Regarding AYC issue for US Evo IX
 

Hi, Everyone.

I'm planning to buy US Lancer Evolution9 MR which has 6 speed manual transmission.

FYI, I'm not in USA but in Korea. I will buy imported one from US because US Evo is left-hand drive.

I heard US Evo has no AYC which is the core technology of Mitsubish Lancer Evolution.

I would like to know...

1) what are the pros and cons for US Evo without AYC.

2) Is there any reason why Mitsubish sell EVO without AYC in US market?

3) Someone says Evo without AYC means it is not a Evo.
What do you think?

Your precious comments will be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

maybe try importing one from Germany, they are LHD as well and have all the goodies.

All but the last year of the USDM Evo 8 had neither computer controlled center or rear differential. The last year of USDM 8 production and the only year of 9 production had ACD. The USDM X had the works. Maybe you want an X.

Thanks for the good idea but importing it myself isn't easy job.
I have 2 choices as of USDM vs JSDM.

We did officially imported EVO X(only Automatic) however I prefer manual transmission + cable type throttle body.
Hm.... USDM Evo without AYC would be much different from JDM Evo with AYC?

I have no idea what you want to do with the car. The plain Jane Evo 8 is a great street car and has less stuff to break down. On the other hand if your desire is the full package you won't be happy. I read of people grafting AYC onto cars that don't have it for racing and removing it from cars that do for racing.

1. Pros: Cheaper and easier to maintain, one less electronic thing to break, larger fuel tank capacity; Cons: Slightly less sharp handling
2. It probably helped keep the MSRP down and was one less thing to break and be a potential warranty claim. Also, as I mentioned in the Pros, I think I read before that the fuel tanks of AYC-equipped Evos are a little bit smaller.
3. That's their opinion, but AYC never defined the Evo, even if it was available from the IV onward. Sure, it was disappointing in the beginning when the US-bound Evo VIII was announced as coming without AYC and ACD, but when the first reviews came in, it didn't seem like it was anywhere near as much of a drawback as everyone thought it was going to be. And I don't think anyone really complained when they actually drove the car, because it still handled really well.

Almost every.single person who tracks an Evo 10 here in the USDM that has done the AYC delete (replacing the AYC rear diff with RS/RA or USDM CT9A mechanical rear diff) state that it's a better handling car without it.

AYC has some weird mythical lore around it that it's magic. I've driven in mechanical rear-diff Evo 10's here and it's a MUCH more stable and better handling track car without the AYC.

A good amount of real track guys in the UK do the same conversion as well and always sing praises about it.

Thank you for the explanation.
I'm planning to spend some time with Evo to go for mountain uphill & downhill driving and track day.

Thank you for the perfect answers!!
Actually I don't mind that US Evo has no AYC since the beginning because I don't want the computer control my driving too much. (Computer intervention)
I wished to understand the reason of removing AYC and pros & cons.

Your comment was very reasonable and trustable as you are the owner of the Evo with AYC and converted it to mechanical way.

Thank you.

AYC is often removed as it is a more fragile diff when you go above 500 HP. For example I have broken one when my gearbox let go.. Also, on the track is it not so much of a benefit (although same AYC vs RS diff cars have been tested with AYC cars being slightly faster), especially if you go into wider tires.
Also, AYC cars need a bit of getting used to and can often be unpredictable on the limit.

Having said that, on a purely road car AYC gives less understeer overall, better turn in and the ability to adjust the angle of the car better in slippy situations.. Also it is easier to move the tail around on lower speeds (where the RS diff cars would just be planted), especially on the e9.

In any case you will not go wrong with either EUDM or USDM car..

Thank you for the kind explanation.
Evo with AYC seemed to be optimized for normal daily driving and the evo without AYC is recommeneded for highly tuned car and track use.

just to echo the sentiments here, a lot of this was fleshed out in the evo x vs 8/9 thread.

if you are getting a USDM 9, I would upgrade the rear differential to something more aggressive, and tune the ACD. I've been stunned with how much difference in handling tuning the ACD has made. As I have heard also, the guys overseas swap out the AYC for a mechanical rear, and use ACD tuning to adjust handling, which is what caused me to look into ACD tuning as well.

i'm also Korean, and have a few buddies that go racing over there. Seems like a lot of fun, you'll have a blast.