Sorry to any of the Evo X fanatics who read this blog, but I always have loved the CT9A series Evos and I can safely say I’d rather have one parked in my garage than one of the new series 10 Evolutions. Hey, that could just be my own misguided personal opinion, however its examples like this one here that make a pretty good argument for my case.
This is a stateside Evo VIII, one of the demo cars hailing from the garage of A Spec Performance. And if you thought the outside of this thing looked overly-aggresive as if it were about to deliver a ball-rending kick to your groin, just wait until you hear what’s lurking underneath.
Just about every unecessary piece of embellishment has been removed from the bosom of this Evo, being replaced with an aluminium rear firewall, SPL rollcage, Recaro bench and a Nardi Deep Corn Rally 350 wheel.
As far as the heart of this titan is concerned, the 4G63 was turned over to legendary F1 engine builders Cosworth in order to wring every possible horse out of the Mitsubishi powerplant. The pistons were replaced with CP forged items, while the rings and rods were rejected in favour of pieces that could handle the eventual power output. Cosworth then ported the head, balanced and blueprinted the piston assembly back to the stock crank, added new springs, retainers, valves, camshafts, camgears and then put the whole lot back together.
And as for forced induction, this duty would now be handled by a Garrett 3071 turbocharger which would coerce the rebuilt engine into producing a mighty-excellent 470PS.
Visually the car is decked out with a Gram Lights front bar — which I think is one of the best you can get for this series of Evo — A Spec front fenders, APR carbon mirrors and GT wing, as well as a Seibon bonnet and trunk. As for the rolling stock, a set of Volk RE30s were chosen, which hide some serious Project Mu 4-piston stopping power.
As far as Evos go, they simply don’t get much better than this. And if you disagree with me, just remember; I know where you live.
- Leon.
