Prowear NZ Superlap regular contender Kat Benson has been given the opportunity to take her Burgerfuel-sponsored Evo global, thanks to the team at Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge. Kat will take on the world’s best during the October 16–17 event at Sydney Motorsport Park. Kat Benson never ceases to amaze us here in the NZ Performance Car office with how well she represents the import and time attack communities with her highly modified Mitsubishi Evo VII.
Kat will contest Open class, and with a recent swag of upgrades, she’s confident she’ll net a decent result. Previously, Kat’s 4G63-powered Evo VII had two tunes, track dependent. The low-boost setting netted the Evo 320kW at the wheels, and the high boost tune of 380kW was possible, however a tamer 340kW tune was commonly used. Now, thanks to the switch to E85 fuel, Kat’s Evo produces 400kW on 26psi of boost, and 433kW with 27psi. To prepare the 4G63 for the yeast by-product that is ethanol, 2000cc injectors were installed, as normally around 30 per cent more fuel is required to produce the same power as pump gas. Kat also upgraded to a GTX-series turbo, which should cope with more boost, and give her quicker boost response.
“Before we go any higher, we need to upgrade the rods and valve springs. We are happy with this power level for now. Carl Ruiterman at E&H Motors thinks 500kW is easily achievable with those upgrades,” Kat told us, and also mentioned the 4G63 now runs a lot cooler at the track.
After contesting the first round of NZ Superlap here in New Zealand, Kat’s Evo suffered from an oil-surging issue; not exactly what you want leading up to an international event. BNR Engineering custom-made a gated sump for the 4G63, which has remedied the issue.
We look forward to cheering Kat on from right here in New Zealand, and you can expect an event wrap to see how Kat gets on in Australia.
For a closer look at Kat’s Evo, click here. Or, to learn how to build a 1000hp 4G63 engine, click here.
