Recently installed an Englewood 2 pc driveshaft on my Evo IX. Weight drops from about 40 pounds to 24 pounds.

Front section is CrMo and rear section is aluminum. Larger Spicer U-joints are used. The holes on the rear diff flange need to be redrilled/enlarged as the new driveshaft flanges use larger diameter bolts. This does away with the adapter the DSS shafts use.

The loss of weight and decreased flex in the driveline is quite noticeable. The clutch feels different as a result and actually feels like it bites - less movement in the driveline.

Better pick up from idle. I can actually let the clutch in and the car drives rather than more often than not having to slip the clutch and use a bit of throttle on take-off. Car feels definitely more lively both on take-off and during acceleration. It actually makes the car a better daily driver.

The big question is why Mitsu built a 3 pc driveshaft. Ground clearance? Underbody protection for rallying?

 

How much was the driveshaft?

 

$ 900 which included shipping from Colorado to WA, as well as core charge - I kept my original driveshaft.

 

BTW, core charge is $150.

Driveshaft eliminates one hanger. In contrast to the DSS CrMo-aluminum shaft. the Englewood one has the front piece CrMo and the rear piece aluminum, whereas the DSS one has a front aluminum piece and a rear CrMo piece with an aluminum adapter for the pinion flange. Englewood is lighter than DSS.

 

Did it by chance reduce the notorious rear end clunk when shifting hard?

 

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/import...eshaft-w-o-ayc

I've been looking at this dss one but now from what it seems is that this englewood is lighter..

 

Thank you for this post, I have been chasing down another company about their D/S and for some reason it had great feedback, now its NOT made anymore! Anyways fast forward need one once I get back from Afghanistan, so if you would get me some contact info for Englewood it would be great!

 

Probably not the best person for evaluating the dreaded clunk. No clunk since the shaft but I didn't have a lot before. Still on stock clutch with pill - so the car has never been launched that hard.

http://www.billsenglewooddriveshaft.com/upload/100.JPG

 

interesting question. especially since the evo 1-3 came with a two piece shaft. about 34.5lbs if i remember correctly. has a CV of course. I have mentioned before these after market shafts dont have the ability to shrink/grow under load. thats the job for the CV joint. the CV allows the shaft to be at different lengths smoothly during acceleration. once the CV is gone it has to slide on the input spline. very hard on those splines during full power. what long term affects are i have no idea.

excellent weight savings and great price.

 

jerry, you probably know that there's more to using a cv joint than just the slider aspect. only certain combinations of gearbox output shaft angle/offset, rear diff input shaft angle/offset, and driveshaft path can be accommodated with just u-joints. some configurations need a cv joint to be vibration-free. i always wonder how smooth these aftermarket shafts are.

 

Looking at the angles a 2 pc produces I don't think that there is any need for a CV. If anything If anything I would go so far as saying the 2 pc may provide better u-joint angles than the 3 pc.

The car drives way better without the rubbery lash in the driveline that appears to be attributable to the 3 pc shaft. There certainly isn't anymore vibration or decreased smoothness with the 2 pc vs 3 pc on the Evo. That said, I am quite sensitive to driveline smoothness and have visited that piece on my Land Rover where the driveline angles on the front required either a CV or double Kardan joint. On the rear I went to a different diff to change pinion height to quieten down the driveline ...

Also FWIW, BMW now runs 1 pc carbon shafts on the new M3/M4. The slider aspect makes the most sense to me given the Evo intended purpose as a homologation car for rallying where you get hard on and off power with driveline movement and jumping, etc.

 

Any pics?

 

Sounds like you have some prior experience with driveshafts. Two of my previous cars has driveshaft alignment issues, so I learned a bunch about building a good one. Have you by chance tried to measure out the angles/offets, and path for an Evo 8/9 driveshaft to see how optimal it is for u-joints only?

At any rate, its good to know that it reduces the driveline lash and is still smooth. If you are in the Portland area, it would be great if I could take it for a spin.

 

I built four custom driveshafts. three four the yellow car, and one for the evo 4. what I found is that most driveshaft shops are clueless to the fact the 4g63 layout is the only car (no trucks) on the planet where the output shaft connecting to the driveshaft moves up and down with engine torque. ALOT. all other layouts the output simply rotates in the same direction as the shaft. so the evo is the only platform that has a need for a shaft that can grow . that cv is far more important than you want to believe.

 

My one piece carbon does not have one but also my engine/trans is solidly mounted. I'd assume it would not be needed?