9 basic things a newbie EvoX owner has learned
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: Illinois
9 basic things a newbie EvoX owner has learned
Nine things I've learned in seven years of owning an 08 Evo X. Some may be obvious to you, and if so, I apologize in advance. But I would've liked to have known these things in advance my purchase:
1) This forum is awesome and has saved me much money and time. The overwhelming majority of posters are kind and helpful and willing to share their expertise. Thank you all!
2) On the other hand, my dealer has been a disappointment. I can only speak for my dealer, not all of them, but this one is clearly unsuited to properly assess issues with the Evo X, even when they use the national service hotline. They've misdiagnosed problems multiple times (even when I tell them what I think the problem is - most often based on reading this forum - and that's usually right). On the last trip there, they basically said they couldn't fix what turned out to be a simple problem. See 7) below.
3) The stock wing on the Evo X looks really cool, but it's placed in about the worst location for visibility. I switched to a carbon fiber lip spoiler, and that's a decent replacement. The car doesn't look as mean, but visibility is much improved.
4) I finally gave up on the front rubber lip extension. Fixed it multiple times. Bought several boxes of the fasteners. It rips off in snow, when entering drives with abrupt slope changes. Again, I love the look, but it's just too low.
5) Breathing mods, plus EBCU, plus a tune on the Evo X makes a wonderful daily driver with good low end and high end response. Best car I've had in 35 years of driving.
6) I need to save up for brake jobs. Very expensive, though getting your own pads and rotors helps. Midas has lifetime warranty on pads, so that helps, but the rotors are expensive. Good deals are available on-line periodically.
7) MAF sensors are an issue on the Evo X, with or without modified intake. I'm on my third, and they can fail without giving codes (that's the problem my dealer was unable to diagnose). Logs (e.g. with EvoScan or Accessport) are invaluable in diagnosing difficult problems.
8) I've had great customer service from aftermarket Evo X suppliers: Cobb, Custom Performance, Grimmspeed, AMS. AMS has been especially helpful and knowledgeable.
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
1) This forum is awesome and has saved me much money and time. The overwhelming majority of posters are kind and helpful and willing to share their expertise. Thank you all!
2) On the other hand, my dealer has been a disappointment. I can only speak for my dealer, not all of them, but this one is clearly unsuited to properly assess issues with the Evo X, even when they use the national service hotline. They've misdiagnosed problems multiple times (even when I tell them what I think the problem is - most often based on reading this forum - and that's usually right). On the last trip there, they basically said they couldn't fix what turned out to be a simple problem. See 7) below.
3) The stock wing on the Evo X looks really cool, but it's placed in about the worst location for visibility. I switched to a carbon fiber lip spoiler, and that's a decent replacement. The car doesn't look as mean, but visibility is much improved.
4) I finally gave up on the front rubber lip extension. Fixed it multiple times. Bought several boxes of the fasteners. It rips off in snow, when entering drives with abrupt slope changes. Again, I love the look, but it's just too low.
5) Breathing mods, plus EBCU, plus a tune on the Evo X makes a wonderful daily driver with good low end and high end response. Best car I've had in 35 years of driving.
6) I need to save up for brake jobs. Very expensive, though getting your own pads and rotors helps. Midas has lifetime warranty on pads, so that helps, but the rotors are expensive. Good deals are available on-line periodically.
7) MAF sensors are an issue on the Evo X, with or without modified intake. I'm on my third, and they can fail without giving codes (that's the problem my dealer was unable to diagnose). Logs (e.g. with EvoScan or Accessport) are invaluable in diagnosing difficult problems.
8) I've had great customer service from aftermarket Evo X suppliers: Cobb, Custom Performance, Grimmspeed, AMS. AMS has been especially helpful and knowledgeable.
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
Evolved Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 529
Likes: 66
From: Ontario, Canada
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
Yeah that does get annoying. I just paid Vladimus $30 to eliminate that function, as well as disable DRL's, let me use my fog lights separately from my low beams, etc. Now the car is much more peaceful not having that TPMS warning pop up as it wishes.
Evolved Member
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,066
Likes: 29
From: Tri-State NY/NJ/CT
Nine things I've learned in seven years of owning an 08 Evo X. Some may be obvious to you, and if so, I apologize in advance. But I would've liked to have known these things in advance my purchase:
1) This forum is awesome and has saved me much money and time. The overwhelming majority of posters are kind and helpful and willing to share their expertise. Thank you all!
2) On the other hand, my dealer has been a disappointment. I can only speak for my dealer, not all of them, but this one is clearly unsuited to properly assess issues with the Evo X, even when they use the national service hotline. They've misdiagnosed problems multiple times (even when I tell them what I think the problem is - most often based on reading this forum - and that's usually right). On the last trip there, they basically said they couldn't fix what turned out to be a simple problem. See 7) below.
3) The stock wing on the Evo X looks really cool, but it's placed in about the worst location for visibility. I switched to a carbon fiber lip spoiler, and that's a decent replacement. The car doesn't look as mean, but visibility is much improved.
4) I finally gave up on the front rubber lip extension. Fixed it multiple times. Bought several boxes of the fasteners. It rips off in snow, when entering drives with abrupt slope changes. Again, I love the look, but it's just too low.
5) Breathing mods, plus EBCU, plus a tune on the Evo X makes a wonderful daily driver with good low end and high end response. Best car I've had in 35 years of driving.
6) I need to save up for brake jobs. Very expensive, though getting your own pads and rotors helps. Midas has lifetime warranty on pads, so that helps, but the rotors are expensive. Good deals are available on-line periodically.
7) MAF sensors are an issue on the Evo X, with or without modified intake. I'm on my third, and they can fail without giving codes (that's the problem my dealer was unable to diagnose). Logs (e.g. with EvoScan or Accessport) are invaluable in diagnosing difficult problems.
8) I've had great customer service from aftermarket Evo X suppliers: Cobb, Custom Performance, Grimmspeed, AMS. AMS has been especially helpful and knowledgeable.
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
1) This forum is awesome and has saved me much money and time. The overwhelming majority of posters are kind and helpful and willing to share their expertise. Thank you all!
2) On the other hand, my dealer has been a disappointment. I can only speak for my dealer, not all of them, but this one is clearly unsuited to properly assess issues with the Evo X, even when they use the national service hotline. They've misdiagnosed problems multiple times (even when I tell them what I think the problem is - most often based on reading this forum - and that's usually right). On the last trip there, they basically said they couldn't fix what turned out to be a simple problem. See 7) below.
3) The stock wing on the Evo X looks really cool, but it's placed in about the worst location for visibility. I switched to a carbon fiber lip spoiler, and that's a decent replacement. The car doesn't look as mean, but visibility is much improved.
4) I finally gave up on the front rubber lip extension. Fixed it multiple times. Bought several boxes of the fasteners. It rips off in snow, when entering drives with abrupt slope changes. Again, I love the look, but it's just too low.
5) Breathing mods, plus EBCU, plus a tune on the Evo X makes a wonderful daily driver with good low end and high end response. Best car I've had in 35 years of driving.
6) I need to save up for brake jobs. Very expensive, though getting your own pads and rotors helps. Midas has lifetime warranty on pads, so that helps, but the rotors are expensive. Good deals are available on-line periodically.
7) MAF sensors are an issue on the Evo X, with or without modified intake. I'm on my third, and they can fail without giving codes (that's the problem my dealer was unable to diagnose). Logs (e.g. with EvoScan or Accessport) are invaluable in diagnosing difficult problems.
8) I've had great customer service from aftermarket Evo X suppliers: Cobb, Custom Performance, Grimmspeed, AMS. AMS has been especially helpful and knowledgeable.
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
I have the tpms light on when I go to the dealer for an oil change. They reset it for free because who goes to dealer for an oil change. I guess it's a freebie to get me to come back. I don't ask them to fix it.
Last edited by moparfan; Jun 2, 2017 at 02:48 PM.
Evolved Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 805
Likes: 110
From: Vancouver, BC
9) The TPMS sensor issue with the Evo X is disappointing. Seems like most tire places don't have the means to reset them. Dealer charges something like $100. I've had to do it twice. I bought the two tools necessary for this (I think they cost about $400 together). Haven't earned my money back yet, but at least it's not going to the dealer.
See: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...l#post11267879
See: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ift-bumps.html
Totally glad you're enjoying your X!! 
This one is weird to me... been on this forum for a long time and just haven't seen these fail much without some reason. Usually it is from overly saturated filters, or filters that aren't filtering correctly. In regards to OEM filter, are you sure it was connected all the way? It is often difficult to seal the bottom, especially since you can't really feel it or see it. I've seen MAFs go bad this way, but I've also seen them come back to life with some MAF cleaner.
Going through 3 MAFs sounds like something else may be wrong.
7) MAF sensors are an issue on the Evo X, with or without modified intake. I'm on my third, and they can fail without giving codes (that's the problem my dealer was unable to diagnose). Logs (e.g. with EvoScan or Accessport) are invaluable in diagnosing difficult problems.
Going through 3 MAFs sounds like something else may be wrong.
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Evolved Member
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 565
Likes: 13
From: Earth.
Just looked at those threads quickly... too much to read. How does it work, he sends you something you plug in?
If something is being blocked out by the wing, you don't need to worry about it since it is probably a mile down the road.
Newbie
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: kingston nh
I use cloned TPMS sensors in my extra wheels. They work great, just like the OEM and I can swap wheels whenever I want without and reprogramming or tpms lights. I personally like the tpms function.
I didn't know about the maf sensor. I'll tuck that one away
I didn't know about the maf sensor. I'll tuck that one away
Evolved Member
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 565
Likes: 13
From: Earth.
Newbie
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 50
Likes: 1
From: 49456
I felt like you could get decent brake options without spending a ton on Amazon. However, my biggest learning experience was changing my first clutch. SOOO much time to do and if you dont want to do it yourself, youre paying 1200+