Project E36 323is: Building the Poor Man's M3, Part 4 - Exhaust

By Johnathan Lawson

Now that our E36 323is is hustling through the corners a bit more sure-footedly, there's one thing that seems to be missing.  A soundtrack!  While our car is not packing the most powerful engine in the world, it's still got a bullet-proof and (potentially) great sounding BMW M52B25 inline 6, yet it's almost as if the factory put the whole car on mute.  The engine loves to rev, and is sewing machine smooth at any RPM thanks to the motor's inherent balance, but it really feels like it wants to sing a bit louder, and who are we to stop it?

Project EVO MR - Engine Bolt Ons Part 2

By Cheston Chiu

In the last edition of Project EVO MR, we were at Cobb Tuning SoCal in the middle of bolting on a bunch of parts.  As you may recall, we are wanting to give our EVO a nice boost but don't want to get too much beyond the basic bolt ons because we don't want to stress our SST transmission too much.  We want to be able to daily drive our car with occasional track use without problems.

So far we are working on getting the AEM intake, ARC intercooler, Cosworth intake pipes, AMS downpipe, MXP exhaust and the Cobb boost control solenoid with Access port all fired up before some tuning to make it all work.  How much power are we gonna make?  Let's take a look and see.

Project Gen 3 STi: Suspension upgrade with M7

by Wes Dumalski

When last we left off with Project Gen 3 STi we were enjoying the power and up to this point the only modifications we had done so far were to make the car go faster. It was time to change that as the GR STi is a bit soft around the middle. Our friends at M7 came to our rescue with their Super Street Performance Coilover setup. We were eager to put this new suspension through its paces to see what type of performance it really offered so step inside and read all about it.

Project Civic SI Wilwood Front and Rear Brake Upgrade

By Aaron LaBeau

Big brakes are car porn at its best.  More than anything else, this upgrade to our project has elicited the most conversations from drooling valet attendants who also drive Civic SI’s  We've even received a brief glance from a Turbo Porsche owner who was eager to show what 300 more horsepower could do on an open stretch of road.

Project E36 323is: Building the Poor Man's M3, Part 3 - Brakes, Wheels, Tires 

By Jonathan Lawson

Next up on our Project E36 323is is giving it more grip and better braking.  Stopping distances will almost always come down the moment you put good rubber on a car, but for short and repeatable braking, you want to maximize the braking system itself, and that's where the StopTech brakes come in.

The Hail Mary: The Build Story Behind Speed Week Part 1

Project E36- How to Install a Seibon Carbon Hood

By Nick Betz

Project E36 is a pretty well used car.  It has been a non pampered, non garaged daily driver for its entire life.  With this sort of use and from continual baking under the hot California sun, the hood on our car was in sad shape.  After seeing just how much a bodyshop was going to charge to sand all the paint off the hood, get rid of the rust and to fix a few dents, we decided that perhaps getting a carbon hood from Seibon would be a similarly priced, and better alternative.  Want to know the correct way to do a durable installatation of a carbon fiber hood on a daily driver?  Read on!

TESTED: Achilles Tire R1-X

By Steve Rockwood

I've driven on a lot of tires, some of them horrible, some of them great. All of them have been DOT legal. Until now. When we were approached by Achilles Tire to try out their new R1-X racing slick on Project G20 Racecar, we predictably jumped at the opportunity.

Project Honda Civic EJ: Building the B18C1 Part V

By Chuck Johnson

In our last installment of Project Honda Civic EJ, we thoroughly explored the Harlem Shake phenomenon and also partially completed the assembly of our B18C1’s valvetrain.  Now equipped with Skunk2 valve springs and titanium retainers; the cylinder head of our B18C1 engine is ready for completion.  Next on this list? A set of Pro1+ camshafts, Skunk2 adjustable cam gears, and an ARP stud kit. 

The Project Evo X MR is back!

By Cheston Chiu

Just when you thought all was lost, the MotoIQ Project Evo X MR is back on track.
As previously stated back in the November 2011 article Project Evo X GSR - Testing the K&N Cold Air Intake.  "The owner", aka. ME, was fairly reluctant to venture beyond simple engine bolt-ons mainly due to concerns with the twin-clutch SST transmission and its ability to hold power.  The other excuse, which I think would supersede anything else, was the fact that the project stalled because my wife and I were trying raise our one-year old daughter at the time.  All we did was go to work and then come home to take care of her (and the dog)—which didn't allow a whole lot of time for hobbies.  Now, let's fast forward to today, I have a little bit more free time since Mike wrote that article, my daughter is getting easier to manage, and during the hiatus I've stockpiled a bunch of awesome parts that I'd like to chronicle for MotoIQ.