Dave Buschur helped bring the serious tuning of imports out of the shadows and into the mainstream. A ground zero pioneer of the famed Diamond Star cars, Dave has talked and walked big ever since the 4G63 hit the scene in 1989. Not to mention, he's dyno'd and drag raced all the parts and packages that he's conjured under the Buschur Racing banner.
The formative years of the scene were more regionally compartmentalized than today. Generally speaking Hondas were a West Coast trend, old school was big on the East Coast and Diamond Stars were the gems of the Midwest - due in part to Buschur's base of operations in Ohio. Rivalries surfaced as things progressed. One of the biggest was the Honda vs. DSM, but this wasn't a natural evolution. At the time drag Hondas were rough around the edges with body parts removed and plastic sheeting added in the name of weight reduction. Dave and an intrepid Turbo magazine employee created Honda Race Tape in 11-, 12- and 13-second varieties. This comic body blow turned the heat up on the rivalry and also lead racers to address the aesthetics of the cars as well as their performance.
Always on the frontlines, Buschur Racing conducts its own homegrown grassroots event, the DSM Shootout, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in August at the Summit Motorsports Park. Over the years the Civic/Eclipse rivalry gave way to Mitsubishi vs. Subaru showdowns.
Dave and his brother Dan opened the current Buschur Racing shop in 1998 in Wakeman, OH, still in that hub of economic development. After suffering a bit with Mitsu's withdrawal of the 4G63 in the model year '00 Eclipse, the EVO has been a welcome savior to Buschur and DSM enthusiasts. We caught up with the Buschur brothers and their wicked-fast, street-savvy EVOs in their stomping ground, Wakeman, about 40 miles west of Cleveland.
This EVO runs a Buschur Racing...
This EVO runs a Buschur Racing Stage 3 block setup with the only difference being the ARP fasteners. The Stage 3 cylinder head features a set of Buschur Racing bumpsticks, 0.5mm oversized Ferrea valves and high-speed hardware. The 272-degree cams are recommended for 4G63s running a GT-30 or larger turbo.
The lightweight features of the EVO RS appealed to Dave's high-performance nature so he sold his Rally Red EVO development car to his brother Dan and started modifying it immediately. The car received their Stage 1 and 2 within 400 miles of owning it. These modifications included their 3-inch turbo back exhaust, MAF pipe, upper I/C pipe, upgraded Forge compressor bypass valve, boost gauge and mount, reflashed ECU and a boost controller.
Dave said he wanted to build the most responsive and fun-to-drive car possible. "I chose to run the Forced Performance EVO Green Turbo on the car and, combined with all the other tricks we had done on the car, it ran a 10.88 at 128 mph," Dave says. "I was extremely happy with the car in this trim and loved driving it."
The horsepower and torque were both instant, making 450 whp and 451 lb-ft of torque on our Mustang AWD500SE dyno. The peak torque came in at only 4,500 rpm. This turbo was in its early stages of development at the time and had to be taken off the car to be sent in for inspection.