Love Evos and your MR looks like a great project. Keep up the good work. +1 on the Mahle pistons. Good choice. Too many owners want internet bragging rights or dyno queens. The most fun Evo is a reliable Evo.

Much appreciated. A reliable car is the best car.


Poor Subaru ringlands... I hope you get it sorted and bounce back.

Thanks for the feedback!

Re: early wrx's.

I have an 02 TS (impreza hatch/wagon) and the wrx wagon is basically the same car/body/interior with a different engine and transmission. The early rexs are basically econoboxes with more power. They're super raw, which makes them fun. I really want to own one of the bugeye wrx's at some point but they're all too beat to shit and I don't really have the time or money to start completely fresh with a clean shell and putting together all the parts right now.

That said, I've been in a few newer rexs that have the premium package etc with a leather interior and the other fixins and they're super nice.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the boosted legacy GT's that are phenomenal cars, but don't have a great aftermarket because of low volume. If you're looking for a fun car but want creature comforts, those are hard to beat imho.

I've got a 2002 WRX hatch. It's a rattly, oil burning piece of shit and I love it.



OP- Nice Evo! I thought my buddy had the only stock evo left in the country (i guess he does now).

I'm so fucking jealous right now haha.

I love my TS, but I'd buy a wrx wagon from the same era in a heartbeat if it checked out.

I'm loving this build though!

its always for sale:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...145fc2de4e.jpg

Engine looking really good... should be getting ready to go in the car.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0ae4a337e8.jpg

I love how much cool parts are available for those evo's. Anything your mind can think of already exists and is really affordable too.

Agreed, the amount of R&D that has gone into the 4G63 platform is pretty incredible. People have been modifying DSM's for decades, and so people like Buschur Racing, English Racing and others have so much development done on the Evo that some of the parts out there are of the utmost quality.

There are literally dozens of big players in the Evo scene, and every single one is pumping out extremely high quality parts.

The Forced Performance cast manifold that you see on my engine there is a great example. Beautiful cast manifold with larger, longer, and more gently angled runners, twin scroll, and bolts up to the stock heat shield and looks completely stock to a smog tech or police... $275. Absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, that's absolutely amazing. The only other car I can think of that has quality parts that cheap are the Hondas.

Can't wait to see this on a dyno when you're done!

Me too! Just need to keep the torque down or the 6 speed goes boom... Wish the car was a RWD based AWD system with a proper transmission.

I honestly think that being limited by a stock component like this forces you to build for long term reliability.

How hard are the 6 speeds to source? You could always keep one spare and play with the one you have now and dial it back if it goes boom. If it's stupid expensive, you can just get it rebuilt stronger before going ham with the boost butt $$$$.

I've tuned a bunch of them to 400-420 on stock 5 and 6 speeds over the years. Only 1 blew up, and it was the t-case that went not the trans. Another stripped a gear but it was closer to 500

Nice looking build :-)

If you want to jump into an aftermarket gearset for that 6spd we (Jacks Transmissions) are the US distributor for Albins, and we have them in stock. Also, we sell complete 5spd conversion setups for your car (from the shifter assembly all the way to the trans). That 6spd is brittle and does not like torque above the 400 mark.

I have thought about the Albins gearsets... Good to have a Jacks Trans rep in my thread. What are the 6 speed gear sets rated for? Would you say under 400 wtq is relatively reliable on the 6 speed? No launches, just typical street/canyon use?

If you aren't launching it and your torque comes on progressively instead of explosively, I think you'll be safe in the 350-400wtq area. We state 500hp on our website for the Albins set, but that's likely conservative as they rate their R35 GTR gearsets up to 1000wtq, which have proven to hold 1450. Yeah, hp and tq numbers mixed there, but frankly nobody we work with has had the balls to do a big build on a 6spd so there's not a lot of hard evidence out there to quote...everyone does a 5spd swap for big numbers.

I've heard of the 5 being stronger than the 6, but how specifically?

On the 6, Mitsubishi literally used the same trans case and just made the gears thinner so that they could smash an extra gear into the case. I believe 1-3 are the same, 4 is especially thin and 5-6 are thin.

Because of the extra gears the oiling is not up to par as well. Typically I believe the way to build a "strong" 6 speed is with adding new oil passages and generally strengthening the oiling system for a trans, adding an oil cooler, and an upgraded gear set.

Pretty lazy on Mitsubishi's part IMO. Could have been a great gearbox. The shifting is so much cleaner and smoother on the 6's than the 5's, the gearing is fantastic (5th is like 5th in the Miata... 3800-4000RPM on 80mph+ freeway driving. Terrible) and I just like having the extra gear.

With that said I am still debating of moving to a 5. Not sure if I want to do it now or just save the cash for my next clutch job.

I'd wait. The car is going to be plenty fun even when it's limited.