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Mitsubishi EVO 10 strengths and weaknesses

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the Mitsubishi Evo 10 will allow you to make the right decision when buying a new Mitsubishi.

One of the first things, depending on where you are in the world, may come as a surprise to you, but perhaps if you are in the UK, it may not be as big of a surprise as others are the mod packages available through from Mitsubishi UK. mainly the Evo 10 FQ models, as in FQ320. I mean, did you know that all Evo 10 models in the UK, sold as an official factory car through Mitsubishi UK, actually have a modified converted factory ECU that uses the EcuTeK tuning software?

That upgrade package is on every Evo 10 sold by Mitsubishi UK. On top of that, Mitsubishi UK offers the Evo 10 FQ model, and the FQ model which represents a very fast car, has been around for quite some time, starting with the Evo 7 and then there is the Evo 8 and of course the Evo 9. and now the Evo 10.

The FQ320 Evo 10 comes with a generally HKS modified component package including exhaust, rigid pipe inlet kit and some other body kit style upgrades and the like and the tuned ECU to tie it all together to make it a reliable package and nice that it comes with a full factory warranty through the Mitsubishi dealer network and of course Mitsubishi UK.

Another good piece of information is that some of this tuning and mapping data is available through the EcuTeK ECU tuning network through EcuTeK partners. The tuning software that Mitsubishi UK uses is obviously the tuning software that EcuTeK uses all over the world.

Through your local EcuTeK tuner you can convert the factory ECU in your Mitsubishi Evo 10 to a fully adjustable ECU and then increase performance, however what will obviously vary is the level of warranty you will get support from your local dealer .

Be very careful when starting to modify, if you choose to modify your Mitsubishi Evo 10. As it is a new car, it uses the new ECU with Flash Can technology. Gone are the days when you could do some simple mods and upgrades with hard parts and expect a noticeable improvement in performance because you can’t really achieve that in particular with these newer models.

The Evo 10’s ECU is smart enough to realize that a modification has been made and what it will then start to do is detune the performance you were looking for as a result of for example a modified exhaust and ultimately, You may end up with less horsepower than you start with, obviously with standard factory parts. The advantage of converting the factory ECU to an adjustable one allows everything to come together as a complete package, tuned and designed to work in harmony with each other.

The Evo 10 now has a dramatically different engine from previous models. It has an all-alloy block. You run a higher peak boost level, in fact a staggeringly higher peak boost level which, again, makes it even more important to choose your mods carefully. Obviously, the orientation of the intake and exhaust manifolds on the Evo 10 is different from the Evo 9 as it has the intake manifold at the front now with the exhaust manifold at the rear. Sure enough, between the firewall and the engine is now where the turbo is located, which is the completely different orientation to the previous Evo 9 model. That will require a completely new assembly of obviously the exhaust systems and components to accommodate that. model.

There isn’t much of a carry-over with the Evo 9 but, again, we were hoping there was a pretty good reason why Mitsubishi had done that. Based on the impressions, it is obviously to get the car a little better balanced in its weight distribution because the exhaust manifold weighs more than the intake manifold. By moving it rearward, it transfers a little more of that weight to the rear of the car and theoretically makes it handle better obviously.

I’m not going to comment on body style or geometry settings or seat position because a lot of that these days is more of a personal choice, but I hope this information will help you if you are looking to buy a new Mitsubishi Evo.