I just got done speaking with Mitsu Motors regarding the clutch - no answers yet - but I got a fax number 1-800-475-0284 and I'm determined to get to the bottom of this!!! If enough of us send requests, they are bound to give us some attention/info. Send it to "Attention: Vehicles". Apparently there is a well-sequestered vehicles department that has some pull - hopefully we'll get the straight up from them, as there seems to be quite a debate as to the root of the clutch issues - perhaps we might get some $ back for the failed clutches. LOL

 

I hate to be a bummer in this but I believe the grand majority have not had any issue with the clutch, and you would need to take into account how many have changed the clutch line and and regardless of the car if driven a certain way any clutch will give. There are lots of folks here that track and autox with stock clutches. I my self am at about 15K of hard track days and autox with no issues and its a daily driver. Produce some hard numbers before going forward otherwise it will be pointless and Mitsu. will ignore the cause. best of luck

 

I agree with BLKEVO8. I know there are some posts here and there about people slamming on the clutch because of its poor quality. But you can never tell how they really drive their cars. They can be totally trashing it and not even a Farrari can take it. I have about 6k of good runs on my Evo and have no problems. Seriously come up with some hard data and backup your claims. Otherwise, PLEASE STOP WHINNING.

 

I agree. I think the BIGGEST problem with most of the bad clutches is all the "Tackheads" out there abusing the crap out of their car. I know a couple myself.

BTW BLKEVO8 can you PM me with any info on AutoX? That's something I might want to get into myself.

Thanx

 

**edited by SC** This is a tech forum. If you have nothing technical to add to this thread, do not reply. Inserting silly pics or berading the individual who created the original post will only earn you warnings and an eventual banning.

 

I agree with the "No Problem" folks. I had a Cobra for a while, Ford really prides themselves on having stout factory clutches. The tested the Cobra clutch by doing 500 drag launches back to back. Anyway, if I clutched it incorrectly, I could smoke that clutch. I think the clutch is fine in the EVO if you don't drag launch it consistantly.

 

Let's do look at the facts. FACT: Hundreds of Evo's clutches have failed. I realize many are abused, but hudreds? FACT: STI owner's aren't having ANY issues. I might add that they do drag launch quite often. FACT: My "certified Evo tech" (lol) at the dealership said that the clutch is weak. I am glad many of you haven't had problems - I haven't - but it is ignorant to say that all of the failures are driver error. Last I checked, we bought a "race-inspired rally car", didn't we? IMHO, It should hold up to more abuse than it is. Just trying to find out from Mitsu Motors what is going on. Maybe there is a defect in some - who knows. Of course, I'll post any findings.

 

I am going to be honest here, I have 8700 miles on my car and I can spin all 4 tires in 1st and the clutch is fine on my car. I think it really is on how you drive. Of course some are going to have problems but when that pull was up most were working fine.

 

 

I have 19,000 miles on my clutch and they have all been easy miles for the most part with about 5 launches in all, 1 hard the rest not so much, any way I am starting to really feel the slippage and it makes my stomach cringe. Here's some info I've been keeping an eye on https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ht=exedy+clips and https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ht=centerforce

 

I personally tihnk the clutch is alright for the car but was not designed to handle drag launches... autoX might workout fine as it's only upshifting and down shifting for the most part no hard initial launches. But if you really ask me I believe the clutch is undersized for that car and the stock tires are a bit large for the drive train. This car is so fine tuned that the slight error mitsu made by removing the ACD and downtuning the motor but leaving the stock tire size on the car is eating all these clutches up.

Lets look at the Sti, a car with 300hp stock and a 35/65 split center diff. This vehicle has alot more power and torque on the evo yet it runs a smaller tire then the evo... hum advantage?....

Mitsu should ahve dropped our tiresize down when they decided to alter the drivetrain for wahtever stupid reason they had. I don't hear ANY people complaining about the JDM evo's clutches.... maybe mitsu should take that into consideration.

just my 2 cents

 

Have you raplaced the factory line with the ss line? Have you removed the restricting pill? I had both these things done at about 4000 miles and it made a world of difference.

I noticed that the clutch slipped at hard launches and hard gear changes at high rpms. After those two mods, the clutch grabs great. 19000 miles later, clutch feels better than new (stock clutch by the way). Maybe it will work for you too. Pretty sure that worked for lots of people. Try that first, then if that doesn't work discuss other avenues of attack.

This topic has been beat to death on this site. If it can be fixed, fix it. Let's reserve our complaints for a time when it is sorely needed. This may only serve to further irritate them (guys making decisions) and they may place a legitimate complaint on the bottom of the list when we really needed it taken care of. Boy who cried wolf? Sorry if I offended you. Not my intentions.

 

it will "fix" the problem or atleast feel like it has "fixed" the problem, but your evo wasn't designed to grab as it would with those things removed. You are now running the risk of breaking your transfer case or even your tranny. The drivetrain was designed to "slip" slightly to absorb shock but still grab our drive trains have a tendancy to just slip or slip but wear more then it originally would. My friend has beat the hell out of his VR4, atleast 50-100 clutch drops(1-2 years). Stock clutch and drive train is still holding up to launchs and he is hitting high 12's right now and 1.7 60ft's in a 4000+lb car. Don't tell me nothing is wrong

 

The situation is ****ed up because nobody can authoritatively say whether: a) some Evo clutches are weak; b) some Evo owners' driving skills are weak.

We hear opinions both ways all the time but there is no consistent pattern (some clutches fail with no real hard driving, some clutches are fine after 15k miles including track/strip use), so the situation is, as I said, ****ed up.

 

Some people are replacing the stock clutch with one with a higher clamping force. Doesn't that serve the same purpose as removing the pill in the clutch line? More stick less slip. I think that simply removing the pill for more bite will eventually preserve the internals longer than replacing with a twin disk or something with comperable clamping force. The stock clutch will still slip.

I never said that there is not a problem here. Just trying to help. Point being if I drove like a normal human being, I would not need more clamping force. But I drive like a maniac. I needed my clutch to last longer. It has.