I just visited my local Mitsu. dealer to check out the Evo in their showroom. It is silver, with a wing. I asked if they were expecting any silver w/ sunroofs, and they (I was double-teamed) said no. The first saleman said Mitsu. delayed the Evo release due to sunroof problems, and then said they were considering deleting the sunroof option temporarily due to problems.

When I asked what the problem was, the second salesman said the car "being a rally car, and all that" was too stiff, and was damaging the sunroof somehow. Then the first saleman chimed in and said "being a rally car, the car is supposed to be stiff, and the sunroof makes it too flimsy."

Now I understand the sunroof will hurt the rigidity to a certain extent, but I don't plan on off-road rallying the car. My performance driving will be limited to autocrosses and an occasional DE weekend. Has anyone heard of/ experienced problems with/ because of the sunroof?

FWIW, the dealer is Field Mitsu. They still have the $5,500 mark-up sticker on the window, but are more then willing to sell at MSRP right now.

TIA,

 

David,

I asked shiv about the sunroof and this is what he said.


"Hi Rob,

Usually, the installation of a sunroof involves the removal of cross-bracing in the roof. Not sure if this is the case with the EVO but I suspect it is. Depending on how hard you drive your car (and what road you drive it on), you may not ever notice the additional flex it will probably induce in the structure. FWIW, I purposely avoided the sunroom despite my dealer willing to throw it in free (in a yellow EVO). Went with a fixed roofed Red Evo instead. Rigidity aside, it has a bit more headroom for my helmet.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Shiv"


I did some reasearch on my own. Since I really like sunroofs and my current car doesnt have one, I think i'd love having one. So, I checked the evo tech guide and FAQ and saw no cross beams or any type of reinforcements in the schematic drawings on the evo. Instead, they talk about reinforcing the c-pillars and a-pillars in order to increase the ridigity of the upper chassis area. I think i'm going to end up getting the roof because I'm afraid i might hate myself later for not getting it. I dont think the difference is even noticeable. I dont know though, i really want to hear from owners with sunroofs to see what they think.

Here's think like to what i was reading: https://www.evolutionm.net/features/...agenumber=6&s=

 

Cods wallop.

Between the two of them they made this up.

 

I'm on hold with Mitsu HQ rightnow. They are checking to see if any cross-members were removed to put tin the roof. He's pretty sure they didnt mess with them to stick in the sunroof and the stuck it in between the crossmembers.

Rob

 

Ok, just got off with them. He confirmed with some supervisors and evo experts (according to the cs rep) and they said it should not affect rigidity simply because no crossmembers were removed to put in the sunroof. He said the handling and overall feel of the car even in extreme conditons shoould feel the same in regards to rigidity and solidity of the chassis.

Rob

 

Rob -

Thanks for the great info. But next time, please try to reply a little quicker I can't believe you did all that research, contacted Mitsu., etc. in only a half hour! I'm going to hold out for a sunroof...

Mark -

"Cods Wallop"??

 

Coolguy..... when you can look under the dash where the pedals are with a flashlight....and look skyward....there is a beam approx 2' in diameter welded to the body...I have never seen anything like it.... trust me I have a sunroof car there is no problem with chassis rigidity...the sunroof, if it was a problem, would cause skuttle shake...common in nearly all convertibles..Sounds like dealer BS again

 

I dont have the evo yet but i know what you're talking about. Mark talks about it in his evo 8 write-up.

Look at #4.....is that it?

 

Coolguy your to cool nice going getting to the bottom of this. I would never buy a car again without the roof I love them to much. The fact that it has the 1 touch feature and it's a rally car that's just a added bonus. Thanks for the info.

 

Thanks! Anything for fellow evo owners. I'm glad to help you guys!

 

Something that no one has considered in this thread regarding the sunroof is the added weight it brings.

I know that 35 pounds is not really a lot in the scheme of things. But considering that the 35 pounds of additional weight is located at the very highest point in the car, it would make a difference.

Having the weight up in the roof acts to increase the center of gravity of the car. The car would be more prone to lean in corners, and the overall handling characteristics would be lessened to a certain extent.

But if you really must have a sunroof in your car, go for it. I don't think the capability losses would be great enough to be noticed driving to and from work each day.

SC~

 

Great work Rob,

I love sunroofs but dont care either way if it has one or not. I would perfer if it came with one. Thanx for looking into the ridgitity issue, I was begining to get a little worried. Its people like you that make this place so great.

BTW the drift festival was off the hook, I'll post some pics this weekend.

 

I have a red Evo 8 with the sunroof. Dealer tried to get me to buy the one without. I had every intention of getting it with the sunroof, so I had them grab me this Evo8 from their other lot. The sunroof takes away less than an inch of headroom when compared to the solid roof ones. Most cars with sunroofs add a lot of weight, but from what the brochure says, it only adds 30 something lbs. It's nothing crazy.

I've pushed the car around some hard turns, and the sunroof doesn't make noises or anything. I guess it's not flexing. But then again, I've never pushed the same car with soild roof around turns, so I can't say.

I have the sunroof'd car and I'm happy with it. My last car was (still have it) a '01 Integra Type R, no sunroof available. If you;re going all out racing, get the soild top one. If your car is a daily driver, go for the sunroof.

 

Coolguy....it's not #4 on that diagram....this thing looks like a structural member of a 53' semi trailer runs laterally behind the dash ....like it's a factory fit roll cage or something