that smell could be the grease they use to ship the car with. My EVO stunk like a burned clutch for about the first 800 miles before the grease burned away.

FWIW, my past 3 new cars have done the same.

IMHO, I would not worry about it.

Oh yeah,

13k miles, lots of autocrossing with semi-agressive launches, no slipping unless it's operator error.

 

yeh, but people break their transfer case with the stock clutch.

I would give up my recaros and momo steering for a honda like tranny... reliable, don't break and last forever.

 

i got 24,568 miles and it just went out today...

 

Again, Hondas have like 130 ft/lbs of torque and are only 2WD. It doesn't take a great trasmission to handle that.

 

Many of the single digit Honda race cars are still running trannys with only an upgraded differential, busting 1.6 60 ft times... Sorry, had to call you on that one... and sorry for the OT guys.

 

And how many races do those transmissions make it through with out major work? A days Worth? A weekends worth?

 

the only problem with the clutch is the low clamping force. The material on the disc and the disc itself is fine...just no pressure to hold power....thats mitsu tryin to cover their ***...can't blame them. Just get a act clutch and it will feel like it should have from factory....its under $600 and you won't have to replace it for many years

 

No major problems from mine.. starting to weaken a bit at 15k miles. I did burn it up pretty good twice due to driver error.. I'd have to agree that 99% of clutch issues are driver error.

 

The primary flaw in the Evo clutch, in my humble and uninformed opinion, is the driver. I hear about lots of people with problems on these forums, but out of the five evo drivers whom I've met personally, the only one with problems is the one who never tracks or autocrosses his car. He's had the same clutch problems with every manual tranny car he's owned, so I'm inclined to blame his driving style and inability to drive properly. The others are all monsters on the track and do not lose time due to granny shifting, they simply know how to drive and the car holds up accordingly.

Properly driven, I think the stock clutch is fine, but when you have all that power, the drivetrain is unforgiving to people who don't know what they're doing. A Diablo VT will shred its clutch after 2 botched launches- this is the nature of the beast with high hp awd cars. I say deal with it, or learn how to drive properly.

 

 

If it's the clamping force then why are there so many 300+ whp EVO's that run fine with stock clutch. That's 60+ more horsepower than stock.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...=clutch+300whp

I'm at 21k with no problems. I don't launch it at every light and I'm not drag racing every weekend but I certainly don't baby it.

It will be interesting to see if those that blew out the stock clutch in under 15k, blow out the aftermarket ones in about the same amount of time. That will be the true way of determining if it's driver or clutch.

 

It's been stated by several clutch companies. The clutch is fine, the pressure plate is weak. It will hold up to light driving fine, but put any stress on it and it slips, even with stock power. I think its rated at 2200lbs. An aftermarket one rated at 2700lbs will resist slipping much better and, as a result, last much longer. Tests have shown that even moderate aftermarket clutches hold up to launches much better than the stocker.

 

how long do you guys expect the stock clutch to last? My clutch has 32,000 hard miles on it. If you have ever driven with or around me I don't baby my car. Hello 5.3k clutch drops!!! I still feel the stock clutch is fine and is more likely than not the driver...sorry.

I don't think the clutch is slipping as much as people are slipping the clutch. Oh well.

Just my opinion which probably isn't worth much anyways :P.

 

Mitsubishi is 8 BILLION dollars in debt. Of course they are going to cut corners where ever possible. I'm still in the break in period but the clutch seems fine to me. It's never slipped, plenty of clamping force. Any message board you go to will have a group of people complaining about the manufacturer's factory clutch. It was the same way with Volkswagen. Oh and to the guy who said single digit Honda racecars are running the factory transmission, yes they are but they are replaced after EVERY event. Some are changed between runs. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

My "pipe" is probably older and "wiser" than most... and although your belief about the Honda trannies being replaced might be partially true (as in almost a season), simple mathematics would rule out the extreme number of Honda teams and passes a year, working out in that theory. Of course they break (axles almost always go first though, even the hardcore ones available now), but your reaching quite a bit there...

As for Mitsubishi cutting corners on the clutch, that is asinine. Even though the 1/4 mile has "caught on" in Japan, it is still viewed by the majority as silly as jackasses only turning left. That little feature would be designed in by any car company sending an AWD vehicle into a market such as this... burn the wear item, and not the gears...