I didn't see why everyone was having problems until yesterday. I had 2 friends with me, and decided to let them test drive my car in a parking lot. One of them has driven a standard honda for about 4 years, the other has had several auto maximas. First was the Honda guy who would slip the clutch at 2,500rpm to get the thing going, then shift like he was punching the damn gearbox, as well as sidestepping the clutch. I basically slapped him on the back of the head after that, and let the Maxima guy drive. The Maxima guy knows to be scared of the evo, and has respect for it, unlike the Honda guy. He took off at 1,100rpm, damn near prefectly, shifted with his finger tips.. perfect. He couldn't rev match, but i wouldn't expect that within the first 20 seconds of driving the car (although I did after about 10 shifts out of the dealer.). It all depends on the person. WHen I'm driving around town, I try my hardest to shift like an automatic, revmatching and quick shifts (fingertips people!). When I do race, I "throw" the shifter. Basically as soon as it's in the gate past neutral, I'm not touching it anymore. They made fun of me for shifting like that, then they switched cars and raced with the srt-4 I was racing against. He would JAM the gears, once again a "punchshift". My previous car's experiences are a 1992 Honda 5-spd, a Ford Ranger 5-spd, a Diesel chevy 5-spd, and a 5-spd jeep. And to answer the age question, I'm 20, and pay for the evo out of my pocket, as well as insurance. I put 2k down, and my father put 5k (love ya). To be honest, if the clutch died tonight, it would take me a month to get enough money to have it replaced, and I don't plan on not driving my baby for a month, if not more. Oh, and I've put about 12k each on each of my vehicles, and they're all in top mechanical form. To the original poster, go for a drive with someone in an evo, watch how they shift, use the pedals, the timing of it all. Maybe you can learn from them.

Sorry for the Novel,
John Rodriguez

 

You and your sister have Evo's? Damn so many youngun's with Evo's in Houston

 

this thread is probably pretty much dead, but I'll throw in my two cents....
Poptarts, man, you are f'ing up man. I drove like you when I got my AWD Turbo Talon, and let me tell you, your drivetrain will never be the same. I went through three trannys and by the time the poor car was put out of it's misery, it totally drove like hell. These cars were not meant to be abused, hell, no car is designed for that kind of driving. If you are blowing driveline hardparts and clutches, etc., you are not driving correctly. Take a look at how race drivers do it, they are SMOOTH, not violent, especially rally drivers. You could put a camera on those guys and set the whole thing to classical music. They are relaxed, smooth, and do not make sudden moves at all, because this is not how you drive fast. To be fast, you must be smooth man, not driving like you are high on crack or something and just go ***** out, jamming gears, flooring the gas pedal mid shift, etc. I'm not saying that is how you drive, because I dont' know you, but I know that I drove like that when I had my Talon, when I was still young and foolish, and I had similar driveline problems...

 

You know why you broke your trasnfer case? Because you watched Fast and Furious. On a new car like an Evo, there is no need to slame gears like they do in the movies. You can shift with one finger and still have just as quick shifts. The car just eases into the gears, slamming gears just produces undue stress and it is absolutely unnecessary. You probably do in unconcisouly too, get your car fixed up and pay more attention to the way you drive it, and drive smarter, your car will be fine.

 

Hey maybe you did drive it in a way to promote the problems your claiming, maybe you didn't. Only you know what really happened and if the dealer and the dm and anyone else won't fix it you obviously have to go higher up. Why don't you call the corporate office and see what they have to say? Even better, if you think it's a lemon then why don't you file under the lemon law? If it truly is a lemon then you can get a substitution of collateral if all else fails you can try arbitration.

 

Damn this thread is funny

 

well to let you know. we did go higher. im getting the clutch warrantied on to see what is causing the howling sound. we may still ahve to pay for the clutch
im not sure yet. andyways i wont have to bother yall anymore, because ill be getting a auto rx-8 or g-35 im sure so i wont have to worry about clutch problems anymore. thanks to the people who gave me advice.

 

yo, not in a sarcastic way, but, good luck, i know what its like to have a lemon and after a lot of fighting and time i eventually got my money back, so i say with the purchase of any new car, good luck.

 

Poptarts, keep us posted as to what the dealer does, as far as voiding your whole warranty or what...

 

people you should be bashing his parents, at sixteen any one of us would have been excited to learn to drive a stick and race. we all know he didnt buy it. his parents should have had the "WISDOM" form experience to know better. shhhh teach my kid how to race and drive a stick in a brand new evo, your crazy. besides at 16 if poptart can get into an evo than a $1300 repair bill shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

You are right, the clutch is designed to go out in order to protect the rest of the transmission. Many Evo customer complain about this, but think about the price of a new transmission. Also, when you start adding certain aftermarket parts to this vehicle you run a high risk to your transmission. My advise is to contact your dealership so you dont void your warranty and get the right aftermarket clutch!

Best regards,

 

You may be right or you may be wrong! I have never had a customer complain or imply that their EVO is or could be a lemon!

However, the problem that I have is that you say you will never buy a Mitsubishi again because of your recent expierence. I can understand your frustration but look at it like this:

1.) The same thing would have probably happened to you if you would have bought a WRX STI YES or NO?

2.) Do you expect Mitsubishi to pay for your mistakes and education on this vehicle?

3.) If you were Mitsubishi would you want to fix problems that are caused by neglect, racing, or misuse?

I think the others advise to go to a professional driving school is great! I would tell every Evo driver to do just that.

Finally, I have to say that you made a fine choice in the Evo and I hope that you will see that this is probably your fault and the problems that you are having are directly related to the fact that you bought a fine but delicate piece of racing heaven to learn how to drive stick and race in. I would have started with a Lancer OZ Rally or Ralliart, but I also remember what is was like to be 16 and really want the car that noone else could get! I never got that car, but learned how to drive stick in an old beater!

I wish you the best of luck and hope you will continue to see value in the Mitsubishi product.

Best regards,

 

Dont take this wrong, just an observation! You sure own a lot of Mitsubishi products to talk trash about their quality!

 

Mark,

This thread is like a year old. Wear the hell did you drag this one up from. The people who responded to this tread could be pushing up daisy's for all you know.

 

Keep missing your "power shift" like that and you will buying a new transmission or syncro's really soon!