Just got a Red 2003 evo VIII last weekend. 24,000 miles on it but like new. Simply the most amazing road car out there. Mine has a stage 3 clutch which is taking some gittin used to.

I have a couple questions some of you Evo guru's might be able to help me with. Going from 3rd to 4th always grinds unless I baby it real nice and easy. If not if hits hard and grinds. Appointment tomorrow to have this fixed (still under warranty) but just wondered if anyone else has had this problem.

Also often experience a loud squeel from the cutch when starting out in 1st. Not always but fairly often. I thought it may be my technique but after a week I think I've got the feel of the clutch down pretty well but this will not stop. Its annoying as hell when everyone within ear shot turns to see what the hell is happening to the beautiful red sports car. Not sure of the make of the clutch...hope to find out tomorrow when i review the service records at the dealer. Any thoughts on this problem?

I bought this after owning a psuedo-rice burner (2004 Toyota Matrix XRS 6 speed high rev version) and decided I needed a real rice burner. This is it...driving this car is unlike anything I have ever driven. I'm new to high performance cars so any suggestions you can throw at me would be appreciated.

Glad to be here and to drive an EVO!

 

I'm not sure why you would buy an Evo that has a "stage 3 clutch" with a syncro grind and a strange noise when starting out in 1st. The fact that it has such an extreme clutch means it was probably heavily-modified. To say it's "like new" would mean that it has not been abused, has no significant changes to it whatsoever, and has no problems whatsoever. It's good that the syncro is getting replaced under warranty, but most dealerships would probably not honor the warranty when the car has a high performance clutch that is making noise in 1st gear. Plus, it's usually the 5th gear synchro that goes bad, not the 4th gear. I haven't heard of this one going out except for on rare occasions when most of the syncros go bad altogether...

 

I agree with Warrtalon, when the dealer see you have a aftermarket clutch you will have to pay. No warranty for you!

 

what is a stage 3 clutch?

is it better than stage 2?

 

That's the problem - he doesn't really know. He'll find out (maybe) when they pull the tranny for the syncro fix. Even then, I'm not sure they'll know exactly what clutch it is...

 

it means that he will pay 3 times as much to fix it.

 

Actually the clutch did not squeal during test drive...only when I got it home and went to take it out did it squeal for the first time. The dealer has all previous service records as this was serviced solely by them. They should know what clutch is installed, how old it is etc. One reason I bought the car is that 2 seperate people there assured me it was still covered under warranty and anything wrong would be fixed.

I also did not notice the rough shift into 4th until I became more comfortable with the shifting and began trying to shift more aggressively...this brought out the rough transition from 3rd to 4th. The service guys took it for a test drive and said synchros...they have already ordered the parts and have told me personally it would fall under warranty. They know the car and its history so it seems they would have told me then that the warranty would not cover this.

Hopefully I did not get stuck with a problem car...it actually drives great except the fact I have to baby it into 4th and the clutch occasionally squawks at me. I read another thread where an owner complained of a noisy clutch when starting out in first. anyone know what might cause this?

 

Yeah, but most people don't have aftermarket parts installed at the dealership. The dealer may have all the "service" records, but I highly doubt that would include all the aftermarket parts installations. I'm assuming that the dealership installed this "stage 3 clutch," but one would wonder why the guy installed such a heavy duty clutch if he didn't have mods, and if he did have mods, the dealership who installed the clutch should know the extent of his mods, in which case they would definitely not warranty such a thing.

Anyway, you say they promise. so that's great. The whole situation sounds really shady to me, but if you get this (and future things) done for free under warranty, then it's all gravy.

 

Based on your comments warrtalon I will certainly question them tomorrow on the "mods" issue on this car since I was assured (by the salesman of course) that drive train, engine and even bumper to bumper warranties are all good and ANYTHING wrong would be fixed.

I know I have read of Mits being stingy on this...hope I dont have to fight with 'em. But when i am told EVERYTHING...I expect that to mean EVERYTHING.

Regardless...I AM DRIVING AN EVOLUTION...thats all that matters.

Thanks for the input.