So - IA Performance

FULL RACE
In case you haven’t happened upon a Full Race turbo
exhaust manifold, you’re in for a treat. They feature
TIG-welded precision and a design focused on
delivering every single puff of spent combustible
material directly at the turbine wheel; two unswerving
hallmarks of their products.
Unlike most OEM manufacturers' designs, cast
from iron with a close eye on cost, Full Race products
does not rely on the natural ability of rapidly expanding gasses to simply stumble through roughly shaped
manifold tubes to the turbo.
Geoff Racier carefully maps each runner so that the
maximum amount of force is delivered with the least
amount of resistance. In fact, if he can’t rework an OEM
design due to space constraints, he simply won’t do it.
Unfortunately, Ryan only allowed me behind
the wheel for the low-boost street setting,
which gave me a paltry 480hp to play with.
Oh, the inhumanity!
The rear fenders were carefully rolled to clear
the wider Yokes, and an Apex Silver paint with
a slight bit of blue pearl was applied by Mike
Days, from Las Cruces, New Mexico
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o, what’s it really feel like to drop the accelerator pedal on nearly 500 street-going horsepower? Pretty damn good!
Ryan Gonzales of Las Cruces, New Mexico
is a brave soul, handing me the keys to his sweet ride,
this heavily modified 2004 Mitsubishi Evolution VIII.
The last car I drove with this much raw power to burn
was a right-hand-drive R34 Skyline GT-R weighing
nearly 272kg more. Oh yeah, that Skyline had fewer
ponies. So, I turn the key, allow the engine to warm
up, hold my breath, ease off the clutch and…
Ryan’s a determined man. He started with an admirable goal in his mind – to build a 600hp street-going Evo.
There are less-worthy goals in life, I suppose (like becoming President of the United States). This one was his.
Unfortunately, Ryan doesn’t work for a car magazine.
He couldn’t mooch the latest and greatest products off
aftermarket suppliers, because not only didn’t he know
any, but his location in New Mexico is about as far away
from the big west-coast tuning companies as you can get
without starting to search for an east-coast phonebook.
To proclaim New Mexico a ‘non-hotbed of automotive tuning’ would be redundant. This didn’t stop him.
Oh, no. Not even several major steps in the wrong
direction, which resulted in a dropped valve, a damaged engine and near-endless finger-pointing could
dissuade him from his dream.
“I’d been wanting an Evo ever since I had seen the
Evo VII in Best Motoring. They are fast and an allaround good track car.”
…Engage first gear, punch the gas hard, feel the
boost build. WTF? Was that the rev-limiter already?
Stab the clutch, shift to second…
Enter Stephen Clark of IA Performance in Tucson,
Arizona. Ryan and Stephen laid out new groundwork
for the 600hp build.
“I had originally wanted to do the 2.3L short block,
but towards the end I just decided to do everything now. I
would think every day that I really wanted a 600hp Evo,
so I finally told Stephen to go crazy with the build…”
Going crazy meant machining the block to take
Darton sleeves and a balanced and blueprinted
Buschur/IA Performance 2.3L stroker kit. This required
the oil squirters to be modified to clear all of those big
swingin’ Crower Pro-Billet rods. J&E pistons in a 9.5:1
ratio were tucked inside and sealed under a Buschur
Stage 3 ported and polished head packed with HKS
cams. When combined with the quick-spooling Garrett
GT3582R, the result is simply stratospheric.
…Wow! Feel this monster pull. I won’t hit the limiter,
I won’t, I won’t – whoops. Damn, did it again, shift to
third, look for cops, plant right foot on the gas again…
Past the turbo there’s a TiAL 48mm wastegate and a
GReddy Ti-C exhaust system. Feeding this power plant are
twin in-tank Walbro modified fuel pumps capable of 500L/
h of liquid delivery. An Agency Power fuel rail and a modified stock fuel-pressure regulator support Precision Turbo
1000cc injectors. There’s no lack of fuel for this beast!.
AEM’s engine management system and a Uego wideband O2 sensor work together to keep an HKS Twin
Power ignition system firing a set of NGK plugs. The
throttle body and intake manifold were both over-bored
to 65mm, ensuring a wide open path for increased highRPM airflow. A Full Race intercooler in the nose keeps
close company with a PWR/IA Performance custom radiator and a new Mitsubishi external oil cooler.
Final tuning was completed by IA Performance, and
when the dust settled and the rollers spun down after
the run on an all-wheel-drive Dynojet, the numbers
S
This Evo is using the Garrett GT35
right up to its efficiency limit,
even with the 0.82 housing
WHEN COMBINED WITH THE
QUICK-SPOOLING GARRETT
GT3582R, THE RESULT IS
SIMPLY STRATOSPHERIC
You never need to go crazy with Evo
interiors, so a few choice gauges
make up most of the changes
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VITALS
ENGINE: 2.3L 4G63 FOUR-CYLINDER TURBO
POWER: 612HP
POWER FROM FACTORY: 280HP
POWER TO WEIGHT: 0.28KW/KG
ENGINE HARDWARE
J&E Pistons (9.5:1), Crower Pro Billet crank and rods,
Bushur/IA Performance 2.3L stroker, Darton Sleeves, oil
squirters have been modified to work with sleeves and
crank, Ductile sleeves, oil squirters, crank, fully balanced and blue-printed, HKS 272°/280° camshafts,
Buschur Racing valve-springs and Stage 3 head, ARP
studs, 65mm throttle-body, intake manifold to match,
Precision Turbo 1000cc injectors, twin in-tank Walbro
modified fuel pumps, Agency Power fuel rail, modified
stock fuel-pressure regulator, AEM engine management
system w/Uego wideband, GReddy Profec Type S boost
controller, HKS Twin Power ignition amplifier, Garrett
GT3582R (0.82 housing) turbocharger, Full Race turbo
manifold, TiAL 48mm wastegate and 50mm BOV,
GReddy Ti-C exhaust system, Full Race intercooler, R/IA
Performance custom radiator, external oil cooler
DRIVETRAIN
Shepherd Racing five-speed, re-shimmed to hold
1000hp, Cusco cerametallic custom triple-plate clutch,
Shepherd Stage 2 transfer case, Ralliart helical LSD
BRAKES/SUSPENSION
Brembo four-pot front and two-pot rear calipers, Rotora slotted rotors and AXXIS brake pads, Tein Monoflex coil-overs
WHEELS/TYRES
18x9in +35 Volk Racing RE30 gunmetal wheels,
265/35 Yokohama Advan Neova tyres
BODYWORK
Chargespeed Type 1 front and rear bars with carbon diffuser, carbon-fibre hood with duct, carbon-fibre boot-lid
and eyelids, VIII MR head- and tail-lights, Rexpeed carbon mirror covers, Chargespeed roof fin and 20mm
oversize fenders, Apex Silver paint with blue pearl,
rolled rear OEM fenders
stood at 612hp@7400rpm. Of course, numbers like
these require VP Racing C16 fuel, which carries an
octane rating of 117. You sure can’t get that at the
local Sunoco (Shell? – Ed) station.
With the hefty boost levels this turbo can generate,
around 30psi, into an engine with 9.5:1 compression,
preventing detonation is a must.
…Other cars near me look like they’re in reverse and
accelerating backwards. The roar of the wind is deafening,
the speedo flies over 120mph, and it’s still climbing fast.
There’s the next exit. Lift the throttle, listen to loud ‘whoosh’
from the TiAL blow-off valve, as if to say ‘Ah, that was fun,
let’s do it again!’. Oh damn, now he wants his keys back.
A special Cusco custom triple cerametallic clutch
was created with the help of Exedy in order to hold up
to 900hp. Over-the-counter retail units are only twindisc units. This fronts a Shepherd Racing reinforced
five-speed box and a Shepherd-modified transfer case.
Gearing remains stock, but a Ralliart helical limitedslip differential preserves the feel of the stock limited
slip but offers a smooth and progressive unlocking and
locking action. In truth, it’s completely transparent
until the gas is pounded, at which point you’d better
hope the steering wheel’s pointed straight.
The Tein Mono Flex coil-over system does what it
can to keep the Volk RE30 rims and 265/35 Yokohama
Advan Neovas planted on the pavement, but they’re a
little over-matched by the power.
For the most part, Ryan was happy with the exterior,
which he updated with some tasty JDM selections. He
added overseas Evolution MR head-lights and tail
lamps, Rexpeed carbon-fibre mirrors and stayed with
the original rear wing.
Then, a minor miracle happened. “In October 2007,
I was given the opportunity and honour to represent
both Chargespeed USA as well as Chargespeed Japan
at all events.” Back to the body shop he went, accompanied by a pile of big shipping cartons.
Chargespeed Type 1 front and rear bumpers were fitted, along with matching side skirts and 20mm oversize
front fenders. A Chargespeed carbon-fibre hood and
boot-lid joined the show. The final touches were the carbon-fibre roof-mounted vortex generator and ‘eyelids’.
C’mon, Ryan, you can trust me. Let me have those
keys again. Really, I’ll bring it right back to you in
one piece – perhaps.
Interior modifications were kept to a minimum. This
car is all about power anyway. No-one expects a sumo
wrestler to be showing the bling bling in the ring, right?
If you don’t like Evos, this car will change your
mind. I’m, for one, not sold on having four doors. I like
coupes. However, if I were to ever purchase a four-door
sedan, this is exactly what I’d want.
Glossy paint, carbon-fibre everywhere, huge fender
flares and outrageously wide tyres and wheels. I’d want
the power to annihilate the new R35 Skyline GT-R or
to humble Ferraris or Lamborghinis every time I lit the
fuse on this little engine.
We have far too many pretentious posers here in the
United States with more luxury than sports in their
blood. This hunky, spunky hot-rod represents the ‘keeping it real’ crowd far better than many professionallybuilt show machines, and it can lay the power down
when asked. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go
and beg Ryan for the keys once more.
Thanks goes to Carlos Molina SEMA rp and George
N. of Versus Motorsport, the US Chargespeed distributor. Thanks also to IA Peformance, Mothers, Rotora,
Versus Motorsport, Yokohama, Driveline Motoring, Full
Race, Chargespeed and Projekt cars.
INTERIOR
GRreddy boost, EGT and oil-pressure gauges, Recaro
seats, Mitsubishi Japan double-DIN conversion
WHEN THE D
T H E N U M B E RU S T S E T T L E D ,
S
6 1 2 H P @ 7 4S0T O O D AT
0RPM
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