King EVO The IX (The Green Bogey)

MR-EVO

In a world of tuning car royals Norris Designs' 841HP short wheelbase EVO IX is the most majestic of them all.

OWNER Simon Norris

HOMETOWN Wiltshire, England

DAILY GRIND Soccer Hooligan/Tuning Terror

POWER 841 hp; 635 lb-ft of torque (on 118 octane race fuel)

UNDER THE HOOD ND-processed engine block, 2.3L forged steel crankshaft, baffled sump and modified pickup, uprated engine bearing set and oil pump; Crower forged steel connecting rods; Garrett GT42R roller bearing turbo; HKS 60mm racing wastegate; ND custom tubular exhaust manifold and intercooler with 3.5-inch piping, 2.5-inch externally venting screamer pipe; HKS cam pulleys; ND-spec camshafts and JE pistons; ND gas-flowed race cylinder head, valve spring kit, oversize stainless inlet and exhaust valves, Ti retainers, dash-12 custom engine breather system, custom radiator and pressurized water system, 25-row oil cooler kit, custom low mounted fuel tank, coil on plug CDi ignition system; K&N air filter with 5-inch inlet; Bosch 044 fuel pump (x2), post dash-8 fuel filter (x2), dash-8 fuel feed line (x2); SARD twin feed fuel rail, dash-8 racing fuel regulator, and 1000cc injectors; Anderson battery boost system; electric power steering; ND 4-inch WRC-style custom exhaust system with side exit

DRIVETRAIN Nd triple plate push clutch kit; Holinger dog engagement straight cut gear kit; Ikeya sequential shifter with digital gear indicator; MoTeC strain gauge gear knob and controlled gear change ram; shortened RS prop shaft; uprated front viscous differential; Evo IX RS rear differential setup

BRAINS MoTeC M800 Pro ECU, 4-bar map sensor, closed loop lambda control, exhaust gas temperature loopback, and boost control with GReddy 3-port solenoid; ND custom engine speed timing discs & sensors

STIFF STUFF Intrax remote canister coilover suspension, custom air jack tire changing system, uprated front and rear antiroll bars

ROLLERS 18x9.5 (Drag: 17x9) Volk Racing CE28N wheels; 265/35R18 Avon ZZR (Drag: 275/45R17 Nitto NT-555R Extreme Drag Radial) tires

STOPPERS Brembo eight-piston metal matrix calipers with 322mm slotted rotors; Ferodo DS400 pads; twin master cylinders; stainless steel lines; electronic line lock

OUTSIDE acid-dipped custom 2-door short wheelbase low roof Evolution IX shell with flared steel rear arches; custom carbon rear diffuser, aluminum front panel, and single wiper conversion; Raceon USA carbon hood and "MR Style" carbon rear spoiler; Carbontrix carbon front bumper; GT Fabrications carbon wide front wings

INSIDE custom T45 full weld-in load-bearing roll cage; Sparco steering wheel and racing bucket seats; carbon fiber door panels, front floor panels, trunk floor and infill panels, fuel tank cover, headliner, and dashboard infill panels; custom lexan windows and windshield; Stack 8170p dashboard with carbon surround; ND custom full wiring loom and shift light, HKS 2.5 bar boost gauge; race battery

ICE The oohs and aaahs of the adoring masses

"I hoped it would give 850 hp, because that's what the turbo should produce; it actually made 841 which isn't that bad," revealed Simon. "I actually wasn't that bothered about the total power, it's getting it to kick in early; this comes on at 4,300 rpm and considering the size of the turbo that's good. It would have been impossible to get that power with a two liter block so we went for a 2.3L stroker."

Despite that awesome amount of power under his right foot, he admits there is possibly still more to come, with a tweaked engine spec and turbo combination. "Not that you'll ever need it because it's blindingly fast already," he says with a huge grin. That's quick enough to set a new European Evo 1/4-mile record on its first appearance, despite the car only being finished the night before. The times? 10.2, 10.1, 9.7, 9.8 and 10.6. So, not a fluke then. And that was only running 1.9bar (27psi) of boost and on road tires. So what could he get if he really tried? "I think it could do an 8-and I'd love to be the first car in the UK to do that," he replies.

OK, a mental engine, and it's got the bodywork to match-what's the story with that?

The car is based on the short wheelbase Audi Quattro rally car-one of Simon's all-time fav' cars-and he just wanted to produce something which was totally different. And by making the car shorter and lower it helps lower the center of gravity and makes it significantly lighter, which means that you don't need a million horsepower in the first place, and the braking and handling also feel the benefit.

The actual shell prep was one of the few parts of the project not carried out in-house; that was left to the experts at Simpson Motorsport. So he just gave them his Photoshop designs and left them to it? "Yup, pretty much," says Simon. "They chopped the roof off and then cut the car in half. I was there about 50 times while they were working on it to make sure they were following my instructions and they have done a bloody good job." He's right, if you didn't know better you'd think Mitsubishi actually sold a two-door Evo in the first place.

However, despite those drag strip figures quoted at the top of the story, the car has been designed as a multi-purpose vehicle, equally at home on the strip, circuit, or even the public road: amazingly it's still road legal-well, technically. "I can't justify spending that amount of money on a car and just have it as a one-trick pony," he points out. In fact he says that he couldn't even justify the extra expense of weight-saving items such as carbon fiber doors and seats.

So what sort of money are we talking? He claims not to have added it all up but if you were a customer and wanted a similar spec car, bank on spending around 100,000 ($186,000), depending on exactly what spec engine you wanted.

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#EVO IX; 2.0L stock block; AMS GT30R Turbo kit; HKS 272 cams; HKS DLI; HKS FMIC; HKS 3" Exhaust
#EVO IX; 2.3L Stroker Kit; PTE 6262; Tomei Pro-cams; Cooling Mist Alky Inj; Spark Tech COP
...unleashed by SHIVA Tuning -

MR-EVO · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:08 am Post subject:

New Drivetrain Skyline setup: