after 10k miles, at least 12 trips down the drag strip (3 visits) no time slip slower than 13.99 seconds...13.4 every time I have gone....), about 8 auto-x full sidesteps, about 15 street racing sidesteps and about 200 road course miles.....I have seen 155mph+ on my speedo.....and......my clutch IS STILL FINE!!!!!!

I never beleived any of the crap about the "restritor" or "ss clutch line" or whatever....

I just spun all 4 on concrete at a stop light, so it is still grabbing pretty well.....

I saw in Road & Track that they have 30k miles on their Evo... did they burn the clutch yet?

 

I have many customers still on the stock clutch, and many who have been forced to upgrade - it's the luck of the draw honestly

As for the clutch line, there is nothing to "believe in" frankly - the car feels 150% better with the stainless clutch line in it.

 

Did you read the "Speed" Road & Track review where they burned out a clutch in one day of testing on dirt with a professional driver at the wheel? They ended up tied with a 950KTM motorcycle because it's clutch held. That is a pretty sad showing in anyones book.

I think the Evo is a great car and a brave effort by Mitsu, but damn, if you are going to design the clutch to slip. You should use a material that will survive the heat created by that. Not some crap that melts and gets as slippery and hard as glass.

A factory dual disk would have provided more area to prevent over heating but still could have been made to slip and prevent shock to the transfercase.

A motorcycle has 7-8 disks in its clutch running in oil. It is designed to be slipped and it will live doing it.

My .02 worth and the reason I don't have an evo yet.

 

I am truly happy for you Scot. Hope you enjoy your Mitsubishi employee of the month parking spot too.

 

That's funny!!

 

Same here 13000 hard driving clutch still running like a champ.. I know it wont last after 30000 miles but its all about the driver my man.

 

I thought I would post my happy story...since a handfull of retards who don't know how to drive post their "i burned my clutch out in 2k miles" threads on a daily basis.

Any car if it is abused enough will break. The "speed" article didn't give all the details... How many miles did the car have? is that the same car that they have in their long term test fleet? if so, the car has 30k miles on it and probably lived a horrible life. (both are silver.....so it probably is their long term car.... 30k miles of abuse ain't all that bad for a clutch).

Even though magazines are notorious for abusing cars their hasn't been much mention (besides the "speed" article) about clutch problems on Evo's.

I didn't see any mags *****ing about the surface rust under the bumper like everyone here endlessly whined about either.

I am not employee of the month... i surf too much.

 

LOL stock

I just wanted to pipe in about the SS clutch line. I agree with Z1, the SS clutch line is so much better, there's nothing to believe in. It really makes a noticable difference.

Also I am getting tired of hearing people complain about the clutch. Mitsubishi built it with a clutch for the average user. Believe it or not most Evo owners will never take their car to the track, drag strip, break out all 4 tires, or visit this site. If you're gonna do that kind of driving then install a street clutch that's built for it!

 

14k+ miles of agressive driving {autocross, drag, driving hardcore style on the streets} and my clutch seems ok. Im planning on taking the restrictor out and getting a SS line. Not to save the clutch but to have more controll over the car, i dont like launching at the drag strip and feeling my clutch slip half way through first gear.

 

I am up to 29,500 on the original clutch. That clutch is grabbing quite well still. And I do not baby my car. I spun all 4 wheels starting from a stop the other day trying to keep a tool in a Lightning from 'putting the little ricer in his place'...

SC~

 

First, "Scot" I didn't call you any names, though you infer I am a "retard" because I have had clutch problems. I admit to being sarcastic though, so let's call that one a draw if that sounds good to you???

Second, before ANY mods, before ANY higher performance starts, I smelled clutch, even on mild uphill starts, this is when the car had @2000 miles on it. I have driven many manual trannys on many different vehicles and vehicle types and I have NEVER had a clutch problem before. I had a TOB go out a real POS though, but that was the least of the troubles with that car (3 speed, AMC Javelin).

Your post and that of Scooby further proves the point I eluded too though. There ARE many posts regarding clutch problems. Too many I think that would account for driver error alone. In my opinion there is a problem, somewhere in the EVO system that is causing premature failures. Be it plates that are too weak, restrictors or not, something being misaligned somewhere, who knows, but the problem exists whether you are sick of reading about it or not.

And another thing, don't rub it in you that you live in a sunny area. That really hurts.

 

My stock clutch is still fine, and I drove it like I stole it.

BUT, the stainless steel line kit is AWESOME. Makes engagement feel so much more precise.

 

I think the luck of the draw or more likely some bad batches didnt' get QC'd well is most likely the culprit with a fair amount of bad driving habits/err lack of skill thrown in the mix for good measure. Everyone around in these parts making crazy power 350+ awhp on stock clutches know how to drive and I know how to drive their cars and the clutches are doing quite well. So those knowing how to not to abuse a clutch probably goes a long way, but throw in a bad batch with a "know-it-all burnt clutch sniffer addict" and you have clutches going out repeatedly..

 

It's also about not having a lemon EVO to, my man.

 

my only point is that the bulk of complaints on this particular forum smell of clutch abuse (pun intended), and that the people that post here represent a only a small cross section of Evo owners.

Bearing that in mind, and the driving habbits of the demographic that frequent this type of site, I would say it's very likely that most people have zero problems with the clutch. The problem is that we have no good way of knowing unless Mitsu publishes some numbers on replaced clutches for us.

All in all I personally doubt there is an inherent defect in the clutch system. I do however, suspect that they specifically did not use a "stronger" clutch by design. There are many theories floating around this site and others about the whole clutch issue, but I haven't seen anything that points squarely to a defect.

Just my .02
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