2011 Lancer ES Build Log

[Nuclear]

Hey Guys I've been lurking here for a little while now but only just got around to creating my own thread *ahem* .. well better late than never I guess!

I purchased my 2011 ES back in June 2020 as a first car (and as a 20th Birthday Present to myself ) since I was finally getting my (P)arty plates due to issues finding instructors for my 100 hours as well as a small accident at work that made driving impossible during the rehab. Unfortunately due to that incident manual vehicles are not something I can drive reliably anymore which limited my choice to an automatic. I did however stumble upon this base spec ES which ticked all my boxed and came in handily under budget as well as being one of the better looking vehicles that I could find all over town (Even with those factory Hubcaps)

Here it is on the lot and no I didn't pay nearly $8000 for it!

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Not long after the initial purchase I replaced most of the suspension with some help of course including brand new Shocks, Strut tops, Bushes, an engine mount and Front Shocks again under warranty after they decided to die which was a fun time! after all of that was addressed the CJ has been great with no other mechanical issues so far.

Since the suspension work I have also added a few small things here and there of course
A 2017 Black Edition Wing for $100 I believe it's the same as a ralliart/VRX wing which has always been my preference over an EVO wing
New Dark Grey Steering Wheel controls as it lacked media controls from the factory and I thought they looked better than the silver
New Headunit a Pioneer DMHA4450BT I had hoped to get a unit with wireless carplay and Android auto but the cheapest unit had an 18 month wait apparently... which I found out after being on the wait list for 3 months....
Reversing camera to go with the headunit.
New OEM floor mats (After attempting to clean the original ones nothing was getting out the 10 year old dirt and grime)
A Ralliart Snorkel
New Hubcaps to replace the factory ones
Black sequential indicators
New seat covers
Some seat gap fillers since I was sick of dropping my phone and wallet underneath my seat
A central panel switch so that I can have somewhere proper to plug my phone into the headunit
and I've dabbled with blacking out my Mitsubishi Diamond badges as well as the inner silver trim

Here she is after finally having clear skies long enough to wash taken today (excuse the inside I'm hoping to tidy that in the coming days weather permitting...)






Up next
New wheels and tyres Hopefully in the next week
exhaust - still trying to work out roughly how much for a custom job
finish interior restoration of trims and few pieces that have seen better days
Sideskirts
an ECU tune if anyone even still does them anymore (I hope I haven't summoned Bumblebee)
front and rear strut brace
possibly upgrade rear sway bar
paint restoration on the roof and tailgate from clear coat peel and both driver side doors and guards have some road chips and rust that I'm hoping to identify a fix for as well
new head and tail lights
fog light installation
and once everything else has been completed and I haven't moved on to a new project front and rear bumpers and maybe folding mirrors but I'm not even sure if that's possible as I never could find the information I needed on the forum

I know it's been a long one but I've enjoyed everyone's threads and thought I might as well start my own and share my experiences so far and of what is yet to come.

[Mars1811]

Wow, what a good price, and I love what you've done with it.
Do you have more info about that centre console charging ports? They look mighty useful.
I'd love to see more; keep the thread rolling!

[Avenir]

Hi mate,
Looks good, great little additions spread throughout. Makes the car come to life a bit more.

In my personal experience - for the exhaust either just do an Axel back which doesn't do anything for performance but will make it a bit louder or do a full exhaust up to the cat and replace the cat with a high flow. You can tell on the street which ones have which as the full system does sound so much better and drives better.

Sideskirts just recommend the vrx ones, cheap and available.

ECU tunes are a bit washy, merlin is the only one that I know who does it still but he's so hard to get into contact with. I rang up about 3 or 4 stores too on getting my lancer tuned and they all said no we don't do it.

Front strut brace is a definite good decision. However back strut (if your talking actual struts and not sway bars) is not so good. You have to tear holes in the carpet and bolt it in - and I did some fairly basic research of my own on them atleast with FWD cars a rear strut is just going to negate what the front strut does. It will stiffen up the chassis for sure but front strut helps with understeer and then a back will help with over steer, once you do both your back to square one which is pretty much what I kept reading. Not many honda guys put them on either. Also you lose boot space.

Sway bars I think are a good idea, but I would personally do both if you want a bigger difference. Just the rear, is what I've done and although it's good, once again the car doesn't have much at all of oversteer so the front is most important. There's a corner of road going to maccas where I live - I can feel the front end lose a little grip everytime I go round it quick. Back end never does. Could be my car of course but yeah I'd recommend both. In a pack like the whiteline kit.

There's always a fair few foglights on gumtree, because people delete them. Have a lookey there.

Feel free to have a look in my thread also on some details I've done over the years.

Avenir

[Rillanon]

where does one buy unpainted oem vrx side-skirt

[awood]

Looks great , well done on all the work you've done to her.
Looking forward to the wheel review.

[Nuclear]

@Mars Thanks Haha I plan on keeping it rolling from now on! As for the chargers I got everything off AliExpress pretty cheap and shipping time wasn't even too bad just be careful I did accidentally buy a set that did not fit even if they said they would.

@Avenir Thanks for the advice! looks like I'll scrap the rear strut brace and focus on the front for the moment then look into the whiteline kit. I'm going to start ringing around for quotes on the exhaust hoping to go full custom with the high flow cat as I do want to squeeze a bit more performance out especially if I do manage to get a hold of merlin.

@Rillanon I'm not sure myself might be able to find some off a wreck in the colour you need I was looking at some Knockoff EVO ones on eBay the other night that might suit?

@awood Cheers mate, wheel review should be up in the next few days I just found out they've arrived at the store so I just need to get them fitted and balanced!

Thanks again Guys!

[Avenir]

No worries mate, it won't hurt your car but the trouble and cost are high + the input it does to your car from my knowledge is not gonna help if at all.

The whiteline kit I got was all the link arms (hold the sway bars), 2 swaybars and the bushings for about $650 was the cheapest I found.

Thats the way! Stainless steel and mandrel bent is also best for flow and reliability... Seeing as your car is a 2.0l the general consensus is 2.25inch in size btw.

If you get down the line and you've done the sways, struts etc. I do also recommend coilovers but they are expensive, so up to you. But the way they make your car sit compared to stock is worth it alone lol.

Good hunting,
Avenir

[Mars1811]

@Mars Thanks Haha I plan on keeping it rolling from now on! As for the chargers I got everything off AliExpress pretty cheap and shipping time wasn't even too bad just be careful I did accidentally buy a set that did not fit even if they said they would.

Do you have a link to the one you bought? I don't want to buy a dud
What was the install process like?

M

[Rillanon]

@Rillanon I'm not sure myself might be able to find some off a wreck in the colour you need I was looking at some Knockoff EVO ones on eBay the other night that might suit?

problem with wreckers is that they often fork lift the car and damage the side skirt/underbody enough that it wouldn't be worth it.
ideally i'd like an oem one, but i think they all come pre-painted to specific color codes... can't afford the stealership pricing

[Nuclear]

@Mars Thanks Haha I plan on keeping it rolling from now on! As for the chargers I got everything off AliExpress pretty cheap and shipping time wasn't even too bad just be careful I did accidentally buy a set that did not fit even if they said they would.

Do you have a link to the one you bought? I don't want to buy a dud
What was the install process like?

M

Sure thing install was fairly simple I ashamedly haven't actually wired in the straight chargers yet due to time but they simply have a power and ground wire and should be simple enough to splice in to the cigarette lighter I'm hoping but this is everything I bought that is currently in my car.

Switch Panel
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3294834 ... 4c4dgyFaAp

Blank Plug
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3301712 ... 4c4dgyFaAp

Head unit extension plug
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 4c4dgyFaAp

Double Charger plug
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3286518 ... 4c4dgyFaAp


I also wanted to share a quick update Wheels are on!
They are 17in Enkei SC46's in Gunmetal Gray with Pirelli Tyres
Really happy with how they look so far and much better than the old steelies with cheapo covers

[awood]

That looks great.
Nice choice of wheels.

[adamhumphrey]

Wow, what a good price, and I love what you've done with it.
Do you have more info about that centre console charging ports? They look mighty useful.
I'd love to see more; keep the thread rolling!

I grabbed an aerpro one, it was reasonable price. One side is data, one side just charging

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https://aerpro.com/apusbmt2