An Evo Daily With Just The Right Amount Of Style

When enthusiasts buy performance cars, they often end up modifying them far further than initially planned. This is especially true when it comes to cars with tons of available upgrade parts, like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

Oliver Bate, the owner of this 2001 Evo VII, used to be one of those guys. He’d buy a car, spend way too much money on it, and then regret doing so afterwards. His automotive drug of choice was the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, of which he owned few different models that were all modded to make big power.

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With this big power came lots of breakdowns and bank transfers – and a few crashes also, Oliver admits. He eventually got gatvol of the continual headaches, and sold his last Impreza. Your South African word of the day here, gatvol, is the best local description of when you’re completely fed up with something.

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After parting ways with the Subaru, Oliver felt like something different. Coincidentally, at the same time a friend was selling his Mitsubishi. Oliver went for a test drive and immediately fell in love.

The Evolution VII drove so nicely in factory form that Oliver knew he didn’t want to mess with it too much; just a few tweaks to suit his style better. Visual changes have mostly revolved around selectively adding his favourite colour: teal.

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Oliver’s Mitsubishi is his daily driver, but he still wanted it to sit properly. Enter FS Projects, who pieced together the perfect day-to-day air suspension setup for the car.

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The air ride package consists of BC Racing BR Series coilovers with BAGS By OCD air springs, while management is handled by Air Lift Performance‘s venerable AutoPilot V2 system. FS Projects also completed the hardline install in the boot with a Viair compressor and 5-gallon tank.

YT Revision joined in, hiding a Lightning Audio 2000W monoblock amplifier and Infinity Kappa 12-inch subwoofer in a custom enclosure.

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You’ll notice the cherry blossom design, all of which is hand-painted. This motif continues through to the cabin, with the dash trim, center console, and even the fire extinguisher going under the brush.

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The factory Recaros, door cards, and gear boot were all re-trimmed in leather with teal stitching.

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Performance-wise, the VII’s 4G63 2.0-liter engine remains largely stock, save for a Blitz SUS Power air filter, Turbosmart blow-off valve and an ECU remap.

Fifteen52’s rally-inspired Turbomac wheels are a good choice for the Lancer in an 18×8.5-inch fitment, but Oliver has applied his own touch to these too by having them refinished in teal, a detail that carries over to the factory Brembo brake calipers.

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Oliver’s Mitsubishi is a great example of building a car for your own enjoyment, and at the same time keeping it simple. The Evo VII is already a great base machine and doesn’t need much in terms of modification, but Oliver’s done enough so that his character and personality shines through.

Let’s also face the truth: an Evo is always going to be better than any Subaru. Well, that’s my opinion anyway.

Stefan Kotzé
Instagram: stefankotzephoto
info@stefankotze.com
www.stefankotze.com

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1

"an Evo is always going to better than any Subaru." I think you left a word out there...? Going to pot maybe, LOL! Anyway its looking great Oliver, but don't throw Subaru's under the bus like that bra.

2

"Just The Right Amount Of Style" and a plate saying "send nudes" are unfortunately two opposite things Im afraid.

3
phantom2468 .

I own the very same car. I love mine and I have the money to modify it but I have been on a business trip that takes up most of my time. I have done a few bolt-ons but I have yet to go deep into it.

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4

What is speed hunterish about this? Is this stance hunters now?
Is there a cherry blossom teal vape charger too?

5

Too many commenters take the "speed" part literally. The site is about car culture, not just going fast. Whether or not a build is to your taste, it's still part of the culture.

6

I think my slow ass daily is more heavily modified and dedicated to speed than this is...
This car is cool, but a feature on a site called speedhunters? I dunno about that.

7

Funny how some up here struggle to accomplish this build even though there were way less modified cars showcased here, like that white SL Mercedes convertible which was literally just on air and new rims.

8

This car looks straight out of 2001, minus the air setup. It's a "super street" show car through and through. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what he wants, but does that mean all things old are new again?

9

Great car, but every mod this guy did made it worse. Like honestly this is a waste of an article LOL

10

Yikes.

11

Got to love these street builds
They make cool dailys

12

eww - I bet my stock AWD HRV could smash that thing on a canyon run - unless you meant poser style.

I think the photog could have done alot better with this car if he had focused more on the framing and effects than the quarter store shift knob.

13
Proudly South African Racer

The attention to detail is unique

14
Brooke Whiting

Ahhhh. I don’t know where to start. This is tragic. Classic “Instagram build”.

15

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16

This vaping flat billed cap wearing owner and car is like every bad internet 'tuner' stereotype in one.

17

Wow. Where does all the negativity come from?

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