A day in the life

The first video here is me changing an exhaust gasket on my X.  The old one was starting to deteriorate and if left alone I would have ended up with an exhaust leak.  It’s a long video but it’s a good idea of what it’s like to work in tight places under a car.

The second video is a very short run ON A TOTALLY CLOSED ROAD!  I SWEAR!!!  I roll until about 3k RPM in first gear.  I do this because I don’t feel like putting the unneccesary strain on my clutch.  The car is not stock but the clutch is, and it has 17,000 miles on it.  So don’t mind the slowness during the first couple seconds.  After that I stomp it to the floor, turbo spools (you can hear to BOV between each shift very well) and I get to third gear where I let off the gas.  So as soon as I hit 3rd gear I just shift up the rest of the way to 5th and slow down.

timeline

Incoming is a timeline of the Evo from I to X.  For class I had to make something interactive and I figured that this would fit the bill and be somewhat interesting.  I will have images of each Evo from the beginning to present.

I have already gathered the pictures so shortly you should see the timeline pop up.

Malves85 has posted up a review of his pre-production Cold Air Intake from SpeedCircuit.  Impressions are good so far.  I will probably be getting one with the Inlet (pipe to turbo) and trying to figure out something to do with my BOV.  I might just keep it pulling from the LICP(Lower Intercooler Pipe).  I like the idea of cold air and I want it to recirculate.

The new grumble

I finally have videos of my wicked edition SpeedCircuit exhaust.  This thing makes noises that no four-banger should!  This videos don’t quite do it justice because something is lost when it is filmed.  They do give you a good idea, just imagine it even meaner than what you hear here.

So needless to say I absolutely love it.  I got tuned while I was there so now the car pulls hard as hell.  Pulls nice and hard down low and up high.  And driving through a tunnel?  That sound will plant a smile on your face like nothing else.

Hopefully once I get my intake situation figured out I will get re-tuned on a dyno (to get horsepower readings and get a more precise tune).

black tips are sexy

The exhaust is finished and on the car.  It sounds AMAZING (as you will hear once I upload the video) and looks fantastic.  I have a few teaser shots for now and next post should contain the video.  Thumbs up to Dino for taking his time making a flawless product.

exhaust test fit

Over the weekend I test fitted my SpeedCircuit exhaust.  This thing sounds so mean.  You would never believe a 4-banger could make a sound like this.  Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, Thursday I will be heading back to the shop to pick it up and take it home.  If this is the case then you can be sure I will be posting some pictures!

I forgot to bring my camera during the test fit, which is a shame because we powder-coated the tips black and it looks sexy beyond all belief.

That seems to be most of what I have to say right now… Oh, if you happen to watch that awful movie Fast and Furious (I haven’t seen it yet but for some silly reason I know I will and then complain about it afterwards) keep an eye out for the Wicked White Evo X.  That one belongs to M1Rene from the boards.  This happened before he painted it purple so it isn’t nearly as awesome as it is now… but it’s still there representing our community!

Varis Front Lip Installed

Got the baby installed!  Really great fit and great quality.

Ahh, my baby is looking sexy now!  She does need a drop though… but that’s a project for when I have more money.

missing pics

Here they are!  Again, I am sorry for taking so long.

In the world of sad news, it was raining today… so I did not get to install the front splitter.  Hopefully Sunday will be a better day.  Once it’s on pics will be coming this way!  Saturday I am getting an alignment and transimission fluid changed.  I may or may not be doing the tranny fluid at home.  That all depends on how much the shop wants to charge me and how the weather/my free time look.

New stuff

My Varis front lip arrived via M1 Autosport.  Not my car but the same lip on the same color car.  Can’t wait to get it on.  Hopefully Thursday will be my install day.  Once I do get it on I will post up the new pics.  I have a feeling when I get it on I’m really going to need a drop.  Nothing drastic, just about an inch.  I don’t really want lowering springs… so I will have to save up for coilovers (full suspension to lower the car and increase handling).

The parts for my AEM Wideband arrived and with them I successfully fixed the gauge.  Now I’m ready for my tune!

Lastly, I installed my Project Mu HC++ brake pads.  Wow… they squeak like you wouldn’t believe.  This isn’t unexpected as they are very aggressive pads.  Speaking of them being aggressive, while doing the initial hard brakes to break them in it felt like my face was getting pulled off.  These things stop on a dime.  I am very happy with them so far.

I promise I will get the pics from the slideshow up eventually.  I keep forgetting every time I am at home!

what’s new

First of all, I have to apologize for the strange happenings in the slideshow.  For some reason a few of the pictures lost quality when they were converted.  I tried to re-upload the whole thing a few times with no luck.  I’ll re-post the pictures once I’m home again so you can get a better view of the car.

Xtremeboost, makers of a great sounding o2 dump downpipe, are now making a recirculating downpipe for those who want a quieter option.

[Image was removed from Host.  SORRY!]

This is the current prototype.  Another great looking product!

And now for updates on the broken gauge from my earlier post!  After contacting AEM, I’ve learned what I need to replace.  The wire for the gauge runs from it’s location on the A-Pillar through the dashboard and the firewall(the wall that separates the engine bay from the inside of the car).  Once there, the wire runs down underneath the car to where the exhaust is.  Down here there is a harness and than the sensor that attaches to the test-pipe(replacement for a catalytic converter).  The harness is what is broken as we discovered at the shop.

This is a problem because AEM does sell the harness by itself.  So I have to buy the wire that runs to the gauge just to get the female half of the harness… and re-buy the sensor to get the male half.  So I need to get $100 worth of parts to replace a $10 harness.  Atleast At least I’ll have a back-up sensor if the one on the car ever goes bad!

A Day at the Shop

This weekend I went to Dino’s shop, SpeedCircuit, to help out and have my car checked out.  My wideband air-fuel ratio gauge has been failing to properly work.  It has just been displaying 14.9ish and not fluctuating.  We checked it out and decided the connector harness went bad so now I’m going to call AEM and see if I can get a replacement. While there we also put new Eibach lowering springs on his Evo and cleaned up the shop a bit.