I was at the dealer last week getting an oil change, and being fairly new to the EVO world, I started asking around about mods (06 IX MR is currently completely stock with 9k miles) and warranty. To my surprise (and I talked to two advisors and two shop mechanics) they said that I can put a complete exhaust system on the car including turbo piping, and they would not void the warranty. Anything I did to the engine such as a reflash tune, increasing boost, etc., would void it. One of the mechanics said the first thing they check if there are warranty issues, is the ecu maps. I'm getting the mod itch, but I wouldn't mind keeping my warranty as I have 4 years and 40k left on it which isn't a bad deal.

Here goes my questions;

1. If install a complete exhaust and downpipe and do not tune, can I expect any increase in HP? I've heard these cars run rich stock, so I'm assuming a slight increase for the better breathing?
2. I'm guessing better spool up from the bigger/less bend downpipe, is that a good assumption?
3. If I perform a tune, would it be a big deal to re-tune back to stock if need be? I assume if this is done, the dealer could not tell so?


Thanks for the feedback!

 

Well were Im from most dealers are to dumb to know if its tuned or not.

Second you can do any mod you want to you car without fear of voiding the warranty..as long as that mod isnt responsible for the problem (And Im sure the dealer can word it so just about anythign can void your warranty)

Youll get power from the TBE but your gonna want a tune to realize the full benefit.

 

it would be fine with just the exhaust.... but i would not start modding it till your ready to go all the way... once you start you wont stop.

I still have 20k on my "warranty" but im sure my mods would ruin it if i ever took it in :/

 

This thread belongs in the newbie section.


Warranties are only 100% effective if you remain stock. Dealerships will find a way to not warranty your work. I would pretend you never received confirmation from those employees that they will warranty your car with a TBE.

I said F my warranty, I bought this car to mod it and drive it the way I want to - not the way Mitsubishi wants me to...

Yes the car runs pig rich factory tune.

See my sig for my full write up as I had a bone stock Evo and added alot of bolt on parts and then had my ECU tuned.

You can see the difference from a stock IX at ~260 AWHP up to the base run with all the listed bolt ons I have and then the end result from having it tuned.

If you don't have the $ to pay for repairs and must rely on a warranty, then I would say - Do not mod the car. If you are like me, you won't trust even the dealership to touch your car and want to drive your car for its full potential - mod it and forget the warranty. I have heard of others though who know people and can pull strings to get tranny or other expensive repairs done through warranty on a very modded car.

If you do mods to the car, to benefit fully from them, you must have the car tuned. Anytime you change the air flow or the fuel, unless you tune it - it's like a restringed guitar - sounds horrible and performs not as well. I did all of the items listed in my write up first and then I was tuned. I had the car a whole 6 months and did most of it the last month. Prep your car first before you push it to the limits or increase boost. This prevents blown couplers on the side of the highway, lowers intake temps....doing it right the first time with quality products that do not need to be replaced once you go to step 2 etc etc...


G/L

 

eff the warranty and do an exhaust and get a tune
if anything happens you could always reflash the ecu back to stock
and guys at mitsu dont even have anything that can read how your car is tuned anyways

 

You will see some gains from a TBE and intake, I've got a full exhaust with downpipe and K&N filiter w/out tune and runs fine, maybe a few extra ponies but nothing spectacular. I've taken my car to the dealer and had tons of warranty work done (see link in my sig), with no problems. I co-worker even has more mods w/ a reflash and they still work on his, so its all up to the dealership. It never hurt to "get in good" with the service managers either!

 

A complete exhaust system will net you a very noticeable gain. The increased piping diameter and facilitated flow makes the turbo run at a higher effeciency. Without a tune you will feel slightly faster initial spool up and most likely increased boost pressure as well. As far as a tune goes.....just get one. It would be a shame to not improve upon that shiny new exhaust with a tune. Most tunes can be stored and reverted back to stock via laptop within minutes. You really have no reason not to get one!

 

Thats not true. I only had a exhaust, intake and bov they voided my warranty for a dropped tranny. Even when I proved I only had the mods on for less then 1000miles. If they cant blame the parts they say "you caused the break due to abuse". Either way your gonna be screwed, and mods are just going to make them claim abuse quicker. I'm not saying dont mod your car, just becareful and if you need warranty work return to stock before going to dealership

 

Go ahaed but i bet they void your entire powertrain warrantee, they did to me. All i had was at the time was exhaust and intake. Even filed a complaint with mitsubishi corp. and they said yep you are screwed.

 

Yeah I wouldn't trust those guys at the dealer at all. Once they blacklist your VIN# at the dealer, you are screwed no matter what dealership you go to. My dealer said they look for intake and suspension upgrades first.