EVO X - Difficulty getting in to 2nd gear from 1st.
Well, mine has the notchiness in 2nd and 3rd like everyone else's seems ot have, but I've been playing with shifting techniques and have found a solution. What the car seems to like believe it or not, is fast shifting. Regardless of rpm, low or high, as soon as you push the clutch in upshift immediately and quickly, almost like speed shifting but not quite as hard, and it drops in like butter. I tried this going from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd a hundred times, and regardless of rpm or load, it shifts smooth as butter every time. Whenever shifting slower than this, that notchiness occurs. Try this, and I'll bet you almost anything that it will shift butter smooth every time. Let me now how this works on your evos. It seems to me that it's not a mechanical flaw, but rather how the synchros were designed. They are designed for aggressive shifting and seem to not like granny shifting. However, many people are saying that it seems to go away with higher miles. For those that have 1000 miles on your car and it still won't go away, just give it some more time. I bet that it will resolve itself. One of the magazines commented on this, and they said that the notchiness in theirs went away as the car got broken in. We shall see over time, but try my suggestion in the mean time. It works for me. 
Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
My X does the (becoming typical now) 2nd and 3rd issues, it has since day 1.
I'm kind of glad it does, as we'll be tearing down this transmission for inspection and general knowledge once our ACT prototype shows up shortly. I'd like to see if I can figure out what's causing this issue.
I don't have any long-term input as of yet though, as the car has 140 miles on it on it (80 mile trip from the dealer, some light driving for the 1st day or two while we were waiting on materials) and will up be up on the lift for fabrication until at least this weekend.
I'm kind of glad it does, as we'll be tearing down this transmission for inspection and general knowledge once our ACT prototype shows up shortly. I'd like to see if I can figure out what's causing this issue.
I don't have any long-term input as of yet though, as the car has 140 miles on it on it (80 mile trip from the dealer, some light driving for the 1st day or two while we were waiting on materials) and will up be up on the lift for fabrication until at least this weekend.
Well, mine has the notchiness in 2nd and 3rd like everyone else's seems ot have, but I've been playing with shifting techniques and have found a solution. What the car seems to like believe it or not, is fast shifting. Regardless of rpm, low or high, as soon as you push the clutch in upshift immediately and quickly, almost like speed shifting but not quite as hard, and it drops in like butter. I tried this going from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd a hundred times, and regardless of rpm or load, it shifts smooth as butter every time. Whenever shifting slower than this, that notchiness occurs. Try this, and I'll bet you almost anything that it will shift butter smooth every time. Let me now how this works on your evos. It seems to me that it's not a mechanical flaw, but rather how the synchros were designed. They are designed for aggressive shifting and seem to not like granny shifting. However, many people are saying that it seems to go away with higher miles. For those that have 1000 miles on your car and it still won't go away, just give it some more time. I bet that it will resolve itself. One of the magazines commented on this, and they said that the notchiness in theirs went away as the car got broken in. We shall see over time, but try my suggestion in the mean time. It works for me. Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
Well Evo's have always had notchy transmission's...guess everybody just needs to accept it. It does get better and part of it has to do with the fluid. If they still use Diaqueen the fluid takes a bit to heat up to shift well. The MR was probably the smoothest shifting evo tranny ever made and mine still has always been notchy in doing the 1-2 shift. Also what STi2Evo said has truth also. It is in fact how the syncrhos are designed where slow shifting combined with thick fluid produces notchy shifting. Go for a highway drive then shift some and it will be better. Waiting for Mitsu to do anything is a joke. People have had this problem since 03. It never really affected the tranny it just made it annoying sometimes. Having some of the half wit techs also take apart your brand new car can cause more harm then good too. Also the IX SE was known to be notchy until about 10k miles. The tolerances are pretty tight so once the gears and everything wear down some more people reported it usually getting better. I wouldn't worry too much about it because its still a tank of a transmission...just doesn't shift like a BMW.
Fast shifting does not help me. Nice and easy into second, and higher rpm into third.
Under spirited driving, I'll get it at redline into second if I upshift too fast, but third is getting better at 3600 miles finally.
Whoever said "grind", its never a grind, just really notchy. I want to give Mitsu the first shot, but if they say that's just the way it is, BG is going in this car.
Under spirited driving, I'll get it at redline into second if I upshift too fast, but third is getting better at 3600 miles finally.
Whoever said "grind", its never a grind, just really notchy. I want to give Mitsu the first shot, but if they say that's just the way it is, BG is going in this car.
Newbie
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Dayton, Ohio
Sorry I didn't have time to read all of the posts, so this might have been covered. Is there an aftermarket shifter for the Evo?? I know the mustang stock shifter was basically useless and the aftermarket shifters made a HUGE difference.
I will see tomorrow
if I have the same issues.
I will see tomorrow
if I have the same issues.
Well, mine has the notchiness in 2nd and 3rd like everyone else's seems ot have, but I've been playing with shifting techniques and have found a solution. What the car seems to like believe it or not, is fast shifting. Regardless of rpm, low or high, as soon as you push the clutch in upshift immediately and quickly, almost like speed shifting but not quite as hard, and it drops in like butter. I tried this going from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd a hundred times, and regardless of rpm or load, it shifts smooth as butter every time. Whenever shifting slower than this, that notchiness occurs. Try this, and I'll bet you almost anything that it will shift butter smooth every time. Let me now how this works on your evos. It seems to me that it's not a mechanical flaw, but rather how the synchros were designed. They are designed for aggressive shifting and seem to not like granny shifting. However, many people are saying that it seems to go away with higher miles. For those that have 1000 miles on your car and it still won't go away, just give it some more time. I bet that it will resolve itself. One of the magazines commented on this, and they said that the notchiness in theirs went away as the car got broken in. We shall see over time, but try my suggestion in the mean time. It works for me. Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
Let me know if you guys have the same results as I did.
Fast shifting does not help me. Nice and easy into second, and higher rpm into third.
Under spirited driving, I'll get it at redline into second if I upshift too fast, but third is getting better at 3600 miles finally.
Whoever said "grind", its never a grind, just really notchy. I want to give Mitsu the first shot, but if they say that's just the way it is, BG is going in this car.
Under spirited driving, I'll get it at redline into second if I upshift too fast, but third is getting better at 3600 miles finally.
Whoever said "grind", its never a grind, just really notchy. I want to give Mitsu the first shot, but if they say that's just the way it is, BG is going in this car.
Evolved Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,849
Likes: 1
From: USA
Well, if mitsubishi is aware of the problem then my guess is that their fix is going to be a different fluid. I highly doubt that it's a mechanical issue because the tranny in this car is very beefy, and they poured all of their r&d efforts into this car. Plus, since the car shifts great at higher rpms and/or with fast shifting, it indicates that the synchros are working properly and that it's just how they were designed. Usually if there is a snychro problem, higher rpms and fast shifting only exacerbates the problem, which is not the case with this car. I will say this though, fast shifting seems to fix the problem once the car is warm, but there seems to be no way around it when it's cold. Oh well, no car is perfect I guess.
Well you know what they will do? They will run down to the local parts buy some Pennzoil synchrometh...put it in then it will shift like butter. 20k miles later when you tranny eats itself because of the fluid being too thin they will void the warranty because of wrong fluid...its happened before. I would just change the fluid to some Amsoil or Motul after about 1k miles. Definately made my tranny shift better over OEM.
Well, if mitsubishi is aware of the problem then my guess is that their fix is going to be a different fluid. I highly doubt that it's a mechanical issue because the tranny in this car is very beefy, and they poured all of their r&d efforts into this car. Plus, since the car shifts great at higher rpms and/or with fast shifting, it indicates that the synchros are working properly and that it's just how they were designed. Usually if there is a snychro problem, higher rpms and fast shifting only exacerbates the problem, which is not the case with this car. I will say this though, fast shifting seems to fix the problem once the car is warm, but there seems to be no way around it when it's cold. Oh well, no car is perfect I guess.
It's mechanical because the "notchyness" you are feeling is a result of mechanical parts rubbing against each other in a way that resists what the driver intends. This feeling is undesirable. Period. And it's a flaw albeit manufacturing or design.
I have to let my EVO warm up for about 5 minutes before driving off because of it.
My wife's 93 Accord and my own 92 MR2 turbo doesn't exhibit this at ANY time. There's evolution for ya!
I just can't fathom how some of the guys in this thread are starting to make themselves believe that this issue with the transmission is OK. Just go to the dealer and have it fixed. Noone should settle for something like this.
I experimented some with this and tried what you said about fast shifting and low and behold it worked for me. I know once my car gets warm the notchiness from 1-2 gets better but 3rd usually stays notchy for a while. So I went on the freeway and at a point where there was very limited traffic I did a high rpm fast shift to 3rd and no notchiness. I guess this doesn't work for all X owners but it worked for me....Thx!
This is my experience with multi-cone syncros. this is the first thing I noticed when upgrading my DSM's to dual cone syncros.
You just contradicted yourself.
It's mechanical because the "notchyness" you are feeling is a result of mechanical parts rubbing against each other in a way that resists what the driver intends. This feeling is undesirable. Period. And it's a flaw albeit manufacturing or design.
I have to let my EVO warm up for about 5 minutes before driving off because of it.
My wife's 93 Accord and my own 92 MR2 turbo doesn't exhibit this at ANY time. There's evolution for ya!
It's mechanical because the "notchyness" you are feeling is a result of mechanical parts rubbing against each other in a way that resists what the driver intends. This feeling is undesirable. Period. And it's a flaw albeit manufacturing or design.
I have to let my EVO warm up for about 5 minutes before driving off because of it.
My wife's 93 Accord and my own 92 MR2 turbo doesn't exhibit this at ANY time. There's evolution for ya!