2008 Lancer CJ VRX - Build thread

[bumblebee]

Be very careful with the fuel filter, lives under the rear seat in the tank
From memory it has about 8 nuts holding it down
And from memory it's got a slight spring tension to it when being removed
So be wary of that
Keep the fuel level very low
When lifting up the fuel filter , take it very slowly
It will have fuel inside and will drain back into the tank
Don't forget
It also has an arm on it to show fuel level
This can be easily damage if your not careful
When lifting the filter up it may be easier to lean the filter over at a slight angle to get the arm out
Also
Before removing it in the first place
There is a power plug on top of the unit to power the pump
Remove that plug
Then start the car
It will run about 20 second or so
This will use up some of the fuel in the line and drop the line pressure
Then
Disconnect negative off battery
And very very careful remove the fuel line off the top of the fuel filter
Be a good idea to wear safety glasses to avoid getting fuel splashed in your eyes
You don't want that
Do it in a well ventilated area, away from sparks , and smokers
Grab a service manual and Read it also

Changing the filter won't upset anything to do with the ECU tune

However
If you change injector and put in bigger ones then yes , you will need to retune the ECU

Or
If you shove in a much bigger fuel pump then there is a good chance to retune as fuel pressure goes up.

[awood]

Nice changes mate.
Cabin filter sure does look a bit filthy.
The LED's inside really make it look flash a?

[adamhumphrey]

I remember changing one in my wifes lancer many years ago, It almost fell apart in my hand it looked rotten. Most dealers don't change them unless you pay the big dollars for it. A dealer wanted to charge me $150 from memory.

[Mars1811]

Nice work.
Are the white interior LEDs harsh on the eyes at all?

[Avenir]

@bumble - Sounds good I will make sure to check these things before I start. It won't upset the ECU tune it could cause complications if fuel maps etc are changed. I have a feeling its close to being clogged as I had struggles starting the car for sometime almost a year ago.

@awood - Thanks mate, Yeah it was pretty well ruined. Going to be honest I havent noticed a big change, but its definitely less noisy and most likely blows air through a lot better in the air ducts.

@adam - Yeah mine did a good innings I think after 12 years. 144xxx kms

@Mars - The white led's are good, they are a little bright when its very dark. But nothing you can't get use too, and atleast I can actually see better now in the car, the amber ones did sweet F all when it was dark.

[bumblebee]

Nice work.
Are the white interior LEDs harsh on the eyes at all?

If you're looking for decent led interior led grab these

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184664172414

They work quite well and quite bright
The OEM incandescent style are pure rubbish

These ones
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184779964929

Work quite well also , not quite as bright as the first lot however still good

If you're looking for something for the boot cos that single light in the boot does about the square root of bugger all , grab something like these

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/284370085002

Two if these run across the top of the boot and can be wired into the socket fairly easily.
Did mine some years ago and the boot will now light up like day light

[Avenir]

Quick Update:

Hey guys thought I would give an update on the new exhaust.

All complete and back home, I am very happy with it. For several reasons.

- I have no more rattling now, at idle, low revs or going over any humps/ bumps. It's perfect you just hear the exhaust itself now which is a big plus for me. Also I believe the rattle before was partially on the fuel tank which is obviously not a good thing.

- For an extension of 2.5inch to match the catback and a magnaflow 200 cell cat I am very surprised how much more louder and throaty it sounds. Even the exhaust guy said it was surprising.

- It has much more tone and levels to the flow you can hear, it doesn't sound like an imitation anymore like before. It also has small crackles/gurgles which I can hear quite easily, and I haven't even taken it past 4000rpm.

- Lastly... not sure if it's a placebo but I cannot lie. It drives so much more smoothly, accelerates so much more smoothly. It doesn't sometimes jitter or hesitate like before. Changing gears at different rpm ranges is actually easier. I know it's far fetched but after driving it 4 times already I still feel the same way. Whether it was the increase pipe size from extractors going into a very small 2inch~ to the restrictive cat and fucking with the back pressure or the O2 sensors I don't know, maybe someone can add some theory as to how it might have improved?. It's just different and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I am now going to say to anyone that gets a cat back, don't even consider doing it without changing the cat converter itself. It made a huge difference.

Oh and I smell lots more fuel now. Reminds me of my dads XY when he had it hahah.

Next up the tune.... (and with the exhaust now and then idle revs at 1k it'll sound really nice) that makes performance stuff done. I did think about evo x cams, but I don't want to lose more low end torque so decided not to.

Pic below of what was taken out and replaced and welded up. Oh and only cost 600$ so way less then I thought actually.

Avenir.

[bumblebee]

oh wow
Fancy that
Someone actually installed a decent exhaust system like I been telling this forum for years to do and it works
Wow
Must be a fluke huh?
Nope
http://imgur.com/a/EMOiL1d
I know it works , that why I told everyone
As for the back pressure
Lots of people love to think they need back pressure and it has been debunked decades ago
The biggest morons try and tell you to shove  a 3" exhaust on a NA
This is when you really lose torque hand over fist
Why ?
Because of fluid dynamics
Bigger is not always better
The bigger your exhaust system is in diameter , the slower the exhaust velocity is
The slower the exhaust velocity is, the less the combustion chamber can expelled the exhaust gases
So this leaves less space in the combustion chamber for fresh air and fuel
Simple
It's that simple
Don't believe me?
Feel free , go buy a few text books by David Vizard or Mike Mavrigian as they explained it there
Still not convinced?
Go have a very long chat with a Mechanical engineer they can explain the fluid dynamics behind it.
The internet is full of morons who who NFI about this and many other topics, and people are more then happy to flock to their videos on YouTube like moths to a street light simply because the person running the channel has 4 trillion follow them and just as many likes therefore they must be correct.
Nope
Sorry.
As I have tried to explain many times in the past, the biggest restriction in your exhaust is the catalytic converter.
Remember, Mitsubishi have to put EGR and detune the ECU and restrictions on exhaust to , sale as all the rest of the manufacturer to get it out the door and past the emission control.
No pass that , no sales.
As for the 4b11T inlet cam making you lose torque down low, how on earth did you come up with that idea?
One of the best upgrade for cams the NA be it 4b11 or 4b12 is the OEM 4b11T inlet cam.
They work extremely well and need a decent ECU to go with it.
This has been proven for years now with guys with NA motor using those cams for years all over the world be it for street cars as well as rally cars.
If your really serious, pull the head off, and Goto town on the head.
Shove a set of E85 compatible fuel injector seals in it and run it on that
It will produce more then enough power to destroy a CVT if you really want to.

This is a 4b12 with the 4b11T inlet cam and a Tomei 250 exhaust cam
https://i.imgur.com/YlEBXJ4.jpg
This shows power at the wheels
A huge difference between this and power at the flywheel
So to get power at the flywheel you usually add at least 20%
This gives 206HP at the flywheel
The OEM 4b12 from factory has 168HP at the flywheel
So this is an improvement of 38.4HP at the flywheel from cams and ECU tune and using E10 fuel
And
There is still more power left in it that is locked up in the ECU
And if your wondering, nope, not my motor, not my car.

If you want to see a decent NA tune up, watch  Steve Morris from USA

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://m. ... 1rS-1BTGMM


Infact watch all his videos, he has some great info to learn from

[Mars1811]

$600 is surprisingly good. Is that for the catback and everything? Like, did your entire exhaust system cost $600 with labour?

[Avenir]

It's not that I didn't listen I just went my own route with it. I knew that Axelbacks were gonna be a waste of time for me personally so I went the cat back, but since I did the extractors as well I thought its stupid to not finish it all off. It definitely did help though.

I knew you were going to say this, but from what I have heard externally. Back pressure is very real. Its just not as important, you need a little bit of back pressure in an exhaust. So you can't go too small and choke the system/limit flow and you can't go too large. It works both ways. This is why I looked at the best size for our lancer on this thread but also searching through the web on cylinder size, as 2.5 pipe diameter is most optimal. But yes this is exactly why I was happy to do a 2.5inch exhaust. EVO's and some V8's use 3inch 3.5inch it would be stupid to go larger.

Exactly, bigger is less velocity. Smaller is more velocity. But smaller is less overall flow. Bigger is more overall flow. This is why back pressure is somewhat correct as you need it but not all of it. This is what I have been told and found.

Yes I do believe you haha no concerns. Just what I have stated above on what I have investigated.

I came up with that idea as being larger cams they will suck lots more air in but it will have more effect at higher RPM as usually bigger cams do that? However I could be wrong on that. Reason as well is I am not sure how much is actually needed to do the cams. How many pieces to the puzzle. Is it just cams to find and replace then a tune? or is it cams, injectors, fuel pump, tune, and any other parts of the head that I cannot remember because I am too tired atm.. Cos clearly once you take the 4b12 cams out you need to have every other part ready to go else no car for god knows how long. I would need a laundry list of items. Because I daily my car.

@mars - So I might have confused people. My entire exhaust is actually quite expensive but the part I got upgraded was not too bad.

- Extractors were like $600 + heat wrap which I needed like 50m or so $100.
- Catback which includes muffler and resonator incorporated in design was $1300
- Upgrade of piping, realignment of current exhaust, Magnaflow 200 cell CAT and labour cost was $600

So overall the whole system was $2600 roughly. I could have gotten it a bit cheaper if I started from the start but aw well, I am single I work full time and it was fun to learn. If you think about it, I don't have an alcohol, drug or gambling or cigarette tendency/addiction. So I never waste any money on those things. So I might have more money to waste on my car then other people my age so to speak that's how I think about it lol.

Avenir

[Mars1811]

Aha, cheers for the clarification.

Also you are correct in worrying about losing low end torque. Generally, more agressive cam profiles will serve to increase torque and move the peak torque further up the rev range, which adds power but causes a reduction in torque and power in the lower parts of the rev range..
You can't have both low end torque and good efficiency and agressive cams; unless you have a variable valve lift system - see VTEC, VVL, IVLC, etc. They all do the same thing. They have one camshaft for low-down torque, and another for when power is needed up high.

[awood]

[quote
You can't have both low end torque and good efficiency and agressive cams; unless you have a "variable valve lift system" - [/quote]

Our cars do?
In fact the 4B11 was the first to have both intake and exhaust variable lift cams.

[bumblebee]

[quote
You can't have both low end torque and good efficiency and agressive cams; unless you have a "variable valve lift system" -

Our cars do?
In fact the 4B11 was the first to have both intake and exhaust variable lift cams.[/quote]

Yup
It's called MIVEC
This just shows how little you guys understand what is under your bonnet

Here is the same 4b12 as above , it has 4b11T inlet cam shaft OEM, 4b11 inlet cam sprocket, Tomei 250 Evo X exhaust cam ( MIVEC takes it out an extra 40 degree to 290) 4b12 OEM extractor, 200 cell cat, 2.5 inch custom exhaust, 4G69 60mm TB

https://i.imgur.com/YlEBXJ4.jpg

See how the power has picked up both HP and torque by tweaking the ECU
There is more to come out of that motor yet.
Once you under stand fluid dynamics you will understand why bigger is not better especially in the NA motor
You can get away with that idea with forced induction but you will come horrible unstick in the NA environment.
There is many pieces of the puzzle, air flow rate, cam shaft timing / MIVEC , cam profile / lift / duration, extractor, catalytic converter, and most importantly ECU tune , etc.
The secret to NA going well is keeping the air flow up
This can't be done by going bigger in pipe size, well, it can , to an extent, then what happens is velocity drops off and bye bye torque and it goes down hill even faster after that and then everyone bring out their violin and tissues box and says NA are crap cos they have NFI WTF they are doing in the first place and should never be allowed under the bonnet of any vehicle anywhere at any point under any circumstances even under adult supervision.
Do some study of fluid dynamics
This is where the "secrets" and "black art" of power is that everyone loves to not understand or want to know about and totally overlooked cos they have NFI to begin with.

[bumblebee]

https://i.imgur.com/a88eIzZ.jpg

This is what a 4b11 head looks like after it has got a set of Evo X +1mm o.s inlet/exhaust valve shoved it in

[Mars1811]

MIVEC is variable valve timing, which is similar but not the same. It can have some of the advantages of VVL but won't be able to be as good.