EVO IX

[Justin Fox]

Few stone chips here and there (to be expected, right?).


Borrowed wheels.


Nice and clean.


OEM seats are nice and in great condition.




Yesterday I traded my DC2R in on Zi's 2007 EVO IX (Zi from JDMyard).

Zi had a customer (he's on JDMST apparently) who owned this car for a few months, spent a tonne of money on the 100,000km service at IS Motor Racing and apparently decided he couldn't afford to keep the car anymore so he traded it in to JDMyard on a civic with a K-swap.

Re: DC2R - I was really starting to like it (especially how it looked once washed!), but in reality I just too slow for a daily driver. I miss the low-down torque of the Golf GTI and it's ability to dart in and out of traffic gaps on the way to and from work. The DC2R struggles to overtake Grandma in her Corolla in 3rd gear (when cruising in 5th gear @ 60km/hr). Too much work to drop it into 2nd!

Re: EVO - I (still) really wanted a TME but they're getting old now and I didn't really want to take a risk. I don't personally like the EVO's shape, looks like a fridge with a wing, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it's performance as a daily driver. The only thing I'm a little nervous about is fuel.


Car History

Zi assured me the car was in great condition. JDMyard did a compression test before taking the car and they found the engine to be very healthy. I spent a lot of time hunting (cyber stalking) down the original owner and found him on the evolutionoz.net forums (username Andy05). The guy is an absolute champ. I've read ALL of his posts dating back to when he was still looking for an EVO and he's just been a great contributor to that forum, and like me, he really knows how to look after his cars (over-servicing FTW).

Andy05 bought the car from new, and has commented that the car was very strong from new. With a Ralliart filter, MR BOV and silicon intake pipe it pulled a very healthy 164kw atw on Indy's dyno.

He then installed a Tomei dump and front pipe, high flow cat and HKS exhaust and an HKS boost controller; set at 22psi it pulled 195kw atw on the IS Motor Racing dyno and Indy commented that it was the highest reading he had seen for a IX with these mods and standard ECU.

The car was then tuned by Dyno Dave at SAS:



Andy05 also took the car out to the drags one time and his results were:

Username/Driver :Andy05
Vehicle: 07 Evo IX
Track : WSID
Date :21/9/11
Details of Time incl ET, 60 foot & Terminal Speed : 12.559, 60ft 1.795, 110.27MPH
Tyres : Advan Neova AD08
Fuel (Race or Pump) : Pump BP98
Any other relevant info : Exhaust, tune, 22psi, intake, stock clutch.

Not bad at all.


Observations & Plans

The interior is super clean and it isn't a bad place to be in. A lot nicer looking than a 6.5 that's for sure. You sit really high in the car though, especially coming from a DC2R.

Something isn't right with the brakes, feels like the pads have glazed over (maybe from the last JDMyard private track day). I'll look into replacing pads ASAP.

I'm happy with the power it's making. It's a bit laggier than the GTI (that's to be expected) but she comes on song from 3500 rpm which feels a lot better than waiting for VTEC in the DC2R (try 5,500 rpm before anything happens).

The suspension (Tein S-Tech lowering springs) is super soft. It's comfy, but when you're gunning it the entire car dips forward and backwards when upshifting. The car really deserves some good coilovers.

The brand new Exedy Sports Organic clutch (installed during it's big 100,000km service at ISMR) is crazy grabby. I love it.

Exterior is super clean but the windshield has a lot of stone chips in it. The previous owner did a lot of highway driving apparently. I'll have to keep an eye out for cracks I suppose. Interior is super clean too, could do with some new floor mats.

The car has bald tyres (was stupid slippery last track day). The JDMyard guys are sorting me out with some quality rubber next week (they've lent me another wheelset in the meantime).


Latest Photos




















Most recent shot thanks to the SB boys.

Modifications

ENGINE
--------------------------------------------------
Tomei dump pipe
Tomei front pipe
Hotside pipe
Silicon intake pipe
Ralliart air filter
EVO 8MR BOV
Ralliart radiator schroud
Ralliart oil cap
Ralliart radiator cap
Walbro fuel pump

DRIVETRAIN
--------------------------------------------------
Exedy sports organic clutch

SUSPENSION
--------------------------------------------------
Tein Mono Flex
Cusco 3-point front strut brace with brake master cylinder stopper
Cusco rear strut brace

WHEELS
--------------------------------------------------
RAYS Gramlights 57DR 18x9.5 +22
RAYS centre caps
RAYS lugnuts
Advan Neova 255/35/18

OEM 'Performance Pack' forged BBS
Hankook Ventus R-s3 245/40/17
20mm bolt-on spacers front & back

BRAKES
--------------------------------------------------
DBA 4000 T3 rotors (front)
Ferodo DS2500 (front & rear)
Goodridge braided lines (front & rear)

EXHAUST
--------------------------------------------------
HKS Silent cat-back exhaust
Metal cat high flow cat

EXTERIOR
--------------------------------------------------
Genuine OEM SE front lip
Beatrush plate holder
Perrin shorty antenna

ELECTRICS
--------------------------------------------------
HKS EVC 5 boost controller
19PSI Channel A, 22PSI channel B
Auto Meter boost gauge

INTERIOR
--------------------------------------------------
Tegiwa duracon shift knob
Genuine Ralliart floor mats

[slowKeto]

Cant wait to see the pics! Im surprised that you didnt like the dc2r... But an evo for a daily, not bad :L

[nykwhy]

Another build thread from JF, sign me up!

[Nathg]

Yesss, good to see you are back in an evo!

[George.]

Sounds like an awesome daily. Keen to see pics

[JDM33]

Evo as a daily- not bad at all!! Will be keeping an eye on this

[autechlol]

Nice, a big step forward compared to the dc2

[big fat paulie]

Was wondering why I saw the DC2R out on Cumberland Hwy yesterday.
Good luck with the evo. Looks like it will be a fun car.

[MR2QIK]

Congrats dude! It's a whitey from memory. Much easier to keep clean on a daily basis than your black DC2R. Wouldn't worry about the fuel consumption so much if it's been tuned well. You'll be a lot happier cruising around on the highway with that 6speed than the TME's 5speed. But I think the TME's handling would've won you over.

[13BWAT]

evo-daily-JF build thread-more mods

SIGN ME UP!!!!

[Nachos]

JF!!! Evo Nation, Cant wait to see pics... Ive always had a soft spot for Evo's

[Tyranus]

Nice buy. People who bitch about lag and drive-ability usually opt to get a 2.5 STi instead of an EVO. Its good that you got an EVO. Im tossing up inbetween a STi and EVO for a daily let me know how the EVO does as a daily.

[muncher]

looking forward to seeing some pics and the progress of this build!

P.S. Have you still got the Zoomer?

[jd_911]

YES!

[Justin Fox]

Cheers guys, way too cold and miserable to wash the car and take pics. Will do ASAP.

Nice, a big step forward compared to the dc2

Yes and no I suppose. I think the DC2R is prettier (in terms of shape) and I like the low seating position. Steering feel is also way better in the DC2R, the steering in the EVO is just ridiculously light!

It's a whitey from memory. Much easier to keep clean on a daily basis than your black DC2R. I think the TME's handling would've won you over.

Yes it's white and yup, should be easier to keep clean (though nothing quite beats a clean black car!). For sure the TME just feels way tighter all-round. It feels lighter, maybe because it's smaller too. I just love the 5/6 shape so much.

Im tossing up inbetween a STi and EVO for a daily let me know how the EVO does as a daily.

Will do.

P.S. Have you still got the Zoomer?

Sure do!