1999 Mitsubishi Evo VI
Name: Rohit Bhattacharjee // Age: 29
Location: Auckland // Occupation: Clinical research manager
NZ Performance Car: Hi, Rohit. How did you get into cars and what was your first?
Rohit: Hi, team. I’ve always been into cars from a young age. Though, it was through mates playing around with old VR4s and GTXs back in the day that I got into the modification side of it. My first car was a little Mazda Eunos bubble hatch, but that didn’t last long at all before I decided boost was needed.
And how long was it before you ended up with this Evo?
After the Mazda, I had a couple of turbo Subarus, but the last Legacy [that] I owned started sounding a bit rattly, and this Evo came up for a very reasonable price, so that was it.
Did you always intend to modify it, and to this extent?
The initial plan was just the usual bolt-ons and seeing how we went from there. I then started hanging out with the Untamed Motorsport crew, particularly Carl (JRCOZY) and Chris (Al4SPN). That caused things to escalate quickly ... I picked up the turbo, and we decided to see what the stock block and ECU could manage. The block decided to self-ventilate and instead of building the usual 2.3-litre stroker motor, we did some research and sourced a few parts through Alex from Moonlight Racing to piece together a 2.4-litre using a 4G64 block.
Nice, and what do you hope for the future of the car?
I just want to see what we can do with this set-up now that it’s going. The goal is a 10.99-second quarter-mile, so we’ll be working towards that. Realistically, it’ll be E85 next if we need more power — I’m reluctant to go bigger with the turbo as it’s still a street car, and I’m not interested in a lag monster dyno queen.
Got to stop somewhere, right? Thanks for sharing her, Rohit.
Engine: Mitsubishi 4G64, 2400cc, four-cylinder; JUN 272-degree cams, HKS valve springs, Crower titanium retainers, custom coil-on-plug ignition, Manley H-Tuff rods, Wiseco 1400HD pistons, Forced Performance Red turbo, Trust intercooler, TiAL Q blow-off valve, JUN stainless exhaust manifold, three-inch exhaust system, Xspurt 1550cc fuel injectors, AEM 320lph fuel pump, Link G4+ ECU
Drivetrain: Mitsubishi five-speed (4.11), Tilton 7.25-inch twin-plate clutch, Quarter Master hydraulic release bearing, transfer-case housing bolt upgrade, Active Yaw Control (AYC) delete, plate-type rear limited-slip differential, Diamond Design six-pot calipers, 330mm two-piece front rotors, Endless MX72 pads
Interior: A’PEXi boost gauge, Auto Gauge water-temp and oil-pressure gauges, AMS shift knob, E&H Motors boost and launch control dials, MoTeC shift light
Exterior: Black vinyl roof wrap, custom black housing headlight
Wheels/tyres: 17x8.5-inch (+30) Enkei RPF1, 225/45R17 Bridgestone RE002
Suspension: Evo IX Bilstein shocks, RS-R lowering springs, Cusco front strut brace, Ultra Racing rear strut brace
Power: 340kW
Fuel type: 98 octane
Tuner: Carl Ruiterman at E&H Motors
Times: 12.5 seconds at 109mph (198kW), 12.1 seconds at 117mph (270kW)
This article originally appeared in NZ Performance Car issue No. 251 — get your grubby mitts on a copy by clicking the cover below
