September 2008
1 post
Evo 9, retune with M3 cams
Retuned a 9 today that originally made 327whp / 308wtq on 91 octane on stock cams, stock turbo. He recently added Cosworth M3 cams and I retuned the car. No changes in peak horsepower but torque got a healthy bump and the midrange filled in more.
The M3 cams are torque monsters, even on 91 octane. Peak boost was only 23.5 psi.
327whp / 322wtq Mods: TBE no cat Nisei LICP GST defcon eleventy...
August 2008
5 posts
Evo 9 + ETS PT6262 turbo kit
Had a repeat customer come in for a retune after installing yet another new turbo.
2006 Evo 9
Mods: ETS PT6262 turbo kit (equal length exhaust manifold) ETS 3” FMIC ETS Upper and lower IC pipes ETS intake Dejon BOV leak stop kit (stock Evo 9 bov) RC 1200cc injectors Walboro Fuel Pump Forced Performance 4R cams (271/271) Springs and retainers ARP head studs MilSpec ThrottleBody 3” TBE...
E85 + Evo 9
E85 is turning into a race gas replacement. Just an amazing fuel. 403whp/378wtq $3.69/gallon Stock ECU Was hot and muggy in the dyno room today as well.
Main power mods: FPgreen Stevo8 Spec ported hotside Ported exhaust mani Ported intake mani Cosworth 272/272 mivec cams HKS Cam gear Springs/Retainers ARP headstuds Works TB TBE no cat Titek 02 housing Forge Wastegate Actuator RC 1000cc...
Tuning with E85
E85 (15% gasoline and 85% ethanol) is making it’s way to the Bay Area so now I can finally play around with it.
To use E85 on the Evo, the fuel system needs to be upgraded to meet the increased fueling needs of E85. For stock or variant turbos, a upgraded fuel pump (that most have already) and 1000cc injectors will usually be enough.
The biggest advantage of using E85 is increased octane...
Evo 9 stock potential
Here is a 100% bone stock Evo 9 with only our base flash on it. Our base flash is as close to a “one size fits all” map we offer for 100% stock Evo 9’s. This is not a custom tune, just flash and go, the only thing I did was do three pulls back to back to make sure it was running correctly and the AFR looked good.
Three pulls back to back with our base flash:
As you can see,...
WatchWhat happens when we are bored on a Saturday night at the shop…
Evo 9 RS
Three pulls back to back after tune was finalized. I do this to show consistancy. If the car drops power between runs, obviously the tune isn’t very consistant. On this chart run #3 is the first pull, #2 the second pull and so on. As you can see it gains horsepower run to run and torque stays constant. 2006 Evo 9 RS
Mods:
AEM intake ETS 3” FMIC ETS Intercooler pipes RC 750cc...
July 2008
16 posts
The track side advantage
Many of my customers use their cars for track use. Be it HPDE or actual timed competition.
One of the services I offer is full real-world data logging and tuning, at the track or autocross. Our dyno works great at simulating real-world load the car sees. We specifically set it up so that it matches street load. However, custom dyno tune only goes so far. For the true advantage, especially in a...
Tuning for the real world..
While pretty dyno sheets are great, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing my work in real world action, and doing well.
Below are some examples.
WatchEvo 9, 2nd place in street class at Redline Time Attack, Buttonwillow
WatchSponsored and tuned Evo 9 at a local AutoX, 2nd place in Street Mod
WatchDanny in his GST Sponsored and tuned 400whp Evo 8 AutoX monster
Chris Warner at a local AutoX in Street Mod
Like stock, but better
The Evo 9 is a good car out of the box, but with some very small little tweaks, and not much cash outlay, it can go from good to being much better, while still looking 100% stock. Here is a good example: 2006 Evolution SE Base numbers 100% stock from the showroom floor:
234whp / 230wtq Then with just the addition of: GST Boost assembly (100% stock appearing) GST Custom dyno tune 266whp / 264wtq...
Another NASA Time Trial sponsored Evo 8
Had another NASA Time Trial sponsored Evo 8 on the dyno this week.
Unfortunatly the turbo ended up being blown so we had to pull it off the dyno to swap turbos. Swapped the turbo and it ended up having a bad starter so it wouldn’t start unless we push started it. Obviously I couldn’t push start it on the dyno so it will be coming back next week to finish up the tune.
Week of retunes
This week has been a bunch of retunes.
See below
Evo 9 retune for cosworth M3 cams
Evo 9 back in for a retune after swapping his Cosworth M2 (272/272) for Cosworth M3 (280/272) cams.
Put it back on the dyno and it didn’t make any power gains, it was actually down on torque since last time, which was very odd since he want to a larger intake cam. The last three times this car has been on the dyno it never really made any gains. I knew at this point something was wrong with...
Evo 9 retune for FORGE wastegate actuator
Did a quick retune on this Evo 9 as the owner added a FORGE upgraded wastegate actuator to try and fix some higher RPM power drop that he had with the stock actuator.
This is a Evo 9 with a FPgreen and the usual supporting mods. 91 octane + meth I would say the power holds pretty well now, three pulls back to back to show consistancy of tune:
Evo 9 retune for ARC airbox
Another track car and another retune. This time the owner added a ARC airbox. Putting it on the dyno and doing a baseline pull showed bolting on the ARC airbox provided no gains from when he was tuned with the stock OEM airbox with drop-in filter.
After retuning was a different story. +13whp / +4wtq peak Large gains in area under the curve from 5500 rpm on, perfect for a track car that usually...
June 2008
5 posts
Redline Time Attack Utah
A GST Sponsored and tuned Evo 9 prepped for Redline Time Attack captured 2nd place in Street Class at Miller Motorsports park in Utah this weekend. The street class was very close this weekend at Utah, 1st through 3rd all within a second. 1st place was a 500whp Subaru STi with a 1:45.342, and 2nd was our sponsored 360whp Evo 9 with a 1:45.740.
Evo 8 tune
This Evo baselined with quite a lean AFR on 91 octane with the tune it came in with. I actually ended up getting out of it before the full pull was completed as I forgot where we put the shop mop… 30 counts of knock when I let off (the knock sensor pegs at 36 counts) 3 pulls back to back after I finalized the tune:
2005 Evo GSR Mods: TBE RRE rally cat (resonated test pipe) AEM intake...
Evo 8 tune
2005 Evo GSR Mods: HKS 264/272 cams Stock Cam gears RC 750cc injectors Walbro fuel pump Works 3” downpipe Helix HFC Helix Catback Stock airbox GST Boost assembly using ECU controlled boost GST Custom dyno tune (oem ecu flash) Last 3 pulls back to back after I finalized the tune:
Evo 9 retune with Cosworth M2 cams
A customer came in to get some Cosworth M2 cams installed on his Evo 9 and retuned. In the past, his Evo always seemed a little weak for the mods he had, espically the torque numbers and curve. Wasn’t low enough to sound an alarm but it was on the softer side of 9’s. So after the install we decided to do a boost leak test since it had never had one. Well, it only took about 3 psi...
Sponsored NASA Time Trial Evo 9 shatters TTS track...
Sean Mackenzie, driving his GST Sponsored Evo 9 shattered the TTS track record at Thunderhill Saturday, running a 1:57.396. 2nd place was 4 seconds behind.
This is one of our sponsored NASA Time Trial Evo 9’s that I custom tune.
Huge congrats to Sean for going super fast and shattering the track record!
May 2008
4 posts
Evo 9 retune for 100 oct + map switching mod
A customer came back in today to get a retune for 100 octane and have the map switching feature installed. This allows map switching on the OEM ECU with a flip of a switch.
+23whp / +26wtq peak
100 octane is solid line, 91 octane is dotted line:
Mods: PTE 780 injectors Walbro 255 pump Injen open intake with licp & uicp port matched/coated exhaust manifold tanabe concept G tbe Stock...
Evo 8 - from stock tune to custom tune
This is a good example to show how much power there is to be had from a custom dyno tune compared to just bolting on parts and retaining the OEM factory tune. Solid lines are GST custom dyno tune, dotted lines are stock tune how the car rolled onto the dyno off the street (with OEM factory tune):
2003 Evo GSR Mods: TBE no cat Hallman MBC Open Filter FMIC Stock 9.8 hotside turbo GST Custom dyno...
Evo 9 retune for biggie injectors
This car came in for a retune with the ARC box / GM 3 port and the RC 1000cc injectors. He wanted the 1000cc since he is moving to E85 very soon. The RC 1000cc’s work great on the stock ecu. Fuel trims are spot on and the car is very smooth. This Evo ended up having a bad wastegate actuator (was in a accident which pushed in the turbo area) which cause some really bad boost spikes that could...
Evo 9 - from stock tune to custom tune
This Evo 9 came in for a custom dyno tune. It had some bolt on parts but was still running the OEM factory tune.
Huge gains on this one from a custom tune! +27whp/+47wtq peak, large gains in turbo spool up, and over 40whp gains at 7,000rpm. Dotted lines are OEM factory tune, solid lines are with Custom dyno tune: 2006 Evo 9 MR Mods: TBE no cat Vibrant open air filter + MAF adapter Hallman MBC...
April 2008
2 posts
Evo 9 with FPgreen turbo upgrade
Pretty good numbers for a catted Evo with fpgreen and stock cams.
2006 Evo 9 MR Mods: FPgreen turbo Forge 21psi spring wastgate actuator TBE exhaust MILSPEC 100cell cat Ported/coated stock exhaust manifold Titek tubular 02 housing Buschur open filter Forge Carbon airbox Samco turbo inlet hose Samco IC pipe couplers ETS 3” FMIC SS LICP Denso 720cc injectors Walboro 255lph fuel pump Sun...
Evo 9 tune
2006 Evo MR Mods: TBE no cat Megan tubular 02 housing Megan tubular exhaust manifold Sun HyperForce Nisei Intercooler pipes Nisei FMIC Denso 720cc injectors Walboro 255lph fuel pump GST open air filter Stock turbo Stock cams GM 3port boost solenoid using ECU-controlled boost GST Custom dyno tune (oem ecu flash) 91 octane
March 2008
3 posts
Evo 9 - moving from a test pipe back to a cat
A customer came in to get a retune on 91 oct since he moved from a test pipe to a 100 cell cat because the car will be entered into the Redline Time Attack street class which has a cat rule. Dotted lines are with test pipe, solid lines are with new 100 cell cat: Didn’t give up much with the 100 cell cat. Lost 5whp and 11wtq. Most of the hp loss is from having to run slightly less boost up...
Evo 9 - GT3076 power
This was a retune as the customer added some Mivec cams to realize the true potential of the GT30. He wanted to move away from Meth and stick with straight octane this time around. We retuned the car on 91 octane and then moved to 104 octane unleaded. Car made great power, with great spool on 91 octane @ 22.5psi, 10.9-11.0 AFR 350whp / 285wtq Moving to 104 octane, I ran into the limits of his...
2005 Evo MR with GSC S1 cams
I’m noticing the S1’s give a very trademark curve on the Evo 8’s. Nice flat torque and sustained horsepower up top. I also notice they hate timing down low. Last four cars I have tuned with them have to run 2-3 less degrees at peak torque than others. Nice running Evo overall and good power for 21.5 psi and a MBC. 301whp / 275 wtq
Last two pulls back to back (1 minute apart...
February 2008
2 posts
Pushing the stock ECU
This was a very well planned out Evo that had a great part list and it showed in the output. Looks almost 100% stock on the outside (stock wheels, ride height, etc) but packs a huge punch on straight 91 octane. The owner came in with a “self-tune” on the car that was actually pretty good, although a tad aggressive for my liking. This car was fairly easy to tune and I contribute that...
Nasa Time Trials Evo 8 track car
Perfect power curves for track use
2005 Evo RS Mods: Evo 9 Turbo Sun Hyperforce Nisi Street intercooler Crucial Ported coated manifold GSC S1 cams BR Upper Intercooler Pipe AMS LICP 80mm Catless exhaust AEM intake FIC 780 injectors Walbro Fuel Pump Evo 9 BOV Tubular 02 Housing Forge 21psi wastegate Acutator GST boost assembly using Ecu Boost GST Custom Dyno tune 110 Octane
November 2007
1 post
2003 Evo 8 with Evo 9 turbo
The Evo 9 turbo is a great upgrade for the 2003-2004 Evo 8.
2003 Evo GSR Mods: TBE no cat HKS 272/272 cams Cam Gears 720cc Injectors Drop-in Filter Fuel Pump Evo 9 turbo GM boost solenoid using PSI-target ECU boost control JDM Mitsu 3bar map sensor (for PSI-target boost control) GST Custom dyno tune (oem ecu flash) 91 octane
October 2007
0 posts
From stock to badass in one day
This customer came to us with a 100% bone stock Evo 9 MR SE with 8XX miles on it. He works with top fuel drag cars and decided a stock Evo was a bit ‘tame’ for him. We baselined the car 100% stock and went to work on installing the first round of mods for him. 2006 Evolution MR SE Mods: Tanabe 2.75” downpipe Test pipe Greddy Ti-C catback RC750cc injectors Walbro Fuel pump GM...