2008 Lancer CJ VRX - Build thread

[Avenir]

Hi Guys,
Long time no see...

Thought I'd keep some light to the thread, without getting too much into hypothetics ofc. Car is still driving well everyday (not that I drive it many places now).

In terms of the build progress its a patchy situation so to speak. I still haven't gotten home to install the
- Whiteline Sway Bar kit
- Double din Head-unit + wiring etc.

which I am still keen to get both as they are probably the most important (I haven't had radio for 6 months hahah). Although for sometime I have pondered wrapping up everything prematurely and just saving for a new car... I have had the car for well over 5 years now, enjoyed all the fun with it, as well as learning everything I could from experience and you guys. But I know deep down pursuing more modifications to add to it, I will eventually just want to drive something different even if I still love the car. (first car after all lol)

So I spose all I am saying is: I'm at a bit of a crossroads which means I'll either keep buying parts but just less parts then before/less expensive and save the rest, or I will just do the last two mods up top and let the car be. I am leaning towards buying a few more parts still like Vland headlights and maybe tune it still by merlin. But I have pretty much scrapped the idea of any expensive rims etc that I was going to do and I even tallied up getting proper Evo x front and rear bumpers and get them sprayed etc. But I realised it goes against what I wanted in the beginning, which was to not make it too much into an Evo. So it just propagates onto a never ending spiral (which I am sure EVERYONE on this thread knows lol) but a never ending spiral on a platform that won't go great leaps is just not exactly what I want to do anymore especially because I am off my P's now anyways - that's a big instigator.

If I could keep both cars I honestly would, but I don't think I can wait that long to achieve that goal (first house time next year!). Still love my car more then ever, don't regret anything done to it and love sharing to you guys that just appreciate a young lad in the workshop. Just not sure I want to travel to the end of the road anymore as much as I did start of last year!

Not going anywhere for now, but my mind is semi made up already it just won't be put in action for some time yet. Honestly not sure how much my car is worth too actually. You guys might know because you have followed me through this lol. I have seen stock lancers with more km's then mine for around 10k so I think its worth probably atleast that.. but idk, I would have to sell to someone who wants an edgy lancer.

In terms of other cars I am looking at - 350z coupes, 300zx, Mitsubishi GTO's, MR2s etc. I also love older RX7's haha but yeah thats a pipe dream I think. Some of those mechanically are difficult for everyday vehicles, but I don't really want an "everyday" vehicle again anyway..

One thing I will miss when it finally goes is the sub. A lot of cars don't come with subs hahaha.

Long live the lancer,
Avenir.

[awood]

Good luck with whatever road you take , it's been , and hopefully will still be for a while , a great thread to follow along and see all your achievements and wins.
I find it amusing you say this Lancer is your first car , I keep telling myself mine is my last car .
No more wasting money buying cars I don't need. I love this little white beast!

[Avenir]

BUILD UPDATE

Hey Guys, made some more progress on the lancer finally. It's been some time since I updated anything on it. For this week it was the headunit...

I didn't actually install anything this time however I got an auto elec/radio specialist to order, install and wire up everything which I could have done myself but would have taken a lot of time and I probably would have gotten a lot of it wrong.

New headunit below is a Alpine 7 inch touch screen with Apple carplay and Android auto with Bluetooth connectivity as well if you prefer. It needed the new facia to support and I also got all the wiring for all of the speakers + sub, new microphone (above top mirror), and steering controls done too.

Was quite an expensive venture, I even tallied up if it was worth it but decided to just do it anyway as I need it for travel etc. The new microphone that sits above the mirror is super clear works superb, all the speakers sound much clearer compared to before, I have finer controls of all the sound settings, and all buttons even the call and end buttons work with the unit and even display contacts when needed.

In general I think it looks a whole lot better then the stock unit as well, much cleaner aesthetically speaking and 7 inch size is perfect. I really recommend this unit if you want a middle of the range - it's about 600$ on its own without any of the extra harnesses.






Stay tuned for potentially more stuff..

Avenir.

[awood]

Cool wireless.

[Mars1811]

Very very nice.
How much did it cost you all up, do you reckon?

[Avenir]

@awood - thanks mate I really appreciate you reading along. It's been some journey and compared to a lot of other far more complex builds mine wasn't that far/long. Yep!! It's been honestly the best first car no complaints. Let's see how long it takes to acquire something new haha.

@mars - thanks mate! It does the job well! It was pretty expensive. But it's because a lot of the wiring is surprisingly expensive (to allow all the stock speakers/sub and steering wheel you have to get adaptors etc to oem plugs) it was $1420 all up with install that took 1 day. Probably I'm guessing 5 or 6 hours work atleast. I would say the headunit and wiring plus the facia goes for atleast 1000-1100$ easy.

[Avenir]

BUILD UPDATE:

Hey guys, a bit of a small update to the lancer that has been delayed for quite some time.

I finally have part of the whiteline kit installed! Hoisted up the car a week ago and did a very quick install of the brand new rear sway bar, link arms and bushings.

The whiteline bar is adjustable with three progressively harder settings, although my dad and I measured up the stock to the stiffest setting on the new one and they are on par. So really it only gives you the option to make it softer. The bar is also much heavier and thicker, the bushings are good quality, and the link arms are way stronger and larger. Much more what you would use on a race car I would think.

One interesting thing to note is that they come with some small lateral gold locks that stop the bar shifting horizontally compared to stock, so that it can't move up down left or right at all.

The install was quite quick as we knew what we were doing anyhow, so only about max 2 hours till we lowered the car again. The car itself is slightly less squeaky which is good and definitely does not slide or lose grip as bad as before from the back end. Depending on inclinations or declinations in the road previously it could still throw the car around on corners if you approached more quickly, now it's harder to do that again.

Will have to set some time aside to get the frontend done as I'm thinking that's where most of the squeaking is coming from too.

Car is running great, everything is still surprisingly gold. Hopefully I can get it all in tip top shape and move onto my next car in time.

Sadly I'm not sure if I can ever get it tuned as Merlin hasn't ever responded to me. So I'll just have to leave it.

P.S photos were taken before tighten up aha

Avenir.

[awood]

Great work mate , my 2016 MY lacks any rear anti sway bar at all. I have seen threads though where peeps have retrofitted whiteline bars like yours by drilling holes in the lower suspension arms to accomodate the end links.

[lancerdarryl]

Full hard on the bar….. must turn in like a demon!

[Mars1811]

Looking sweet, I love it!

[Avenir]

Thanks lads. I have gotta get onto the front one soon...

@awood - yeah I heard some models of lancer don't come with one at the back. Think its a VRX thing? Might be worth retrofitting, or if you can make 2 brackets and weld them to the top of the lower suspension arms that's essentially the same thing. Honestly wouldn't be hard..

@lancerdarryl - Yeah she sure does. The car is also cambered at the back too, so I generally have more control in a corner compared to straight road lol. I think I need better tyres now though. Pretty sure the suspension changes now outstrip my medium grade tyres.

Must admit when I come back to this thread, I fall in love with the car again and its quirks. sigh.

Long live the lancer,
Avenir.

[Mars1811]

Yep, from late 2011 onwards they implemented some cost-cutting measures in all Lancers, including removing the rear sway bar.

[awood]

ave wire.jpg (983.68 KiB) Viewed 531548 times

Ave' , what's this random wire do?

[Avenir]

I believe that might hold some of the wheel guards?? It's all factory. It's too far past the brakes to be the handbrake cable.

Lancerdarryl might know??

[lancerdarryl]

Does it have a tow bar? The ecu for the trailer plug has a power wire from the battery running to it.It is supposed to be inside the vehicle.Apart from that I don’t know it isn’t there from factory.