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My EVO 8 MR tune-up

83K views 134 replies 39 participants last post by  cyberfella 
#1 ·
This thread will be dedicated to the excellent work Mat, Dave and Simon have done at MG Auto Motorsport, bringing my newly acquired 2005 8 MR FQ-340 back to life and packing a new level of punch, with an underside/underseal freshen up, suspension and brakes, engine and turbo overhaul and finally the tune.

Watch this space, it will be updated with images and specs over the next day or two.

:mitsi::smthumbup

 
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#73 ·
It sounds like it's eliminated some of the higher frequencies and is an overall softer sound, but only by about 10% I'd say. It's still pretty brutal to crouch down behind it to open the garage door when it's idling. I think it might be just inside the 98 DB limit, but only a trip to the track will tell. I'm hopeful though. :angel:
 
#74 ·
Noise test at MG gave some promising results. Peak noise level reading was 98.1 DBA then tested again a little later at 97.4 DBA so I'm hopeful. 18" x 8.5" Enkei Evo X Track wheels look awesome from the powdercoaters. Been practising Spa on the PS3 this evening in preparation for the trip in a couple weeks.



 
#79 · (Edited)
Had a great day at Croft yesterday in the rain at the MLR Sprint Series round. I took the car out for three free practice laps but not competing as I was there primarily with Team MG and Bruce Winfield in the White Evo 9 GT that had already run at Croft a few weeks earlier at the UK Time Attack round).

I did the first run with the car as it was, then Lee5 re-programmed the ACD and AYC system and I did the next two runs on the Gravel and Snow "maps" and my goodness, what a difference. The sprint at Croft was only 1 minute and 55 seconds (in my case) but the drive home was 2 hours, and I really got to drive the car for a prolonged period in treacherous rain and feel the difference the new pump pressures and differential rates make.

Lee5 was not exaggerating when he said it'll be a different car. It's VERY confidence inspiring and up there with the best £££ I've spent on the car in terms of making a significant improvement.

Not so much "Highly recommended" as "Absolutely Essential", especially if you intend to use it on track or in all weather conditions.

Congratulations to Team MG and Bruce for taking 1st place in Class A on the day with a time of 1m 41.69s during the 3rd and final competitive run on the day.
 
#81 · (Edited)
Some great plans for the car in 2017 that have come out of last years shakedowns on the track (donington, croft, spa, nurburgring, blyton and cadwell) so watch this space.

The tweaks are mostly suspension and chassis oriented with some added driver safety thrown in and some weight reduction counter-measures too that'll also serve to help protect the transmission during hard launches off the line at sprint events.

In the mean-time, take a peek at my nice new cylinder head, ported and polished by a man whose name I've been sworn to secrecy about. I'll retain my JUN 272 cams and it'll be bolted down with an HKS 5 layer head gasket, uprated ARP studs and a Cosworth thermal barrier exhaust manifold gasket. The unknown cat-back exhaust system is also getting swapped for a Blitz Nur-spec R system at my own request.



Is this a quest for more power? No.
Although I may get back a car with a bit more power, I hope to achieve the same power at even less boost, evolving the car in line with my original concept of 500 reliable, all-day-long horsepower (at the ring).

Simon at MG's has also installed a set of Stack Pro-Control gauges that I've subsequently set up to warn me if the car gets outside of it's normal operating parameters on track regarding oil temp, oil pressure and boost.
 
#83 · (Edited)
2017 Track mods

So, work has begun for a more track oriented 2017 with the head off, aircon removed, wire tuck in progress, exhaust manifold, turbo hot side and elbow sent off to zircotec for ceramic coating and most of the interior removed ready for rear roll cage and new seats to go back in. More updates to follow. :naughty::mitsi:



 
#86 · (Edited)


Daves put the new head on and rocker cover back on, with ARP 625+ hardware and a HKS 5 layer metal gasket to keep everything closed up tight, even though we're not running mega boost pressures, durability and longevity is important. There's no such thing as overengineering in my opinion. New HKS belts are on and Simon's wiring tuck work kind of makes the engine bay look like a model car. I've not gone with the obligatory HKS vernier pulleys cos I've seen them slip too many times in the past and it's made me afraid of them.

Simon's also relocated the battery to the rear of the car and will be installing an Armtech battery isolation switch before the interior cage, seats and harnesses go back in. So safety is being taken as seriously as the drive. The intake manifold has come back from powdercoat and has been thoroughly cleaned and put back on with a Cosworth thermal gasket to prevent heat soaking into the intake manifold during prolonged abuse at places like the Nurburgring. This along with zircotec coated exhaust parts should reduce under bonnet temps and help achieve more repeatable power. There are lots of MG Auto Motorsport magic touches on this car now.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
#90 ·
Loving the colour scheme :smthumbup:coolsm:

This car must be great to drive especially after Lee has breathed his magic on it ;)..... He has mapped a few of our previous cars, they're a completely different beast to drive after :coolsm::D

Keep the updates coming :smthumbup
 
#91 · (Edited)
Yeah Lee's breathed some of his magic into the active centre diff map on the car during a very wet and slippery sprint round at Croft, but it's Mat Goode at MG Auto's who mapped the ECU to "500BHP at as little boost pressure as possible" (26psi/1.8bar at present).

He'll map it again in a week or so now they have put the new special cylinder head back on, plus a bit of extra squish that the uprated HKS head gasket will introduce. We're just waiting on getting the racetech exhaust manifold, turbo hotside and elbow back from zircotec now.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
#94 · (Edited)
HKS oil cooler fitted to the passenger side to compliment the Mishimoto oil cooler on the drivers side for a twin oil cooler setup.





Engine bay looking pretty neat with the wires tucked, brackets powdercoated black and zircotec coated hot parts. The radiator is getting swapped out with a slimline mishimoto Evo VI style rad with twin slimline fans which will move the water pipe away from the racetech manifold.



Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
#95 ·
HKS oil cooler fitted to the passenger side to compliment the Mishimoto oil cooler on the drivers side for a twin oil cooler setup.





Engine bay looking pretty neat with the wires tucked, brackets powdercoated black and zircotec coated hot parts. The radiator is getting swapped out with a Evo VI rad to move the water pipe away from the racetech manifold.



Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Is the twin oil cooler set up necessary? I'm not trying to pick faults just interested in why you've done that :)
 
#99 · (Edited)
#becausenurburgring



Attend all-day track events at Spa and Nurburgring, pushing over 125 BHP per cylinder from 8.30am until 17:30 and the need for maximum cooling will likely soon make itself known :handsup:.

This is the reliability level I want the car at for my annual pilgrimages, hence capping the power at 500 BHP too.

The Stack Pro Control oil pressure and temp gauges are set to change colour as I ascend through the degrees celsius, ultimately flashing red at me when things start to get out of hand.

The air con has been fully removed so the weight up front should not change a great deal either.

The HKS oil cooler is designed to compliment, not replace the oem one anyway. It's just that I'd already replaced the oem one with a 10% more efficient mishimoto one.
 
#101 ·
War-machine. Firstly, congratulations on the coolest name on the MLR. Ha Ha.

On a slightly serious note though, these projects cost a lot in parts then theres labour on top. MG Autos have been super efficient on the labour side of things and whilst I've chosen to make a few changes for this coming year which have put extra work on the guys, everything has been done in a logical order and opportunities have been seized here and there along the way.

MG's integrity has been second to none. By that I mean Ive asked for everything and theyve sold me nothing. In some cases they've said "Nah, don't bother" where little or no benefit is to be had.

Communication has been constant and I've made sure the project funding has been topped up all the way along with frequent breaks to take stock of where we're at so theres no nasty surprises.

We've all seen the public fallouts on social media when someone finds themselves well outside their comfort zone. Communication is key to a successful project.

I'm fortunate that Mat, Dave, Simon, Jordan and I all get along great. We can say anything to each other and there's no such thing as a silly question. It's the relationship as much as the money that makes this level of evo build possible.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
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