So, I started on a bone stock lancer CC GSR 4g93t, and over the last few years have gone down the path of the standard bolt on mods that one can do on these cars, worked out from the forums here.
Now I never started with a plan because I was ignorant of these cars at the time, its only as I have done stuff that I have found out what you can do to them and so have only been able to work out what to do next as I have worked on the car.
Note that my particular plan is to keep the car looking as low key as possible, use the engine I have to extract as much reliable power as possible (so only going for 160kw atw), make it steer and stop and have some fun.
I am about 2/3 of the way through the mods to do this, once these are all done I have a dream to forge or convert to a 4g63, but along the way, so far, some of the things I have done have been good, some less so and so here they are (with my thoughts against each item) to look at, for people starting out and to take from them what learnings they want. Upon reflection there can't be too many of these sorts of people left, these cars are old!
- ECMLink V3Lite;
yes most definitely a good move; even with my limited experience I have been able to do some basic tuning to get it running well enough for a daily.
- Walbro 255 in tank pump
Yes and no, would not recommend a Walbro, too noisy, but definitely a required upgrade; if I had my time again I would do this, just would pick a quieter brand.
- Fuel pump wiring upgrade
Yes
- 540 cc injectors
- 609 AFM
Yes to both, lots of variety here, this is what I have chosen to support my modest power gains
- FMIC from an XR6
Ok mod, cheap, $80, no idea if a bigger FM would make a useful difference, but this fits behind the standard bar, is almost a direct bolt in and is OK for the modest power I am making. I suspect once one gets over 160 – 180 KW atw it will be a good idea to improve on this, but it does come from a car making 240KW at the flywheel (from memory), so good enough for starters.
- 3” mandrel bend turbo back exhaust
For the power I am making, and will make for the forseable future, OTT. I reckon a 2 1/2“ would have done the job and I could have saved some folding. This is one that befits from some thought.
- New polyurethane bushes throughout front, with castor correction and anti dive, with camber bolts as well.
Not so sure about this one. By the time I'd bought the front bushes, the camber bolts and had them all fitted, it would not have cost much more to get a K-MAC Suspension Camber and Caster adjuster kit. True the new bushes have tightened up the front end, and the original bushes were 20 years old, so really can't decide if this was the right thing to do. Certainly some careful thought required here as well.
- Front strut brace
Christmas present, so not complaining! When I fitted it it seemed to make a difference, as measured by the backside meter; I would do this again.
- EVO 1 enki wheels and EVO1 front brakes
Yes, Yes, Yes
- whiteline 20mm rear sway bar
Yes
- All rear suspension bushes replaced with SuperPro polyurethane items
Yes, if a weekend fun track car
No I would not do this again, as I drive the this car 20K kms a year, ride is too harsh, absolutely love it on smooth roads, anything less than that though, and it crashes, bangs and rides like it is on wagon wheels.
I think you can get rubber bushes stiffer than stock, which would be ok for me.
My advice (which is worth what you are paying for it), is if you do lots of road miles, stay with rubber bushes in the rear.
- Short shifter
Yes
- Replace all gear linkage bushes in cabin and at gearbox
Yes
- EVO1 seats
Yes, but, maybe look at later EVO model seats. The EVO1 seats are so much better than stock but still not good enough (which surprised me) when you start to throw it around.
- New carpet from Knox auto carpets
Yes
Still have to fit WB, bigger turbo, boost controller, and get a proper tune. If I have any useful thoughts on any of these I will add another post but sadly I don't get seem to get to new mods as quick as I would like, so it may be a while.
Hope this gives anyone interested some useful info.
Edited by Dave_GSR1.8, 27 August 2015 - 12:59 PM.