Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII Buschur Racing - Boost Brothers

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.

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.

"While the car was down I decided to install our off-the-shelf GT35R that uses a cast manifold that we designed and have cast locally," Dave says. "The kit also uses an investment cast Forced Performance turbine housing and TiAL 44mm wastegate. After doing this, the additional lag that the GT35R added made the car not so fun to drive." On the dyno, power was stuck at a mediocre 499 whp. That's when Dave said he knew something was missing. They tested many different cams and, after much research and testing, they found a few sets that performed very well in the EVO's 4G63 and power went up. "We took a few different cam grinds, had them looked at by another reputable cam company and came up with a mixture of the best cams and had our own ground," Dave says. After getting the custom ground cams in the car they ran out of fuel. "At that time we were running a single high-output Walbro in-tank pump. The power was now at 542 whp, I was beyond maxing out the duty cycle on the injectors as the fuel pressure was falling off drastically," Dave says. Despite the lack of fuel, the car was able to run a 9.97 at 142 mph by driving it to and from the track in full street trim on BFGoodrich Drag Radials."

The next problem was the lack of fuel. "After some studying, I found that we could modify the factory fuel pump assembly and build an in-tank double pumper, using two Walbro pumps," Dave says. "In theory this would be enough for just about 1,000 hp, even with running the stock feed and return fuel lines." After they fitted the new double pumper, the duty cycle on the injectors dropped from 100+ percent to only 65 percent. With the fuel problem solved, the car made 590 whp on their dyno.

"Over the winter of 2006 I decided I wanted to see what the car would do with a larger turbine housing on it and I also wanted to try a [Full Race] header," Dave says. He built a custom 02 housing dump tube for the 44mm TiAL gate and down-pipe to finish it off. This combined with a 0.82 A/R turbine housing picked the car up even more. "The car then went up to 642 whp and 530 lb-ft of torque. The powerband runs flat from about 6,000 rpm all the way past 9,000 rpm," Dave says.

Back to the track, running on Toyo Trampio tires, the car laid down a series of nine-second runs. It's best run to date is 9.77 at 148 mph. "The car spins the tires very easily so it has to be babied off the line, best 60-foot is a fairly slow 1.63 and it crosses the finish line in fourth gear ... at 9,650 rpm," Dave says. The engine can easily go to 10,000 rpm and this is where the rev limiter is set.

"This car is a legit street car, not a race car that is paraded as a street car," Dave says. "It is driven to and from the track and I take my kids to school in it." It's loaded with all the door beams, both airbags and the seatbelts. Dave says that's because it was built to be driven. "After 19 years of building nothing but 4G63 engines it is still hard for me to comprehend how 122 cubic inches can put out over 750 flywheel horsepower, run 10,000 rpm, knock out 27 mpg on the highway, idle in traffic all day and still be reliable."

Dave would like to say he's done with the RS, because he doesn't know how he can improve on it much more, but he's already developing some new lightweight chassis components that are going to find their way on the car to lighten it even more. "I am also thinking a set of slicks, just one time, would be nice as the car would easily run some 9.4s at 150 mph with some traction," Dave says.

The shop has a race-only EVO for pure quarter-mile domination and we can understand why Dave doesn't want to endanger his drivetrain - his kids have to get to school.

Dan's "Silent Assassin" Rally Red '03 EVO VIII 9.83 @ 146 mph
Dan's EVO is the original Buschur Racing parts development car and it has only gotten better with age. "I wanted a very fast EVO. One that could not only kill my fast small-block V-8 stuff but handle, stop and still drive on any long trip," Dan says.

They built the EVO using their Stage 3 head and Stage 3 short-block - the same one that powers their eight-second drag EVO that Dan drives. "I wanted the car quieter than most and wasn't willing to remove weight just to have a loud car I no longer liked," Dan says. Every ounce of sound deadening is still in the car. The factory A/C remains, as well as the full factory sound system, safety equipment, door beams and, of course, air bags. "The car is a quiet beast. I can drive it all day long and get over 25 mpg on the highway and still enjoy the radio or a conversation with the family, " Dan says. He also installed two mufflers. "Our standard 3-inch exhaust sounds great but as the turbine housing/wheel gets opened up and a header is added, it gets a bit loud." Now with the BR bullet muffler in the middle of the exhaust and a Magnaflow muffler out back, he says it's very quiet.

The Buschur Racing Stage 3 short-block is fitted with 8.8:1 compression JE pistons, forged Crower con rods and held together with ARP hardware. The rotating assembly was balanced. The block has been honed, decked and deburred and other numerous tricks add to the package.

The Stage 3 head features extensive porting and polishing to enhance flow and has been O-ringed to better contain the high-cylinder pressure that a boosted-up 4G63 can produce. The valvetrain is commanded by Buschur Racing 272-degree cams that actuate 0.5mm over Ferrea stainless steel valves via Ferrea valvesprings, retainers and keepers.

A T67 turbo mounted to a Buschur Racing header supplies pressure. The fuel system is similar to Dave's and engine control is handled by an AEM EMS. "To date the car has run a best of 9.83 at 146.7 mph," Dan says. "This was done just like I drive it running on BFG Drag radials. On the days the weather isn't so nice I drive my other 2003 Rally Red EVO that was a rebuilt wreck. It runs 11.7's at 121 mph on 93 octane and I even drive that one in the winter!"

Dan's EVO won the '06 Mitsu vs. Subaru Shootout and has been a hard charger at numerous regional events. "Other than just turning up the wick a little more and going back to track to try and hit 150mph trap speeds with it I am not planning on doing much else. After all, who needs an EVO faster than 9.8 to drive back and forth to work everyday?"

Daves "Wicked White"
2004 Evo Rs
Engine
Mitsubishi 4G63
Buschur Racing Stage 3
JE pistons
Crower rods
Stock, balanced crank
Buschur Racing Stage 3 cylinder head
Buschur Racing 272s cams
0.5mm over Ferrea valves
Ferrea springs
Ferrea hardware
Full Race tubular exhaust manifold
Garrett GT35-R turbo
TiAL 44mm wastegate
Buschur Racing FMIC intercooler
Buschur Racing Bullet exhaust
Twin Walbro fuel pumps
1,000cc injectors
AEM EMS engine management
Buschur Racing Coil-On-Plug ignition
Tilton Twin Carbon clutch
Driveshaft Shop Stage 5 CV Joints

Suspension
A'PEXi N1 suspension

Brakes
Stock Brembo calipers
Stock Brembo rotors
Stock Brembo lines
Hawk pads

Wheels/Tires
SSR Competition 17x9 wheels
Toyo Tires Trampio

Dans Silent Assassin
2003 Evo VIII
Engine
Mitsubishi 4G63
Buschur Racing Stage 3
JE pistons
Crower rods
Stock, balanced crank
Buschur Racing Stage 3 cylinder head
Buschur Racing 272s cams
0.5mm over Ferrea valves
Ferrea springs
Ferrea hardware
Buschur Racing tubular exhaust manifold
Garrett T67 P Trim turbo
TiAL 44mm wastegate
Buschur Racing FMIC intercooler
Buschur Racing Custom Twin Muffler exhaust
Twin Walbro Fuel pumps
1,000cc injectors
AEM EMS engine management
Buschur Racing Coil-On-Plug ignition
Tilton Twin Carbon clutch
Driveshaft Shop Stage 5 CV Joints
Custom third gear, Cryo Treated transmission

Suspension
A'PEXi N1 suspension

Brakes
Stock Brembo calipers
Stock Brembo rotors
Stock Brembo lines

Wheels/Tires
5Zigen FN01R-C 17x9 wheels
BFG Drag Radials tires