I'm wondering about the basic bolt on tuning mods available for my Evo IX. I'm not planning to do anything major to the car, no engine internals or turbo replacements and I'm not looking for a full engine management system. I like the car as it is stock but just want to increase the efficiency of what it naturally has and give it a nice tune.

What are the usual tuning mods for lightly modified Evos to increase their efficiency with basic bolt ons while tuning on the dyno? Do you generally use a piggy-back system? Direct ECU modification? Basically before I look into an Evo tuner in my area, I'm wondering what I'm going to need to have ready for them. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

oh man I can see it now...hundreds of peeps telling you to search

my opinion is this....for basic stage 1 or 2 mods

TBE, Custom Tune...maybe even a COBB AP if that suits your style....after that your looking at other stuff like cams, water/methanol, change out ICpipes and IC, turbo etc.....till your broke

 

your basic bolt on parts for a stage 1 evo ix good for 330+whp

tbe
K&n drop in filter
mbc
fuel pump
flash the stock ecu on a dyno

 

Sorry I must not worded my post very well, I'm not really looking at what sort of go-fast parts to get, I'm wondering specifically on the tuning aspect of the car, i.e. going to the dyno and doing something.

I used to tune Hondas and for that we usually used a piggy-back that modified MAP voltage to trick the ECU to adjust fuel accordingly as well as adjustable cam gears and fuel pressure regulator. I'm wondering what mods for the Evo you would need to get to do some dyno tuning, or if you don't need anything and can modify the stock ECU as necessary.

 

you dont need any piggy back or FPR, just tactrix cable and the basic programs like EcuFlash, etc.

 

All you or your tuner needs is a tactrix cable ($100), a laptop, evoscan ($20 maybe, I don't remember), and ecuflash and the stock ECU is yours to play with from fuel and spark to boost control and rev limiter.

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/evo-engine-management-tuning-forums-98/ Plenty of tuning info in these threads

 

Probably doesn't need a FP with a IX. The IX's fuel pump has plenty of output for light mods and mild boost increase.

The rest of the list is a good place to start. Look at mail in tunes from Mellon or Jestr. They will tune around your mods and adjust your afr and mivec for optimal output with your additions. They are just as good if not better than a dynotune. The prob with dynotunes is you don't know how much Evo experience the shop has unless it comes recommended. Mellon and Jestr have quite a bit of Evo know-how. Don't take my word for it. Do a search on them.

 

Check out our site.

We have the process layed out.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Yep, here's the man. I need to give you a call soon, too.

 

I am on aim all day. "mellontuning"

Most of the time I am not on at night.

/end thread jack

 

Thanks for the tips guys, I had no idea how much access there is to the stock ECU on these cars. Brad, since I'm sure you've tuned your share of Evos, for comparison sake how is the stock ECU program on a bone stock car? Is it set from the factory as good as it needs to be or are there improvements to be made over the powerband even without supporting modifications?

 

The factory has left ~10-20 hp on the table for a completely stock evo.

Too rich.

 

Can i blow up my car if all im doing is loging data? I want a Mellon Tune so i got the OBD cable and EvoScan. Im just not kozy with the fact i could blow it up. is this something that only a tuner should do?

 

boost controller, TBE, and a custom tune should net you 320-330whp and you will be happy with that. If you want to do a little more maybe add an intake, a bigger fmic, and an o2 housing and get up to about 360-370whp.