What happens to the psyche, to the ego, when acclimatizing to outlandish horsepower? The mind and ego get used to the idea of residing at the top of the automotive food chain. For Todd Allen, dominating his streets has become the norm. Known by many for his 1,300 horsepower twin-turbocharged Lamborghini Gallardo and 1,307 horsepower JZA80 Supra Turbo, Todd has become synonymous with clean and powerful sportscars. His insatiable need for speed drives him to build cars to the extreme.

When a friend started to get into the sport-compacts, Todd's curiosity was peaked and he began doing a little research of his own. He advised his friend that the Mitsubishi Evolution would be the platform of choice because of the performance potential of the 4G63 engine and its all-wheel drive layout. Todd did such a great job selling the idea of an EVO to his friend, that he talked himself into getting one as well.

History Repeated, Again

Todd purchased this Evolution VIII complete with aerodynamic enhancements and a built powerplant to serve as a daily driver. Satisfied with the power it generated, he only made some minor changes to the aesthetics to suit his taste. But it soon became apparent that going from well over 1,000 horsepower to around 500 was just too big of a step down. Seeking help from his usual list of suspects, Todd put another car under the blade.

Good Enough Is Never Enough

Not letting anything get in the way of big power, Todd had the engine pulled and brought to LMS Machine Shop to be reworked. He discovered that the engine had already been sleeved once before, which for an iron block means that some serious damage had been done in the past. Taking no chances, Todd asked LMS to resleeve the block with a fresh set from Darton International. These sleeves were bored and honed to the factory 85mm spec. Since significantly greater horsepower targets were expected of this 4G63 engine, tremendous cylinder pressures would be involved. The added stress placed on the rotating assembly could result in a condition known as "crank walk". This occurs when the pressure on the crankshaft begins to overpower the main bolts and caps. To combat this condition, a set of Pro-Gram Engineering billet main caps and ARP main studs position the rotating assembly. The block was then line honed to ensure a precise fit. With the block prepared, the cylinders were filled with forged-aluminum CP Pistons. The pistons join the Crower 102mm stroker crankshaft by way of Crower Pro-Series billet connecting rods.

Moving on from the shortblock to the cylinder head, ensuring adequate airflow in and out of the cylinders became the next focus of the build. The head was ported and polished to accommodate an increase in airflow and volume entering and leaving the combustion chamber. It was then filled with Supertech nitride-coated valves along with Ferrea dual valve springs, titanium retainers, locators and locks. The nitride coating on the valves minimizes the friction of the valves while the springs and lightweight retainers keep the valves from floating at higher engine speeds. A set of HKS 280-degree camshafts actuate the valvetrain, taking advantage of the improved port flow.

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