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  #11  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:25 PM
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Default All-in with the mods...

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Originally Posted by Mr.JayDeeM View Post
Aye fellas,

Are you sure we cant use the evo x suspension? reason I asked after I got into thinking about the body structure. I work as a structure/frame repair for my local body shop and I have access to oem structure parts. I looked it up and the base Lancers and the Evo X have the same shock tower/ same part numbers.

Got me thinking, I understand the rear subframe, control arms, trailing arms are all different between the lancers and the Evo X but what exactly the reason why we can't use the suspension in our base lancers?

The front seem it will fit fine with the exception of brackets that holds the brake line. What holds the stock brake lines for the Evo x? The rear seem like it will bolt on but what the shock length from shock tower mounting to the strut eye bushing on the control arm? Does the rear shock hang lower than out Lancers?

I want to know the exact reason and I'm temped to try this swap to be honest.
I've have a ton of suspensions modifications to my 2011 Ralliart that I'm eventually going to post, some of them are not your typical standard mods. I want to drive on a lot of this stuff before I let people know that it's going to work, and all the bugs are worked out. For example, I boxed and replaced all the bushing and joints with WhiteLine parts on a my stock RA LCAs (including using the Evo X Roll Center Adjustment kit). That's where I'm coming from with this info. Btw- I do all the work myself, in my garage. I've posted here before.

Since I have looked high and low for someone with a truthfull side-by-side comparison of front LCAs for our cars and have come up short, I decide to jump all in on a Evo X and RA comparison. Here is an overall picture of a brand new RA lower control arm that I may hack and modify, and a Evo X arm. I've measured many points and every hole lines up. The question that I will get to sometime this week is, "Does it fit in the car".

My goal is a soft spring, big bar setup. So far everything seems to be on the right track. More to come...

-Jason Uemoto
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  #12  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:31 PM
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Default All-in with the mods

I'm posting more pictures...
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  #13  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:36 PM
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Default All-in with the mods

I'm posting more pictures...

It's hard to see, but the Evo X LCA is a little longer, if you take into consideration the huge Caster increase that you could get.
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  #14  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:41 PM
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Default All-in with the Mods

I can only get my iPad to post one picture at a time....

Here is the long shot with everything lined up.
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  #15  
Old 09-09-2013, 08:22 PM
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Very nice detective work!!
How much lighter or heavier are the x pieces compared to the RA??

Chris
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  #16  
Old 09-10-2013, 09:42 AM
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Well the fact that the Evo X LCA is a little longer makes sense seeing that they have a wider track and wider tires, wheel wells etc. No surprise here.
I guess you have to ask yourself how much is this going to limit the size/ width of wheel since what you would be doing is pushing the mounting points further out from center but having a smaller space to put the wheel.

I too would like to move to replacing all my suspension links, bushings etc from whiteline etc.. But unsure of the cost to have a bodyshop install or fab up wider rear fenders to be able to properly use new suspension pcs. Its one of those things where it just might be more cost effective to simply buy an Evo X. Which is why I haven't done it.

I am interested to see how yours comes out and the time and cost associated with this project.
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  #17  
Old 09-10-2013, 01:31 PM
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As far as I know, they have this done at one of the in house cars at south coast mitsu.. I just saw the same car sitting at the Cerritos mitsu dealer. It's a white Ra wagon. So, if anyone has time, ask Sam or go check, ill try for a pic.

Pluses, you can get EVO stuff up front, brakes, suspension? Etc..

Minuses, you loose steering accuity, and turning radius. The EVO is much harder to make u turns with.. I'm pretty sure you can pull and flare the front fenders enough for clearance, rears are stretchable too..

I'm sure no matter what you do, the rears won't swap to EVO parts, as the suspension mounting, is set up differently. So, I'm assuming the swap is overall not too efficient.
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  #18  
Old 09-11-2013, 05:47 PM
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I gave up on this thread a while ago but I'm sure glad to see some new stuff in the thread. I'm glad I'm seeing there is some one out there actually took the time to figure it out.
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  #19  
Old 09-11-2013, 10:33 PM
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Smile After the modifications...

I can say that the aluminum arms are slightly lighter, but not, in my opinion, enough to matter in a street car. It could be about rigidity, which I'll address later.

I've replaced all my bushings with every whiteline part I can find for our cars. I've even modified the stock ralliart arms to accept the Evo X roll centre kit.

I did make my own adjustable spherical bearing top hat for the front strut mounts since there is nothing available for a decent price. I have them set to maximum caster and camber (it's a 50/50 split).

Now, I don't have much free time, so I never tried a test fit of the Evo arms. I went and pressed out the stock bushings and installed all the Evo x stuff from whiteline. I put the car up and installed the arms, which line up in the car and you can bolt everything up except the outer arm ball joints that go to the hubs. The reason is that the whiteline rear anti-lift spherical joint does not have enough travel with the stock ralliart suspension. I'm talking a very short range of travel that would make me worry about suspension bind even with the stock Evo X struts. It makes me question Whiteline's logic in all this. I'm sure that the stock rear bushing, which actually has a spherical bearing in it, works. It's actually mounted in a rubber carrier, so it has room to move. I still have all the original parts, so I might still be looking into this, but the stock arms, as far as I'm concerned, bolt right up.

The solution I did, mostly because I was interested in doing this in the first place and was pissed off that I didn't fit the stock Evo arms before pressing in whiteline stuff, was this...

I slit the stock ralliart arms enough in a specific spot to allow me to bend them to the same "angle" as the evo x arms. I then "boxed" the arms with the same thickness steel and stitched everything together. I think this makes the steel arms very rigid now, the arm is not allowed to flex and rotate along that outside length. Now, this will blow your mind and make you realize that the auto manufactures are pretty smart in how to make cars to a price point. My ralliart arms are now the same dimension as the stock Evo X arms! Think of it this way - They made a steel version of Evo X arms and then "bent" them back to reduce caster, put very complient rubber bushings to introduce excessive toe-in in cornering, making this a recipes for creating a ton of under steer. You've now downgraded a great car away from the flagship Evo X. That simple design change in the setup denies the Ralliart from being competitive and not take money away from the Evo X.

Some like to say its an upgraded Lancer, I'm now think its more like a downgrade Evo.

I can tell you that my car now corners like a dream, running the thick whiteline front bar on max setting, stock front struts and springs, max caster and camber on my top-hats, and zero front/rear toe. I use to get a lot of front tire rollover, not any more (unless I over-cook the corner)! It's progressing to the same feeling as driving a FR car, but 4WD apex out acceleration! I have no problem with the fenders with the stock rims, there's plenty of room in there. The front driveshafts now line up better between the output of the transmission and the input of the hubs! Less tourqe-steer? I didn't loose any steering acuity, if anything the car tracks with more confidence!

I have a spare set of stock ralliart arms that I'm now thinking of modifying with slightly longer length and slightly more caster. I didn't modify the current set with more length. I'm only talking about adding a few millimeters. There might be issues with the stock steering gear adjustment range by that point thou.

I don't have pictures of most of this, but they will come starting next week. (You can visible see the difference in caster.) I'm in a hurry to get ready for a race weekend at pacific raceways in Kent Washington this weekend. That will be the real test as I've tracked the vehicle when it was mostly stock and all I could say was "Under Steer"!

As for price... A sleeper car is priceless!
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Last edited by Uemoto-JP; 09-11-2013 at 10:48 PM. Reason: Rigidity and some spelling
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  #20  
Old 09-12-2013, 07:12 PM
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Excellent input Uemoto-JP.

I can say with front & rear sway bars alone makes a world of difference.
I can carry twice the speed as before with just stickier tires and the rest of the suspensions left stock.

I am curious about the bushing creating toe in understeer, i need a visual reference.

Great discovery, anticipating your pics.
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