dangina

Hey guys new to the forum and trying to decide on what to do which will effectivly decide on what car to buy. Looking to buy a 08-11 lancer for the wife as a dd but my question to you is do the bodies of the lancer share the same body as a evo (other than the obvious front bumper seats drivetrain ect just talking about the shell itself) like do the doors interchange, is the floorboard the same ect.. The reason why I'm askin this is is it possible to turn a lancer into a evo with some cosmetic work and drivetrain/suspension change? What I'm thinking is getting into a lancer now, cheap on gas, cheap to buy and later down the road slowly change it into a evo as time goes by, so i can get into one now instead of waiting the and saying "someday I'll buy one" and never have the dream happen. I'm not new to cars ,engine, suspension swaps, ecu tuning, turbos/superchargers ect as I do all the work myself for my dd's and race cars, I just wanna know is it possible or has someone done this yet or the bodies are different but the ralli art and evo share the same frame...thanks for reading if you made it this far!

dano

M@verik

Ok essentially they do. The only difference is the evo is wider because of panelling. So body wise the interchangeable things are the hood, doors, roof and trunk. The front and rear bumper, and fenders have to all be changed at once. As for the drivetrain u will either have to use an evo drivetrain and suspension if u go for evo width or ralliart if u go for stock lancer width. For AWD, it can be done as the lancer already has an AWD canal in the car, but u will need to get a new fuel tank as this covers up a bit. Also u will need a new gearbox and a 4B11T engine as the ones in stock lancers will not handle major power as opposed to the turbocharged ones. Also u will need an evo ecu (maybe the stock lancers will work as it is pretty powerful), a good tuner and all the other various bits that go with it. Also if u really want to do this, buy a manual lancer and then convert to a manual evo. It would be a lot easier.

All in all it is a very expensive and complicated procedure, but it can be done. However, I do not recommend it as it could easily end up costing you more than to just buy an evo or ralliart.

turbotime

iTrader: (16)

the chassis of the ralliart and lancer are different then the evo.

So while you could bolt on the front section, and rear doors, the rear quarter panels/fender wells need to be cut and welded in and the rear bumper added.

Drivetrain and suspension are entirely different and would not bolt up.
For the suspenison in the front you would need a complete evo front subframe and suspension components.

The rear is almost not do able. You would have to get a evo rear cut, remove the lancer or ralliart floor, weld in the evo floor and go from there. This is very iffy due to the fact that now your messing with suspension geometry and what not.. your car may never be square or be able to get an alignment if its not done right.

all in all its not worth your time or money. by the time your done with it you could of bought 2 evos maybe even three.

Check out my build diary, I did the some what same idea with a 02-06 lancer and would never consider it again.

dangina

Thanks for the detailed info guys! I didn't know about the rear section of the car being that different but it is interesting to know that the floor comes AWD ready - I figured as much on the cosmetic and drivetrian/suspension, maybe I should look into buying one and converting it into awd for now and buy a evo later down the road..

Evo10HKS

iTrader: (1)

as said before, dont waste your money, if you really want a lancer right now, get a used ralliart, you can find them for about as low as a new GTS . you go in that project spending tons of money without the guarantee of it all working when your done. id say wait until you can actually afford an evo.

turbotime

iTrader: (16)

the floor is not awd ready...
the tunnel is there but it is no where near awd ready...
even if you wanted to install the ralliart rear end into a gts would be major work!!!!

if you want awd get a ralliart... if you want fwd get a lancer... its simple..