Project EVO IX

We swapped in a set of Ferodo DS2500 brake pads and the difference was dramatic. These are the pads Mitsubishi should have included from the factory. A good street-tire pad, the DS2500 provides extra bite and feel, and has a higher heat capacity range than stock. This is important to us because we'll be using our Evo IX at NASA HPDE days as well as autocross events. To that end, we also threw on a set of Goodridge stainless steel braided brake lines and then bled the system with Motul RBF600 brake fluid. The Goodridge lines are simple, direct-fit factory replacement pieces that give a much more consistent pedal feel during track days. Combined with the high boiling point of the RBF600 fluid, the Goodridge lines allowed us to go through an entire weekend with a hard, solid brake pedal where before we'd be bleeding our brakes trackside after just a couple of lapping sessions.

Although we have an 80mm GReddy SP2 street exhaust waiting to go on, we have yet to touch the engine in Project Evo IX. So we figured this was as good a time as any to try out a few stock engine tricks. After seeing too many aftermarket intakes run into air turbulence issues through the MAF, we decided to keep the stock intake box in place. We used a simple K&N Engineering drop-in panel filter and saw a peak horsepower gain of four wheel-hp and a peak torque loss of 0.5lb-ft from our baseline of 253.5 wheel-hp and 247lb-ft. We did, however, see a gain of 7.8lb-ft lower down, at about 4200rpm. The K&N filter won't give that bypass valve whoosh, but it will give you a car that can run past 300 wheel-hp with no driveability issues from the intake. We'll take that any day.

SCCA Solo rules part 14.10, E, #5 state that "VTEC controllers and other devices may be used which alter the timing of factory standard electronic variable valve timing systems." While you won't see any 'powered by VTEC' stickers on the back of Project Evo IX, there is a MIVEC badge on the valve cover. MIVEC, which stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control system, is the Evo IX's variable intake cam phasing system. By altering the intake cam phasing and the resultant effect on overlap, Mitsubishi engineers were able to increase low-end power and boost response compared to the Evo VIII, without any loss of driveability.

GReddy recently released a new line-up of plug-and-play V-manage variable valve timing ECUs, and we installed one in all of three minutes. GReddy sells the V-manage as a kit, which includes a dummy-proof jumper harness and a pre-programmed V-manage ECU. Tuned in-house at GReddy for compatibility with USDM Evo IXs, the V-manage also includes software so that you can use a laptop to create your own valve timing program, based on engine load and revs. The V-manage doesn't have the ability to alter timing or fuel, that's what GReddy's E-manage and E-manage Ultimate are for, but the stock pre-programmed map is designed to work with most stock turbo Evo IXs. We drove GReddy's own Evo IX, which was equipped with a full titanium exhaust and a V-manage unit. Low-end gains were very noticeable, using the almighty ass-dyno, especially from 2500rpm and up.

Another interesting feature of the V-manage is its data logging. Once hooked up to a laptop, the V-manage software can sample data every 20ms and can record and save logged files. Possible sampled data includes rpm, throttle position, airflow adjustment percentage, airflow input and output, intake valve timing values, ignition timing, vehicle speed, and more. The required USB cable isn't included, but it's an easy purchase at any electronics store.

On the dyno, the V-manage managed (no pun intended) to coax out 3.3 wheel-hp and 6.1lb-ft of torque peak, using the stock paper filter. Once we put the K&N air filter back in, peak gains jumped up to 7.9 wheel-hp and 10.4lb-ft with the extra air. Most importantly, the combination of V-manage and K&N filter helped make 19 wheel-hp and 30.7lb-ft of torque at a very usable 3300rpm. We expect a V-manage will show even more gains with a turbo-back exhaust, a new set of cams, an increase in boost, and custom tuning.

With just a few choice mods, we've laid the foundation for our autocrossing all-wheel-drive machine. Next, we'll take Project Evo IX to the track for testing and then get down to the dirty business of putting together a lower, stiffer suspension that works properly.

With the V-manage's built-in datalogger, multiple parameters can be logged and recorded. Each parameter shown is selectable to be viewed.

V-manage datalog files can be saved as text files and played back later. Data is sampled every 20ms, which can be useful for examining your current program.