Introduction
Are you an Evo X enthusiast looking to turn your car into a one-of-a-kind ride?
Look no further than interior modifications. While many petrol heads focus solely on exterior upgrades, a custom interior can truly take your Evo to the next level. From sleek racing seats to vibrant LED lighting, there are endless options for personalizing your Evo X’s cabin.
Let’s get ready to revamp your cockpit!
Bucket Seats
You might be wondering, “Why should I invest in bucket seats when my Evo X already has comfortable and sporty seats?”
Well, the answer depends on how you plan on using your Evo. The stock seats may be perfectly suffice for many owners who daily their Evo and use it for some occasional spirited driving.
However if you participate in track days or really like to extract every inch of performance from your Evo, then bucket seats could be a fantastic addition.
Designed specifically for spirited driving, bucket seats cradle your body, providing exceptional support during hard cornering and acceleration. Their ergonomic shape hugs your torso, reducing the sensation of body roll and allowing you to maintain focus and control.
Additionally, bucket seats are usually lighter than their stock counterparts. Installing lightweight bucket seats helps reduce the Evo X’s overall weight, improving the power-to-weight ratio, acceleration, and handling.
Cobra are a popular choice among Evo X enthusiasts. These seats are a serious performance upgrade are compatible with HANS devices for all you track nuts.
When installing bucket seats you will need to install new seat rails as well as purchase resistors to avoid the airbag warning lights and warnings on the dash.
Interior Trim Wraps
Interior trim wrapping can be used to give your Evo’s interior a fresh new look. It involves applying vinyl wraps or decals to the trim elements in your car, such as door handles and dash panels.
This is a mod that you can do yourself relatively cheap that is also reversible. You can of course buy pre-wrapped elements for your interior, just bare in mind this will work out more expensive than giving it a go yourself.
If wrapping yourself, you will need to remove the interior trim pieces from your interior and buy the type of wrapping material you want. There are various options to choose from, with many owners opting for a carbon fiber styled wrap. These wraps are a great way of adding a touch of class to the interior, and work really well with darker styled interiors.
Gauges
If you are serious about your Evo’s performance, then consider fitting some gauges to the interior where you can monitor different parameters as you drive. This could be as simple as fitting a boost gauge or it could be getting a digital multi-gauge device.
The most common and one of the most important gauges is the boost gauge.
Boost gauges come in different shapes and sizes, but they all work on the same principle. Most have an indicator needle that moves up and down based on how much boost the turbo is generating at any given moment. Other digital gauges use small screens to display the boost digitally rather than using needle movement like mechanical gauges do. These digital gauges can sometimes be easier to read however may not have the aesthetic look that many petrol heads want from a gauge.
Another useful gauge you can install is an AFR (air/fuel ratio) gauge. These gauges inform you of the ratio of air to fuel that your engine is currently using, which can useful if your car is tuned/remapped to run a different ratio than that of the factory parameters. They can also be useful in identifying any potential faults in your engine’s air/fuel mix ahead of time to prevent damage.
Where you decide to mount your boost gauge(s) will depend on how many you intend to install and how visible you want them to be. If you are going for multiple gauges, then look at a multi-pod setup for either the A-pillar or dashboard. For the dashboard, you can mount them at the top of the centre console or just above the car instrument cluster.
Gear Shifter Upgrades
These mods are for Evo X owners who have a manual transmission (which will be the majority).
For an enthusiast owner, the gearstick is one of the most engaging and enjoyable parts of the driving experience – except perhaps when you’re stuck in traffic!
There is options for both cosmetic and performance enhancing mods you can do for your gearstick.
On the cosmetic side, you can opt for an aftermarket gear knob. While a subtle mod, this can make a big visual difference to the interior if you opt for something that stands out or adds contrast/compliments the interior color scheme. Some aftermarket gearknobs are slightly heavier adding a bit more weight to the gearknob resulting in a better feel.
For a performance enhancing mod, we have the short shifter.
If you aren’t familiar with it, a short shifter is a mechanism that reduces the throw distance between gears, making for a quicker and more precise shift. You can more easily feel your way through the gears, making it easier to hit the right gear at the right time.
Many short shifter kits can reduce the throw by over 30% which will make a significant difference when you are flying through the gears at pace. This can help avoid mis-shifts and increase your acceleration.
TorqueSolution have created a short shifter for the Evo X that is available to purchase online and can be installed in around half an hour. This neat bit of kit reduces the throw of the shifter by around a third, and is also compatible with aftermarket shifters as well so need to worry if you are running a funky looking gearknob!
Floor Mats
Custom and aftermarket floor mats are a great way to add some style to your car, while also protecting the interior. They come in many different colours and styles, so you can choose one that matches your Evo X perfectly.
Custom floor mats help keep dirt off your carpeted floors while reducing wear and tear on them as well. This prevents premature wear on expensive OEM carpeting and reduces stains from forming in areas where dirt accumulates most often (like under pedals).
These are some of the most simple and affordable mods you can do, but also very satisfying. You can get different styles of floor mats in different colors to compliment the interior color scheme your Evo has.
If you are wanting to add a touch of heritage to your Evo, you can check out these classic handmade Ralliart floor mats. These have an anti slip surface and can also be ordered with or without a heel pad.
You can also check out some all-weather styled mats here which look really slick.
Steering Wheel Upgrades
When it comes to upgrading your steering wheel, you have different options at your disposal.
Many opt for a customized version of their standard wheel, sometimes with stitching or a different finish/look. Others who are serious about performance and like to track their Evo may entirely replace the standard wheel with an aftermarket option.
A low cost DIY mod that you could do yourself would be to wrap sections of the steering wheel in a vinyl wrap or install a steering wheel cover.
Taking it a step further, you can then look into having your OEM wheel customized to your liking. There are many companies out there that specialise in this craft. Some of these companies are:
- ExclusiveSteering
- CarbonTastic
- CarbonCityCustoms
- CarbonClutch
These companies offer many bespoke options for you to transform your standard steering wheel. Options include carbon fiber, flat bottomed wheels, custom colored stitching, choices of grip material and some even offer integrated LED lights at the top of the steering wheel that correspond with your tachometer!
Finishing Thoughts
From the practical to the purely aesthetic, there are endless options for interior modifications that can make your Evo X feel like your own. Whether you’re looking to enhance performance with a new steering wheel or add a touch of style with custom floor mats, the possibilities are endless.
So go ahead and get creative – with the right interior mods, your Evo X can truly become a reflection of your unique style and personality.
Happy modding!
