I love it when a plan comes together!” Hannibal Smith states it best and Brian Nguyen couldn’t agree more. Brian, a UCR accounting graduate, analyzes every angle before embarking on his projects. When he purchased his second EVO IX, this 2006 SE, he had several objectives in mind. He wanted four-door practicality, streetable performance and aggressive looks that would set his EVO apart from the rest. Deliberate and analytical, he put together a spreadsheet with his master plan.

Guiding Light

The spreadsheet that paved the path of this project contained lists of the parts he wanted to add, the budget allocated and a procedure to minimize the amount of anticipated downtime, since he still needed to commute 70 miles round trip for work. As time progressed, new innovations and products would be released, prompting changes to the game plan and the parts list. As Brian describes it, “Everything (on the spreadsheet) was color coordinated. Certain colored cells would mean that I didn’t buy a part yet, while others indicated that a part had been sold. I even made a separate sheet that shows the price I paid for parts, the price I sold them for and the losses I sustained. Amazingly, I haven’t lost that much from selling parts.”

Blueprint Revisited

Brian’s original vision was for a strictly bolt-on build. A JDM ARC intercooler, Cusco Zero 2R coilovers, Volk Racing RE30 wheels and a Mine’s VX-Silence Pro Titan 80mm exhaust were first on the budget and outfitted the EVO early on. The build really picked up pace when Voltex Racing unveiled its new wide-body kit, the Cyber edition. This kit prompted a revisit to the spreadsheet along with an increase and rebalance of the budget.

The Cyber edition wide-body kit really stood out, as it featured additional fender flares at each corner. Unfortunately, it also required extensive modification to mount properly. Once committed, Brian pulled out all the stops on his project. To fill the widened wheel wells, Brian sold the RE30s to fund the purchase of 18x10.5-inch Volk Racing CE28 Genesis wheels mounted with Nitto NT05 tires.

Power For The Profile

Now that the CT9A chassis featured a more aggressive appearance, increased horsepower through engine work became the focus of the build. The shortblock remained untouched, but the cylinder head received a set of Supertech valve springs and titanium retainers to support the factory valves. Kelford 272-degree camshafts increase valve lift and duration, permitting additional airflow in and out of the cylinders. To take advantage of the engine's improved volumetric efficiency, a TOMEI POWERED equal-length stainless-steel exhaust manifold channels burnt gasses to the inlet of an HKS GTII 7460R turbocharger.