My local dealer just got a SST Evo X and I got to test drive it yesterday. My first impression, "OMFG, I should've waited!" I dunno if you guys have played games like Gran Turismo, but it felt like I was playing that game while driving.
I drove the car ONLY in the Sport & S-Sport range since I could care less about the standard D range.
SPORT Range
In this range it would automatically shift at around 3500 rpm, the shifting was smooth but it still gives that "clutch/torque converter slipping" type of feeling of an automatic transmission. It was the same even while shifting using the paddle shifter. Downshifting was extremely smooth (again it would give you that slight slipping feeling), it would match the RPMs for you so there is no need for the "heel & toe" action like in a manual transmission while downshifting.
S-SPORT Range
This is the mode that gave me that GT5 feeling. According to the sales rep, they are told by Mitsubishi not to let customers try this mode for safety reasons. The sales rep trusted me so he let me try it out. As soon as I changed the mode the sales rep held onto the "Oh sh!t" handle on the pillar. The first thing I did was stop light racing, I was able to take the car to about 7000rpm in 3rd gear. After that he asked me not to do that again since he could get in trouble:p
In this range it would automatically shift at around 7000 rpm, there is a slight shock while shifting which feels more direct than the SPORT range. It was the same for shifting with the paddles and the clutch slip feeling was gone. Downshifting was smooth but it gave a slight shock since it was more direct and again the cluth slip feeling was gone.

Over all impression
It was really fun driving, a new "video game" like experience. The acceleration didn't feel much different than mine. The start felt a little more sluggish but I guess the shifting makes up for that. I was able to take the car on a winding road and my impression there was.... a little hard to shift at times. With your hands in the neutral position (10 o'clock & 2 o'clock position) and the steering wheel turned about 70 degrees, it's a little hard to shift using the paddles. But I guess that'll just take a little time getting used to or you could just let it shift automatically. To tell you the truth, if I owned the car, I would probably use it in the D range 99% of the time. The paddle shifting may be fun at first but I might get bored of it.
At first my impression was "I should've waited for the SST", but now (a day later), I feel that the SST may take the fun out of my driving. I actually like downshifting in a manual trans while "heel & toeing" and matching the rpms manually. A manual trans makes me feel more "in control" than the SST. Now that the dust has settled within me, I felt I made the right choice with the manual trans. Please note that this is just my 2 cents of impression, others may look at it differently.

Now this is a little about my self, I'm a Japanese/American living in Japan. My father was in the US Army and I've traveled all around the world. I went to middle/high school in Japan on a military base. I dunno if you guys know a Japanese anime called Initial D, but that is the kinda stuff I used to do. You could probably tell by looking at my past cars in my sig. I went to college in Hawaii and I worked at a shop called KMA Racing as a mechanic. I am married now, have a 2 year old kid, and just bought a new house so I don't do that racing/drifting stuff now but that spirit still lives within me.
Oh and I dunno if any of you know a shop called McKinney Motor Sports, but I grew up with that owner in Japan. His shop did a lot of mods for the movie The Fast and the Furious and his cars are in the game too. If any of you know that shop, tell him you know H.D. from Zama and he may give you a discount :p
http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/

My local dealer just got a SST Evo X and I got to test drive it yesterday. My first impression, "OMFG, I should've waited!" I dunno if you guys have played games like Gran Turismo, but it felt like I was playing that game while driving.
I drove the car ONLY in the Sport & S-Sport range since I could care less about the standard D range.
SPORT Range
In this range it would automatically shift at around 3500 rpm, the shifting was smooth but it still gives that "clutch/torque converter slipping" type of feeling of an automatic transmission. It was the same even while shifting using the paddle shifter. Downshifting was extremely smooth (again it would give you that slight slipping feeling), it would match the RPMs for you so there is no need for the "heel & toe" action like in a manual transmission while downshifting.
S-SPORT Range
This is the mode that gave me that GT5 feeling. According to the sales rep, they are told by Mitsubishi not to let customers try this mode for safety reasons. The sales rep trusted me so he let me try it out. As soon as I changed the mode the sales rep held onto the "Oh sh!t" handle on the pillar. The first thing I did was stop light racing, I was able to take the car to about 7000rpm in 3rd gear. After that he asked me not to do that again since he could get in trouble:p
In this range it would automatically shift at around 7000 rpm, there is a slight shock while shifting which feels more direct than the SPORT range. It was the same for shifting with the paddles and the clutch slip feeling was gone. Downshifting was smooth but it gave a slight shock since it was more direct and again the cluth slip feeling was gone.

Over all impression
It was really fun driving, a new "video game" like experience. The acceleration didn't feel much different than mine. The start felt a little more sluggish but I guess the shifting makes up for that. I was able to take the car on a winding road and my impression there was.... a little hard to shift at times. With your hands in the neutral position (10 o'clock & 2 o'clock position) and the steering wheel turned about 70 degrees, it's a little hard to shift using the paddles. But I guess that'll just take a little time getting used to or you could just let it shift automatically. To tell you the truth, if I owned the car, I would probably use it in the D range 99% of the time. The paddle shifting may be fun at first but I might get bored of it.
At first my impression was "I should've waited for the SST", but now (a day later), I feel that the SST may take the fun out of my driving. I actually like downshifting in a manual trans while "heel & toeing" and matching the rpms manually. A manual trans makes me feel more "in control" than the SST. Now that the dust has settled within me, I felt I made the right choice with the manual trans. Please note that this is just my 2 cents of impression, others may look at it differently.

Now this is a little about my self, I'm a Japanese/American living in Japan. My father was in the US Army and I've traveled all around the world. I went to middle/high school in Japan on a military base. I dunno if you guys know a Japanese anime called Initial D, but that is the kinda stuff I used to do. You could probably tell by looking at my past cars in my sig. I went to college in Hawaii and I worked at a shop called KMA Racing as a mechanic. I am married now, have a 2 year old kid, and just bought a new house so I don't do that racing/drifting stuff now but that spirit still lives within me.
Oh and I dunno if any of you know a shop called McKinney Motor Sports, but I grew up with that owner in Japan. His shop did a lot of mods for the movie The Fast and the Furious and his cars are in the game too. If any of you know that shop, tell him you know H.D. from Zama and he may give you a discount :p
http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/

Nice man!

Very informative write up!

Thanks SiC!

edit: Was their leather in the evo x you test drove? If so, how do they feel?

Was their leather in the evo x you test drove? If so, how do they feel?

Yes, and it's actually more suede than your normal leather. So I guess you don't have to worry about it getting scratched. The feeling/hold is about the same as my standard one. Sorry, I didn't really care for it so I don't have much more detail:(

Yes, and it's actually more suede than your normal leather. So I guess you don't have to worry about it getting scratched. The feeling/hold is about the same as my standard one. Sorry, I didn't really care for it so I don't have much more detail:(

Hah, no prob!

Any launch control function?

how bout the suspension Sic is the MR really better ride ?

how bout the suspension Sic is the MR really better ride ?

In Japan there is no MR, it's actually all GSR with or without SST. The suspension is also optional. The one I drove had the Bilstein/Eibach suspension and yes, it was actually a little smoother than mine which has the standard KYB. I'll be changing mine soon to adjustable height coil overs so I really didn't think anything about the suspension when I ordered mine. Both are a little too weak for my standard but I think they both match the rates of the stock tires.

Hah, no prob!

Any launch control function?

It actually has some sort of launch control but I didn't get to test it out :(

Great write up , good to see a fan of Takumi Fujiwara:godance:my 3 boys love Initial D :rock:

Cheers
Michael

SiC, you kick ass sir. thank you for that awesome writeup, btw, I checked carview and I saw your car with some SICK SICK WHEELS! :)

so i guess the editors comments such as the super sport mode being a religious experience in some of the evo x reviews wasn't something that was totally farfetched!

Good info man
I like to get a SST but i'll stick with the 5spd
that's gonna b a diff. experience for me

Good review, THX Info, Arigato Gozaimasu.

sweet

Thanks for the input.
Great write up.

What kind of gas mileage do you expect to get when you are "behavin' nicely" with your car? Someone on the other forum picked up a white GSR and it certainly looks good in the pics. Best to you & your new "kid".

Oh, and I'd want to avoid all the additional complexity and cost of the TC-SST. I'd only go that option if I was missing an arm.

Can somebody explain to me why theyve attached the shift paddles to the steering column so they are fixed rather than attaching them to the wheel? Surely that makes changing gear very difficult unless you are going in a straight line :confused:

If you're changing gear on a bend, then you are doing something wrong, surely?

Gary A

If you're changing gear on a bend, then you are doing something wrong, surely?

Gary A

you telling me that every time you have ever changed gear its been whilst going in a straight line?

Depends how tight the bend is :)

On my regular commute I go through country roads. My current car (Focus ST-3) has loads of power in any gear so it doesn't really matter if I am in 3rd or 4th.

Gary A

Another great writeup by SiC!

Glad to hear that the SST is fun.

thats some info there sic thank for that input man.

If you're changing gear on a bend, then you are doing something wrong, surely?

Gary A

In normal driving it's rare to shift in corners but when racing it happens quite often. You should try watching some WRC in car view videos

Upshifting is common.

A bit of both, more up than down...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSYTTUOoghU

Yeah....i'm probably not going to do that with my Evo....

Plus they are rally cars with the gearbox centrally mounted to allow the drivers to shift more easily, which is something Civic used in the Honda Type R.

Gary A

What a BEATING.

i read in car and driver (forgot which car they talked about, i think a Ferrari)

they dont attach the paddles to the wheel so that the paddles are in the same position at all times...if they were attached to the wheel and the wheel is turned in the heat of a hard drive, the wheel may end up upside down and thus the paddles would be "reversed", which could cause confusion. with the paddles on the column, the up and downshift would always be on their respective sides.

and like someone said, if you need to change gears mid turn, you're probably in the wrong gear anyways

Has SST been actually released for production cars? I heard it was delayed. Or is just a test vehicle that dealer has in the shop?

Has SST been actually released for production cars? I heard it was delayed. Or is just a test vehicle that dealer has in the shop?
Its been released as far as I know. Has in England anyway.

Has it? I checked the British site and they were only taking preorders there, no sales yet?
By released I mean in stock, for sale now.

Has it? I checked the British site and they were only taking preorders there, no sales yet?
By released I mean in stock, for sale now.

sorry no not in stock but you can order your car SST for as soon as they arrive in the country in march.

They were on the streets in Japan on 20 Dec 07.

They were on the streets in Japan on 20 Dec 07.

Sic so you are saying its allready sold in Japan with SST?
what's all this talk about SST delayed until summer for the US MR-X
I remember reading about it somewhere on other forums that the MR SST
will bw delay because they have to fix some issues, But if people are driving
it around Japan, I dont see why the US shouldnt have it In our Next shippment.

Yes, that's what I heard too, that SST was not released in Japan on Dec 20 and was delayed due to issues.
If it is in fact released, then we want all the tests and reviews redone as they were based on the pre-production cars.
SiC, can you please confirm that the SST Evos are now on sale in Japan?

I can assure you 100% that the first batch of SST hit the streets on 20 Dec 2007. It was suppose to be released in Nov 2007 but there was a delay, rumors were it will be delayed untill mid Jan 2007. In the second week of December, Mitsubishi anounced on their official Japanese web site that the SSTs will be released on the 20th of December.

See my post from 15 Dec.
http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1352

And sure enough, the first batch hit the streets. You can also look at this Japanese Evo X owner's blog. http://minkara.carview.co.jp/car/7346/
There's over 100 Evo X owners listed along with pics of their Evo's including the SST version.

Thanks for clarifying this. Now I wonder why the US version of SST is being delayed? Or is just the MR that is delayed and it has noting to do with the SST. What would be the reason then?

Are you sure it's being delayed?

I haven't heard about any issues with the UK shipment, and they are due in March.

Gary A

No, I'm not sure. Just reading the posts on the forums...
As far as I know, UK range does not include MR model either (like in Japan)?

No, I'm not sure. Just reading the posts on the forums...
As far as I know, UK range does not include MR model either (like in Japan)?

It doesn't, but we get the SST model with 300Bhp so if there were issues with the gearbox then it would affect us as well.

Gary A