Chris’ 2006 EVO IX

With the last six years being considered the “age of the four-door turbocharged terrors”, it almost seems like a no-brainer that someone like Chris Ginev would choose the Mitsu platform known as the Lancer Evolution to build into such a street/track monster. I mean lets face it…comfortable and practical, yet fast and aggressive all at the same time? Seems like the EVO has it all for this shop owner and full-time father. Just don’t think Chris would just build your normal bolted, run-of-the-mill Evolution, because this murdered out IX will destroy pretty much any competition thrown at it.

The story begins in November of 2007. Chris finds this beautiful Tarmac Black IX at a dealership and decides to take the plunge. Within a few short months, the EVO was staged at it’s first big turbo setup with an HTA 35R, GSC S2 cams, a custom JMF intercooler setup and exhaust manifold and a few other odds and ends, placing the stock-block motor setup in the 500whp range (on pump gas). The car catapulted down the 1320 in the very low 11 second range consistently, even with the 1.7-1.8 60′ times. All was good for quite a while until a bad noise, thought to be a spun bearing, lead Chris to crank open the motor. To his surprise, an improperly tensioned timing belt led to 15 bent valves; ultimatly leading to the current motor setup which we see under the hood today.

For the rebuild, Chris decided to ditch the idea of building up the 2.0L and decided on the 2.3L stroker. To achieve the larger displacement, Crower rods, Wiesco HD stroker pistons, and the Eagle crank were selected for their ungodly strength. The top end wasn’t under looked, as Chris went with a GSC CNC’d head, GSC S2 cams and springs, Supertech 1mm oversized valves, and Supertech bronze valve guides to butter up the internals. This time around, a BorgWarner S362 turbocharger was fitted to the JMF tubular exhaust manifold to produce the large horsepower goals that Chris had in mind. JMF supplied a custom FMIC setup, including 2.5″ charge piping, and a 4″ intake setup to bring in the coldest of air. Chris’ own shop, GV Autosport, produced some custom-fit pieces for the car, including the downpipe and testpipe leading to the HKS carbon catback exhaust out the rear end. The Shep race transmission puts the power to the ground through a Quarter Master twin disc clutch setup and a 4.11 final drive.

Chris has never been one to blend into the crowd; just take a look at the valve cover for example. An incredible piece of snow-camo powdercoated perfection steals all the attention of on-lookers. On the other hand, step inside the cockpit of this monster and enter the comfort zone. The factory leather/suade Recaro’s give the EVO a very classy feel and the steering column mounted Autometer boost gauge is directly in view for the pilot. The car sits aggressively on KW Variant 3 coilovers with Tein pillow-ball mounts. The blacked out 5Zigen FN01R-C’s in 17×9′ finish off the EVO’s murdered out theme and the Brembo brakes, stuffed with Hawk pads and Stoptech rotors, help stop the car on a dime.

After a year and a half of hard work, custom fabrication, tons of time, and loads of money, Chris’s project finally came to an end. His EVO IX was recently tuned to a whopping 609whp and 525 ft/lbs of torque on a failing wastegate spring (35psi peak @5500 rpm falling to 25psi by redline) on C16 race gas. At the track, expect the car to break 9′s with race gas and a good driver. Looking back on the project that took so much of his time and dedication, Chris states “I believe I have accomplished everything I set out to do. The 2.3L Crower/Wiseco HD engine has 9.0:1 compression and makes over 600whp yet has great manners. What more could I ask for?”

Now let me ask you…what more could you ask for?

-All words and photos by Justin Mondschein.