This is something I've been thinking about lately, So I'm just sharing my thoughts... feel free to agree, disagree, or just comment.

As I read through the forum, I realize that whenever someone has a complaint about their vehicle or an issue with something pertaining to the vehicle Mitsubishi does one of the following...

1. Tell you it's normal
2. Tell you it's normal and to bring it back after x amount of miles or time to see if the issue is still there
3. Try to blame the fault on something else, or a mod completely irrelevant to the issue
4. Fix it, only for it to go wrong again

With all the chaos about Mitsubishi building a car targeted at the enthusiast community, then cracking down on warranty issues and modding, not supporting their customers, I'm left to wonder if it's even worth it to maintain the warranty, let alone deal with Mitsubishi or recommend their cars.

On the issue of ECU flashing or AP programming... I can understand that if i replace my stock turbo with an FP Red, and my engine blows, you wont fix my car for free. But for the love of god, if I want to install some bolt on aftermarket parts, and I NEED to have my ECU reprogrammed so that the car performs properly and within parameters to preserve the lifespan and performance of the engine and it's components, then don't give me a hard time about it. Out of the factory you [Mitsubishi] built the car to run rich, CAUSING the spark plugs to blacken from carbon deposits. When I take it in and i'm told it's normal... that's hard to believe. Internal Combustion Engines aren't supposed to run rich, or lean, there's a balance that from the factory, you haven't set. Don't penalize me when a shop reprograms the ECU to run a balanced A/F. (Ultimately increasing my mpg = saving me money nonetheless).

I find it strange that it's "normal" for a car to run rich and need your plugs to be changed so frequently, in addition to such frequent oil changes.

Complaints i've heard so far...
1. Notchy/grinding during shifting (even after break-in)
2. Running rich (bad for engine)
3. rattling noises from the shifter housing
4. Center Differential pins breaking (isn't this a safety issue for people who ACTUALLY use the settings and rely on the differential for example driving in icy conditions?)
5. clutches going bad / short life span

If you build a performance car and place strict policy on modification, then ensure the parts you're building it with are quality parts, or, allow us to modify our cars to perform the way we want them to or better then the factory setup.

all i'm saying is give us some leeway here... allow us to enjoy the car to it's full potential without us living in fear that we'll have to pay out the *** if something falters or be victimized by Mitsubishi Corporation...they all have enough money... we're in a recession!

 

It's not. Pay to play, etc, etc.

Subaru isn't much different in this regard. Besides their well-loled-about ringland failure issues, people modding Subarus aren't getting fellatio as soon as they enter a Subaru dealership.

How would you recommend they ensure that everyone Tom-Dick-or-Harry who has access to an ECU flashing tool uses it correctly? I can ruin my car within 30 seconds if I so choose using ECUFlash; should my ignorance be covered if I set my car to run at 18 AFR @ WoT? Or should Mitsubishi, a company designed to make shareholders money, view ECU tampering as a warranty-voiding event?

 

Absolutely not. if you set your own parameters and ruin your car then yes you are liable, but all that information can be pulled from the ECU when they connect the car. They can see what was changed and determine if it was done professionally or by an amateur. No one or entity should have to pay for the ignorance of one (or many).

My suggestion, to answer your question...

There is a difference between ECU tampering and ECU programming. If Joe Knowsnothing pulls his ECU and plugs in some numbers that look good and ruins his car, hes screwed period. But if a reliable shop that has tested their product/equipment and proves it sufficient performs the flash or program, then it should be legit.

To add to the shareholder money issue... If shareholders want to make more money, wouldn't it behoove them to "get into bed" with some of these performance companies... APR, AMS, Cobb... they could make some serious money if they [Mitsubishi] said to [shop] "We'll approve and agree on x, y, z, ECU flashes, reprograms, bolt-ons, and aftermarket parts being covered at mitsubishi dealerships with proof of professional installation. Possibly at a surchage. (Modded cars can still be repaired for an additional fee though to be covered under warranty...

Stock car + warranty repair = no charge while warranty is good

Modded Car + Warranty Repair = $xx.xx charge while warranty is still good

Of course... all of this is IMO and as mentioned, I was just venting some thought.

 

You're newly elected as leader of Mitsubishi. How do you decide who's legit, and who's not?

The problem with your idea isn't that it wouldn't work, but it's that Mitsubishi, as a large corporate entity, would choose a large corporate entity to partner with. They wouldn't allow Applied Tuning Solutions in Columbus, OH, the people I used, to have a warranty-backed tune, but they might allow, say, Cobb or Vishnu. Hypothetical musing, of course, but can you imagine Mitsbusihi corporate sending a rep to Buschur Racing, or HB Speed, or Ivey Tuning, and interviewing the tuning people there to see if they were "up to snuff", and more knowledgeable than Hotdog, who enjoys pressing buttons and once ****ed a rabbit, thinking it was a vagina? It's a slippery slope; what we'd end up with, in this crazy hypothetical world where Mitsu gives a ****, is a stupid Cobb-warranty-backed-stage-1 kit that no one outside of a few random individuals, who were quite excited to be buying this shiny car, bought. No one else would buy it, it'd add about 10 HP, and be way overpriced; since that's how car companies operate. Since the cost of certifying shops and parts and tunes would be massive, it'd be simpler for Mitsubishi to just be like "Oh hai Cobb we certify you!", while ignoring the Ivey Tunings and Buschurs and HB Speeds of the world, simply because their volume is lower.

What would be the cost to Mitsubishi to certify all of these so-called "professional" shops, to ensure they wee doing a good job of installing said parts? The guy who wrenches on my car, I love him, and I think he's a genius, but I can't see Mitsubishi certifying a random shop's main mechanic as a certified Mitsubishi installer, allowing me to keep my warranty.

As for the parts allowed, again, being a corporate entity, they'd team with a corporate entity; we'd be allowed to run Cobb CBE 1, Perrin CBE 2, or Vishnu CBE 3; it wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface of the aftermarket community. It'd be a joke, just like Vishnu is today.

But, by assigning a surcharge on a modded car, you're basically admitting that the mods can cause damage to the car; and how much of THAT damage should the "$xx.xx" cover? If Cobb tunes my car to 600whp... oh, wait, what's that? THAT Cobb tune isn't warranty certified? Oh, which one is? The ECU flash and CBE that adds 25HP while maintaining a factory-friendly rich-as-a-pig tune? Well, screw you. Screw you in the ear.

 

It will be to easy then... buy an Evo, try to do a nooby custom map, blow the engine.
Ok, my car is under warranty, mitsubishi gonna replace my engine at no cost except the labor?!

That will be great ....ROFL...

Also dealer are there to sale car and maintenance, they are not freaking performance engineer. ( sometimes they can't even fix a stock car )

 

See, that's the problem; the only mods they'd "safely recognize" would be some horribly watered down, ****ty version of a Stage 1. No one would buy it, ever. Or if they did, they'd be easily surpassed by any "real", non-warranty supported tune.

The better idea might simply be for Mitsubishi to do a non-****ty tune from the factory, and NEGATE some of the necessity of the Cobb Stage 1 type kits. The Stage 1 ain't anything special, there's no reason Mitsubishi (aside from that fun filled warranty support) couldn't lean the car a little bit and make a nice chunk more power right from the get go.

The problem isn't the aftermarket, per say, it's the atrocious, god awful tune the car comes with. It's akin to the Subaru-lol-ringland-failure-with-stock-tune-cause-we-go-lean-while-boosting, except our motors don't explode, they just don't go.

 

This is a different story, all cars manufacturers will always make a hyper supra conservative tune simply because of so many different factor such as the driver, maintenance, weather, fuel and yada yada ....

 

when it comes down to it, it's just about nickel and dimes.

 

Mitsubishi has been running their performance cars rich since they brought the Starion over in the 80's. Running a car rich can fowl spark plugs but running a car too lean usually results in a much worse scenario! There's way too many backyard mechanics who think they know what their doing before everything goes south and the engines blows, next thing you know they take the mods off and have the car towed to a Mitsubishi dealership for engine failures and expect the issues to be resolved under warranty. I'm not saying you're one of these guys, however there's millions of idiots and scammers out there to force Mitsubishi to react to warranty work the way they do!

 

If you can't afford to mod the car then don't. If you want the reliability (and boredom) of a Honda or Toyota then you can buy one. I find most of these threads tired.

 

I agree with you totally. You're right that they'd never recognize true performance parts but it would be nice. All I'm saying is that it's not unrealistic, Mitsu could host an event inviting tune shops from all over, or send out regional reps, or a million other "They could"s. When I had my Audi most of the mechs at Audi worked at a performance shop around the corner...

Anyway, I just don't think that it's fair for mitsubishi to market a product one way, then when the consumer utilizes it they give them a hard time. I'm referring to the cases i've read where Mitsu has to send out a rep to inspect the stock vehicle to check for misuse or abuse. It's an enthusiasts car...

I can afford mods, upgrades, and the whole shabang, but what I want is Mitsubishi reliability. I don't want Honda reliability, and I don't think there should be a "this" or "that".
But like I said, I just wanted to entertain the idea and say something for all the guys out there who post threads asking "Is this normal or has this happened to anyone else?" then they start talking about differential pins breaking, and pretty crapping things happening that shouldn't be happening.

 

Would you, as Mitsubishi, keeping in mind that you have stockholders and a board of directors to answer to, take a customer at his word? Or would you send out a tech to inspect the car beforehand, given the large (50%+?) proportion of owners who do, in fact, abuse and beat the hell out of their cars?

You're viewing the Evo as a normal car, when, in reality, the percentage of people buying them and abusing them, modifying them above and beyond, has GOT to be one of the highest, if the not *THE* single highest in the market, period. I cannot imagine another car, outside the STI, that commands a massive aftermarket following, but also doesn't sell nearly enough units, that the Evo does.

If you're a stock Evo owner posting on this forum, you are, by far, in the minority.

 

Stoichiometry FTW.

 

Probably one of the reasons why it has a stupidly rich tune from the factory is because Mitsu knows Evo buyers do basic mods/bolt-ons as soon as they purchase the car. A dropin filter leans the tune out by 0.5 afr (@WOT) by average, a 3" turboback exhaust leans it out by another 0.5 afr or more (@WOT), etc. I think ETS posted a thread about this last year... they modded a stock Evo (without a tune) and reported back the AFRs as each bolton was added. When you bring the car to the track during summer, at 100deg+ heat, it would also affect AFR and lean it out a little bit (correct me if I'm wrong). The rich tune is there to give the car a little bit of headroom so you can safely mod the car (basic mods, mind you) EVEN without a tune.

TO SUM IT UP: You gotta pay to play.

This thread is

 

Also, I don't dig the argument about the MPG. I get 20mpg average mix city/highway on my X all the time... as long as you try to keep boosts to minimal levels, the Evo actually has decent fuel economy for a 300hp AWD 3600lbs performance car.

My gripes to the X are the tires (because they lasted only 10K miles on mine, I need to change em now) and it does need a 6th gear for highway cruising.