clutch lifespan?
Im just over 10,000 miles and the clutch is good to go. The stock clutch is fine, just don't drive a 16 year old kid and it will last a while. But the like the OP said, you are coming from a S2000. The Evo X is extremely heavy and has tons of torque, which is not good news for a clutch. If you get a X, you will not be disappointed.
You asked if the MR has the same flywheel??? It is an 6-speed twin-clutch automatic, not a 5-speed manual like the GSR.. so no.
You asked if the MR has the same flywheel??? It is an 6-speed twin-clutch automatic, not a 5-speed manual like the GSR.. so no.
The Evo is a relatively heavy car with all-wheel drive, sticky tires and a small 2 liter motor with not much torque down low. To get away quick you need to rev it and slip the clutch. If you don't, all that weight and grip bogs down the motor, but if you do that a lot you won’t see much life out of the clutch. Some tunes, like the COBB AP Stage 2, plays around with the MIVEC-cams and IMHO is mandatory to make it a much better daily driver. It seems counterintuitive but I think if you adjust driving style to take advantage of the better torque you can extend the life of the clutch while still having an enjoyable car. At least I hope this is true, I have 15K on it now, hoping for at least 60K.
Thanks for your responses! Unfortunately this is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling.
I think the stock clutch should be able to last 100K miles with agreesive street driving and no mods. Sounds like most of you have turned up the boost and do some hard launching.
Under these conditions I think it is reasonable to expect accelerated wear and reduced lifespan. Perhaps the EVO 10 has not collectively accumulated enough miles to get a meaningful response to this question. Are there any street driven EVO 10's out there with high miles to respond?
If the stock clutch fails at under 50K this is a design problem. I understand why
Mitsubishi designed the car with a small diameter flywheel and this would certainly limit the surface area for the disc. Does the MR use the same flywheel? Thanks!
I think the stock clutch should be able to last 100K miles with agreesive street driving and no mods. Sounds like most of you have turned up the boost and do some hard launching.
Under these conditions I think it is reasonable to expect accelerated wear and reduced lifespan. Perhaps the EVO 10 has not collectively accumulated enough miles to get a meaningful response to this question. Are there any street driven EVO 10's out there with high miles to respond?
If the stock clutch fails at under 50K this is a design problem. I understand why
Mitsubishi designed the car with a small diameter flywheel and this would certainly limit the surface area for the disc. Does the MR use the same flywheel? Thanks!
With that being said, the clutch will last for a long time if you don't abuse it. As long as you don't launch, it will last for years. I know it would go for 50K, 60K, 70K, and maybe get close to 100K. But there is no guarantee.
To summarize...the clutch is fine. Don't do anything stupid and it will last a long time.
compairing a rwd car with barely 200 crank hp to a 290 crank hp awd car is apples and oranges. more power more tq more drivetrain stress = more wear its that simple. if you want a clutch to last 100k get another slow s2k. if you want a fast(er) awd car get the evo but expect the clutch to last between 50-75k before slipping.
This has been an interesting thread!
One note: I was not comparing the S2K to an EVO, just that I sold my S2K and was considering buying an EVO! I've owned many fast cars and have driven them hard on the street with few clutch problems. When I saw all this yamering about toasted clutches..... I just started to wonder. Clearly an AWD car with sticky rubber is not going to be traction limited with only 300 hp. If engine torque is low until about 3500 rpm and the car weights 3500 lbs, you will definately have to rev it up to get a good launch. But if the clutch is small in diameter due to a need to package it into a small space and make it very light, it will not last long. Just for comparison: I believe a 5.0 mustang has a 10.5 clutch and E46 M3/STI have a 9.5" clutch. Is the EVO X clutch only 200 mm (7.8") in diameter?
The reason I was wondering if the MR used the same clutch was that it would make sense to use a very light assembly for fast shifting and rev match. Don't get me wrong, I think overall the EVO X is a fantastic package, and I'm seriously considering buying one.
One note: I was not comparing the S2K to an EVO, just that I sold my S2K and was considering buying an EVO! I've owned many fast cars and have driven them hard on the street with few clutch problems. When I saw all this yamering about toasted clutches..... I just started to wonder. Clearly an AWD car with sticky rubber is not going to be traction limited with only 300 hp. If engine torque is low until about 3500 rpm and the car weights 3500 lbs, you will definately have to rev it up to get a good launch. But if the clutch is small in diameter due to a need to package it into a small space and make it very light, it will not last long. Just for comparison: I believe a 5.0 mustang has a 10.5 clutch and E46 M3/STI have a 9.5" clutch. Is the EVO X clutch only 200 mm (7.8") in diameter?
The reason I was wondering if the MR used the same clutch was that it would make sense to use a very light assembly for fast shifting and rev match. Don't get me wrong, I think overall the EVO X is a fantastic package, and I'm seriously considering buying one.
I will put it this way, if you are considering not buying the Evo X because of the clutch then don't get it, there are probably some other deep seeded reasons that are not obvious to yourself at this point as to why you don't like it.
A wear item should be last on your list of reasons to buy or not to buy a vehicle.
A wear item should be last on your list of reasons to buy or not to buy a vehicle.
The stock clutch is only as good as the person driving it.
When my car was stock, I took it to the drag strip a few times and launched it probably 8-9 different times total. The last time I launched the car, I slipped the clutch too much and smoked it pretty good, let it cool for a little while and then drove home. Since then I've gone from stock to full bolt-ons and a custom tune, I'm guessing somewhere around 350whp/350wtq give or take, and almost 23,000 daily driven miles with a lot of spirited driving.
Stock clutch is still going strong.
When my car was stock, I took it to the drag strip a few times and launched it probably 8-9 different times total. The last time I launched the car, I slipped the clutch too much and smoked it pretty good, let it cool for a little while and then drove home. Since then I've gone from stock to full bolt-ons and a custom tune, I'm guessing somewhere around 350whp/350wtq give or take, and almost 23,000 daily driven miles with a lot of spirited driving.
Stock clutch is still going strong.
Last edited by ScottSpeed21; Oct 23, 2009 at 07:09 PM.
This has been an interesting thread!
One note: I was not comparing the S2K to an EVO, just that I sold my S2K and was considering buying an EVO! I've owned many fast cars and have driven them hard on the street with few clutch problems. When I saw all this yamering about toasted clutches..... I just started to wonder. Clearly an AWD car with sticky rubber is not going to be traction limited with only 300 hp. If engine torque is low until about 3500 rpm and the car weights 3500 lbs, you will definately have to rev it up to get a good launch. But if the clutch is small in diameter due to a need to package it into a small space and make it very light, it will not last long. Just for comparison: I believe a 5.0 mustang has a 10.5 clutch and E46 M3/STI have a 9.5" clutch. Is the EVO X clutch only 200 mm (7.8") in diameter?
The reason I was wondering if the MR used the same clutch was that it would make sense to use a very light assembly for fast shifting and rev match. Don't get me wrong, I think overall the EVO X is a fantastic package, and I'm seriously considering buying one.
One note: I was not comparing the S2K to an EVO, just that I sold my S2K and was considering buying an EVO! I've owned many fast cars and have driven them hard on the street with few clutch problems. When I saw all this yamering about toasted clutches..... I just started to wonder. Clearly an AWD car with sticky rubber is not going to be traction limited with only 300 hp. If engine torque is low until about 3500 rpm and the car weights 3500 lbs, you will definately have to rev it up to get a good launch. But if the clutch is small in diameter due to a need to package it into a small space and make it very light, it will not last long. Just for comparison: I believe a 5.0 mustang has a 10.5 clutch and E46 M3/STI have a 9.5" clutch. Is the EVO X clutch only 200 mm (7.8") in diameter?
The reason I was wondering if the MR used the same clutch was that it would make sense to use a very light assembly for fast shifting and rev match. Don't get me wrong, I think overall the EVO X is a fantastic package, and I'm seriously considering buying one.
really though the stoker will last plently long enough, when it is worn you can upgrade to a dual clutch or whatever that will last longer with the same power levels and driving habits.
I understand being worried there are a lot of people on here that have fryed cluches.... my opinion is 9 out of 10 times is due to driver error the other 1 is to much tq for the stocker to handle.
coming from an s2k, you might be expecting a bit much. I mean, you went from a super low torque, light weight car with crap mechanical grip, to a heavy torque monster with more mechanical grip than sports cars 3x it's price. it's a perfect storm for dead clutches. I don't think a top of the line aftermarket clutch can make it 100k miles in an evo x. Clutches dieing before 15k are a problem, but 100k is much. remember, the clutch is a wear part that serves as protection for the engine. it made to wear over time
I tried launching my car on the 5500 rev limiter for the first time today. I slipped it too much and it smoked bad. It stunk so bad I thought the thing was on fire. While it was slipping the car reached the 10mph (kph?) point and then went to the 7500 rev limiter and slipped even more!!
It's a tough balance between releasing too fast and too slow. I guess I significantly shortened its life span today but it seems to be working fine now.
It's a tough balance between releasing too fast and too slow. I guess I significantly shortened its life span today but it seems to be working fine now.
Your Post
Your choice in power upgrades will determine the lifespan. My clutch was fine after 30K but the power output was getting high enough that the factory clutch would slip so out it went and I am using a ACT HD SS clutch right now. So if you keep the car bone stock, and dont slip the clutch too much should last a long time. Slipping the clutch wears it out, so don't drag race and your fine. haha.






