Cam gears can equal things out up top, but seems MIVEC would still be better because you can tune the advance everywhere else. No downside.

 

Yes you are right Having mivec is for the most part "better" then not having it. How much better depends on many variables though. Ultimately the amount of advance you can achieve with/without mivec is the same with adjustable cam gears. So what mivec gains you is the ability to retard the cam in certain areas, improving off boost drivability and depending maybe gaining a couple hundred rpm faster spool up. What I was saying is the more you mod the car the more you are sacrificing those qualities anyway. The other thing to consider too is having mivec increases overall complexity of the system, and with more complexity comes less reliability.

All that being said the 9 head is also known to be less likely to have casting defects, and has various other benefits, so if my 8 head ever needs replacing im planning on grabbing a 9 head and converting it to non-mivec for my 8.

 

If I could do it all over I would do

Ix
Then 2005 viii with ix interior has acd
Then last option would be standard viii

I have an 8 rs

 

I hear ya, just seems you would want to do everything you can to minimize loss. Like you said, the more you mod, for more power, the more you sacrifice down low. So why not try to gain some of that back? That's why I say I see no downside. Complete tuneability and minimzine the loss of torque and spool all at the same time? Yes, please.
I've never seen a MIVEC system fail, so I can't speak on that topic.
If someone is into drag racing and doesn't really care that the car is responsive, then who cares at that point. But if one wants to keep an Evo doing what it's mean to do, then choosing MIVEC makes sense, IMO.

 

I read it on Wikipedia (under Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution), so maybe it's not accurate or either I interpreted it wrong lol.

Tarmac is the setting to be used in dry, paved conditions. In this setting, the ACD will almost immediately allow the center differential to go into a free state upon detecting a steering input. Additionally, this mode provides the strongest limited-slip clamping force of the three modes. Although the US versions did not come with the AYC, it did come with a rear 1.5way clutch type LSD (limited slip differential)which, limits the slip from both rear wheels causing less traction loss of the rear wheels. The most common setup is the 1.5 way LSD, locking on throttle and partially locking on braking. In racing, Lancer Evolutions are not equipped with AYC or ACD because it is believed that better lap times are achieved by pure driver skill without any computer based assistance systems.

 

Yes i have already granted that having the MIVEC feature is better then not having it, but the 4g63T achieved all its acclaim without it, and MIVEC is not some game changer that just obsoletes all the previous variations that don't have it. Other countries had ALS and we didn't get it, its not like we are all lamenting how unresponsive our cars are without it.

I already said that the 9 is the better platform to a certain point, and once you cross that line of modification it wont make a difference if it was an 8 or a 9 they will basically perform the same.

 

I think I read your post wrong LOL. Race cars tend to not use OEM components, so I can see them getting rid of AYC and ACD. They need to put down a lot of power/tq, in a reliabe manner.
I thought your post said something different; not sure why LOL