Finding your groove is important in building cars and living life. Just like weighing pros and cons in daily life, one’s preferences in cars can bounce around until it strikes a balance between form and function, cause and effect, or something more intrinsic. A lot of times the journey one takes counts more than the destination. To put it this train of thought in an automotive enthusiast’s perspective, some prefer to explore various styles, get a taste of what’s out there; drag, drift, road racing, or looks and hone in on what they like. This is a process that opens the door to far-reaching possibilities. Others see what they like and focus on it like a sniper. Ryan Gold, owner of this Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, is in exploration mode. He is writing a new chapter with this build and drawing on all his experiences, automotive or otherwise, to reinvent his personal swagger.

Taking it back to Ryan’s adolescent years when he had love for anything on wheels from off-road remote control trucks to Maisto 1:18 scale die cast models; his love for automobiles was not different from the rest of us. Through the years, Ryan has grown to appreciate every style and genre in the scene, which gave him an open mind to many inspirations. Every niche had its different ups and downs, but it was hard to overlook the advantages. It would mostly come down to choosing a starting place and rolling with it. For Ryan, it wasn’t until January of 2009, when he made the big initial investment toward his first project, a 2008 Honda Civic Si sedan.

His First Project

During the time of his ownership Ryan tore the Si apart a handful of times to achieve different looks, to update “his baby’s” wardrobe. He met a lot of really awesome people that inspired and helped him through his builds. He attended local car meets in Santa Barbara and eventually participated in shows in California and Nevada. Experiencing that type of lifestyle got Ryan hooked with his Civic in so many ways. His surroundings inspired him to keep pushing himself to the limits with style and purpose. The bagged Civic Si was then sitting on step-lipped CCW LM5 stretching rubber bands around the barrels to accommodate all the room he made in his wheel wells. The front end received a face-lift from a 2009 model.

The facelift eventually necessitated a rear end make over, so he converted the rear end to the JDM version which changed the bumper, tail lights, and rear trunk of the car. The interior was fully caged, fitted with bucket seat, and wrapped in cherry blossom upholstery that personalized Ryan’s style. Of course, with it being an Si, it is Civic’s top of the line model that he bolted up with minor upgrades. To a Civic Si, bolting on headers, intake, and exhaust is like night and day for the car’s performance, which was easy for Ryan to achieve. From interior, exterior, to the performance and looks of the car, he made it stand out to everyone’s peripherals.

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Ryan was known for building one of the baddest bagged Civic Si’s to roam Southern California. He summoned all his talent and knowledge to execute his dreams. And sometimes, dreams can turn into nightmares. Having one of the sickest Civic Si whips was not always the icing on the cake. Having stretched tires and a complex air suspension can lead to pickles you wouldn’t enjoy being in the middle of.

Tires de-bead, air suspension components leak, and suspension arms and drivetrain components such as axles start to bend. It sounds like a pain, but it is only a routine maintenance for stanced fans. As Ryan experienced the downfall of daily driving a stanced car, he started to gain interest in other styles that would eliminate his struggles. He then chose to part out his entire build, and sell the car. It was sudden for a lot of his friends and his followers, especially for having considering street cred the build had attained. Ryan’s excitement for his next build left everyone suspended in curiosity and suspense. In 2013, nobody knew what Ryan had up his sleeves when he purchased a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

The Current Project

As a matter or fact, Ryan started his Evo build before even driving the car off the lot. He had a pretty basic layout that most would start off with. He gave himself some leg space not going too far into buying parts, so he can have room for course changes along the way. For this to vintage Evo X, he popped this car’s cork with minor bolt-on modifications such as a shift knob, short shifter, intake, and exhaust.

The bug actually didn’t bite him hard until the minor bolt-ons returned big driveabilty enhancements. It all went haywire from there. He then bought the common parts the common track fanatic would consider a necessity like suspension, wheels, tires, lip, bucket seats, and aerodynamics. You could already tell which route Ryan was going for. People were still confused thinking he would eventually stance tuck his Volk Racing RE30 and meaty 275/35 tires in his stock wheels wells. Nope! Ryan was aiming for a streetable, track-ready Evo.

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Being new to this scene, came with a handful of mistakes. That doesn’t stop Ryan’s optimism, turning those mistakes into experiences. It can become an emotional roller coaster, as for any daily driven projects. There would be times when Ryan wanted to scrap the build and pursue something else, but a couple of deep breathes and with the support of his friends and family, he felt at home. He simply took those mistakes as opportunities to tear down the car. Every time he looks back to his old Si, he sees a well executed masterpiece. Although his canvas now is made from a different material, he wants to create an image just as eye-catching.

The Teardown

There are a lot of aspects that motivate Ryan in his build. Like any other gearhead, he loves figuring out how things work and how to improve them. Think of a 7-year-old boy tearing apart his action figure, only to see it all put back together with extra rocket launchers 10 minutes later. Ryan’s Evo, of course, wouldn’t be modified with rocket launchers, but you get the relation between him and the little boy – it is the exact aspect in terms of motivation.

His teardown began with stripping the interior, and installing a Recaro SPG driver side bucket seat and Recaro Pole Position passenger seat to hug him in place while taking those hard turns. He matches the seats with a white Autopower roll cage for stability and safety. In the cockpit seats a Nardi Deep Corn 350mm steering wheel attached to a Works Bell Boss hub and Works Bell quick release. And my favorite part of the interior, is the Powered By Max adjustable shift knob.

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The Autopower roll cage was not enough for Ryan’s interior chassis modifications. For maximum traction, Fortune Auto coilovers were installed with a handful of Whiteline suspension components such as rear camber arms, rear sway bar, solid rear end links, roll center adjust, front control arm bushings, and solid front caster bushings.

What the hell does he needs all of those suspension parts for? We thought you’d never ask. The turbocharged MIVEC engine wasn’t enough for Ryan, so he wanted to add a little umph into it by bolting on an ETS intake, ETS upper and lower intercooler piping attached to an ETS 3.5″ intercooler. For the exhaust side of engine, he added a Tomei downpipe leading back to an ETS V2 exhaust. Torque Solution components such as a short shifter, cable bushings, and a hate selector pivot bushing was added to support the car’s powertrain. With the Cobb EBCS, V3 Accessport, and Protune, all four wheels push out a whopping 345 hp and 336 ft-lb. Not too bad for just bolt-ons on a little four-banger… never mind that the 4B11 is an all-time ball-buster.

All the performance components to this car was laminated with the unique exterior Ryan put together. Most people would settle for one brand to complete the look of their car, and of course, for others like Ryan, they like to vary combinations for more unique, personal flow. Ryan uses Varis V2 front bumper with V2 front lip and V2 canards for the aggressive Evolution X stare down from the front view.

Chargespeed Type 1 sides skirts were added along with the Chargespeed over fenders to widen the stance of the Evo’s already wide stance. For maximum downforce, a Voltex Type 5 spoiler is mounted on the trunk with 305mm risers. The body of the car was not the only thing that was altered to execute a unique look. The little details were not over looked with Hella horns, Black Top Aero carbon fiber rear valences, Cusco short antenna, and custom headlights. To seal the car shut, he wraps it in Porche’s Rivera Blue that resembles the famous Laguna Seca Blue. The Smurf Evo sits on 18×10.5 Gram Lights 57D in Gun Blue wrapped in Hankook RS3 285/35.

In It To Win It

You can just tell that Ryan likes to do things right the first time but is willing to experiment when necessary. From his bagged Civic Si to his track-oriented Evo X, people were impressed and he got a lot of love for his build. We give Ryan props for the fact that he’s built these cars for his own pleasure. He tells us he wouldn’t change a thing, and we wouldn’t either. He plans to soldier on. Building cars is his creative outlet. Ryan’s vision of building streetable track-ready monsters keeps our noses in the book, anticipating the next chapter. Stay tuned.

Owner: Ryan Gold

Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA 

Occupation: Owner of R & R Motorworks

Car Club Affiliation: Royal Origin

Car Cost: $37,000

Cost To Build: approximately $30,000

Time To Build: 1 year

Date Completed: Never

Powerplant: 2.0 4B11T; ETS intake; ETS upper intercooler piping; ETS lower intercooler piping; ETS 3.5″ intercooler; ETS test pipe; ETS V2 exhaust; Tomei downpipe

Drivetrain: CZ4A 5-speed transmission; Torque Solution short shifter; Torque Solution shifter cable bushings; Torque Solution hate selector pivot bushing

Engine Management: Cobb EBCS; Cobb V3 Accesport; Cobb Protune

Chassis: Fortune Auto coilovers; Whiteline rear camber arms; Whiteline rear sway bar; Whiteline solid rear end links; Whiteline roll center adjust; Whiteline front control arm bushings; Whiteline solid front caster bushings; Autopower roll cage

Brakes: Brembo 6-piston brake kit

Footwork: Rays Engineering Gram Lights 57R Gun Blue 18×10.5 front +19 rear +22; Hankook Ventus RS3 285/35/18

Exterior: Varis V2 front bumper; Varis V2 front lip; Varis V2 canards; Black Top Aero carbon fiber rear valences; Voltex Type 5 carbon fiber spoiler; 305mm wing risers; Chargespeed Type 1 side skirts; Chargespeed front over fenders; custom head lights; Hella horns; Cusco short antenna; vinyl wrapped Porsche’s Rivera Blue

Interior: Recaro SPG driver side seat; Recaro Pole Position passenger side seat; OEM Navigation n-05; Works Bell steering wheel hub; Works Bell quick release; Nardi 350mm Deep Corn; Powered By Max adjustable shift knob; rear seat delete

Honors & Awards: N/A

Special Thanks: R&R Motorworks and Royal Origin