[Guest]

I'm toying with the idea of buying an evo 7 in six months or so, however upon flicking through this site and some others I noticed that an evo 6 requires a service every 4500 miles, what is the interval on a 7? This seems a little too frequent for my likeing, what do they do at these services, is it just an oil change or is some major work involved, what about costs? I used to own a TVR cerbera which felt like it needed servicing all the time and that only had a 6000 mile interval, I was constantly taking it in for another service and the costs were V high (never below £500 rising to about £1200).

Secondly, and I know this is probably the wrong place for a completely unbiased view, but is it the sort of car that I could do 20000 miles a year in and have no extra costs other than routine servicing and tyres/brakes, just how reliable are they?

Finally, does anyone know if you can put a tow bar on an evo 7, as I'd like to be able to tow my caterham to track days behind the evo, so that if its raining I could use the evo instead.

Thanks for any comments

Julian

 

[Guest]

Julian,

can't really help U with the servicing as im not sure about the 7. But if its anything like a 6 servising is 130-240 quid every 4500 or 9000 miles depending where U take it ( £280 18,000 miles, £500-640 for 45000 miles service). INtervals are short partly because of AYC and also perhaps ACD on the 7.

If you drive heavy then you will get through brakes, clutch and amp; tyres quicker but thats obvious. My car has covered about 13K and still on 1st set of pads and amp; tyres.

On this board it seems that some poeple have had lot of problems with EVO reliability and others had little or no probs (apart from warping discs which is very common on the 6) - same as any other car really, pot luck. Engine is pretty bulletproof though and on a general note you shoudl expect far far better reliability than a Cerb. I think Tony on this board used to have a cerb so he may have something to say baout that.

Regarding track - the evo is NOT as track ready as your Caterham and being 2.5 times the weight wear and amp; stress will be a lot greater. You will probably need to uprate the brakes and may want to get some more track orientated suspension if you want less roll and more precision a La Caterham. A couple of trackdays a year will be fine on teh odd time that the rain catches you out but antything else and your maintenance will be quite a bit higher than the Caterham with more frequent fluid changes etc.. (unless you got R500 http://www.lancerregister.com/graphics/Wilk.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| middle > ). Having said that, once you buy EVO you may find you start going to trackdays when its wet on purpose !

Have fun

Rich

 

[Guest]

Julian

I have a 7 Exteme which has the same service intervals as a normal 7, every 4500 mile. My 4500 service, 3 weeks ago, at Rallairt cost £223.33 including parts. Ralliart are reputed to be amongst the more expensive but as my car is aRalliart special, I keep going there.

I have now done over 5000 miles and have not yet noticed any abnormal wear. It does depend how you drive the car, though and it is possible to go through tyres, clutches and brakes if that is the way you drive! I cover a reasonable milage each year, about the same as you, and I can so nothing to suggest that the car I have is unsuitable for that task.

As for a tow bar, no problem. Watling Engineering fitted a custom made bar to my car for the very reasonable price of £450. It has a detachable hitch so it is not so obvious. I believe that I have the fastest tow car in the country at the moment.

 

[Guest]

To be honest I dont think it would be going on the track too often, like I say just when its wet, I'd prefer the caterham when its dry because as you say its not as hard on tyres/clutches/brakes etc.

The 4500 mile service interval does bother me, effectively I want a car that I can just get into and drive everyday in all weather without having to worry about it. I want a no hassle ,fast, reliable, entertaining when I want it to be but easy to drive when I'm not in the mood car. The evo did appear to fit the bill, but the frequent service interval really puts me off, I presume there are not that many mitsubishi dealers who could look after the evo7 around the country (I'm based in Manchester) so no doubt I'd have to take it to ralliart to get it serviced , which means needing to take a day off work.

The other thing is that if it needs such frequent fettling is it really the everyday car its made out to be? What the highest mileage people have done in these cars (evo 6 or 7 I guess they're pretty similar), I want a car that can do 100000miles in its life without major problems, maybe I'm expecting too much of a car like this.

I guess I want to have my cake and eat it.

again, thanks for any comments, they're all useful.

Julian

 

[Guest]

Julian,
I've done approximately 30,000 miles in my Evo 6 in one year and not had anything major go wrong with it (touch wood). I've needed a new set of brake pads front and rear, new set of tyres and lots of Optimax but apart from that not much else.

Yes the 4,500 mile intervals can be a problem but if you want a fast, reliable, no hassle, entertaining car then they don't come much better than the Evo.

There are plenty of people who can service the car for you and they don't all have to be Mitsubishi dealers.
I'm based up in the North West as well (Warrington) and take mine to Ralliart for sevicing though. As they're open on Saturdays, it means I don't have to take time off work and I can still get a good drive down to Dudley via an alternative route (taking in some nice twisty roads....)

Go for the Evo, you will not look back and you won't find anything like it for the money. If you want something else then it might be worth looking at the new Impreza Sti (did I really say that on a Lancer forum..... This is now what I will turn into

) I would imagine that this will be a bit more softer sprung for everyday use and is lower powered but definitely won't be as much fun as the Evo.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

[Guest]

Julian

I think that you misunderstand. The services are mainly fluid changes and a check over. Its about a 2 hour job. The cars themselves are very tough. They need to be with all the stick that this crowd give them

There are various places in your part of the world that can service these cars. Most Mitsubishi dealers can handle the 4500 services and there are Evo specialists nearby as well. In fact, I would suspect a lot more than can service a TVR or the Caterham

 

[Guest]

Julians,

I am pretty sure that there will be a number of mitsubishi dealers close to your area
If you visit www.mitsubishi-motors.co.uk you can search for those that are closer to you.

I entered the postcode M13 (for example and I got the following: Nominated dealer for the postcode M13 is

Horners Mitsubishi
Wellington Road
Eccles
Manchester
M30 0NP
0161 789 5141
)

I also believe that Warrenders, RC developments are based in Manchester.

I used to have an Evo 6 TME and I found it very reliable with the exception of
the warped brake disks. I did about 14K miles (bought it a 9.5 K) in ~6 months
and had no other problems (apart from the continuously warped disks even under
very moderate braking).

I have recently placed an order for the E7 (Extreme S) which comes with the AP brakes,
therefore no more braking problems are anticipated.

 

[Guest]

Guys,

what about if Julian gets an RS - will the service intervals be longer 'cos no AYC. Or will teh ACD need servicing in any case - come to think of it does teh RS have ACD ???

Julian,

on balance I think you have to put up with service intervals. It will be well worth it 'cos there really is nothing out there like the EVO. Like you, I came into EVO ownership from the Lighweight Lotus/Caterham fraternity and IMO the evo is the only thing that satisfies for driver involvemnet. STI7 is probably a great car but nowhere near as scalpel-like and thrilling - a softer a more mainstream car altogether. The only possible option you have is a new M3 but to get one in 6 months you'll have to pay top dollar for a second hand one (45-50K) and although its clearly an incredible motor the EVO would still kill it for sheer dynamic ability. As for the Holden GTS - its way too big and amp; heavy and also v. pricey.

 

[Guest]

Like I said in my first message I wont be buying the car for at least six months, and there are a couple of other cars under consideration at the moment.

A new M3 is out of the question - too expensive

considering a Z3M coupe, subaru impreza WRX STI (new one), possibly an Audi S3 (but its unlikely, I think it will be too soft).

I will be driving them all in the near future but I just wanted to get some base info to start with. The comment about the RS is interesting, can anyone comment as to whether the RS is likely to be more reliable due to the fact that there are less trick parts involved (AYC for one), not sayng the GSR is unreliable, but coming from the school of thought that the less complexity there is , the less will go wrong. Whats the RS like compared to the GSR in terms of driveability and living with it everyday?

Reliability is one of my key concerns, after owning a cerbera, I'd rather not be having to get it fixed all the time, which is the reason why I'm now know only considering cars which are japanese or german (is the cliche that all japanese cars are perfectly reliable true?)

I'm not bothered about niggly little things going wrong (like the ashtrays snapping off or something) , its the major stuff I dont want to have to get involved in, ie gearbox, diffs, suspension, brakes, engine, turbo's, steering racks etc.


Julian

 

[Guest]

gearbox, diffs, suspension, brakes, engine, turbo's, steering racks
Well I have had 4 out of those 7 go wrong in a year on my E6 (13k miles) but apparently people keep telling me Evo's are reliable

Generally though Evo's are reliable (bit my tongue that time http://www.lancerregister.com/graphics/tongue1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle >), there have been a few faults on the E6 that hopefully will not have been carried through onto the E7, however the E7 is too new to be absolutely certain.

Basically I see it like this, the Evo is built to a price and that will show up in the quality (interior and mechanical build).
If you want quality, reliabilty and performance all in one then you are looking at Porsche.
If you want a Porsche that has the same performance as an Evo then you are looking at twice the price of an Evo.

Like everyone else on here I think you are looking for a car that we all want but can never have:
Reliable, High Quality, Practical, Looks good, Cheap to own and great performance.
I have been looking for a car that fits this for a while now but I am still stuck with my Evo because there is not anything else out there ;)

If you are worried about the servicing then go for a P1 but even those are only 6000 mile intervals I believe?

 

[Guest]

Julian,
My Evo 6 is an RS(X) version which means it has noy AYC, no ABS, no climate control but still has a/c and electric windows and like I said, it gets driven everyday without any problems. There are 2 schools of thought about the lack of electronics on it. One says that the electronics provide you the oppurtunity to push the car beyond your own limits and when they let go they do so suddenly and not progressive like the RS and therefore when it goes, you're more likely to lose it. The other school says that the electronics allow you to make better progress if you're not as skilled as Tommi Mak, Burns, McCrae etc... and so they help with the overall driving experience. The best thing to do is test drive all your list and then you'll realise that the performance of the Evo is very very good and you might learn to live with the service intervals

Each to their own

Andy

P.S. Ralliart still recommend a 4,500 mile service interval on the RS even though it doesn't have the trick bits. Can anyone shed any light as to why (apart from the obvious....)

 

[Guest]

Simon,have you got a caravan? If you have I promise I won't tell anyone.

 

[Guest]

Julian,

The Z3M - whilst pretty quick is bound to severaly disappoint you. The handling is awful like a big rubbery blamanche.

From the research that I did before buying my car, esp. on this board it would appear that major problems with gearbox, diffs, suspension, engine, turbo's,steering racks are very rare. HH6, poor soul, seems to have had a real unlucky time - but he's still got his car and still gettin his fix from it http://www.lancerregister.com/graphics/Wilk.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| middle >. Brakes are a different matter as there is a warping problem on the 6 as mentioned but not entirely sure if the 7 still suffers.

From what I seen at Scoobynet, Imprezas are no more reliable either - and if start tuning them then they seem to get exteremly unreliable.

 

[Guest]

and amp;gt; easy to drive when I'm not in the mood car

this doesn't sound like the evo to me... it seems to want you to be in the mood all the time.

 

[Guest]

Hi Julian

I am based in Cheshire but my business operates in Manchester, I have a 5 that has now done 20,000 miles.
It drives up and amp; down the M56 trips to London |PLS| more I have found it very reliable.

You could go to see [email protected] who I think are in Bury.

www.warrender.co.uk

I get mine looked after by RC Developments in Warrington who would be able to give you more info.
My 5 is now 350 Bhp and there is a deffinate bug you catch with Evo's.

www.rcdevelopments.com

Good Luck