Best picture I could find. I'm too lazy to take a new picture

320 miles.

 

It looks like yours is starting to do it also. I can see the lines in it.

 

Those lines are normal from stretching the leather over the corners. It's really difficult to get it flat.

The shallow lines you are seeing are normal in leather. It's deeper ones that you should worry about.

 

I put some leather conditioner on my steering wheel and it's looking much better. Hopefully the wrinkles will stop forming with this thing. I will still be taking it in to the dealer this weekend because my car is giving me other problems

 

Your wheel looks puffier than mine. Almost more comfortable to slam head first into...

 

But the regular Lancers and Otlander Sport use a similar steering wheel. Especially the Sport. The new ones have no lines at all. I verified this earlier. The lines are starting in over time. Yours has 300 miles on it. You dont think more lines and deeper lines will form as you start piling up the miles?

 

What kind of problems?

 

1. Notchy, shifting from 1st to 2nd gear- since day 1. (notchy is normal but grinding isn't)

2. Grinding CLUNK noise, shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear - since day 1. (notchy is normal but grinding isn't)

3. Wrinkly leather on steering wheel - since day 1.

4. Rust on exhaust - since day 1.

5. Scratches on LEFT side of front bumper/fender - since day 1.

6. High pitched ringing noise from sound system when car is on - since day 1.

7. Ringing noise when rolling in first/second gear with clutch pedal pushed in - after 1 week.

 

ahh, don't sweat it....

 

Whats the definition of notchy compared to grinding? Mine feels notchy like all the others. But I can feel a little grinding going on as well. I dont have to force it into the gears. It doesnt make a loud grinding kind of sound. But some might say it feels like it grinds.

Does yours make loud noises are is it difficult to switch gears?

Obviously for #3 keep us informed and I will do the same. But I'm almost 100% that Mitsu will deny it.

Dont think I've seen any rust on my exhaust. I really like my exhaust also (2012). It is loud enough without being too loud.

You might be SOL with the scratches on the bumper. I think they will say it was something you should have mentioned before purchase and to file with your insurance for repair.

I havent had any high pitched ringing sound for the sound system. But I have a base model so no RF system in mine. I've had this issue before with a different older car I've owned. It had a system in it though. And a bumping one at that. It would kill my battery every year and loosen screws in the interior. But I loved it. Sounds like a possible grounding issue though.

And I aint got a clue about the ringing noise in fist and second.

Hopefully everything works out. Keep us updated. I've had the luxury of dealing with Mitsu and warranty coverage for many many years now. It is never easy. You want to avoid warranty if possible. Especially if its something difficult.

 

The material on the base Lancers is different. I verified this myself. The leather they used on the Evolutions (at least 2012) is a very soft matte leather with VERY light corrugation. The deeper wrinkles around the inner steering wheel where the plastic center piece meets the rim is totally normal. It is insanely difficult to get leather perfectly flat around corners like this.

The very light lines used in the leather are just normal texture of the material. If you look at the picture, the area with more texture is near the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. My hands are always at 9 and 3, an area that has much less texturing. This means rubbing from my hands isn't causing the light lines, it's just the material itself and how it was attached to the wheel that is just so happens to have texturing in some areas more than others.

I do not think deeper lines will start to form. Maybe if I was constantly sitting and stretching the leather it might like a seat does. All I expect leather to do when it is starting to wear on a steering wheel is to become glossy, nothing more, nothing less.

So, if you have these small textured lines on your steering wheel, this is totally normal! It's leather afterall, cow-hide, it's going to have the same lines your skin does.

It's when you get deep ridges similar to corner ridges on the rim of the steering wheel that you should worry that your leather coating has failed and now your leather is exposed to the elements. In this case conditioner will be a life saver.

A good way to test if the coating has failed is to put a drop of water on the wheel. If it is repelled, your coating is fine. If it starts to soak in immediately dry that off and add conditioner, your coating has failed/ has been rubbed off.

 

LOL! It is pretty puffy, maybe I got extra cushioning? I thought the steering wheel was very well made. The leather is very supple.

 

I dunno but all I know is mine's smooth and hard (don't get any ideas!). Almost "too" smooth. When my hands get sweaty, the wheel's almost slick. Whereas yours looks like it'll grip better.

 

How do we tell the difference in leather?

The lancer GT looked like the same leather. On Mitsu's site it says the GT has Leather-wrapped steering wheel and the Ralliart has Leather-wrapped sport-type steering wheel w/silver accent.

It says the Evo has Leather-wrapped sport steering wheel.

It says the Outlander Sport has Leather-wrapped steering wheel.

I really don't see it mentioned that there is a different type of leather material between these vehicles. I looked at the Lancer GT and doubled checked with the Outlander Sport which are the pics I put up. The Outlander Sport's steering wheel is identical to ours except it doesnt have the white stitching. The Lancer was similar but was not identical. All these vehicles didn't have any wrinkles like mine, the OP's, and even yours to an extent.

If the wrinkles are normal then I'm not going to sweat it. But there were people replying that there's is still smooth like when they bought the car. Curious why there's is smooth and ours is developing wrinkles?

 

Your steering wheel is fine. The only reason I was concerned with the topic creators was because it was glossy. New leather should not be glossy.

The reason why the Evolution leather looks different than the Lancer/Outlander leather is because a different material was used. The leather used on the Evolution is actually more "realistic" compared to the other two.