Upgrade plans CH Velocity

R

Rossmckay

New Member
Hi All,

I have sold my car and so have time to spend on making my wife’s 2007 CH Velocity into something more fun. It’s been a very reliable daily driver since we bought it for $4k a couple of years ago. I’m trying for a mild warmup that won’t effect the reliability and a rally look rather than boy-racer.
I’ve done upgrade mods on three safari motorcycles back in the day but cars, not so much. I don't have the capacity or space to do much work in the immediate future so it’s mostly being done in the shop.

My plan is to:
  1. Fix the problems of neglect - all new belts, hoses, battery, CV boots, brake fluid & replace cruise control
  2. Brakes are mildly shuddering and there’s no play in other components so probably rotors - I figured RPW 276mm upgrade as I can’t find anything elsewhere that I’d be confident with
  3. Double din conversion & apple car play gear unit, upgrade speakers
  4. Upgrade headlights - originals are clouded and they’re not that great
  5. Whiteline sway bar & front strut - ex RPW
  6. Short shifter - ex RPW
  7. Cold air ram & muffler - Ex RPW
  8. Wheels upgrade - 16 or 17
My questions are -
1 - Is there a quality brake upgrade kit that’s less $ than the $1200 RPW version?
2 - The Mars performance lights are out of stock and I haven’t been able to connect with them (customer call-in has resulted in two drop-outs and no connection). Is there a decent alternative?

Cheers
 
Hey mate!
I’ve bought TYC branded headlights for my CH, opt for the blacked out VRX ones.
You will already have 276mm brake on your CH, unless the stud pattern is 4x100. 5x114.3 and 4x114.3 CH’s have 276mm discs as standard. Spend your money on a good set of pads and discs, you’ll notice the upgrade, save cash and fix your vibration.

Double din is very worth the hassle.

Rear sway bar (install or upgrade) is very worth it. I have a second hand whiteline and its one of the beat things I ever did to the car.

Short shifters that suit evo4-9 (5speed) will all work. This includes CE and CH short shifters too. This may help you bargain hunt.
I also personally wouldnt go any larger than 16” wheels. I have 17x8 +38 evo wheels on my car, it’s lost a lot of comfort purely due to loss in sidewall size.

a 16x6-7 with +20 to+40 offset will suit a stock ride height Ch very well and still be comfortable. Some 15” wheels may not clear the brakes.
 
SDate42 said:
Hey mate!
I’ve bought TYC branded headlights for my CH, opt for the blacked out VRX ones.
You will already have 276mm brake on your CH, unless the stud pattern is 4x100. 5x114.3 and 4x114.3 CH’s have 276mm discs as standard. Spend your money on a good set of pads and discs, you’ll notice the upgrade, save cash and fix your vibration.

Double din is very worth the hassle.

Rear sway bar (install or upgrade) is very worth it. I have a second hand whiteline and its one of the beat things I ever did to the car.

Short shifters that suit evo4-9 (5speed) will all work. This includes CE and CH short shifters too. This may help you bargain hunt.
I also personally wouldnt go any larger than 16” wheels. I have 17x8 +38 evo wheels on my car, it’s lost a lot of comfort purely due to loss in sidewall size.

a 16x6-7 with +20 to+40 offset will suit a stock ride height Ch very well and still be comfortable. Some 15” wheels may not clear the brakes.
Click to expand...
Thank you, that’s great info.
 
SDate42 said:
Hey mate!
I’ve bought TYC branded headlights for my CH, opt for the blacked out VRX ones.
You will already have 276mm brake on your CH, unless the stud pattern is 4x100. 5x114.3 and 4x114.3 CH’s have 276mm discs as standard. Spend your money on a good set of pads and discs, you’ll notice the upgrade, save cash and fix your vibration.

Double din is very worth the hassle.

Rear sway bar (install or upgrade) is very worth it. I have a second hand whiteline and its one of the beat things I ever did to the car.

Short shifters that suit evo4-9 (5speed) will all work. This includes CE and CH short shifters too. This may help you bargain hunt.
I also personally wouldnt go any larger than 16” wheels. I have 17x8 +38 evo wheels on my car, it’s lost a lot of comfort purely due to loss in sidewall size.

a 16x6-7 with +20 to+40 offset will suit a stock ride height Ch very well and still be comfortable. Some 15” wheels may not clear the brakes.
Click to expand...
I read your build thread. I should have pointed out that I’m mechanically inept and so am in awe of the work of people who are.

the vrx evo parts are understandably in short supply. Is Japan the go to for genuine parts these days?
 
Rossmckay said:
I read your build thread. I should have pointed out that I’m mechanically inept and so am in awe of the work of people who are.

the vrx evo parts are understandably in short supply. Is Japan the go to for genuine parts these days?
Click to expand...
Lancers are really good for building up confidence and mechanical skills, like most Japanese cars. I would say anything short of doing a timing belt is do-able for a DIY’er with some perseverance. If you can’t find a whiteline front strut bar easily, grab a second hand VRX one. Theyre bright red, easy enough to get and you’ll notice a massive difference. Very easy to fit.

get your hands on a gregory’s or Haynes manual - it’ll help a lot. The Mitsubishi manuals are good too, can be found online but they take a but of skill/knowledge to navigate.

Anything I need from Mitsubishi, I buy from a local dealership parts department, or odd bits and pieces from performance stores who stock genuine parts.

VRX is just a trim package - you got most of the goodies in the velocity anyway except for the body kit, suspension and 5stud.

Evo is a whole different animal!
 
I’ll grab a Haynes manual and start with some of these maintenance jobs.

I was tossing up about Evo body parts but in the end I decided that I prefer the VRX bodywork TBH. It’s got a decent look to it and a bit of clearance is necessary when my wonderful wife is parking. Evo components are sideways compatible are a different matter, well maybe because comfort is a high priority.

I really just want it to look, sound, steer and go a bit better
 
Not much more I can add to that, SDate42 has most of it covered
For comfort 16” x 6-7 are the best for comfortable ride, I bought my wagon new in 2004 fitted with 17x7 outward dished with 37p offset, running 215/40 x17”. Like what was said before, the ride does suffer, mine handles great, ride comfort little firm, I wouldn’t want and bigger though.

Ebay US and AU still have led headlight avail, but pricey.

Have a hunt around for Lancer factory double din, you’ll need mount brackets, frame as well, should cost about 50 -70 from wreckers aprox
 

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I chucked new replacement vrx shocks in mine, whiteline rear bar, vrx strut brace, std height springs in mine. Pretty happy with it.
Had 17's on it at one stage. Didnt like it. Comfort and acceleration suffered, looked stupid imo.
Went to a 15x7 with standard size tyres. Much better imo. They weigh nothing compared to the 17's and good tyres *re003* are cheap in that size.
Perfect combo for a getaway vehicle on normal roads and traffic situations lol. Will outrun any ferrari or riced out whatever through town i tells ya
 
wagonmaster said:
Not much more I can add to that, SDate42 has most of it covered
For comfort 16” x 6-7 are the best for comfortable ride, I bought my wagon new in 2004 fitted with 17x7 outward dished with 37p offset, running 215/40 x17”. Like what was said before, the ride does suffer, mine handles great, ride comfort little firm, I wouldn’t want and bigger though.

Ebay US and AU still have led headlight avail, but pricey.

Have a hunt around for Lancer factory double din, you’ll need mount brackets, frame as well, should cost about 50 -70 from wreckers aprox
Click to expand...
Thank you. So you have 17x7 with 40 profile in that pic? They look good and 17s are easier to get than 16s in the 4 stud. But in the end, I’m pretty sure that 16x7 with 205/45s are going to work better.
 
GroceryGetter2.4 said:
I chucked new replacement vrx shocks in mine, whiteline rear bar, vrx strut brace, std height springs in mine. Pretty happy with it.
Had 17's on it at one stage. Didnt like it. Comfort and acceleration suffered, looked stupid imo.
Went to a 15x7 with standard size tyres. Much better imo. They weigh nothing compared to the 17's and good tyres *re003* are cheap in that size.
Perfect combo for a getaway vehicle on normal roads and traffic situations lol. Will outrun any ferrari or riced out whatever through town i tells ya
Click to expand...
Did you ever have it with the sway bar but without the strut brace? I’ve ordered the Whiteline but might wait for the strut brace. The shocks might have to wait until I’m earning money again in September
 
Tbh, i did all the suspension around the same time.
The rear sway bar defo adds small amount of turn in.
Front brace, not so sure. Its good in theory but hard to notice
 
So rear whiteline sway bar is on. Not the on-rails experience I had in mind. Lovells sports low springs and front strut brace in the cart but not on the way as yet due to a temporary tightening of fiscal policy. Thinking -20 on the suspension to see what happens.

Double din with carplay is in with upgraded front speakers and woot! Major difference in enjoyment. And bluetooth phone calls to stop me losing the license from handling my phone. Not into the bass beats so that's really all I need. The installer screwed up the AC and so no heater and the air flow dial doesn't work. Will take it back as soon as I'm out of lockdown.

I've tried to get 5 stud hubs from the wreckers and gave up after I thought about how much i wanted (or rather didn't want) to spend. Ordered some brembo discs and pads though, that's urgent.
 
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