Thats a cop out. The market for AWD turbo manual cars is pretty small. I'd bet that for a majority of evo owners, the evo was their first awd turbo manual car. Other than one model of the 1st & 2nd gen dsms, 3000gt, and a slew of much higher profile imports, there simply weren't many options in the US. Using that logic, if you're expected to fry the clutch because its the first time a driver has seen that rare combination (true for most owners), then most people are expected to fry it. Thats just stupid. I'll agree that if the evo is your first MANUAL, then yea, the odds of you causing damage in the first few weeks are higher. But thats not what you're suggesting, and it's still just shifting odds.

Second, saying it's not widespread is bs. There are more threads about this problem on this forum than there are on other problems that people accept as major design flaws (ie: piston ring spacing).

And Atom, didn't you have an 04 ralliart before you got your Evo? isn't that non-turbo FWD? Just say'n I had the same car as you and put down some of the best bolt-on 60' and 1/4 mile times on it to date, and never replaced the stock clutch.... and that was my first manual that I taught myself on. I'm pretty good at the whole shifting thing At least in my case, I think I should have been fine (in the same if not better position as you, anyway).

On my evo: first clutch died at 4k miles. 2nd clutch is at 12k. I didn't change my driving style one bit, just changed the clutch tiself. The replacement, with 8k miles on it, grips at lower RPMs than the first did the day I got the car. IE: the first one was had a harder flywheel the day i got it. Read my previous post to understand what that means

 

Agreed, its definitely possible that its driver error but i have my doubts. It seems to be a widespread problem on here. I personally have 28K miles on mine OEM clutch but that doesnt mean everyone on here who's had this problem doesnt know how to drive. This is my first AWD car. There's a laundry list of problems ppl have had with this car that i havent, but i doubt they're messin up their seats, paint job, clutch, pistons, or any other number of problems Mitsu continuously refuse to fix that is obviosly design flaws on their part. Its another example of corporations feelin like they're above the little guy and can do whatever they want. As long as people give in to them and just accept no for an answer they'll keep doin it. As soon as someone is told their warranty wont be honored, take legal actions. It seems to be the only thing people understand these days.

 

I understand that the majority of guys won't have a problem with their first AWD/turbo/manual car. It's all about the skill of the driver to be completely honest, and most of us are car guys through-and-through and know how to drive. But, there is a higher probability of quickly burning up your clutch if this is your 1st. I've seen it time and time again on this forum and on the Audi forums as well. Most common case is someone who owns a Civic Si, comes over and buys an Evo and boom...clutch is toast. Or, in the Audi world, someone owns a RWD 3-series and buys a Quattro Audi and boom...clutch is toast.

Premature wear of the clutch on a bone stock car is NOT a widespread problem. And there are tons of guys on here with well over 20k miles on the OEM clutch and they've got well over 325whp. Just because there are a few threads on EvoM by a handful of guys about burning their clutch with a bone stock car, that does not make it widespread. The % of guys who have not had prematurely worn out their clutch (not grindy/notchy shifting which is a transmission problem) has got to be over 65% for modded cars (and a bone stock clutch is going to go at some point once you start modding) and over 99.9% for guys who are bone stock.

No, I never owned a Ralliart. You must have me confused with someone else Before I bought my Evo IX several years ago, I had an Audi A4 Quattro 2.0T manual. Then after my Evo IX, I had an R32 and then I had a Evo X. By the way, I've always been on the OEM clutch in all cars and never once had one wear out with less then 50k miles on it.

Here's the problem as to why you burned your clutch so quickly when you jumped from a Ralliart to an Evo. You said it yourself. You didn't change your driving style. You HAVE TO change your driving style to adapt to an AWD/turbo/manual car. It's as simple as that.

 

well with mods the warranty is void anyway, so WTF

 

i live in nyc.... but if i need service i take it to all star in nj..... they're pretty nice but i went there for tranny makes noise(some high pitch whine) in first gear when cars doing under 5 miles.i ve waited 3 weeks with no answer to the problem and only thing they said was its normal.... even master tech at the dealership thought it was odd but not mitsu service rep. i think even thou i got no answer for my problem dealership in NJ in general are much nicer than nyc dealerships

 

I said i didn't change my driving style between the 1st and 2nd clutch, not that I didn't change my style between the two cars. Point was, if it was how I was driving that cause the problem, then why is my 2nd clutch still alive 3x as long as the first? I have the flywheel that came out of my car. I can see the giant hotspot on it, about the size of a softball! I know that wasn't from me, and I know thats what caused the clutch to die early.

sorry, could have sworn you used to post a lot on hear on the ralliart forums. might have been someone else with a very similar name. *shrug*

 

Honestly sometimes I wonder if this forum is either the best or the worst thing to ever happen to Mitsubishi.

My Evo 8 was dead reliable....never a single issue. But just reading all these horror stories scares me away from the X!

 

you said that they wouldn't show you the clutch pics. I would go up to the dealership and demand to see the clutch and take pics yourself. Plus if you have to pay for a new clutch and install they have to give you the old parts anyway.

 

It's weird because I've not run into many problems (the ones that did occur were fixed by a great dealer) but I've also gotten some shady business from other dealers.

One dealer tried to fool me into a $6000 brake job because my pads were worn out. That's a true stealership.

 

Go to another dealer and see what they say. Also ask to see the clutch in person, no pictures. If anything call Mitsu or ask the dealer for a 1 time goodwill gesture.

 

From my experience in many cars this is not at all an issue with Mitsu, this is a issue with specific dealers and all other cars.

I had a tranny issue on an Audi, syncro's were bad, they blamed my driving style. Took it to another dealer who covered under warrenty with no issue.

You need to find a cool dealer, even some that are cool with mods.

Grass is always greener on the other side, but usually because the septic is leaking...

 

i would have to agree that the dealership is more picky than the manufacturer