Which mods would you be most likely to buy?

I visited Road Race Motorsports this past Friday finally and have a list of some products that I like. The only product not currently sold is the product I want to buy....the straight strut bar. If I can find enough people interested, they will make them for us in red or silver. PM me if you're into that or any of the other goodies.
The x strut bar will require the brake fluid reservoir be moved about 3/4 to 1" away from the firewall...that's it. The straight bar is just that, a straight bar that braces from the two strut bolts furthest from the firewall. The rest of the items are on their website(www.roadracemotorsports.com) so you can get a description. The piggyback at this point is a self tune, you need a laptop and the ability to tune the vehicle, but, it does work. I went with the intention of buying one, we got the install and wiring down to a tee, but the tuning will take more time than I had to give after getting the wiring and install done with the documenting of where everything went. So for now, no piggyback for me as I would not be able to tune my own vehicle.

lol my wallet says I can only afford the straight strut or the brake pads...

but the whole thing looks like a decent buy for about 1k of cash... im thinking with the new intake mani a turbo/sc can be added easier?

If you seriously want the strut bar, let me know... I want to get it too, but again, need some more people so they can make some...surprise, surprise, they won't make just one. I picked up the underdrive pulley but didn't install yet, probably later this week I'll do that.
I don't think the new manifold will help the install of the turbo or s/c, but I would think it will maximize the gains in HP and TQ as the runners will be much better than the stock. I though about buying the manifold, but the install is not something I really have the time and patience for at this moment :(

I may be interested in the straight strut bar, if this will help decrease exessive body lean while cornering. Question, what is the difference between the straight strut and xbar strut bar?

The straight strut bar braces between two mounting points (two bolts) and the x bar will brace between six mounting points, I don't believe this one would brace the firewall as well as strut towers.( 3 bolts per tower= six bolts)
http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/
This is similar to the x bar. The straight bar will simply traverse the engine bay and mount in the front two bolts of the strut tower. It will help with the body flex, it will not however make your suspension tighter.

Thanks for the clarification, is the straight strut bar a self install? (simply removing the bolts on the strut tower and applying then retightning or should a mechanic do the work)

This is a self install....quick and easy.

Well...not so easy on the Outlander

why not so easy? For the prototype they had the bar ready to be tightened down in less than 5 minutes. The Xbar which requires slightly moving the brake fluid reservoir about an inch would still be a relatively easy install. You had to jack around with your whole master cylinder to install yours though right?

hey dirt,

count me in!!! though mexmr's bar is nice, (it looks like two of the bolts about the strut tower are used to secure the brackets for his) the straight bar is better than none and an easy install. what about a rear strut brace for the lancer fitting the outlander as well?


while i'm at it, did you ever hear from johntan about his rear sway bar in that 'other' forum? that would be a nice mod, if we could get our hands on it...!

no, no feedback from the "other" forum.
I'm going to buy my straight bar this week, providing it is made in time, and it will be in silver powdercoat (can get red or silver). I will post a pic of the bar as well as the bar installed, and the time it took. PM me if you want to order one and I'll let them know when I pick mine up, or I can just give you the email contact.
Where are you located?
I don't think the rear bars will fit, if I'm not mistaken they go through the trunk of the Lancer.

i'm all the way across the good ol' usa in new joisey. appreciate your time; whatever is easier for you as far as pm goes or their website.

for a rear strut brace, we'd have to drill an access through the plastic interior, providing it measures the same as the lancer....

thanks,
jim

I certainly won't do that anytime soon (drill a hole). I paid for my bar today, it's being sent to the powdercoat guys to be done in silver and I'll have it next week sometime. Nothing needs to be moved, we just removed the two nuts and it installed within 5 minutes. Hang on until I get the finished product back and can post some pics and then see if you like it. I however don't have that option, but for $80 I don't expect miracles, just slight improvements.
BTW, it's nice to see someone else taking an interest in the Outlander, the forum has been dying. Welcome aboard!

you've done quite a bit yourself to keep these interesting discussions going, and am glad my meagre input is appreciated. am eagerly awaiting your pics; thanks again for all the kind help!

I could post more things, but it's all daydreams right now. I have been wanting to install a turbo in my car for about a year now, but the $4k price has been quite a diversion! I will also need to upgrade the exhaust manifold to headers and then a downpipe with high flow cat and upgraded pipes. I need to start a donation site like everyone else in the world. I though about sponsorship but it's MY car and I don't have time to monkey around with jackasses telling me where to go and when.
What are your plans?

well, not too much; just got a weapon-r intake and am waiting for a free saturday to install it, (i'm impressed w/ the one you fabricated; a real nice job!) an underdrive pulley, some better tires on 17' or 18' gunmetal 5-spoke wheels to go w/ my dark silver paint job, a ralliart or borla muffler, and the strut bar. i'm not impressed w/ the soft brake feel, so possibly a ralliart or powerslot upgrade? maybe an oil cooler, and, would really like a stiffer rear sway bar, but that doesn't appear likely unless ralliart finally makes one, or we can get help from our friend johntan.... hope springs eternal...? it would be nice to get a cruise control - i don't know what kind of marketing studies they did, but my '93 expo has a manual trans and cruise control, and more than 10 years later i couldn't get cruise on a manual trans outlander! i don't have any plans, nor the funds really, to do much more, but one of those ralliart 2.4-mivec turbo's might eventually be nice, and a pair of those nice seats the evo has. i recall reading that one of those chip gizmo's, allegedly, can generate a good 30 additional horsepower w/out any other mods....let's see, $350 for the re-map and void the warranty, or $3500+ for the turbo and void the warranty....but man, that ralliart turbo set-up for the mivec engine is really nice....

The R/A turbo pulls hard... I've been in one.
My intake has changed since I uploaded those pics, I had to move the air filter away from the exhaust and I got rid of the flex pipe. When I take pics of the strut bar which I anxiously await you'll se the new version of my intake. The battery is right in the way of good airflow though.
I tried to install a map for a R/A Lancer, but the programming didn't work on the Outlander, it KILLED the performance. Jet will reprogram for I believe $400, but didn't post any claims or dyno'd HP/TQ gains so I'm not going to spend the $$ on it.
Time for you to make an album...I've got to see the dark silver.

you can probably tell i'm not computer 'savvy,' i'd have to get one of my kids to do that for me, which i will in the near future. one of the other fellows in the forum (i hope i didn't confuse forums....) put pictures of his in recently, it's the same as mine, down to those plastic wheel covers, which really don't look all that bad, but i asked the parts dept at my dealer to order me some center caps which i'll paint to match the flat black steel wheels so i can ditch those plastic things.... until i spring for the alloy wheels and grippier tires. that search has been a chore in itself, trying to decide the best compromise between price, performance, and tread life. what 'shoes' are you running on?

back to the intakes, i was looking at those dry cell batteries, which i first saw in an evo with a buschur (my spelling may be suspect here) racing upgrade, which utilizes one, and it's about a third the size of a normal lead-acid battery. using one should give a bit more space for the intake, and can possibly be situated between the exhaust and the air cleaner....but like most everything else, i'm not so sure, but am checking further.

my tires are nothing special, but they look pretty nice and have a 40 or 45k warranty, tread and traction rated A. I have Dayton Daytona HR and paid something like 70 each. I have AWD so they grip nicely. They do not hydroplane like the stock geolander's did.
Keep us posted on the dry cell battery as well as the cost of the change.

speaking of batt. my buddy here in san diego (evo 8) uses one of those sport bike batt. and hell it works!!! ( hey its 12v...lol) anybody want to try it??

I thought you left the forums....
I don't think I want to convert to a bike battery myself, anyone else though?

nah....back here again, stucked w/ a project. (w.r.x. ) and i, missed the good ol' days w/ mitsu.

cool, not too many people posting on the Outtie forum anymore, good to see you back.

quote:

ORIGINAL: dirtwagon

cool, not too many people posting on the Outtie forum anymore, good to see you back.

thnx....b-sides, am' still working w/ my outtie, one thing for sure...honda's out there cant beat me...lol. dont know if the new s.i. will, but am' gettin ready for it..

hi all,

well, i spoke w/ roadrace and ordered the strut bar and underdrive pulley(thanks dirt!!!), i found an odyssey dry-cell battery for
less than a $100 and ordered one after anticipating inspiration in devising its mounting, and then went crazy and ordered a set of drag
5-spoke gunmetal wheels with bfg t/a kdw's, all thanks to on-line plastic! consequently i was told that i was to be cut off; oh well....

will fill you all in after the dreaded, according to the mrs, ups man comes; and fair weather as well, since two of my sons have their
junk american project cars in my garage, aside from the one covered in the driveway....