A street weapon awaiting its prey.
Those of you who read Because RC would know that the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution means a lot to me (Brian). After almost a year of running becauserc.com, finally we are going to dedicate a month to the Lancer Evolution! To say that I am excited would be an understatement. However, for this special month, all of the cars we feature would be from the third generation body style carrying the model code “CT9A” that covers the Lancer Evolution VII to IX MR due to car availability.
Most of the time, this is the view you will see.
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Despite all of them being from the same generation, we managed to source 4 good examples with various level of modifications ranging from mild to wild to showcase how flexible of a platform the Lancer Evolution can be. To start with, we have Faiz and his lightly modded Lancer Evolution IX GSR. Despite being a lightly modded example, it is still a force to be reckon with on the street and on the touge. Being a JDM example, the Lancer Evolution IX was only produced for one model year in 2005 with the next revision, the Lancer Evolution IX MR, being the last of the CT9A generation along with the 4G63 engine.
The interior is stripped as Faiz wanted to test the agility of the EVO with a stripped interior.
The Motec C125 display/data logger allows Faiz to keep an eye on all the engines vital parameter. The items to be displayed could be fully customized and warnings can be set accordingly too. The two button at the side allow Faiz to control the C125 display.
What make a Lancer Evolution so special? For one, they are actually produced to satisfy FIA homologation requirements of 2500 production car per calendar year with the same drivetrain and engine configuration as the Group A WRC(World Rally Championship) car so Mitsubishi can campaign the Lancer Evolution in WRC. With Tommi Makinen behind the wheel, they managed to bag 4 consecutive WRC driver championships from 1996 to 1999 and also grabbing the WRC manufacturer championship in 1998 with the Lancer Evolution V. To celebrate these achievements, Mitsubishi released the Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Makinen Edition back in 2000 which is the ultimate EVO for a lot of EVO purist and it is insanely cool.
Anyone want to go for a b-road blast?
Nothing screams functional as loud as a Recaro seat.
The Lancer Evolution IX we are featuring today is a GSR variant which is the highest trim level and it is the most common variant all over the world. It is the variant of choice for daily drivers and Faiz uses his as one. Being as GSR, it came with the standard 6 speed manual transmission which is more pleasant for highway cruising and S-AYC(Super Active Yaw Differential) rear differential which is essentially a electronically controlled torque vectoring differential. The AYC has been featured in every Lancer Evolution GSR trim level since the Lancer Evolution IV. If you think the latest generation Ford Focus RS torque vectoring rear differential is impressive for a production car, Mitsubishi actually produced their production car with such devices 20 years ago! With no doubt, the Lancer Evolution is the halo car for Mitsubishis performance car line up back in the 90s due to its success in WRC. This is a rather odd scenario as the top dog of the Mitsubishi performance car line up was suppose to be the GTO/3000GT rather than the Lancer Evolution.
As you can see from the picture, the engine is kept mostly stock with only minor modification.
The airbox is custom fabricated to ensure the engine only sucks in cold air which helps a lot in reducing heat soak.
When Faiz is shopping for a daily driver he required it to be able to fit a children’s seat at the back and have an actual trunk to carry groceries, thus, the Lancer Evolution fit the bill well. When he spotted this Lancer Evolution IX up for sales, he went to have a look and a good financing deal means he decided to buy it. Faiz had always wanted a Lancer Evolution so it certainly contribute to how he ended up with this tastefully modded example of an Lancer Evolution IX.
After Faiz took delivery of the car, he upgraded the brakes to AP Racing CP5060 brake calipers along with 2 piece AP Racing 380mm big rotors. This is a fairly serious setup that Faiz is happy of. This is one of the major changes to the car after Faiz took delivery of the car.
Because of 380mm brake rotor, an upgrade to 18″ is a must. The wheel of choice is an SSR Type F in EVO friendly fitment of 18×8.5+30 wrapped in 245/40/18 Michelin PS3.
Beside being a Daily Driver, Faiz frequently visits the touge with this car. After he bought the car, he did some changes to the suspension setup and added Cusco anti roll bars along with some braces. The handling and braking of this car is his favorite aspect of the Lancer Evolution with the handling balance being a point that stood out for him despite having driven his fair share of cars. He also states that all the hardware like the ACD(Active Center Differential),S-AYC and excellent ABS system gave him a lot of confidence when dancing through a corner.
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RCS is now known as RDS. Their 3 way adjustable coilover setup features an external reservoir. This allows Faiz & RDS to dial in the perfect setup. Have your cake and eat it too? It is certainly possible with this setup.
The ultimate street weapon? It certainly is and Faiz enjoys his as such. For the future, if the Lancer Evolution IX gets discharged from daily driver duty, he may run a more aggressive setup and track it. Till then, have fun hunting Faiz and his ultimate street weapon at touge route.
Stance of a plug &play fitment for Lancer Evolution CP9A/CT9A. Spec like this require 0 fender work.
Faiz’s Lancer Evolution IX GSR specification:
Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR
Power: 300WHP on Dynojet at 1.4bar
Engine
Stock
Intake
Custom cold air intake
Exhaust
3” downpipe
3” cat delete pipe
Greddy TI-R catback exhaust
Turbo
Turbosmart blow off valve
Cooling
Stock
Ignition
Stock
Engine Bay Accessories
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Fueling
Sard fuel pressure regulator
Tomei fuel rail
Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
Electronic
Reflashed stock ECU
Motec C125 data logger dash display
Drivetrain
Exedy twin plate clutch
Chassis
Greddy front strut tower bar
Ralliart reat strut tower bar
Cusco front member power brace
Suspension
Front
RDS(Radical Dynamic Solution) 3 way adjustable coilover with external reservoir
Cusco anti roll bar
Rear
RDS(Radical Dynamic Solution) 3 way adjustable coilover with external reservoir
Cusco anti roll bar
Brake
Front
AP racing 6 pot CP5060 brake caliper
AP racing 380mm 2 piece brake disc
Brake caliper bracket
Braided brake line
Rear
Braided brake line
Exterior
Ralliart front lip
Interior
Recaro SP-G III driver seat
Recaro SR-11 pasenger seat
Lighting
Stock
Wheel & Tyre
Front and Rear
SSR Type F 18×8.5+30 wheel
Michelin PS3 245/40/18 tyre
Audio
Radio delete
Lubricant
Liqui Moly 10W60 synthetic engine oil
Lucas oil stabilizer
Track time/Racing achievement:
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