Ive heard that alot of people have been having problems with the second gear in the transmission for the evo8. Ive also heard that shops are trying to make the tranny more solid.

My question is: those who race your car did you experience this problem and those who just drive it casually (maybe once and awhile race or take her for a whirl) have you noticed this problem?

Casually it seems to make that dunk noise and driving it a bit harder I dont get that noise. Weird, but it seems like my evo likes to be shifted at higher rpms say like 4-5k rpm.

The reason theres a problem with second gear grinding is that when pulling out of 1st which is very short and into second there seems to be a driver tendency of going into second and releaseing the clutch before the transmission is able to sync up the gear. The transmission itself is built strongerto hold up to the predicted abuse that our market would place on it. I've noticed holding the clutch down a split second longer when shifting into second at a high rpm usually prevents a grind, also as my car has worn in its become less of an issue. In normal driving mine seems perfectly smooth now at 2400 miles.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I do notice that the Evo requires a bit more attention when making the 1-2 shift than the others. I've run 5(?) track days now on road courses and have never had the car grind.

When driving casually, I do notice that for the 1-2 shift I need to keep the clutch pedal planted until the tranny has snapped fully into 2nd. Otherwise the tranny needs alot of extra time to let the syncros do their job.

Yup, you really do have to granny 2nd. i have no trouble with any other gear. gotta make sure its allllllll the way in and happy about it before letting that clutch out =)

I know someone that has gone through the stock clutch and a Clutch Masters clutch in less than 3500 miles.... It's not the clutch people, it's the way you drive them... I am totally convinced of that from having 3 different friends that "HAD" tranny problems till I was able to ride with them and see how they were treating their EVO's... Since then, they have had noo problems... SO it's needless to say that I am getting tired of hearing people say that the EVO trannys are ****ty, when they are not...

The pressure plate is the main factor in every clutch... The disc is fine, but the pressure plate could be a little more aggressive... I think that the weak pressure plate is Mitsu's way of insuring their product.. Let the disc burn instead of the transfer case detonating... I think it's a good move for Mitsu, because most people that bought this car have never had an AWD car before so they don't know the basics on how to drive the damn thing...

Remember: AWD CARS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE LAUNCHED... THEY ARE NOT BUILT FOR THAT...

After two days on a track I only grinded 2nd once. It was a down shift from 3-2. I think it was probably my own fault. When I went to the track I was worried that I would experience a lot of grinding like I do on the street but oddly the tranny was like butter all weekend. I got in about 300 track miles and spent 99% of the time in 3rd with two shifts to 4th and back to 3rd per lap. Only hit 5th on a straight away, but rarely hit 2nd so that may have had something to do with the one time grind.

I have 10,063 miles on my Evo this morning.... I've been to a track event, and I drive the car pretty hard otherwise. I also drive through 60 miles of stop and go traffic in DC each day....so I am accelerating and shifting TONS each day.

I have have had no problems at all.

SC~

I have 4400 miles on my car, which is two full track days (approx 200 miles of track abuse) and 2 trips to the dragstrip (about 8 runs down the strip).... i have zero mechanical problems with anything on the car........


I am pretty sure a fair number of problems people have relates to their driving style.?? I ran 13.4 in the Qtr and was only 2.5 seconds slower around www.beaverun.com than the fastest H1 hybrid CRX that was gutted and running an ITR Engine and Hoosier slicks........ so my car gets abused, but in a nice way apparently.

Finally someone who knows how to drive and not just thrash. I tried explain mechanical sympathy on another thread, but it was wasted text.

I know someone that has gone through the stock clutch and a Clutch Masters clutch in less than 3500 miles.... It's not the clutch people, it's the way you drive them... I am totally convinced of that from having 3 different friends that "HAD" tranny problems till I was able to ride with them and see how they were treating their EVO's... Since then, they have had noo problems... SO it's needless to say that I am getting tired of hearing people say that the EVO trannys are ****ty, when they are not...

The pressure plate is the main factor in every clutch... The disc is fine, but the pressure plate could be a little more aggressive... I think that the weak pressure plate is Mitsu's way of insuring their product.. Let the disc burn instead of the transfer case detonating... I think it's a good move for Mitsu, because most people that bought this car have never had an AWD car before so they don't know the basics on how to drive the damn thing...



Okay Emo Fittipaldi...

If this was the case, there are an awful lot of qualified and capable drivers out there driving like **** and basically "thrashing" their cars...

There IS a uniqueness about the EVO trans and clutch..
read this thread..
Clutch thread

You are lucky to have a car that may not have this clutch/trans issue...

But to dispell FACT as driver error?? NAAAASEL..

Oh lookey, it's Emos son....Christian Fitapaldi.....

Thanks for posting this. Everyone saying bad things about the clutch had me worried. I still bought the car anyways.

My point in this is the fact that mostly everyone is comparing their RWD or FWD cars that they used to own, to the EVO.. When I must say that driving an AWD car is totally different from anything else and in no way is similar in driving technique from the other drivetrain layouts... I've mentioned it before that you are pushing AND pulling at the same time so there is less to none, room for error when driving an AWD car... There is no difference in the engagement between my GSX to WRX to EVO... But there is a huge difference with a RWD or FWD... They CANNOT be driven the same...

Yup,

Glad I had almost 5 yrs practice on my GSX prior to the EVO