Hey all,


I just leased a 2015 MR in wicked white (will be purchasing so don't care too much for warranty) and had a few questions.


1. Is the stock drop-in filter adequate or would it be better to purchase a K&N filter?


2. What exactly is a tune as in what does the tuner do and how does it improve performance, what is the price range and are the results worth it on a fully stock car and how long would the tuner need with my vehicle?


I am a little new to how this stuff works but having an EVO has been a goal of mine since I was around 13 and now at the age of 25 I was kind of forced into getting one as it will be the last chance I have at having a brand new one. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

I would just take it slow, and just start reading various stickies around here and in various sub forums. Take your time, get to know your vehicle, then decide what you want to do. You are close to 5150 racing, a great place to trust your EVO when you are ready.

Because you have an MR, you need to ensure you go to the very best so they don't f-up your car. The GSR is a bit more forgiving.

Basically a tune is what you do when you add parts to your car. Because it is a turbo car, any modification that changes air flow should be tuned for. The EVO is a bit more resiliant to mods than say a Subaru, so you can put in a drop in filter and run without a tune, but you won't really see a benefit of the filter (you might notice a tiny difference), until you get a tune.

Because tunes are about 4-500 bucks, it is best to get a few parts together and tune all at once when you are ready.

I would suggest getting to know your car, seeing what you want to change about it, before you start adding things and changing it.

Gospel for your car-

Change the transmission fluid at 1500 miles (to remove break in particles). This is an expensive but highly suggested step to take with a new MR.

Change the transmission fluid ever 30k thereafter.

Always drive in S-Sport manual, as it prolongs the clutches the best. Normal and Sport slip the clutches to make things smoother, so you will burn them out faster.

Break in the car per the manual.



Once you start poking around and learning about parts like the Test pipe, UICP, LICP Front mount intercooler, and are used to the car you now have, you'll have a better feel for what you want to add to it, and ask for advice then.

Enjoy the car, I have a WW MR myself and love it.

 

Thank you for taking the time to give me this very helpful information. I will keep reading around the forums daily to gain some knowledge. I intend to take it slow with the car and grow with it with every gain it gets as it is a great car that excites me every time I crank it.


When I said brand new Evo owner I misled you accidentally, I have put 1k miles on it which I should have mentioned. I kept the revs low for the first 600 miles as per the manual and I have jumped around between normal, sport and s-sport recently but I will be keeping it in S-Sport manual from now on as I do not want to pay for clutch replacements anytime soon that's for sure.


I will be sure to take the car back to the dealership at 1500 miles for the tranny fluid change. Roughly how much is this type of maintenance for an Evo?


Thanks!

 

Transmission change is painful, around five hundred I think? It's only every 30k but yes it hurts the first time. I got mine done at a very good MR tune shop and I think it was a bit cheaper than the dealership. However if you aren't 100% sure they know what they are doing just take it to the dealership.

Enjoy and good luck with it. I love the MR.

Other things to be aware of that you will learn - The MR on 'stock clutch packs' is best kept at or under 350tq max, and around 400hp. Never exceed the torque unless your tuner knows what they are doing and you have the supporting modifications such as the aforementioned clutch packs.

 

$500...ouch! I suppose paying $500 at 1500 miles is better than thousands of $$$ further down the road.


I don't intend to track the car as I am aware the GSR can be abused a little more and can handle some higher numbers but I am happy with the MR and aim for some HP gains and some extra noise but that's about it.


Thanks again you've been very helpful.

 

I wouldn't be afraid to take it to the track, just be sure you are on a full tank and if you go under 1/2 a tank don't take any high speed left turns. (There is a fuel starvation issue at high speeds + low fuel with EVO's. There is a fix but just keeping full works as well)

With an MR just don't go back to back to back laps else you will overheat the transmission after a while. There are transmission coolers that you can get as well which are nice if you want to go that route and track it more often. www.kozmicmotorsports.com (lucky for me they are in my city) are a great resource for all things SST. You can see the upgraded clutch packs they sell, cooler options etc.. They are one of the best, of not the best, tuners for the EVO MR currently. They do e-tune as well, which would be an option you could pursue.

Glad this helps, we were all new once, everyone has to start somewhere

 

You can do the transmission fluid change yourself or buy the fluid and filter and take it somewhere for the flush. I paid $275 for the fluid and filter and had a shop flush it for $50.

 

The mr is a fun car. Enjoy!

 

Wow. Take it real slow my friend. Congrats on your excellent choice of a car, and I hope you do understand if you modify the car improperly and break something, the repair bill can be much higher than monthly lease payments. As I last checked, a new Evo crate engine is $26,000 and a running used one is the upward of $5,000.

For now you should consider getting mud flaps and a clear bra, also tying up the fuel pressure regulator hose. 2015 model year's fuel pump relay is the black Panasonic one IIRC, so it should be reliable. A simple protune on the stock car (+~60hp) or a turbo-back exhaust with a protune (+~80hp) would already make the car very powerful. Speaking of performance modifications, a good list to look at is a tuning house' off-the-shelf packages, like the AMS STX400 one (http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/A...0-Package.html). It gives you a good idea on what you need to improve power. Incidentally, the STX400, which is essentially intake + intercooler + exhaust + tune, is also about the upper limit of what you can do and still have a street reliable MR.

Also what he said:

Answering the question itself, a tune is about reprogramming the ECU on things like ignition timing, fuel injection, and how much exhaust gas goes into the wastegate and how much goes into the turbo. A turbo car like the Evo is very sensitive to its tune. If untuned or improperly tuned, the engine may run outside its operating temperature or intended boost level. This is different from a naturally aspirated car, on which you can install a bunch of bolt-ons without tuning.

A good tune costs about $500 and it takes several hours to a day. Tuning is necessary after mods, unless you want to break your car. Reputable tuning houses in SoCal include CobbTuning and RRE.

I have read too many stories on the forum in which people modify their Evo's with the cheapest parts they can possibly buy, by hiring unreputable shops, or towards an unstreetable level of power that they have never driven a car like that before, and end up breaking things and parting out the Evo. Make sure it doesn't happen to you by modifying prudently, doing a lot of homework before making a move, and using only reputable shops.

My Evo has been stock since I bought it, and to me it's plenty fast. Modifying a perfectly working car is an addiction, and once you start doing that, you never come back.

 

Enjoy the car for what it is,
That's the best part about making the purchase or in your case a lease.