Building an Uber Rare Mitsubishi Evo 6 in One Episode

Speed Academy is a website and YouTube channel based on making things go fast and enjoying cars. Peter Tarach and Dave Pratte are the forces behind Speed Academy.

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A transcript, cleaned up by AI and edited by a human staffer, is below.

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Transcript:

Welcome to the channel, everybody. Usually my impulse purchases involve a BMW, but this time I’ve gone out and purchased what I think is the peak Evo of all time.

Ever since we sold our Evo 6, I’ve wanted another one. When the cream of the crop—an Evo 6 Tommi Mäkinen Edition—came up for sale, I bought it sight unseen. So let’s take a look at whether this was a good decision or a bad one.

This is a very rare example, partly because it’s black, which isn’t a common color for TMEs. It’s also missing exterior badges, and I’m not entirely sure whether it should have them or not. Either way, it looks menacing. I love the TME front bumper on the Evo 6—it’s close to perfection.

There are a few subtle signs this car has been modified. It has carbon-fiber mirrors, though I’m not sure of the brand, and some very serious brakes with Project Mu rotors and pads. That suggests this may have seen track use, especially since there’s a lot of chassis bracing throughout the car, which I’ll show you shortly.

Paint-wise, it’s in excellent condition. Buying a car sight unseen is always a gamble, but this one showed up looking great. The rear spoiler is missing, and there’s a story behind that, which we’ll get into later.

Around the back, there’s a chassis brace I’ve never seen on an Evo before, which is a very cool piece. One downside is the interior: Tommi Mäkinen seats are incredibly rare, and this car only has one original seat. It does come with a Bride Lomax racing bucket, which fits me perfectly, but it isn’t original. The steering wheel is also missing.

Speaking of steering wheels, this one is very small and oddly positioned. It barely adjusts upward, making it difficult to see the gauges unless you sit very low. There are likely spacers involved, which we’ll sort out later.

The interior also has a strange speaker setup. Speakers are everywhere, yet there’s no radio—just a block-off plate. There are Defi gauges loosely mounted, but they’re not working. The Ready boost controller does work, though. A few items are missing as well, including the armrest and ashtray.

I’ve also never seen a block-off plate where the hood vent should be. My guess is someone covered it to prevent water from dripping into the engine bay. Under the hood, though, everything looks excellent. There are tasteful upgrades like HKS intercooler piping and intake, a large radiator, silicone hoses, a Cusco strut bar, and a master cylinder brace. The air conditioning has been deleted, further suggesting this was a lightly modified track car.

Once the car was on the hoist, I was immediately impressed. These Evos are known for surface rust, but this is one of the cleanest examples I’ve seen underneath. There’s extensive Cusco bracing, a JIC Magic downpipe, a Sard catalytic converter, and a JIC Magic exhaust. There’s also a poorly routed ground strap, which we’ll clean up easily.

The suspension setup is serious: upgraded bushings, a reinforced transmission mount, Cusco sway bars, and coilovers with stiff springs. The Brembo calipers have clearly been refinished, which is a big plus since that’s not cheap to do. Overall, this is a very well-sorted Evo 6 TME.

The first change we made was the exhaust. We swapped the existing setup for an HKS Silent Power system, which is my favorite exhaust for the Evo 5 and 6. It’s a full 3-inch system but relatively quiet, with excellent routing and ground clearance.

With the spoiler removed, the car actually looks pretty clean. However, the spoiler that came with the car turned out to be from an Evo 5, not the correct Evo 6 piece. Installing the proper Evo 6 spoiler was more involved than expected due to heavy double-sided tape and different mounting points, but it was worth it. The spoiler and trunk were freshly painted, and the Evo 6 wing sits higher and looks far better. It’s also adjustable for downforce.

Inside the cabin, the steering wheel height issue was caused by spacers that had lowered the column too much. Removing them restored the proper driving position. The wheel itself is still very small, but I decided not to change it to avoid stripping bolts or replacing the hub.

We also tackled the wiring and gauges. After tracking down power and reconnecting the wiring, the Defi gauges came back to life. Eventually, we sourced proper gauge pods, which cleaned up the dash and covered an unsightly hole.

A new head unit with CarPlay was installed, and surprisingly, the car still has a subwoofer under the seat—despite being set up like a track car at one point. Some interior pieces, like the ashtray, were refinished using SEM trim paint to restore an OEM look, and the results were spot-on.

Since the car didn’t come with its original TME wheels, we chose a motorsport-inspired setup. We settled on Koenig Hyperspec wheels, powder-coated white to match the Tommi Mäkinen aesthetic, wrapped in Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires. The combination looks fantastic on the black car.

After a quick wash and polish, the paint really came alive. The car looks incredible. One final oddity: one of the rear windows is actually plexiglass, likely a replacement from a past repair. It’s convincing, but sourcing proper glass is now on the list.

Out on the road, the car feels tight, responsive, and exactly what an Evo 6 should be. The suspension is firm but compliant, the steering is communicative, and the power delivery is immediate. It’s not about outright speed—it’s about response and engagement, and this car nails that balance.

In full honesty, after buying this car, we picked up several more project cars. Space is tight, and since this is a TME, I don’t want to over-modify it. After a coin flip, the decision was made to let the Evo go—at least for now.

Thanks for watching. We’ll leave you with some exhaust clips of the HKS Silent Power system. If you want to support the channel, check out the links below for memberships and Patreon. We’ll see you in the next one.