Koyo Aluminium Radiator

Decided to go for the Koyo Aluminium radiator to solve some of the cooling woes especially during heavy traffic. Installation was fairly simple and straightforward and I did it at my house by myself. Just had to be careful with the clearance between the massive headers and the aircond fan. Pictures are self explanatory. Also installed SAMCO silicon radiator hoses and Ralliart 1.1 bar radiator cap whilst fitting the radiator.

Engine bay with the standard radiator, radiator cap and hoses.

Another shot but side view

Engine bay with Koyo, Ralliart radiator cap and Samco Hoses

Side View with Koyo Radiator Installed

Another Shot – Last one I promise

The water temp only goes to half now during massive traffic jam especially on a very hot day. Usually its below the half level mark. Radiator fan also take a very long time before it kicks in and stays on just for a short while. Next step will be upgrading to the Ralliart Thermostat to try and get the fan coming on quicker especially during heavy traffic. Do remember that air-con must be switched off during traffic jam which means the aircond fan doesn’t run and less cooling through the radiator.

Latest Engine Bay Shot

Next Mods

Oil Cooler Kit
Crank Scraper
ARP Head Stud Bolts
Sard FPR.
Earl’s Fuel Filter
Complete Fuel Line conversion to SS braided hoses with Earl’s fitting and hose ends

Stay Tuned for more when I have the time.

A New Era

I thought I will just make a quick update on the SP since it has been a while since the last entry. I have now clocked in about 1200 km since I purchased the car from Andrew. Nothing much has been done to SP except for the addition of a Koyo Aluminum Radiator and the Ohlin Coilovers. The DMS suspension was one of the items which I did not manage to secure when purchasing the car, so I had a good offer for a set of Ohlins from Japan. This was soon bought and fitted as the car looked "funny" on the standard suspension, ie huge ass suspension gap between the tire and fender especially on the fronts.

Picture of the SP on jacks just before changing to the Ohlins.

The other side with the Ohlins installed.

Unfortunately the pictures of the Ohlins before they were fitted were only taken through my handphone and they are not very good quality pictures.

The specification of the Ohlins:

Short Stroke Ohlins PCV for Lancer Evo 1,2,3
Front) Free length =200 mm, k=8 kgf/mm
Rear) Free length=200mm , k=6 kgf/mm

20 click adjustment for compression and rebound, not individually though.

Pillowball top mounts front and rear


Installation was fairly straightforward and installed it myself with help from a good buddy of mine, thanks Koh!. I must say that where the installation work was done the SP was actually the thorn among the roses!

Driving Impression

To be honest I thought the ride is going to be really stiff and jarring, but the damping of the Ohlins is really good so much so that its actually quite comfortable to be used daily. At least the SP is more comfortable then my Mini but that’s another story though!

I have wound the dampers to about 12 click from Max on the fronts and 15 clicks on the rear which is inline with Ohlins recommendation. The car was then aligned with front toe out of 1 deg and rears toe in of 1 deg as well. Cambers on the front were set to -1 deg. Potholes and speed humps are best avoided as the short stroke nature of the damper doesn’t really help in providing any form of comfort during these situations. However show it a good set of twisties and they really shine! High speed corners and highway ramps can be taken easily without any under or oversteer. The setting is very neutral and gives a high degree of confidence. All this is pretty much with the first try on the suspension setting. I need to play around more with different ride height and compression setting to really find out what it can do.

The SP has quite a lot done on the suspension and handling department already so the effect of the coilover is greatly multiplied I reckon. It’s akin to having porting work done to the cylinder head before a set of killer cams is fitted. Next step is to get the car corner weighted so that I can really benefit from the coilvoers.