 4
Balancer Belt - DDB182295 1
Timing Belt - MD326059 1

Gearbox/Drivetrain:
Reservoir (AYC) ATF-SPII ATFSP-11/A 1.0
Differential (AYC) Hypoid GL-5 90/80W - 0.41
Torque Transfer Mechanism (AYC) Genuine AYC fluid MZ102520 0.7
Manual Transmission Oil 75W/85W - 2.8
Transfer Box Oil Hypoid GL-5 90/80W - 0.62
Power Steering Reservoir ATF-II (NB not ATF-SPII) - n/a
Brake Fluid (Brembo) DOT 4 DBF570003 1.0