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View Full Version : Do EVO's break down a lot?


FASTERTHANU
10-11-2006, 09:19 PM
I just purchased a 05 VIII and I'm curious on the durability of the vehicle. thanks:thumbup:

05OCsrt-4
10-11-2006, 09:21 PM
I just purchased a 05 VIII and I'm curious on the durability of the vehicle. thanks:thumbup:


they are DSMs, so watch out, nah J/P, just don't launch hard over and over again, the clutches are a little weaker than normal 2WD clutches, but overall i haven't heard really any bad things with those cars

FASTERTHANU
10-11-2006, 09:27 PM
they are DSMs, so watch out, nah J/P, just don't launch hard over and over again, the clutches are a little weaker than normal 2WD clutches, but overall i haven't heard really any bad things with those cars


Thanks! :thumbup:

wgknestrick
10-11-2006, 09:36 PM
Like any rental mule, they will kick when abused. It just seems (along with DSMs) that people have the "bulletproof" mentality and think that they can abuse the piss out of them with no consequences.

Any car will only last as long as it is cared for.

Clutches seem to be the weakest, after that gears/synchros. Otherwise, they seem to be a very solid car.

awdlaserbeam
10-11-2006, 09:44 PM
Your fine, unless you start heavily modding and dont have a clue what you are doing. DSM's break for a couple reason, one major issue is the fact that they are 15 years old and are not being used in the manner in which they were designed (bolting on all sorts of **** and being pushed to the max). Although i have seen cars with stock motors with 100k+ miles pushing double the HP if you know what you are doing...

redline
10-11-2006, 10:01 PM
they are DSMs, so watch out, nah J/P, just don't launch hard over and over again, the clutches are a little weaker than normal 2WD clutches, but overall i haven't heard really any bad things with those cars


Didn't "DSM" Die years ago. But yeah most stand up too what you throw at it

9 Ball
10-11-2006, 10:08 PM
They are tough but like everyone said don't abuse the car. That goes for any car really. Just be sensible and the car should treat you well. I'm over 65,000... no problems whatsoever.

revenant
10-12-2006, 01:39 AM
I heard the transfer cases go all of the time. I don't know if this is ture or not though, heard it from a friend of mine.

EvlEgl
10-12-2006, 01:58 AM
A. It's not a DSM
B. Does any car not break if your drive it Harder than the average daily driver?
C. If you wanna go fast expect **** to break...If you keep it stock it can still break but your chances arent AS high...Unless you dunno how to drive.

Have fun with it and just dont be a complete dumbass and you should be ok.

9 Ball
10-12-2006, 07:53 AM
I heard the transfer cases go all of the time. I don't know if this is ture or not though, heard it from a friend of mine.

Usually, when I hear of a transfer case going, the car has been abused.

drew
10-12-2006, 08:28 AM
when they have problems it's usually the driver, not the car

silver05bullet
10-12-2006, 11:49 AM
Usually, when I hear of a transfer case going, the car has been abused.

my rear diff went before the transfer case, the car is very reliable in my opinion well other than clutches

revenant
10-12-2006, 12:15 PM
Usually, when I hear of a transfer case going, the car has been abused.

Yea, you guys are right. Come to think of it, the transfer case problems I heard about came from an evo that was driven pretty hard.

FASTERTHANU
10-13-2006, 09:01 AM
Whats A Dsm?!?!?!

olsookie
10-13-2006, 10:02 AM
Diamond Star Motors, 1G, 2G turbo Eclipse/Laser/Talons

Pocket_Rocket
10-13-2006, 10:23 AM
I added 3" exhaust and had it flashed and tuned by Shiv from Vishnu up at Turbo Trix in Edison.. That night I went to Englishtown and ran my stock clutch out of it haha.. Have ACT in there now and its AWESOME so yes the stock clutch is weak.. Other then that, no problems. Have owned 10 mos

RayArroyo
10-13-2006, 10:51 AM
these cars are strong as hell, i have 26k on mine and no problems and its modded. as for the diff like stated if you dont take care of your car it wont last. i changed all my fluids recently trans and diff and let me tell you after seeing what both fluids looked like ill be doing it every 10kmiles or so. clutch is another weak point other than that congrats your purchase i think you made a good choice.

05Accent
10-13-2006, 11:07 AM
yea well as long and u dont do launch control almost every day or beat the hell out of ur car and race everyone like my friend. he owns a MR and already within 5k miles already went thru two clutches and 4 tires.. :eek: but as long as u dont do that ull be fine im sure.

gsrboi80
10-27-2006, 01:07 PM
Mine and hers run 100%. My stock clutch lasted me 50k. Normal maintenence and you'll be fine. neither of them burn a drop of oil between oil changes. Best car Ive ever owned

The EVO is not a DSM. The EVO is built 100% in Japan

FASTERTHANU
11-12-2006, 03:51 AM
these cars are strong as hell, i have 26k on mine and no problems and its modded. as for the diff like stated if you dont take care of your car it wont last. i changed all my fluids recently trans and diff and let me tell you after seeing what both fluids looked like ill be doing it every 10kmiles or so. clutch is another weak point other than that congrats your purchase i think you made a good choice.

yea well as long and u dont do launch control almost every day or beat the hell out of ur car and race everyone like my friend. he owns a MR and already within 5k miles already went thru two clutches and 4 tires.. :eek: but as long as u dont do that ull be fine im sure.

Thanks everyone for your kind knowledge and support. I also wish the best of luck to your EVO's/STI/Ford focus and whatever car you have that posted in this thread. haha

SuperHatch
11-21-2006, 11:27 AM
I've owned an 03 Evo and now have an 06 Evo.

They are NOT DSMs, as said before...

The transfer case issues on the early Evos was real. In Japan, all Evos from the Evo 7 and up had ACD and a Front Helical LSD. When Mitsu introduced the Evo to America they did not include ACD, and the cars had open front differentials.

You will hear varied opinions, but the general concensus is that the 03-04 Evo GSR's (not the 04 RS) had an open front diff because they did not have ACD and they DID have ABS. Without an ACD, ABS can wreak havok on a true AWD car (LSD's at front, rear, center). This is one of the reasons mitsu felt comfortable releasing the 04 RS with a front limited slip, it has no ABS.

In 05, Mitsu started shipping all Evos with ACD, as an indirect positive benefit is that they all also came equipped with front LSDs as well.

Why is that such a benefit? The open front diffs on 03-04 Evos are WEAK, the spider gears are made from powdered metal, which is a very cheap manufacturing process which results in a metal that is not strong when subdued to drivetrain shock (I.E., hard launching)

The majority of failed TC's in 03-04 Evos were due to broken spider gears. The rest of the failures were due to actual ring and pinion gear failure.

The ring an pinions fail in ALL Evos for one simple reason. Mitsu had a drivetrain problem to solve, and in my opinion (and any other engineer worth his weight in salt) they solved it poorly.

The Transfer case houses a ring and pinion gear, but unlike every rear differential in the world, in the Evo TC the Ring gear drives the pinion gear. (big gear drives little gear). Why is this bad? Helical gears were not designed to transfer power in this manner, and as a result the generate a ton of heat. If you've ever looked at an Evo TC, the bottom side of it is covered with heat sinks, and the undertray on the Evo is designed to direct air to those fins to aid in cooling.

The second downside is the low fluid capacity of the TC. The oil is what transfers the heat off of the gears, and when there is less fluid to wick away the heat, the fluid cooks over time (especially high speed driving). The upside is that the direction of rotation of the Ring gear picks up the oil and the immediately lubricates that pinion, unlike in a rear diff where the oil needs to travel all the way around the ring and then hit the pinion. More oil on the pinion means it will be cooled more. (good thing)

Bottom line, change your TC fluid at every other oil change if you want your Evo's TC to live a long happy life. And when you change it, use ONLY Mitsubishi Diaqueen Gear oil, it was designed to live in that high heat environment and will be happer taking that heat than the other options out there.

On another note, my 03 lived at ~400WHP for the majority of it's life. I changed the oil with Mobil 1 every 3k and used Mobil 1 filters as well. My car was still running very very strong when I traded it in and did not use any oil.

Keep on top of the maintenance, and the Evo will treat you well. If you're going to abuse it, reward it with fresh oil every 3k, fresh TC oil every 6k, tranny/rear diff oil every 12k, and keep an eye on your pads, rotors, tires, and alignment.

Oh yeah, the stock clutches are weak, period. Mitsu would rather have clutches fail than expensive trannies and TC's. In 05 they added a stock launch rev limiter to prevent owners from dumping the clutches at 7k, now it's at 5.5k max.

Any other quesitons, feel free to ask...

- Steve

FASTERTHANU
11-22-2006, 06:32 PM
^^^ Geez, I didn't want anyone to write a report...lol but on the otherhand it can't hurt.

alwaysinboost
11-22-2006, 09:45 PM
congrats on your purchase.

Everything superhatch said is the truth. I purchased my 04 GSR with 4 miles on the odo, currently I have over 74k. my driveline fluids are changed as often as I change my oil and everything has held up well.

BoM
11-25-2006, 09:51 PM
It's a very high maintenance car period.

Honest_Bob
11-26-2006, 11:54 PM
Does it come in wagon form? No, and if there is no wagon there is no shagg'n. :cry:


Its a high maintence car. I say bring it on, a little maintence never hurt anyone. Nothing like the satisfaction of successfully completing an oil change. Not to mention getting to know your car. I'd go for it. :thumbup: