Hey guys and gals... Just a little extra information in reference to our 5 speeds...

I close friend of mine has been a lead tech at a local Mitsu dealer in the area where I live.. He is also a successful drag racer that happens to have the worlds quickest FWD DSM by driving a red 94 eclipse to 9.6 in the 1/4... He has since started his own performance shop specializing in DSM's..

To get to the point, he was at Mits when they tore apart my friend's EVO cause his 5th gear synchro took a dump...

Well to hear this from him meant a lot, by him saying that he was soo impressed with how the tranny was built for durability.. He went on to say that the gears were so big inside that he was sure that it could take any kind of torque and abuse..

He also mentioned the fact that we (the first EVO owners with the 5 speed), were probably lucky to have the 5 speed because the gears would be so much smaller for the 6. Same space to be taken up by more gears.. I guess that would make them weaker..

Anyways, just thought I would share that info with you guys..

 

.. wonderful.. But i need to launch my car

 

I actually think that is why Mitsubishi chose to keep the 5 speed for the american market, rumor has it that was the reason for removing the active center diff too, less warranty claims if the thing won't hold up to the abuse of our driving styles.. Americans are generally drag/street racers, and I'm sure we are launching our cars alot more often than in other places... People who road race are absusive to brakes suspension, to some extent drivetrain, but the key to road racing is smooth driving, braking and smooth shifting, including smooth transitions between acceleration and deceleration.. Take the average american.. Accellerate at any opportunity.. in some cases as hard as possible.. Shift as quickly and firmly as possible.. Not to mention the stop and go traffic (and the numerous abuse opportunities that they present) If you were to build a car for this market.. wouldn't you choose durable over bleeding edge??

 

Very well put MalibuJack.... Good points...

 

Yea...you dont need that extra 6th gear...its better to have a strong tranny that will last

 

I wonder how the Evo 6-speed is like? How strong? How durable?

 

Doesn't the first two gears in the EVO have triple syncro's???

U kno what's funny is the WRX NOT NOT STI...the WRX has no syncro in first gear..

 

Hope this is true...

^_^

 

I think thsi would accomidate nice in this thread..acording to some magazine..
STi has double syncro's in first gear and triple syncro's on there thrird gear..didn't mention nething else..so im guesin all the other gears, excluding the reverse has single syncro..Evo tranny than looks alot nicer on paper..

but ya gotta remeber

the STi looked nicer on paper..and on the roads..it didn't exactly win..

 

6th gear saves gas at least

 

Synchros don't make the tranny stronger really. They just help the car to shift smoother. They left the synchros out the sti so that they could put bigger and stronger gears in there.

 

Speaking of first gear synchros, I ran an autocross today with a couple of hairpins that begged for a 2-1 downshift. The Evo tranny handled it with no muss or fuss whatsoever, and that was without double clutching or anything. It was a beautiful thing...

JW

 

good info to have...