JDM-WAVE by Andres Herren

Hello all,

Well its been just over a week with the car and to say its been exciting is an understatement… I thought I would really put the car through its paces before giving you guys some feedback. For those of you who are not aware I own an EVO X and in conjunction with THE RACING LINE I embarked in a project that would prove monumental and valuable to both us AND hopefully you guys!. With the EVO X being so new in the U.K and with it boasting the all new unfamiliar 4b11 power plant the project was going to involve a lot of R&D. Anyway I’m sure you guys want to hear about the car and not the rest of the jargon so here it goes…. First impressions…

The Sound

Well idle can only be described as phenomenal, the Cosworth MX1 camshafts give it that typical “cammed evo” sound on tick over and lumpy idle. Matt done an excellent job with the MIVEC tuning and it shows when you compare the idle from when the MX1 cams were initially dropped in to where it’s at now… Slowly moving off the first time I noticed the exhaust is considerably louder than before! At cruising speeds the drone and burbling as you modulate the throttle makes for an entertaining drive. When the cars on full chat it roars and pops explosively on gear change… someone beside me with their window down claims they are now deaf in one ear lol! I can feel a law suite coming on…. I don’t need to mention the crazy 6ft flames from both exhaust pipes as all these X’S seem to become flame throwers after a few mods. I will upload a video of the idle tomorrow for you guys to hear

The Turbo

A hybrid stock frame turbo know as the “DOM2” was promised to be impressive when in talks with CBRD in the states. If you guys look back to when we pushed stock internals you will realise we actually had one of the first units to leave the BLOUCH premises. We were to be the first U.K testers of this unit and with that in mind we were very excited. Unfortunately having suffered failure with the stock engine we could not offer good feedback to the guys in the states. By now tuners over the pond had begun to release figures with this hybrid turbo and detailed write ups on driveability etc. I must say the figures were a bit optimistic with the claimed boost levels but we knew the turbo could do the numbers if we upped the boost.

So anyway we have neared completion and the turbo has left me dumb founded… The turbo spools so fast that I notice no lag at all and it still flows the air up top. This is something we hoped for but in reality I was a bit dubious if there was actually a turbo out there that could do this. This turbo has proved what stock frame turbo development has achieved over the years. Is there a need for a full blown 3076 setup now??? Well I am yet to see a reason why…. The turbo produced the numbers and with all supporting mods on the car it ran back to back runs between 520-533BHP. Once again Matt’s mapping skills deserve praise as there is no surge whatsoever…

The valve train

The only modifications made to valve train were the addition of Kelford valve springs and Cosworth MX1 camshafts. THE RACING LINE as many other tuners noticed the 4b11 was susceptible to valve float at relatively lower power levels than the old 4g63, so the cure for this was uprating valve springs. The Cosworth cams were a must in the end as the hybrid turbo suffered unwanted surge without these.

Forged Components

I heard a lot of talk about “piston slap” and JE pistons seemed to be notorious for this, I must say however I have not heard this at all. The engine sounds just like the standard unit did and there is nothing to indicate the engine is forged which I am pleased about.

Drivetrain

The addition of hardened engine a gearbox mounts makes for a bit of vibration in the cabin during idle however its not as harsh as I expected… I am now use to it and it doesn’t affect the daily drive of the vehicle and no passengers have ever mentioned it or felt uncomfortable due to this upgrade. I actually like the feel of the mounts and have had them on previous vehicles I have owned. The evo x is notorious for its notchy gear changes and we found with the addition of all the drive train upgrades this is no longer apparent. I can honestly say the gears are silky smooth from cold. It is like having a brand new gearbox installed,” pure bliss!”. Young Joe@THE RACING LINE done a good job with the install because it feels better than when it left the factory. I was expecting the common clutch rattle having opted for the Cusco twin plate, for some reason the evo x’s don’t seem to suffer from this as much and its hardly noticeable. The clutch pedal is actually lighter than standard and feels no different than most standard items, this was a pleasant surprise and makes it drivable and easy to live with. You would never know it had a twin plate other than the “squark” during low speed downshifts.

Suspension

The KW CLUBSPORT COILOVERS have proved to be one of the best suspensions I have ever had the pleasure of using. Whilst it has slowed me slightly on the bumpier b roads because they are stiffer and cant soak up the massive pot holes they continue to impress in every other field. On motorway and normal road speeds there is no harshness at all, the ride is so smooth and offers great feedback through the steering. There is no body roll whatsoever and the under steer I was previously experiencing has gone. The combination of the coilovers, uprated lower arm bushes, whiteline roll centre adjustment and uprated tie rod ends seem to work in harmony together. Stevie at UNIT8 did an excellent job setting up the suspension geometry and the tyres will loose traction before any hint of roll. I can now comfortably hold a slide through a corner with confidence and apply throttle throughout cornering. The stock handling of the evo x is amazing but now its just immense! The tyres on the car are budget Kumhos which I feel have gone off as they have been sitting with the cars load for almost a year, cant wait to try the setup with some r888’s or similar. I need some track time with the car to dial in the suspension properly but I will defo be going back to Stevie for my suspension needs. Please bear in mind the clubsport setup is track orientated and it is shocking just how compliant they are on road. They ultimately do slow you slightly on some of the rougher roads but that’s to be expected with any track setup, for a road car I think the KW V3’S which Stevie sells will be just as impressive. The car carries a lot more speed through corners now and to be honest the stock suspension with eibach springs felt uncomfortable in comparison. For my needs I give this suspension a 10/10 and hope to see many others running KW setups in the future.

Driveability and Mapping

 
Some have said to me “ does it feel over powered and hard to handle”, “Does it feel too much for the road”… To be honest I don’t feel anything but confidence in the car, the way its been setup the following words describe it best:

PLANTED
POWER ON TAP AND BRUTAL
CONTROLABLE
CONFIDENCE INSPIRING
GREAT SPREAD OF POWER

The entire spec was well thought out and that along with the excellent mapping makes for the perfect road car. I cant thank the Racing Line enough and the others that helped along the way in the project.

I now feel the need to uprate the intercooler, spark plugs and ignition system before anymore power.

The car has been down the airfield briefly and is yet to be beaten on a roll… no launches yet as its due to go for a feature soon hopefully. Its been against a Gallardo, r1, evo 4 2.3 with apt 3076 and various others. Certainly does the business

 

Thank you very much GUM for this nice read-up.

 

Please visit racing line http://www.theracingline.co.uk