Keoni Viernes' 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is the New Beast of the Las Vegas Strip
- 6 Nov 2012
K&N: What was the initial inspiration for building and customizing cars? Keoni: "My love for cars started when I use to go to Volkswagen car shows and seeing all these different cars and each had their own touch to it, and that’s what I wanted to do to my evo." K&N: Did you choose this car? Why go with the Evo? Keoni: "I always wanted a 4 door sports car that just so happened to be all-wheel drive and turbo. Still maintaining sleek race car look[s] but be able to hold passengers at the same time. Lastly, the infamous Hybrid Philosophy of building a complete race-street-show vehicle. K&N: What drove you to make some of the design choices and styles for the Evo? Keoni: "I had inspiration from the JDM or Japanese culture in modifying cars as well as other members of my team building Hybrid Quality Cars." Recently landing a cover spot on Performance Auto and Sound magazine with a full 3 page feature, Keoni’s 2005 Lancer Evo is getting an excellent display in the lime light. Keoni is also connected to custom auto group, Team Hybrid which has also celebrated multiple member cover spots this past year. Keoni credits much of his success to his involvement with Team Hybrid. "This car started off as [a] reliable daily driver work car, and then it became a race car… ”stated Keoni. …”Then I meet up with some guys from Team Hybrid especially with the help of Founder/President James Lin, LV Chapter Director Archie Concon, plus a few other Hybridz as well as our great team title sponsors, and it became a complete "Race-Street-Show” car.” Keoni also went more in detail to the custom body style of his Evo by "…taking different styles from each car and putting my own touch to it. At the start it was just your basic engine bolt-ons and rims,” said Keoni. "The car started off with the stock tarmac black color which was nice, but being most shows where at night you really couldn’t see the car. The dramatic change is when I started doing the body work and adding the Voltex Wide Body with a full custom paint job and this couldn’t happen without the help of Team Hybrid and James Lin. They helped me finish the front and rear fenders from Evasive Motor Sports (The largest Distributor of Voltex). With such [an] aggressive body kit, it needed aggressive color and familiar with Japanese scene using bright colors and graphics, I took a page out of there book and went with this color. My main reason was to have a car I can take to shows and compete with the best and then step to the race track and beat it up on the track."
Keoni’s custom mods and styles have been seen at the following shows this past year: SEMA Motor Trend Auto Show Motion Auto Show SpoCom Auto Show Import Face Off Formula Drift Mitsubishi Owner Day Import Showoff Nisei Week Wekfest Slammed Society Remix While a pretty sight to see, Keoni’s show and go Evolution IX racer is no slouch with enough mods and upgrades to pump out a serious 450HP on the dyno. Here is the full spec sheet for the Mitsubishi:
Voltex Street Edition Front Bumper Voiltex Street Edition Canards Voltex Front & Rear Wide Fenders Voltex Side Skirts Voltex Rear Diffuser Voltex 1500mm Wing Voltex Carbon Fiber Heat Shield Vortex Generator Window Shields JDM Rear Evo 9 Tail lights Carbon Fiber J- Panels Carbon Fiber Vinyl Roof House Of Kolors 4 Stage Sunrise Pearl with Ice Engine FP Green Turbo GT-Spec Tubular Manifold
K&N Performance Air Filter HKS 272 Intake/Exhaust Cams HKS Adjustable Cam Gears HKS Front Mount Intercooler HKS Upper & Lower Pipping Hallman Manual Boost Control Turbo XS Oil Catch Can Ingalls Stiffy Engine Torque Dampener ARP Head Studs Ralliart Red Oil Cover Titek Carbon Fiber Hood Damper APR Radiator Cooling Plate JM Fabrications Spark Plug Cover Tanabe Concept G Blue Turbo Back Exhaust ClutchMaster Twin Dics Greddy Type RS Blow Off Valve Perrin Hose Kit
Mishimoto Slim Fan Mishimoto Overflow Bottle ETS Aluminum Radaitor Pipe BR Mini battery Kit BR Spec J&E Tough Skirt Coated Forged Pistons BR Crower Rods BR Bronze Valve Guides BR Dual Stainless Steel Valve Springs BR Titanium Retainers BR Ported & Jet Coated o2 Housing Walbro 255 Fuel Pump Tuned on 100 Octane Brakes & Suspension WP PRO 8 Pot Front Brakes WP PRO 6 Pot Rear Brakes Kabee Full Coilover Suspension APR Flex Control Bar Interior Bride GIAS Low Max (Gradation) Custom Red Leather (Recaro) W/ Embroidered "Evolution & Mitsubishi Logo" Wedge Engineer Seat Brackets NRG Short Hub NRG 3.0 Quick Release OMP Tommie Makinen Steering Wheel Evolution 9 Billet Shift Knob B&M Short Shifter Cusco 6 Point Roll Cage (Camaro Green) Apexi Auto Turbo Timer & Harness Gruppe-S 60mm Gauge Panel Defi Link Meter BF 60mm (Boost, EGT, Oil Pressure) Defi BF Tachometer 80mm
M1 Harness Bar Takata Harness Wheels & Tires CCW Race Classics (18x10.5 F+12 R+12) BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp 2 (255/40 r18) Project Kics Neo Chrome Lug Nuts Ichiban +25mm Wheel Adapter ICE Sony XAV-64BT Sony XM ZZK3301 Class D Amps Sony Front & Rear Speakers Sony Tweeters Sony XZ-LD106P5 Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
