looking at Evo's. Few Questions.

[sport the war]

I haven't really been watching what Mitsu's been doing with the X's. Looking for a 2008+ Evo X.. Im sure there are quite a few actual owners on the site.. I am looking for ups and downs on them. How bad are the drivelines and is it worth the money vs 8-9's? What kind of MPG and driveability do they have? I've test driven a few but they were ridden hard and put away wet and had a few mechanical issues with 20-30k on them.

[Kracka]

I have a 2010 X GSR making 416whp that I daily-drive and take on cross-country roadtrips; 45k miles and counting. I had a IX GSR before and the X is a vastly superior car in pretty much every sense.

The drivelines are strong, Mitsu beefed up the transfer case compared to the 8/9's. I did have a transfer case failure covered under warranty, but that's because the factory over-filled the gear oil.

For normal daily mixed driving I seem to average right around 20MPG. On the highway you're looking at 22-26 depending on your speed.

Drivability is very good, especially on the stock clutch with stock cams. My car has retained 100% of the factory drivability no matter weather, traffic, A/C, etc.

The downsides to the car are the cheap plastic interior rattles (Presto felt and GTMat sound deadening help with this a lot) and the cost of maintenance (synthetic oil, frequent drivetrain fluid changes, tires, etc.).

[sport the war]

Not really an issue with oil changes. Just worried about the SST Vs 5 speed. I'd assume there is a ton of issues with the SST? BTW How are you getting that good of MPG? Everywhere I've been reading people are whining about 15-17mpg?

[Kracka]

Nope, SST development has come a long way in the past few years, just make sure you have the latest revision ROM from Mitsu since the 2008 software was a bit buggy compared to the later releases. For a stock turbo car you're fine with just proper tuning and an aftermarket cooler. If you plan to upgrade your turbo then you should also plan on upgrading the clutch discs. SST maintenance will cost more than a GSR's 5-speed, but aftermarket fluid and filters are bringing that cost down to a more reasonable level.

[Trogdor]

The only true technical downside to the SSTs are when it comes to making power. If you plan to do any modding, they can only take up to about 350whp before you need to start looking at clutch packs and tranny coolers. If the plan is to leave them stock, or near stock than the SSTs are great.

The major difference from Evo 8/9 and Evo X is that the 02-07 Lancers were cars built on the Evo platform. Where as the Evo X is rally car, build on the Lancer platform. In 07 when Mitsu got out of World Rally they no longer needed a true rally car, and the Evo X became just a fast street car.

That said, the Evo 8/9s were tinny, loud and light. This of course made them faster than Evo X. However, Evo X being heavier has its advantages. It's a much more solid and sturdy car. There's 0 body roll, its safer and not nearly as tinny feeling as the 8/9s. It also has a lot more modern tech in it like standard bluetooth FUSE system (sorry 2008 and 2009 models), USB port, cruise control, and super all wheel control.

Gas mileage wise, yes, I've seen my car get 16MPG. But that's when I was REALLY hammering on it. I daily drive mine and I typically get around 21-24 MPG on a typical tank of gas.

They shouldn't be that difficult to find with 20-40k on them. Those are going to be 08-10's coming off lease.

[scheides]

Crazies thing for me was that for only a few thousand more than a nice IX you can buy an X. In my case I bought an X for the same price as a much higher-mileage IX I was eyeing, but this was two years ago.

Just to echo kracka, I have a 2008 that I pushed pretty hard since I got it. I took some bad advice and pushed the stock fuel pump too far and it cost me dearly: broke a ring land at 28k miles and I 'got' to pull out the motor.

That being said, I have 18,500 miles on a stock-sleeved, .020 overbored motor with forged pistons and rods, ported head w/ dual valvesprings, medium-wild kelford cams, and a billet stock-frame turbo. The car runs full time on e85 making ~600hp. I get ~16mpg pure city driving and ~20mpg freeway, but thats e85.

I drag race once or twice a year so I change clutches more often than tires, but I drive thing every damn day, coldest days of winter and hottest days of summer, AC works as well as the snow tires and the car has technically never left me stranded.

There are a bunch of small things that can and will go wrong eventually, but with proper preventative maintenance and a little understanding that this is not a Accord I am 110% happy with the car.

SST tech has come soooo far in the last year even its crazy, guys are pushing the limit of the stock longblock and the 100% stock trans is lasting. I honestly wouldn't plan on drag racing it though, unless you plan on dumping a lot of cash into the trans. For a good, fun, comfy-ish DD, I pick the X.

[scheides]

02-07 Lancers were cars built on the Evo platform.

I do not believe this is true. Once a Lancer, always a Lancer :)

[Trogdor]

I do not believe this is true. Once a Lancer, always a Lancer :)

Just saying that Mitsu's perspective made a 180°. Building an economy class car was a secondary thought from 02-07; where as building and economy class car was the primary goal with the 08+ Lancers.

[Kracka]

The VII-X Evo chassis has always been a modified Lancer chassis. The X chassis is the most rigid to date though.

The FUSE system and a USB port wasn't introduced until 2011. Bluetooth became standard in 2010 along with the multicolor display.

[mdost03]

Looking for a 2008+ Evo X..

O RLY???? lol