I have a 2015 EVO MR and overwhelmed by the amount of information available online. Seems to be all sorts of tuning guides and companies out there that all have similar but slightly different sequences of modifications that should be performed.

I'm trying to find a tuning / upgrade guide to follow so I can purchase the correct parts the first time. Or even a performance tuning shop in Northern, VA that I can reply on for their expertise and advice. I do like to do the work myself and have pulled engines, transmissions and rebuilt cars from the ground up. However, I want to do it right and since the EVO world is new to me I don't want to screw it up.

For example:

I was planning on an ECU tune and dyno to start to know where my baseline is. However, I found a COBB access port computer and now have found some other EVO Flash computer software. I have no clue which is better or what to go with.

 

Most people will tell you to go with an Openport 2.0 with EcuFlash and EvoScan, simply because the accessport doesn't have very good maps for the MR's SST transmission.

You're top priority right now should be research, there is so much knowledge to be had here on these forums. Go through the how-to section, scroll back a few pages in each section of the Evo X forums. Find anything and everything that even remotely interests you about the car and start reading. If you think of anything you might want to do to your evo, chances are it's already been done and it's here on the forums somewhere, so start reading!

 

Since you have an MR stay away from Cobb. You will want to work with a shop that specializes in the MR / SST transmission.

- Advised to change your transmission fluid after around 1000-1500 miles to remove any breaking material

- Suggested to drive car primarily in S-Sport manual to preserve clutches

- Choose your tuner carefully because the transmission on these cars is incredibly expensive

- Good first no tune needed mod that smooths things out a bit - drop in filter from cosworth

Past that you would be looking at the standard boltons:

- EBCS
- Test pipe
- Drop in filter (mentioned above)
- UICP - nice but not necessary
- Protune

I got a bigger fuel pump when I put the basic boltons on. There are a lot of good tuners that can e-tune you if you have nobody in your area. 5150, Kozmic Motorsports, WTF Tuning out of Salt Lake City.

Good luck and enjoy the car. I'd personally suggest leaving it stock for about 10k miles to ensure you are not needing your warranty. The second you tune it - goodbye warranty.

 

I would say the closet shop to you would be Moore Automotive in Fairfax that's is popular here. When the day arises and I need a tune I will likely head their direction.

 

Agreed to the Moore Automotive suggestion. I would save the money and not worry about dynoing until you have some mod work you want to do, it'll just cost you money and depending if you only want to stick with the bolt-ons, you're shop can baseline you before putting the mods on and save you some $$$.

 

installing a wideband, and if your going to run e85 an ethanol analyzer should be first and foremost.

 

Go with bolt ons and you'll be happy.

 

I would say first decide what you really want to do with the car. One thing I wish I had done earlier was pay attention to the weights of the parts I was buying. For a street car doesn't really matter. There is a large difference between steel piping and aluminum for intakes and intercooler pipes. Likewise for steel and titanium exhausts.

If you ever want to race it in a particular class pay attention to what they allow. Some people want to do something like autocross eventually and then realize their mods put them in X Prepared.

If street car only, typically people want them to sound good and go faster. Research catback reviews, get a high flow cat, EBCS, intake if you want more woosh noise, and a reputable tune. Typically you will see upwards of +100whp to whatever your baseline is on a particular dyno.

I personally wouldn't touch the suspension on just a street car but most people hate the monster truck look.

 

They might still warranty the sun visors, but then again it's Mitsubishi...

 

Advice 1) Read, learn, ask questions, and talk to shops (e.g. Moore or CBRD for example). 2) The MR tranny is strong and can handle a lot; but there is no direct tuning of the TCU (Tranny computer); just some ECU clutch tables. 3) If you are going to get on it, warm up the clutches; the slippage most complain about is actually by design to warm up the tranny fluid. 4) Don't drive is S-Sport unless you want to get on it; S-Support is the highest clamping force. Most MR drivers even on tunes drive in Sport for daily and S-Sport for more spirited activity. I modded mine a few months after owning it; its been incredibly stable without issues (4 years now)

 

I've read numerous times on this site now that driving in s-sport would provide the least amount of clutch slippage regardless of how the car is being driven.

Which is true?

 

The suggestion to drive in S Sport manual as much as you can, preferably always if you want to prolong your clutch life comes from a lot of reputable places such as Kozmic Motorsports who are one of the best when it comes to the SST transmission.

That being said, I read people with MR's with full boltons that have their original clutch packs at 150k while driving around constantly in Sport mode which does slip the clutches more.

I think it's good practice to drive in S Sport, and to me it feels the best to drive in that mode all the time. It is better for the car, technically, but as real world experience shows it doesn't make all that much difference but every little bit helps imo with how expensive it is to replace clutchpacks.

The putting it in neutral while stopped is still a good idea regardless of all of the above and whatever mode you drive in.

 

^Thanks, what I was hoping to hear. I prefer driving in s-sport at all times personally, so wanted to be sure there weren't any reasons not to.