When 2008 came around, Rene Viniegra knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted a brand new car, preferably something AWD and turbo. Only but a few cars fit the prerequisites. The new Evo X had just been released with a new powerplant and aggressive styling from the previous generations. Mitsubishi redesigned the Evo to be better-looking and performing than the last. This was undoubtedly going to continue the Evo legacy with tuners, and this was the perfect platform for Rene to build.
After owning a few Nissans, (including an '04 350Z), this time around Rene wanted to build a car and go the full nine yards. His target was to build what most all of us dream to - an AWD turbo car, with both 'show and go'; something that could be respected for its show-stopping looks as well as its real performance upgrades. To add icing to his cake, one of his goals was to get the car featured in a magazine. Everyone needs a little ego boost sometimes. Over shooting his goal, Rene landed a spot on the cover of your's truly.
This Evo first caught my attention at the Import Showoff car show at Nisei week last August. I attended the show as I do every year. But this time, I was really hoping to see if anyone had built an Evo X. Since it was the hottest car released that summer and I couldn't wait to see what tuners would do with it. Although there were many crazy Evo VIIIs and IXs, there was only one Evo X that caught my eye. Rene's car was still factory white at the time and didn't have a body kit yet, but he had his wheels, seats and a few other small things. It was the most I'd seen the X modified here in the States, at the time. Seeing that he had such a new car modified already lead me to think he was going to be doing much more to the car.
After talking to Rene later on, I found out his plans were even bigger than I had hoped for. He was planning to have a complete body kit, a new full paint job and more all done for the SEMA show in November. Engine modifications? Yes, an AFI turbo manifold was being built for him, as well as plans to upgrade all the turbo components. With a target date only three months away, I thought he was going to be a letdown, and this would just turn into another one of those projects that never gets finished.
Wrong! After staying in touch with Rene, he assured me everything went as scheduled and he brought his car at the SEMA show just as planned. With several first-off parts installed, the car was completely covered in candy purple paint. With gender and sexuality aside, this color is f-ing hot. Candy paint is not easy to pull off cleanly on an import, nor is purple. I rarely like it, but I have to admit with all the simple clean JDM builds, it's nice to see someone mix in a little bit of bling and originality, and not accidentally step into the lame side of import tuning (circa '95 import car shows). I'm not sure how anyone, yet someone that's never done a build like this before, could build a brand new model car to this level so quickly. This has to be one of the very few Evo X in the States, at this level. If only more of us could come through and make our fantasy builds come to life. As Rene told us: "Take your time on a build and don't give up. Turn your dream car into reality."
With a personal invitation to our STi versus Evo Challenge last fall, Rene had planned to take the car to the track for a little fun. But due to a scheduling conflict with a pre-booked family vacation, he missed out. Hopefully this year, we'll see his car there, possibly with even more work done to it.
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