It's the word "hybrid" that sends tinges of anxious loathing down an import guy's spine. Today, visions of smug asshats piloting Priuses (Prii?) and gas/electric Camrys spring to mind in a place where DOHC-swapped Civics have rightly whooped up on Mustangs and Porsches for the past decade and a half. Enter Team Hybrid, one of the import scene's longest-running and most respected car clubs, and the one whose early projects all but single-handedly coined the gearhead-approved version of the term. Calling them innovators would be nothing short of the truth, but in the carbon-neutral modern day, obsolete? Not while one of their original members and newest projects-Charleston Penesa and his '06 EVO IX-are running the streets. Hybrid? Sort of. Green? Yes . . . in a blindingly orange way.
The first thing to get straight is that this is a daily driver. That's how they do things in Penesa's home town of Las Vegas, it seems. Here's a cool thing: our man chose a sedan so he could haul his kids around. Just imagine them growing up and reminiscing about their childhood when dad used to drive them to school and stuff in this car.
Let's quickly take in the Tangelo Pearl paint job applied to the APR Performance Evil-R widebody kit before going into greater detail. The kit includes that carbon fiber front air splitter and undertray, along with those carbon canards. The rear bumper has a design that reduces drag, a fortunate attribute since the car has JDM vortex generators, but no rear wing to take full advantage of them. Penesa favors a clean look instead.
Every time he checks a side mirror, he's looking at $225. A pair of these Rexpeed Ralliart-style mirrors housed in carbon fiber costs around $450. But they do look sleek. A Seibon carbon fiber hood and trunk lid represent further substantial investments. Hopefully the JDM headlights were a little easier on the pocket, likewise the JDM EVO VII taillights.
When it came to the engine, though, Penesa was just asking for a call from his perplexed bank manager. It all started by taking the 4G63 engine apart to install a crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, 280-degree intake and exhaust camshafts, valve springs, and lifters from Brian Crower. Then it went crazy from there. A Buschur Racing 3076R turbo kit soon followed, accompanied by an ETS (Extreme Turbo Systems) front-mount, four-inch race intercooler with RNR Motorsports plumbing.
Once someone is committed to a certain path, there's often no other option but to keep going down it. So in went a Tial 44mm wastegate, a Forge blow-off valve and a Hallman manual boost controller. Penesa made the most of Team Hybrid's relationship with Mishimoto to obtain an aluminum radiator, oil cooler, hoses and race thermostat from the company. Also helping out with the temperatures is a Greddy radiator panel and a Cusco heat shield.
Inhalation is taken care of by an HKS Super Suction air intake, while fuel comes squirting through RC 1,000cc/min injectors. On the exhaust side is an HKS carbon/titanium system (including downpipe), with an Ultimate Racing test pipe squeezing itself into the picture.
With the breathing sorted and the sparking synchronized (courtesy of an ECU re-flash and Magnecor ignition wires), Penesa drove home from the dyno shop with a slip that said 505 all-wheel horsepower at 6,617 rpm and 471 lb-ft of all-wheel torque at 5,531 rpm, at 27 psi of boost. But here's the cool thing: the engine runs on E85 ethanol. So Penesa's kids might still be able to use it when they learn to drive.
The final bits of engine bay finery consist of a Cusco oil catch can, a Stinger SPV20 Power Series 300-amp battery and a Beatrush front motor mount.
The great thing about an EVO transmission is that it can handle massive gobs of power, like those generated by Penesa's engine. So he left it pretty much stock, with the exception of an ACT six-puck clutch and heavy duty pressure plate, an ACT lightweight flywheel, and a Works short-throw shifter for good measure.
The suspension, however, is another matter. Although the factory setup is perfectly workable, the temptation to upgrade to Tein Super Street 16-level adjustable coilovers proved too strong to resist.