Deep Sleep

For anyone who has done any type of racing on the track, or the **cough** street, there is a moment where time doesn’t exist. As a certain character in a certain well known movie franchise put it, “I’m free,” and you enter into a time/space distortion, completely focused, where the adrenaline is pumping so hard that senses become numb. Once the pass is complete you ask yourself, “what just happened in the last 8-15 sec.” For Chris Barno the 9 secs when his stock appearing Evo X enters into the racing dimension it’s an accumulation of a build that has evolved since he bought the car new in 2012…and he’s not done yet.

Minus the rims, smoked headlights/tailights, duck tail wing and exhaust Barno’s Evo is quite literally stock appearing and at a glance is a Lancer look-alike. The Evo in motion with muted Rota rims and Hoosier slicks blends in with the stock appearing theme and resembles a simple bolt on build. Mitsubishi nailed the design on vehicles like the Eclipse, 3000GT, Evo and Galant therefore I agree with anyone keeping these cars appearing relatively stock. Chris wanted it this way, he fell in love with the rare color combo of Octane Blue Pearl with black leather (and sunroof) and didn’t see the need in changing a well designed vehicle. No light weight over vented carbon fiber accessories, no widebody ultron kits, large wannnng or any of the JDM fanboy “racing” parts that tend to shout, “look at me, I’m fast!” Just a factory tuned body that wants to rip anyone’s face off when the loud pedal is pushed to the floor.

And this is kids where we leave Mitsubishi factory land and enter into the depths of face melting horsepower with a brutal base line…think if Tommy Lee and Eddie Van Halen just soloed for 20 min and you stood front row next to the speaker. Once you open the hood it turns into a Motley Crew party with all the good stuff. From the factory the 2.0L turbo Evo X was rated at 295hp at 6,500rpm, respectable if you like listening to Cold Play while driving to the pumpkin patch. But Barno likes to party and after he blew the motor in 2013 he fully built, bored and sleeved a now 2.2L turbo that puts down 657hp at 31psi on the dyno, and an estimated 700hp at 37psi when letting it loose on the street.

When can you expect to feel all 700 of those angry horses? Well the power band is from 5,500 - 9,000rpm and describing how it pulls through the powerband wont do it justice. Let’s just say its, “violent.” This amount of power takes Barno down the 1/4 mile in around 9 sec in street trim allowing him the 7th quickest 4B11 on the Mitsu Times list. Please note he is doing all of this with a 5 speed manual transmission!! The Shep built street/strip transmission is mated to the motor with a twin disc clutch capable of handling more than what is needed. The transfer case is stock however the Evo 8/9 mechanical differential has been swapped from the previous generation.

The suspension stays with the factory theme with the only upgrades being, Swift Spec R Springs with factory shocks and Whiteline sway bars. Suspension is one area Barno will upgrade. The weight shift off the line squats the Evo more than the insta model you’ve been fiending over for weeks. The Rota 16’s are understated and double as a huge weight reduction wrapped in those wonder Hoosier full race slicks. Of course if you’re going to go fast you’ll need to stop fast. Barno has Evo 10 Brembo brakes in the rear with ears ground down to fit the smaller wheels, while the front are Evo 8/9 Brembos again to fit the wheels.

The interior continues the deep sleep theme since this is a rare combo of blue on black leather. There’s no crazy roll cages or bright flashing neons to distract the driver from hitting perfect shifts and hurling you down the track. The custom race shifter has a lock out for shifts between 2nd and 3rd to ensure Barno never accidentally goes back into 1st with all of the chaos occuring. The hydraulic stage brake looks right at home next to the shifter and of course all of the fire suppression you need for a high horsepower vehicle. A custom gauge pod that sits on top of the stock cluster allows Barno to see all the engine diagnostics at a glance. And yes, Barno runs a/c while blowing the doors off of any takers on the street.

What would Barno change? He wouldn’t have done the 2.2L overbore because of the phantom knock headaches. After trial and errors from tuning he found that sweet spot where it drives and idles well. Because the block doesn’t have as much meat in-between the cylinders, at high boost the car also likes to blow head gaskets. He also would have matched his cam and spring combo which would have eliminated many early of headaches. The next upgrade for the car is a double pumper fuel system and an external surge tank to ensure the motor will be fed all the fuel its heart desires.

Barno reports not too many cars try to race him on the street, however the biker boys are quick on the trigger. With the amount of horsepower Barno has at his fingertips he doesn’t hesitate to walk most street bikes…R6’s you’ve been warned. Whats next for him? Well fortunately he’s married to a wonderful woman who loves cars just as much as he does and will be the next to get a race car. She really likes the Supras but doesn’t like the automatic so they are leaning toward the kit cars…maybe a podcast match with Terry?! You can find him on instagram @cbarno42, Chris Barno on Facebook or mobbing around the Morgantown, WV area. If you have additional questions for Chris hit him up on social media or email the podcast radridespodcast@gmail.com.