SP Rides: White Lightning
By Michael Kitchens
Owner: Nivez Singh
Age: 31
Occupation: Small-business owner
Hobbies: Cars, cars and did I mention, cars?
Year/Make/Model: 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8
Color: Wicked White
Facebook: Nivez Singh
Nivez Singh has always loved cars. At 15, he secured his first ride — a 1987 Toyota Corolla, which he recalls, “was so beat up, smoke was coming out. I was pretty sure the head gasket was about to blow.”
After turning 18, Singh bought himself a ’99 Honda Prelude. As most Honda fans know, this is pretty much what starts a tuning addiction, with the huge number of parts available. While blowing up a few engines, Nivez noticed the introduction of the Mitsubishi Lancers to the U.S. market. Within a few years, he opted out of the Honda scene and catapulted himself into the contoured seats of a brand new 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8.
His original intention was just to add some bolt-on grunt and have a nice car to drive around. A few months later his car club Club808 took a visit to Maui on the much-missed Superferry. He hit 13s consistently in what was basically a stock ride and the idea to keep it that way went right out the window. Upon returning to Oahu, the modification madness began.
Nivez wanted more power — period. So, he went on a turbo-upgrade spending spree. He tried out every turbo from Forged Performance. One day, a friend wanted the existing turbo on his car. With the turbo pulled, Nivez looked at the car and decided that it all had to be modified. The engine and head were then pulled and shipped to Buschur Racing on the mainland for a complete overhaul. The tranny was also shipped off to Ohio for the Bushwhacker upgrade.
Once the parts returned, he spent six to eight months getting everything back together. After a tune by Seth of Import Dynamics, the refurbished Evo hit over 560hp and 390 lbs. of torque. On race gas, the AWD Evo was able to break a whopping 750HP/550 lbs. with the help of Seth’s tuning. Nivez’s goal is to be like white lightning in races and consistently run in the 9s.
Nivez built the ride for drag racing, so he limited the suspension setup to a set of Hotchkis springs. The Evo rolls on SSR GTIIs fitted at 17×8.5 all around and swathed in Nitto Drag Radial 555s — literally race tires spaced 245/45R17.
The intent was to go with the sleeper look, but his girlfriend wanted some additional flair, which includes carbon fiber accents such as the front bumper inserts, rear lip and carbon fiber exhaust shield. The bumper has been swapped with a 2006 Special Edition for an updated look. He relies on Jimmy at Premiere Auto Detailing for keeping the Evo clean as well as Shane from Eastside Graphics and Gumuchim Productions.
Nivez has spent thousands of dollars in putting everything together and taking it apart in his garage to find the ultimate formula for power. “The goal was to be simple, light, but drive like a monster,” says Nivez. It certainly is an Evolution worthy of its name.
