Mitshibishi Evo MR

sounds much better than the Mazda you were talking about!

So you liked it huh? Noise levels? Handling?

 

The total cost of owning one is rather expensive. Don't just look at the sticker. You will modify it. There is almost 100 crank HP to be had with a reflash and exhaust. Just to tempting.

But yeah, buy one. I picked mine over a lot of other makes that really should have been better.

 

Depends on the individual. The only aftermarket changes to my '03 "regular" EVO8 are the winter rims and tires, and the home-brew cargo net for the trunk. (Young people are always so disappointed when I tell them that it's stock.)

Be aware that both Scooby and Mitsu have been getting hard-nosed about warranties on cars that have been modified -- even when it's a different area. (E.g. refusing to replace the worn clutch on cars with modified exhausts.)

The MR might be better, but the "hydraulic damper" on the clutch with the 5-speed is hopeless -- it protects the transmission from street racers trying to "drop" the clutch, but it makes it nearly impossible to shift smoothly.

There are lots of mods and tweaks for the EVO, but with two Italians in the stable, I don't feel much urge to tweak a car that'll be lucky to last 10 years.

On the options: The boost gauge can only be had through the "sport meter kit". The "deluxe grounding kit" is generally seen as worthwhile, but can be made at home with $20 worth of parts from radio shack or home depo. (I presume copper wire is expensive in Japan: the EVO uses a serial bus instead of wiring harnesses in many places. (chips instead of wires) Which is one reason that good grounds are important.) Check http://forums.evolutionm.net/ for more details.

But you will want some kind of cargo net for the trunk. The way these cars stop and corner, anything not strapped down is going to bounce around like a pea in a whistle.

And don't leave your fries sitting on the pass seat.

And watch your mirrors -- for two reasons: (a) remember that you can stop a *lot* shorter than the guy who's tailgating you, and (b) the guy tailgating you might be a cop: that big wing is like waiving a red cape at them.

 

Don't buy the car for the warrenty. The fact that the car is an EVO is enough to get a hard time about repairs. Not to mention that many mitsubishi dealers do not service the car properly only agrevates this.

Almost all major repairs to even a stock car will be labeled "abuse" and send you packing.

 

dang.

 

Stock EVO seats I find are very uncomfortable on long hauls compared to the STi seats... However I think the EVO is a much better car stock for stock...

I've driven a few 450WHP EVO's and they are a blast indeed!

On a side note... EVO's are safe cars, a friend of mine survived a truck hitting him head on at 90mph...

 

A lot of mitsu dealers are oriented to the entry-level boxes. You have to look at the regional forums on EVO-m to find a good dealer for service -- some are much better than others.

And unless you have a good feel for it, you might need a clutch in an astoundingly short time. Mitsu tends to claim that you've abused it, but that hydraulic damper abuses mine far more than I do. Mine's still okay at 15K, but others have gone as low as 3K miles.

If you have the time and effort, you can just write off the warranty and mod to your heart's content. But if it's just a "beater" car for you, you might prefer to keep it stock and find one of the good dealers to service it.

I didn't much like either set of seats ... but the EVO's are Recaros, so any aftermarket Recaro should fit on the same mount.

But compared to cars like the Ferrari or Celica, it's a far more upright driving position. That tends to be uncomfortable as the seat bolster digs into the back of your legs.

I was thinking about swapping out the front seats, but so far I've just been living with the factory seats.

They might be okay in a frontal impact, but don't go sideways into a phone pole -- these are *NOT* the frames they rally.

 

I agree on the clutch... My friend has an EVO 9 GSR and he went through 2 oem clutches and 2 gearbox rebuilds in 8K miles... Mark Mitsubishi here in AZ is really good on warranties on these cars though... They rebuild the box a 3rd time after they installed a 6puck clutch and aftermarket pressure plate...

My friends EVO 8 RS was on its second clutch, the first one went out at 15K but that was after quite a few 2 step launches. 4th gear syncros took a dump in its gearbox, it wouldn't stay in 4th at all, thats if you could get it in... They can be reliable cars if you don't beat on them too much.
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What's the story behind that last picture?
Everyone alright?

 

Truck ran a red at approx 90mph, lost control and hit my friends EVO head on... My friend broke a hip and femur in one of his legs.

 

You do know there is no cruise control either.

 

What happened?

 

It's hard to tell, but it doesn't look like anyone is wearing the factory shoulder harness in those pix. Did that car have the aftermarket four-point belt system?

The factory belts would be pretty useless to me in a side impact (the B pillar is too far forward to hold the belt snug to my shoulder), and there are only frontal airbags. But the four point harnesses for the EVO anchor to the rear seat belts, so you lose the rear seat functionality.


My old Celica AllTrac had cruise control. It still worked when I sold the car ... maybe because, in 15 years, I never really used it.

 

The car had 5 points and no backseats...

I have the same issue as you with the factory belts.

 

Hi,was just wondering. How much does a dog box for an evo8/9 cost?any idea?

 

Conversions seem to run $8-10K, a good sequential box for uprated power would run around $20K or so, I'd guess.

Prices from Australia might vary. Some should be available from Japan - the US prices would include the importer's markup.

Search http://forums.evolutionm.net/ for more details.

 

I'm waiting for the DSG Evo X before selling my WRX and going Mitsu. Evos are too good to ignore - *but* the new car is built on a completely different platform (aluminium block, can't remember the engine code but it ain't the 4G63), DSG is a major new option and has new electronic wizardry like super-all wheel control. Stock = 320 crank hp or so. Should be a blast!

 

just a stupid fun car. I realy tin box in all aspects, cept when you get on the throttle on the track. I had one for a day at Laguna Seca, WOW, silly amounts of fun. Get in a little deep? get on the pipe and it tightens up the line. The answer to any problem you run into is more throttle.

Power delivery? Its like a 2 stroke motorcycle... nothing, nothing, nothing (hit the magic rpm #) and WHAM !!!! power.

The brakes are amazing, the handling is go-kart like...

the interior sucks monkey butt and it feels like a 1988 Toyota Celica when you close the doors....

but it goes like stink and is fun as heck to drive.

 

Actually, my '88 Celica AllTrac (ST165) was a much more solid car than the stock EVO. The leather option interior was vastly more comfortable than the EVO. But it also had the sticker price of a contemporary 3-series beemer.

The EVO's quickness comes from up-scaling -- fatter rubber, larger rotors, more turbo boost, compared to the ST165. Frame-wise, the street EVO is still much like the econobox Lancer.

But even the Toyota dealers no longer know how to service an ST165. (Which is why I replaced it with the EVO.)

 

Click on the
Evo vs. Murci
http://www.car2max.com/topgear.html

 

Hmm.. had a friend using Hollonger, not sure if thats the spelling, and he paid close to 20k, but it could hold up to 700bhp. .or something like that, and damn, it was noisy
Well, thanks for your feedback