Project Evo VIII – Introduction

It all started back in 2003 during my freshman year of high school. Most of my friends were preoccupied with sports and other activities, but when I wasn’t playing in a band or playing music, I was turning wrenches. I’m from Toledo, OH and there is a shop there called Pure Tuning Performance. I was the shop errand boy which was fitting because I didn’t really care how much I got paid or even if I did get paid, I just loved being around the dyno and learning from the guys.

If you aren’t familiar with the Midwest, it is the land of the DSM. Down in Wakeman, OH you’ll see David Buschur and his arsenal of 7-9 sec DSMs/Evos. When 2003 hit and the Evo was brought stateside, Aaron at Pure Tuning Performance wanted to jump on the opportunity of tuning them before the game picked up. Two employees bought brand new MR’s around 2005. After seeing both of those cars, I knew I wanted one.

I watched both of their cars develop from street cars to track monsters. Every time our group went to the track it wasn’t long before a crowd was surrounding us. Vipers, Lotus, NSXs, Supras, Corvettes, and just about everything else were getting crushed by the Evos. This was a big deal at the time because there wasn’t a whole lot of aftermarket support for these cars. The majority of the Evos had one-off custom pieces made by either Aaron or Keith.

While I continued high school I kept my eyes on the Evo and watched them continue to dominate the track and the street. Before I know it, Buschur Racing was developing power packages with John Shepherd Racing. The Evo was now king of the DSM world.

Throughout high school I tinkered with other DSM’s (Talon, Eclipse, VR4’s) and my buddy and I built a 95 3000GT VR4 with a single GT42R setup that made some pretty awesome power. It was lagzilla and wasn’t very streetable, but a fun car nonetheless. Even still, any time we’d run into a “Buschur” Evo, the chances of winning were slim. I left for the Navy in 2006 and began my adventures around the world. Throughout my time enlisted, I tried to buy an Evo multiple times. Things always fell through on either the seller’s side, or the bank’s side.

I was about to give up hope until last June. A guy that worked with my wife had an Evo and I had been familiar with the car because I had previously done some work on it. It was a 2005 Evo VIII GSR with only 54,000 miles on the clock. He was in a pinch and was heading to Japan which meant he had to get rid of the car. I asked him how much he wanted and he told me I could just take over the loan. This was my chance! I rushed things through the bank, and finally got to take the keys.

When I bought the car, it had the following modifications:

• HKS front mount intercooler
• CBRD  aluminum radiator and fan
• HKS 272 cams and HKS cam gears
• HKS SSQV V1 BOV
• Doc Race Intake manifold
• Injen intake
• Works race spec clutch and flywheel
• Evo IX front end conversion
• Quad HID’s
• JDM headlights
• JDM rear bumper
• Seibon CF hood
• Rexpeed CF front lip, side skirt add-ons, trunk lip, and vortex generators
• Ralliart side mirrors
• JDM Evo VII tails
• Rexpeed rain visors
• 18” Work CR-Kai’s
• Agency Power shorty antennae
• Tein Springs

I’ve had the car ever since and it really has been a dream come true. I will tell you that building cars and having a family is a difficult task. I have two kids and building the car is last on my list of priorities. Despite all of this, the Evo really is the perfect car for the gearhead father. It’s safe enough to take the kids to the grocery store, but fun enough to be competitive on the street. Having a wife and kids makes the build a long process, but at least I have them to enjoy the journey with me.

My current plans are:

• 60,000 mile service
• AEM digital gauges
• FIC 1000cc injectors
• FPR and rail
• 02 dump and test pipe dump
• English Racing dual map (pump/meth and E85) speed density tune
• Under hood shifter bushings

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more updates soon!