We called Dejan "Dan" Cokic about two weeks before the Ultimate Street Car Challenge and asked him to bring his highly modified Eclipse to our contest of speed. He's in Connecticut. We're in California. The car was in boxes. His reply was exactly what we want in the USCC: "I'll be there and I'm going to win."
Cokic owns and operates Pruven Performance in Milford, Conn., a tuning shop that specializes in all things DSM and a few things Honda. Having the resources of a full engine-assembly and fabrication shop comes in handy when you're trying to build a car in 10 days, but we're sure the Pruven staff consumed its share of caffeine in the days leading to the deadline.
The first thing the staff did was assemble a gnarly 4G63 with Eagle rods, Arias pistons and ARP fasteners. The head received a set of HKS 272-degree cams, 1mm oversized valves and a valve job by Service Auto in Ansonia, Conn. Cokic then pilfered the Forced Performance prototype turbo from his 9-second DSM racecar and proceeded to build custom intercooler plumbing from 2.5- and 3.0-inch stainless-steel tubing. He plumbed a massive 28x10x3.5-inch Spearco intercooler into the system and built custom end tanks to go with the plumbing. A Tial blow-off valve relieves the turbo of some 30 psi when the throttle is closed. The stock intake manifold was Extrude Honed for better flow.
Exhaust gases pass through the stock exhaust manifold, into the exotic turbo, then into a custom, Pruven-built 3.0-inch downpipe, 3.5-inch mid-pipe and dual-outlet tailpipes. At full boost, a Tial wastegate bypasses unnecessary exhaust gas through a mufflerless dump pipe.
Harnessing the spark and fuel into a usable package is a Haltec E6S ECU and MSD DIS2 ignition. Fuel is delivered from the custom-built in-tank sump assembly through massive -10 Goodridge lines to four 850 cc/min. injectors. Fuel pressure is controlled by an Aeromotive regulator. Pruven retains the stock DSM fuel rail.
Cokic claims to have cooked at least 25 clutches on his way to finding the current setup, yet the final combination is remarkably simple. He uses a 2,900-lb pressure plate with the stock disc and a JUN chrome-moly flywheel.
"Mitsubishi flywheels have a way of destroying themselves under this kind of load," says Cokic.
We can only imagine. Since he didn't want the transmission to suffer the same fate, he had Team Rip Engineering, in Kalamazoo, Mich., give it a once-over strengthening. The tranny overhaul included replacing the factory's brass shift forks with steel units and installing double synchros on third and fourth gears. All three differentials remain stock.
Cokic also claims the Eclipse makes more than 500 hp at the wheels, and since he's got one of the country's few all-wheel-drive chassis dynos in his shop, we believe him. We've seen one 10-second timeslip from Dan's Eclipse. If this feat is repeated at the USCC, the Eclipse will be one of two cars in the history of the event to do so, the other being the twin-engine Hyundai Tiburon that competed last year.
The interior remains very stock with the exception of a Kenwood stereo and JL audio 10-inch subwoofers. There's an array of five Autometer gauges as well, to keep track of everything from air/fuel ratio to boost to vital fluid temperatures.
From the outside, the only giveaways this is a special car are the oversized Baer brakes and the 18x8-inch Knig Villan wheels wrapped in sticky Hoosier R3S03 rubber.
Perhaps the only two drawbacks in this DSM's bag of tricks are its rather hefty 3,330-lb (with driver) curb weight and a bit of a drag racing bias in its setup. Regardless, with 500 hp and all-wheel drive, it's pretty cool.