Just purchased my first Evo on Saturday from All Star Mitsu. in NJ. Got the gray/grey IX standard model. I have to say I am somewhat blown away, but I have many questions, that are probably very basic and already posted a million times, but due to the fact they are so generic they return a million search results.

A: As a first time turbo owner what are the basic essentials I need to know to make sure it runs the best (warm up, oil changes, etc).

B: I'm noticing that starting with anything less than 3k revs the engine bogs, having come from a Scion TC (my entry level mid-life crisis car) that you could pull off in 2nd gear half the time, do I assume this is the "Turbo lag"? Or do you just have to rev Evo's more.

C: My god you have to change gears quickly if you floor it.

D: How good is the stock immobilizer?

E: Is there a way to make the lights turn off if you take the key out (I'm going to run my battery flat soon at this rate)?

F: Boost gauge, how easy an install is it? How many hours should it take to install? The dealer said they'd do it for me if I brought in a gauge, they're at $85/hour?

G: Tuning 101, what's the first 3 steps that won't obviosuly void the warranty that will allow me to get the full potential of the car, I'm not looking for a 10second beast, just I've read so many threads about the fact that there is 50hp extra that can be found with stock pieces just tuned right.

H: I'm searching, searching lots, why do the same 4 threads appear at the top of every search?

Thanks in advance.

 

A. The ECU has many failsafes that prevent you from boosting hard when its still warming up. I would let it sit for at least a minute, though. Never can be too sure. Unless you're Donald Trump and you can buy Evo's like average people buy toilet paper.

B. I can start the car without any gas, I just slowly let off the clutch and it starts to roll. It may be your driving. But, if you're talking about getting off the line for racing, etc. You have to rev it up a bit and feather the throttle until the clutch feels like its catching and enjoy the rollercoaster ride. There's many ways to do this, I just like this method.

C.Don't floor your car this early, it's still breaking in.

D.I don't put anything past car thieves. I don't put my "trust" in any immobilizer or theft device. People have bypassed all of that. I'm sure a good thief can disable it. It was made by humans and I'm sure a human can disable it. Just get good insurance.

E. On the left of the steering wheel there's the long stalk that has the light on and off rotator. Just turn it to the off position .. . .

F. I had my guages installed. If you don't know what you're doing, have a local trusted shop do it for you.

G. I think the dealer will void your warranty for most aftermarket applications.

 

As far as the first couple mods to do.

-3" TBE use a high flow cat if cops are a b!tch in your area
-Tune either custom or flash
-Boost guage

Should give you decent enough power. I would say start modding after you get used to the car and after it is broken in. That way you wont be tempted as much to mash on it until the car is ready for it.

 

Thanks guys.

I have to say I'm not sure I've truely "Floored it" yet.

I have to say for the moment, this car is scaring the crap out of me (in a good way ;-)

 

nice

 

Hey, it beeps when you take the key out, so I assumed it was one of those cars that left your lights on for you, but now wait 5 seconds and off they go.

Makes me much happier, I have this weird habit of driving everywhere with my lights on.

 

Warm up... I always wait until my temp gauge starts to move before driving. Especially since its getting colder now. I won't "get on it" until it is at normal operating temp (half way between hot and cold).

Install the gauge yourself, it is really easy. You can check the how-to section of this forum to find some write ups to follow with pics and everything. It won't take more than 2 hrs even if you don't know what you're doing and you drink a lot of beer while you're doing it.

About voiding the warranty... most will tell you not to do any mods to your car if you are not willing to void your warranty. Most will also agree that a flash is undetectable and you can flash back to stock if needed. A flash will get you 20-30 more hp on a stock IX. Not a bad deal, just do some searching for more info.

About searching... try the advanced search and select only titles of posts for what you're looking for.

 

The gauge you're looking at measures the water temp. If you have the factory (or other) gauges, take a look at the oil temp. It's a much better indicator of everything being warmed-up. The water temp comes-up pretty quickly, but it takes 5-10 minutes of driving to get the oil temp to spec. If you're gunning the car before the oil temp is up, you're doing it too early.

 

Congratulations on the purchase and welcome to the boards, first and foremost.

A. A general rule of thumb for all cars is to let your car idle for around 30 seconds, then you can drive it, but very slowly. (Some people prefer 45 seconds, some people prefer 1 minute, but it's up to you.) While it's good to let it idle for a bit to get the engine a bit warmed up, driving it after a short idle will let it warm up while in actual operation, which will allow the other fluids to warm up with it as well. While there are extra factors to consider when driving a turbocharged car (versus a naturally aspirated car), the warm-up process isn't as drastically different as people make it out to be, especially in this day and age where turbocharger technology stands. Obviously don't start stretching its legs until after five minutes or so (if you're itching to do it... granted you're past the break-in period) when all of the temperatures are up to operating levels. (Don't depend solely on the stock guages, since there are other fluids that you can't monitor without aftermarket guages. When shutting off, usually the drive to wherever you're going (through a parking lot or driving through neighborhood streets) is slow enough to let your engine and turbocharger slightly cool off while letting air circulate. But after more strenuous driving (long freeway trips or fun driving), you might want to let your car idle for a bit (a minute at most, unless you were at a track and beating on the car) once you stop at your destination. And try to change your oil early... some people do it right when they hit 600, some people do it at 1000, some people do it at 2000. Just read the owner's manual.

B. If by "starting" you mean driving off the line normally, then it's probably your technique. It's not so much turbo lag as it is AWD. Keep in mind that it takes a bit more effort to get four wheels turning than it does to get two wheels moving. Like someone said before, I can get my car moving without touching the gas pedal (although it will be at a very slow speed), so it's probably your technique. Going from a 160 hp FWD coupe to a 286 hp AWD sedan will force you to sharpen your foot skills.

C. True, gun it in first and you'll have to be in second gear within moments.

D. I guess it does its job, but if a good thief really wants your car, he'll take it.

E. No, this is an Evo, not a Benz. Funding for R&D was spent on making it the AWD beast that we love it for rather than making it a nice and comfortable car that fixes the mistakes of idiotic drivers.

F. It's not that hard, but try finding someone on the boards who knows what he/she is doing and lives near you.

G. First step is to find out how cool your dealership is with mods, or at least which dealerships in your area are cool with mods. And find out which mods they're okay with. If you don't know too much about cars, I wouldn't suggest just buying whatever. There are a few packages floating around the net (some on this board) that are proven to yield a ton of extra hp and torque with just bolt-ons and a flash while not burning a big hole in your wallet. Also, before dumping money into making a fast car faster, learn how to drive it properly. I think it would be more fun to learn how to drive a car faster and more skillfully through a set of curves than to have some extra hp to go faster in a straight line.

 

Update:

E: If you leave your lights on, it beeps and then about 5 seconds later they are turned off for (perhaps Mitsu had some spare R&D cash) ;-)


New Question:

H: Does the evo have the twitchiest steering ever, or is my car a freak. Now don't get me wrong I like the fact that I can negotiate most corners without needing to move more than 10 degree's either way, just want to make sure is was the norm. I have read threads about the turning circle so I was prepared for that. But one thing I notice is on those well worn roads (lots of 'em in glorious NJ) which have the ruts from having trucks driving on them, the evo wants to climb in and out of the ruts like crazy. I'm currently guessing this is combination to 3 things: the tight steering, the wide tires not fitting the ruts, that the evo has a weird width :-) . But I'm open to suggestions.

Loving it by the way. Loving it.

 

Yes, the steering is very quick, but I wouldn't call it twitchy. If you get the chance, drive a Mazda3 for reference. Its steering is nowhere as quick as the Evo's, but it is twitchy.

 

Of course that is the norm for the EVO (steering), that infact is one of the things the EVO is known for- is it's quick steering response. Believe it or not, but that sh*t has gotten me out of a couple tricky situations.

Please just read around the forums some more, your knowledge will increase greatly. I believe you bought the EVO with out knowing a lot about it, other than it goes fast and handles well. Just read up, and your questions will be answered.

 

There's some really great info people provided thus far for you.


My one word of warning is this...DON'T PUSH YOUR CAR YET! Mitsu should have told you about the proper break-in period. You should not push the revs over 4,000 RPM for the first 600 miles. In fact, you should go easy on the car all the way around until that 600 mile mark. The 4G63 engine is notorious for burning oil and encoutering other problems when not properly broken in. A proper break-in is essential to a strong Evo. I have one of the first 50 Evo VIII's brought to the US and with a proper break-in, I have had no problems at all. I'm now over 30,000 miles. Some of my friends burn oil like it's their job.

Congrats on your purchase, have fun, and welcome to the family.

 

dont jump into modding it untill u are familiar with it in stock form and read more what u really want in terms of power and handling...

 

^ Very true. I have almost 10k miles on my IX and still haven't done a single mod. I know there is still potential there that can be exploited in stock form with sharper driving, so it's not like I have the need for another 50+ hp. The most I'd ever do at this very moment is something with the ECU.