evo_soul

I have made this post on a few Canadian forum sections. While this only applies to Canadian it is very possible this may potentially apply North American wide in the coming months.

Many of you have visited my blog at one point, know what my thoughts are on Mitsubishi's decision to use the Dunlop SP5000M tire. Many of you who have the Lancer GTS or Canadian Spec Ralliart (Dunlop equipped) already know how poor of a tire this is. Many people in the 2008 year experienced severe problems with premature (inside) tire wear issues. Upon further investigation of the issue for my own car and countless others, one thing remained constant. The alignment was not out of spec and the car consistently pulled to the left. Although evidence points to an issue with either the RIM or Tire, is impossible to definitively say if its an issue with Dunlop. HOWEVER. There are very clear issues that are squarely on the shoulders of Dunlop. The performance of this tire is weak in almost every regard except dry on a track.

Sing a long if this sounds familiar to you

* Poor rain performance with the very real risk of hydroplaning

* Uncomfortable ride performance, harsh road feel

* Heavy Tire, significantly above normal weight for its size and ratio

* Extremely Poor almost nonexistent winter performance, it should be criminal to call these All Seasons.

* Warranty - Forget about it - My personal experience was, I rotate my tires every 12,000km based on my Mitsubishi owners manual, but Dunlop informed me to follow their schedule of 8,000 to 10,000 km, as a result, I do not qualify for warranty of my unusual wear. AWESOME

My personal experiences with this tire along with the feedback of over 424 other lancer owners has led me to press Dunlop and Mitsubishi for a solution. Unfortunately, Dunlop did not think the tire was that bad and praised it for its great design and performance. Mitsubishi was not entertaining the idea of changing the tires and said that the tire meets OE specifications. To note for the record, The Dunlop SP5000M tire is made in Japan. And no other tire is made in Japan, in the volume numbers that the SP5000M is.



So where does that leave me. After asking Dunlop at the highest levels to consider a tire change or offer, it was a no go. I did however find a Manufacturer that was willing to offer a program targeted specifically at Mitsubishi Lancer / (Canadian spec) Ralliart art owners. The scope of the program is still TBA, but it will include deep discounts and "possibly" offer the option for this manufacturer to buy your new, used, or completely destroyed tires back from you as credit towards the new set. This will encompass all Mitsubishi Lancer / Ralliart owners. Further more Sailun will also accommodate EVO X owners who are looking to switch over to Sailun Tires. I have the tentative pricing and will post further details as they become available.


255 / 35 / 18 All Season & Summer= $ 124.18 (EVO X OE +)
245 / 40 / 18 All Season = $ 116.69 (EVO X OE)
225 / 40 / 18 All Season = $ 97.34 (Ralliart Lancer OE +)
This price is preliminary and may shift up or down based on what Sailun Authorizes. But this is as real as it gets. This pricing is unheard of and its exclusively for Mitsubishi owners.

If you have questions about the program please email me at evosoul.com@gmail.com . I will be posting further information on my blog, so stay tuned.

I salute Sailun for taking such bold steps.

unkSauce

What are the chances that if that if this program is sucsessful it could be expanded to the US?

I really hate these stock tires. someone dropped the ball when selecting them, especially for my climate.

Thanks though, good work!

evo_soul

I have really tried to dig deep into this and when it came down to it. It was a decision made not in error. But a compromise of a multiple factors.

Dunlop won the contract because of

Price
Japanese Manufacturered tires (Jobs)
Supply (we are talking about a large number of tires)

Mitsubishi felt that it was a good enough in their testing. Great if you live in the lower USA states or California. Terrible if you live in Northern USA, Canada, or even worse. Alaska.

The Dunlop SP 5000M tire should be stripped of its all season status because it fails to perform on anything but dry. The premature life failures of the tire are also concerning. This tire has basically become one of the weakest links in the Lancer platform.

Ride Comfort is terrible due to its design and belt construction.
Unusual wear outs even when alignment is good.
One Season Tire

Its something that, would and has hurt it in industry Peer reviews.

ALL THAT ASIDE. An expansion of the program is not out of the question. But will likely take time. I expect no action from Mitsubishi for or against the program should it gather a bit more steam. But I will certainly keep you guys in the loop on my blog and here on the forum.