High Mileage Evos
 

Hey everyone, my 2006 Evo 9 just passed 170k miles, and it got me thinking about how many others on here have old tired Evos.
So just out of curiosity for the other high mileage guys on here, how many miles are you currently pushing? Original motor or rebuilt? How many of those miles where yours? This should be fun!

I'll start,
I currently have just over 170,000 miles on mine, the motor has not been rebuilt aside from head studs and a head gasket prior to my ownership. I purchased the car around 5-6 years ago with 90,000 miles from its original owner. During my ownership the car has had an FP Green, Garret GT35R, GTX3040(aka 3082), and is now running a TD05-20G(which I absolutely love). It's got the 5 speed transmission which needs a rebuild, but otherwise the body and most everything else is clean and in great shape. I was amazed at how well the car held up after hearing about how "unreliable" Evos are(poppycock).

So who else has over 130k and is still enjoying their Evo like they just bought it?

Regular oil changes with good oil and a solid tune. I bought the Evo right around when I started a job as a professional tuner and was always very conservative with my tunes. Never tried chasing horsepower numbers, just got it to run smoothly and be drivable as a daily. I've never had the car on a dyno so I don't want to pull numbers out of my ass, I've always just street tuned it because our shop dyno was only 2WD. I definitely don't baby the car, it has seen many track days and quite a bit of spirited canyon runs, but I would always make sure my tune was safe with no hints of knock(I used a Phormula to listen for knock while driving) and EGTs where in a safe place. I would argue that most of the guys blowing engines left and right either don't have a reliable tune or there was an oversight in assembly when rebuilding. I never did anything special for reliability, just left the motor alone and performed maintenance whenever it was needed according to the FSM.
Thanks for the kind words, being called a veteran evo owner made me smile haha :)

So tldr: Regular oil changes and a good tune(most important) make a world of difference.

Oh I also forgot to mention, any time I ran into a weird issue(such as when my radiator was leaking coolant) I would immediately pull over and get it towed to my shop to fix it. I've known too many Evo owners that will start overheating and will attempt to limp the car home. Just get AAA and tow it the second something doesn't feel right.

i call you a vet because unlike others you have proved that the cars can last, but most people number chase and break stuff
then come on here with bs excuses.

Hahaha, fair enough! I appreciate it nonetheless. :P

How many miles are on yours right now?

i wasn’t fortunate to have bought mine from a previous owner who took maintenance serious.
52k on odometer and the motor wasn’t healthy. I purchased a brand New OEM shortblock from Mitsubishi and
correctly getting the right parts together before getting it installed.

At least now you have a clean slate! Make sure you get a reliable tune and break-in properly and it should last a long time.

In at 121k. Evo 9, bolts on and a tune. Was dyno'd at 340whp when it got its tune in 2011. Been left like that for the last 90k miles. I have been autocrossing every month for the last 3 years. Engine seems fine, no issues. My transmission, my transfercase were rebuilt. First gear chipped a tooth and wrecked havoc and ring and pinion (was junk per tre). Visually it looked fine, had no whine. He said it was bad(prob cracks you couldnt see with the naked eye. They use a dye to see them.).

I used amsoil ever since I had it. Currently using z-rod amsoil for engine, diaqueen for transfercase and rear diff, using motel in transmission after rebuild.

Good stuff! I run the same fluids except I use Diaqueen in the trans. Amsoil Z-Rod is great, especially if you run a JB turbo. Not so good for cats, but I blew mine to pieces a long long time ago haha.

Inbox me on
a good way to break in new shortblock since I don’t want to hijack you thread.

I'll just post here in case someone else has the same question :)
The procedure we have always used at our shop is to start the engine with the fuel pump disconnected so that it doesn't run. This will prime the oil system. Then start the engine and let it warm up but don't let it idle too long past that as you don't want to get a ton of fuel in your oil(the rings haven't seated yet). Then go out and get it up to mid rpm without boosting and then let off the throttle to allow the engine to decel. Do this a few times, gradually increasing the RPM you start decelling at. Decel will create a high vacuum and help seat the rings. You don't want to go above 5500, but start at like 3k and work up in 500 rpm steps, decelling a few times for each step. As soon as this is done, pull it back inside and drain the oil while it's still hot. Put fresh oil in and take note of the odometer. For the next 500 miles you don't want to put a ton of load on the motor, try not to hit max boost. Also try to avoid cruising at the same RPM for too long. When you're cruising on the highway vary your speed a bit. Once you hit 500 miles on your new block you'll want to change the oil yet again and at this point it should be completely safe to load the motor just like you would in normal operation, although I try not to go too crazy for the first 1k.
There's alot of debate as to whether these steps are necessary, but they have never failed me or caused issues, and the motors we built and tuned are still on the road.

I recommend using amsoil break-in, Z-Rod or any other high zinc content oil for the break-in. I run Z-Rod all the time, but after the 500 miles it's not that critical.

how about amsoil break in oil for first 500 miles then drain amsoil z-rod thereafter.

To be perfectly honest, I completely forgot about Amsoil break-in oil. I used that in my last few engine builds, and it worked great!

Re: the OP...

2006 with 135k

New shortblock (original motor had low compression)
Rebuilt trans (killed two 6spds before giving in to a 5)
Rebuilt rear diff (old one was worn)
Original t-case (proves car hasn't been mistreated)

Since purchase in 2012, the car has been at 400-480whp. Bought the car @ 115k. 20k miles is comprised of drives to meets, tracks, and doing laps. It's never been a daily driver.