Let’s get something out of the way first… This car isn’t the wildest or fastest Evo X around but Eric McWilliams isn’t what you’d expect from a Mitsubishi owner and also the parts are far from what your average fan boy has. You’d think he grew up living and breathing imports in a big city like Los Angeles, Chicago or Houston, from the aggressive widebody and clean overall looks of Eric’s car. But after understanding him, we found out he’s actually a small-town Iowa boy. For the majority of his life, all he knew were words like “V8”, “Chevy” and “Mustang”. However, a fresh opportunity in Las Vegas changed his life. He found a gig as an engineer for one of the most successful casino resorts worldwide and was introduced to an alternative realm of cars.
Eric’s initial plan was to build a Mustang drag car while scooping up a sporty daily driver. Well, that daily driver happened to be a ’08 Evo and anyone who’s been behind the wheel of an Evo X knows what it’s capable of. Eric fell deeply in love with the all-wheel drive beast and even told us the Evo was faster than his V8 Mustang! Eventually, he sold the ‘Stang and put all his eggs in one basket to build his ultimate track and streetapproximately speed. Since he’s been an avid follower of AMS and all sorts of their accomplishments, it was a fairly easy decision to outfit the 4-cylinder turbo using their bolt-ons. Matched with bigger injectors and fuel pump, a drop-in turbo upgrade and a high-flow manifold, the vehicle became more juiced for your track while still keeping its smooth daily drivability with a quick turbo spool and low-end torque. The very last result was 467whp along with a flat torque curve peaking at 350 lb-ft.
The following piece of the puzzle was the exterior. To get something different while still keeping the vehicle looking functional and sharp, Eric ordered Varis’ latest widebody kit from Bulletproof Automotive. Debuted in the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon, Eric’s kit is one of three in The United States and the only one on the West Coast. The newest fenders extend each corner 35mm which accommodate the beefy Enkei wheels with 295-series tires.
The last order of business was the color and instead of going with your typical candy or flat paints, he picked something that actually had some meaning to him. The baby blue is based off a BMX bike Eric had when was a kid. He had the entire body shop match the color using a custom three-stage paint job with pearl.
For now, Eric plans to show his ride with Team Hybrid as well as wants to take road racing more serious. So while it may not be the most extravagant project we’ve seen, we gotta give him props for ditching his muscle car roots and building one unique Evo.
Tuning Menu
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
Owner Eric McWilliams
Hometown Las Vegas, NV
Occupation audio engineer
Power 350 and 467whp lb-ft on E85
Engine AMS 3 intake, widemouth downpipe, test pipe, 3 cat-back exhaust, front-mount lower, upper and intercooler intercooler pipes with TiAL quick-release valve; Agency Power exhaust manifold; ARP head studs; 1100cc FIC injectors; FP Red turbo; GSC S2 cams; Mishimoto radiator cap, gauge and hoses oil catch can, 10 radiator and fan; Supertech dual valve retainers and springssteering wheelcontrols with quick-release; Works Bell short hub; Status Ring carbon-fiber seats; Takata Racing harneses; AMS shift knob; Sony XAV-601BT head unit
Thanks You Team Hybrid, Founder/President James Lin, LV Chapter Director Archie Concon, Scott Dean, Jesse Ramirez, Hybrid Hunnyz, Mishimoto, BFGoodrich and Meguiar’s K&N, Sony, NRG, Exedy and Seibon Bulletproof Automotive, Grafik Impact, Trevor from Trevtec, Pete Makowski and also my mom, family, friends, brother and dad for all their support.