After four years of being rode hard and put away damp, this Mitsu’s OEM suspension components were tuckered. Symptoms included an extreme case of body roll and a tendency to push headfirst through corners. The tapped-out Bilstein shocks, lamer than a Yanni concert, were incapable of lifting the inner wheel mid-turn—a characteristic Evos are notorious for. To find a solution, we called on Robi Spec Race Suspensions of Hesperia, California. Owner Robert Fuller is a wizard in the dark art of suspension tuning; he’s prepped countless winning time-attack machines. With his work cut out for him, Robi took my Evo under the knife. The result? Maximum-adhesion cornering!

Suspension
KW’s Clubsport is the perfect coil-over for an aggressive track setup that, with a few turns of an Allen key, can be softened for cruising. These independent-reacting struts allow a full range of rebound and compression dampening, as well as increased spring rates, tuned valving and large-diameter piston rods. Just what the doctor ordered.
KW Variant 3 Clubsport $2,800
KWautomotive.com

Bushings, Bump Steer and Roll Center Correction
When the multilink rear suspension is compressed, it forces the toe (angle of the wheel compared to the car’s longitudinal axis) to go out or in. Overall, this kit stiffens up the rear end, providing a more agile feel and less rear bump steer. The addition of upgraded trailing arm bushings removes the sloppy feel of the stock rear control arms, while the front roll center kit minimizes the effect of roll by relocating the front suspension mounts, reducing the effect of centrifugal weight transfer. Follow all that? Good.
Whiteline Rear Bump Steer Correction Kit $55
Whiteline Rear Trailing Arm Bushings $42
Whiteline Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit $195
Whiteline.com

Rear Sway Bar
This is an imperative upgrade for any car that suffers from understeer—especially Evos. In any sort of competitive motorsport environment, you want the rear end to release sooner than the front, and the only way to accomplish that is to stiffen up the hindquarters. Doing so raises the rear roll center, forcing the tail to kick out on command. The result is a near rear-wheel-drive experience, while retaining voracious all-wheel-drive grip on power application.
Robispec 26mm 4-way Adjustable Rear Sway Bar $215

Alignment
Good equipment is useless if it’s not aligned properly, and with an all-wheel-drive car, the goal is to keep all four tires at zero toe. Ideally, in a car like the Evo, variations in toe angle cause drivetrain slip, equating to a loss in horsepower.
Precision Laser Alignment $180

Extra Camber
To further dial in the front end, Vorshlag high caster camber plates were chosen for their bulletproof construction, resistance to corrosion and a wide range of strut shaft angle adjustments. As a plus, they enable more suspension travel than any other CT9A Evo camber plate. With high positive caster angles comes more negative camber (tread is flatter on the ground under side load) on turn-in; essentially, these camber plates make sure there’s traction when we need it most. Ease of adjustment doesn’t hurt either.
Vorshlag High Caster Camber Plates $439
Vorshlag.com

Corner Balancing
Just as the individual parts are nothing without a good alignment, a good alignment is useless if the entire car is out of balance. The goal here is to make the car turn equally in both directions; that’s accomplished by getting the car’s crossweight equal. This is achieved by adjusting the collars on the coil-overs up and down in small increments until the weight distribution is equal at all four corners.
Corner Balance $250

[Photos: Alex Bernstein]