Yes this is a good option if you have a reputable shop. I had Kozmic Motorsports in Houston do my initial SST fluid change instead of the dealership.

 

Think about it this way, your loading up your driveline and unloading rapidly could just be some normal but even excessive backlash in the driveline.. just like the common rear diff clunk on hard shifts ( would say more or less on manual trans evos ) but using this as example.. that clunk happens when its loaded then unloaded and loaded again within seconds. So this issue could be anything driveline related or even a suspension item. Talk to dealer since its under warranty and they should be able to inspect for anything abnormal and see what they say.

 

Hello there, I too have a 2015 MR with about 6K on it. Everything these people have told you is go to go! Once you start driving the car in S-Sport you will not like to drive it in normal, the shifts will feel slow and sluggish. Nothing wrong with any of the modes but you will learn to love S-Sport or Sport. Just make sure you ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS let the car get to full operating temps before you start beating on her. Cold WOT is the number one way to break stuff!!! here are some other notes to keep in mind when it comes to the MR and the SST

1. Mods - the stock SST can handle some good power however you will need to tune the SST along with any real power upgrades.... Cobb's AP will work on the car but open source tuning/ Protune is best for the MR b/c the SST is not something that COBB palys with on their OTS Maps.... however there are a number of people out there that will run OTS maps on their MRs. each to their own i guess

2. SST Fluid changes - if you can, have the fluid changed at 1500 and then again at 30,000. in addition to this, you can change your SST external filter on its own. Alot of MR people out there change theirs every 5,000 or so. There are a few threads about this on the forum so take a look. SSP also makes a lifetime filter that is clean and reuse Kozmic MS also sells one too. Note you will need to have SST fluid on hand when you do this bc you will spill a little out of the filter housing so keep that in mind.

3. SST Sounds and Noises - The SST is a complex unit and only as of late have people really started cracking into them.... Mitsu has always said that they are a full replacement unit, meaning that if anything is wrong it has to be replaced and the estimated cost is about $14K and if the dealer/Mitsu feel that whatever you have done to the car has caused that issues, the bill will have your name on it. (this is what i have learned from reading the forums). Okay as for the "odd" sounds you hear, the SST does make a lot of clinks and clacks from what i have read and heard myself in mine. Keep in mind that the SST was built to hold two gears at once for those lighting fast shifts, so what you could be hearing when you let your foot off the gas all the way is the SST going form holding the gear you are in and the next highest gear to holding the gear you are in and the next lowest gear. so if you are in 4th and foot on the gas, the SST will also have 5th in "stand-by" if you will, take your foot of the gas and the SST drops 5th and puts 3rd in "stand-by". Get what i am saying?

4. Things to look out for with the SST -
a. Make sure the car is in "R" before you give the car gas to back out. Sometimes you might see the "R" flash, this means that the car is not truly in gear and you could harm the SST by giving it gas. I know a few MR owners that have seen this happen, they just put it back in "p" and then back in "R" and all is good to go
b. Do not mash on the gas in Normal manual or auto - yes the car is built for what we all know it is built for however, that is why the SST has two other driving modes... use them accordingly... I look at it like this, If my Mother or G-mother is in the car, i will drive in manual Normal. Outside of that - Sport or S-Sport manual all the time.
c. Sport or S-Sport - you can drive Sport in auto mode if you want as a Day to day driving mode but be ready to kiss your gas away and make the engine work alot more... Forget about it in S-Sport mode unless you like keeping your car at 7,000RPMs and going like 30mph... If you daily the car and you want to drive in sport or S-Sport then put the car in Manual Mode too. the car will down shift on its own in manual but i have come to notice that 1. the car only really down shifts to keep the car from stalling out and 2. will not down shift on its own to keep you in the best gear for power in manual mode... Duh thats up to you right!
d. Shifting in manual mode... the car and SST seem to not mind 1st or 2nd gear under 2,000rpms but 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th really dont LOL... here is my rule on shifting and this is just my thoughts and by no means are they anything to hold yourself to... we are all here to share so thats all this is
when down shifting in traffic or everyday BS i like to keep each gear im in above or right around 2,000rpms... so if im in 5th and i start to slow down and i see the car going below 2,000rpms ill down shift into 4th and ect ect ect... ( if anyone out there reads this and thinks im doing it wrong PLEASE PLEASE let me know) i notice that the car doesnt really like to be below 2,000rpms and give gas in any gears outside of 1st or 2nd..


outside of all that i'm not too sure what else i could tell you other than the reason your car takes a few seconds to shut off is b/c the SST is built to have a few fail safes in to makes sure it is in the right position internally to start the car the next time you go to start it...

hope this helps you out and please let me know if you have any follow on questions and if anyone thinks im doing it wrong please please let me know. This car is my baby......

 

hmm good advice

i tried to drive auto s/sport and it was terrible at low speed, it kept jerking forward.

sport was okay, but dang it keeps it under 4k rather than 3, so the turbos kept coming on.

so i think auto is more or less coupled to normal for every day driving.

however, i find it i am smoother on manual + sport than even normal + auto... even if i head on to 4k, the (relatively speaking) low pressure of the boost does not seem to make it jerk and give a spike of power, so if i put some head into it and drive it like a manual then it works. and this is from someone with about 30 minutes of manual experience and an okay theoretical knowledge of the car. i think i need to dyno this to know exactly what the characteristic of the car and thus what rpm to shift up or down, but i try to keep it under 3k if i am trying to save gas (and it will happly do this), but if i am lazy or what nots, under 4k works it seems.

and yeah, auto downshift only happens at lights when you almost stop completely, its nice but anytime i need to let go of the gas then start again i need to manual shift, would love if i can hold down the downshift while braking and it finds the optimal gear to stay in for acceleration when i let go of the paddle / brake.

my only issue is where to do maint, the dealership where i got the car from seems to be swamped with evo maint when i brought my car (IE every bay had an evo in it lol...), so i know they would do good work, but the price is likely high. the oils and filter for sst seems to cost something like 300-400 dollars but something tells me 500 dollars is optimistic from the dealer.

i am still trying to get into the private bay area evo owners group... i tried to join the classifieds for the group but... if anyone here have a contact / know how to get in let me know.

 

Auto + Sport is for aggressive driving, occasionally. (My wife likes it because it shifts for her and gives her some juice but not all of it) If you modify your car, I wouldn't suggest flooring it EVER in sport or normal due to potential damage.

Auto + S Sport is really only for track use imo.

Normal - Really only should be used on long trips so you can use the cruise control and spare your clutches some wear and tear, as normal doesn't keep off gear clutches primed and ready like S Sport does for instance, so good for cruising.




S Sport manual = all the time, even if grandma is in the car, because you can easily drive it just as casually as normal auto mode, just shift sooner if you aren't wanting to get into boost.

I downshift going up to a light then toss it in neutral. This is actually a very easy fast motion you can do that will beat the auto-shift if you are in S Sport mode, and coming up to a light.

These suggestions are direct from the best shop for SST transmissions that I am aware of, Kozmic Motorsports, and are agreed upon as the best options for driving by the masses when this topic comes up.

Also the Cobb Accessport is not suggested for MR EVO's, but works quite well for GSR's. The problem being the AP isn't really doing a good job with the SST transmission. Most that have installed it have either regretted it or gotten a protune to solve any issues from it.

 

ok i just tried manual s/sport, it was really, really weird.

i am usually in a multi-story car park at the start, maybe the thing isn't warmed up, or it is just bad going downhill doing ~10-15 mph, but if i have it at just 2k - 3k rpm, let off the gas the thing shakes and lunges forwards down hill and the s-awc info screen shows that it is pulling me forward...

should i let it warm up in normal / sport mode first until temps hit normal then engage s/sport?

after the lurges in the multi-story, i kind of sort of gave up and just used sports manual.

 

Hmm sounds like you might be shifting too high. When I start car I put it into S Sport manual then I keep light on the gas (I live on the 6th floor of an apartment so it's a long drive down the parking garage, and I work in an office building and park on the 10th floor of a parking garage for work)

Anyway, when driving off when the car is 'cold' just shift close to 2k. So I really am in 2nd gear mostly while driving down the ramps.

You'll get a feel for it, just takes a bit of getting used to.

Going up the garage I generally alternate between first and second. It is completely fine to shift from 2nd to 1st in these cars, which isn't highly recommended with a stickshift.

One final thought - you are in TARMAC mode with your AYC button yes? Not gravel or snow? If you have it in gravel or snow and you are driving in dry conditions it feels weird to drive and isn't the best for the car.

 

I was able to recreate your clunk noise in my MR, was merging onto a highway in 4th and was around 5kish and had to let off the gas suddenly due to an SUV that wasn't paying attention. Felt and heard what you were talking about, but didn't notice any ill effects after.

Normal drivetrain lash due to the fast unload is what I felt, so 'normal' just feels a bit off with how smooth everything else is...

 

hmm ok good tips, with s/sports, i was around 3k rpm, but i will try and keep it under 2k and see what happens, or just slow down to a crawl lol, its a car park, not going to race anything or anyone there.

and yeah tarmac only, im in norcal, i don't think the snow is getting used at all and off roading is going to happen rarely if at all.


and the same thing i said to myself, everything else is smooth, except the low speed lurges that happens in automatic, and then that happens. and as you said, no ill effects other than that sound / feeling from the engines, and around 4k is where i got mine, maybe this is bigger the higher the rpm?