Noble713

So I'm here in Okinawa and bought an Evo, partly due to not finding a GT-R @ the right price. He seller showed me the basics of the manual Thursday but taking my friends out to drink Friday night
was an adventure.

1. Coming from a X MR, the throttle seems really sensitive. Combined with my large heavy footwear (Harley boots), it makes easing onto the throttle extremely tricky. How can I mod the throttle pedal to be less sensitive, or is that not a good idea?

2. How durable is the clutch on the IV? Pretty much every red light I encountered was a disaster and I don't really like the idea of "grind it til u find it".

3. Sites don't seem to offer parts for the IV. What parts for the IX are interchangeable ? In the long run I'd like to upgrade the turbo, track the car here, and bring it back Stateside as a track toy.

Thanks for any comments snd apologies for any typos, Im doing this from my Android phone.

kwanza

I don't know where you can buy parts for your car in the states, nor do I have much knowledge about which parts are interchangable.

But there is a tuner there which have parts for your car. I read an article way back when about their shop evo before and eversince then i wanted one.


http://www.bozz.co.jp/parts-english/op.html

tripperfx3

iTrader: (6)

I'm not sure about actually adjusting the gas pedal... There might be a little bit of play in the throttle cable that you can adjust and help with that. It may actually be too tight (or so it sounds), but if that was the case normally the car would idle higher because the throttle plate would be open slightly.

If your grinding your not grinding the clutch your grinding the gears... The best thing for that is to get the car in 1st and give it some gas before letting out the clutch and let it out slowly. So give the car 1500 RPM's and slowly let off the clutch and go from there until you can smoothly find the grab point.

If your in Okinawa hit up a superautobacs! I'm sure you can find a crap ton of used parts in great condition for cheap! If you havent heard of SuperAutoBacs look it up... They're amazing and my wet dream... lol. I do believe the way the turbo and engine is set up on the IV's through IX's are similar, so a IX turbo should be able to bolt to the stock manifold, where as the I-III's have the same set up as the 1 and 2G DSM's.

BTW if your in Okinawa I'm assuming you in the military. What branch if you don't mind me asking?

ProPilot04

iTrader: (11)

There are TONS of shops (especially in Japan) that can do stuff to an E4. Bozz Speed is one of them, but there are many. I'm sure you could just call or ask around.

As for driving manual. No. It is not a good idea to "desensitize" the gas pedal. What you need to do is learn to be more subtle (desensitize yourself).

If you are bonking and grinding all over the place, its because you're being to hard on the car. Be smooth. The clutch is designed to wear out, and while it isn't ideal... you're MUCH better wearing out your clutch than the transmission, engine, AWD, tires, etc.

Basically... you need to understand that you need to let the clutch out slow. This is HARD for people who've NEVER used their left foot for anything in the car. You should also try to be smoother on the gas... this is also VERY difficult for someone that hasn't driven a real manual before because they have all sorts of computers doing things for them (not dissing, just saying).

Anyway... be smooth. They aren't on and off switches, they are progressive tools. Try to think of the travel in the gas and clutch pedal in terms of percentages. WOT would be 100% and you not touching the pedal is 0%. Then try to imagine being able to select individual percentages with your feet. It needs to be that smooth. Basically... you can't possibly be TOO smooth.

It may also be worth trashing the crap out of another car before you trash the crap out of an EVO? The E4 is so much more of a real car than any of the stateside EVOs... so don't feel bad. But for the love of god, don't kill that car!

iziegsx

iTrader: (3)

Driving is just like anything else in order to be good at it you need to practice! So practice as much as you can! And don't reply saying..."Practice? You talking bout practice? Not even a real game!?" haha just some humor.

go to http://www.rhdjapan.com/ they have a ton of parts for sale for your car. There are many other websites

Evo 4's have a rear diff issue so handle with caution. The rear diff is extremely fragile! Enjoy and drive safely.

-Jarred-

iTrader: (1)

A place in Kobe called Kansai Service know Evos inside out, they'll be able to help you with modifying it.

The rear diff isn't fragile, they're just the first of the AYC diffs and no one really knew to service them regularly. This means 2nd hand examples tend to **** themselves after a while. Get it checked out and thoroughly serviced. If all else fails you could convert to an Evo IV RS rear end which has no issues (Mechanical LSD, no AYC).

Evo IV/V and VI hardware is generally interchangeable, (and even some VII/VIII and IX stuff). First on your list would be to get an Evo VII ECU in there to take advantage of the reflashable ECU and logging using Evoscan. An Evo IX based TD05HR 20G is also a good upgrade for an Evo IV.

Fitting the Brembos and rotors from a V+ is a bolt on affair and well worth it. You'll need to change to V+ rims though (Or something aftermarket that will fit)

CDHoff

It just takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. Try to find secluded place so you can practice certain things without the worry of other cars or traffic. I learned stick by driving my friends car in neighborhoods at night. It was ideal because there wasnt any traffic and i could ease into it. Like others have said DONT GRIND IT! Replacing the tranny will not be cheap. Once you get it down you will not want to drive an automatic again.

sabrinaEvo

iTrader: (2)

Why don't you ask your friend for some parts locations in Okinawa or the rest of Japan? You'd have a better chance than the states.

SRTRaceR04

iTrader: (24)

I always found the best way to teach someone to drive a manual was not the give it gas first then let go of the clutch way. That seemed to confuse more then help (I've taught at least 6-7 different people to drive a stick).

The best way I've learned to get used to the car most efficiently is keep it simple. You need to practice a bit, of course, but how you practice should help.

1st- Find a parking lot to practice in or somewhere that you're not stressing about holding up traffic or looking like an idiot if you stall. Make sure it's flat.

2nd- When you're all ready to drive and you're sitting there, keep in mind how a clutch works. If you don't know how then google it and it will bring some more understanding about the whole process.

3rd- If you still don't understand then that's ok. Anyway first thing to do is ignore the gas completely. I never teach anyone with the gas first as it's just confusing and most people need to learn to use that left foot. As long as you don't have an overly aggressive clutch (which good luck learning on one of those) then you should be fine. Simply sit place with the car in first gear and the clutch pedal in. Instead of worrying about giving it gas, just focus on the clutch pedal. Start releasing it slowly. Very slowly. Allow yourself to be comfortable with the pressure it takes, the movement and how much it travels. Listen and feel for the car start to grab. You should easily feel this. When this happens push the clutch back in. You have now found your grabbing point.

4th- Now that you have an idea of where the grabbing point is it's time to put that into motion. At this point you're still not going to use the gas pedal. What you're going to do now is let the car start to grab and move forward. The clutch will naturally try to get the car moving forward because the clutch is engaging. If you let off the clutch just enough were the car is grabbing and starting to roll and you hold that point for a few seconds it will actually get the car moving. This might take time to master, but I promise just about any car (every single one I've driven without a crazy aggressive clutch) can be gotten moving with just the clutch. You won't be moving very fast, but it's enough where you can simply let out of the clutch completely and give it gas.

5th- I suggest practicing this for a bit. Keep getting the car going and then give it gas and row through a couple of gears gently. Stop then start over. Practice makes perfect. The start seems to be the hardest part to master in a manual. If the car stalls then no big deal. Start it up and try again. Nobody becomes a master overnight. But in my experience this way of teaching allows people to learn the clutch pedal much fast because you're taking out the gas pedal from the clutching process.

6th- When you're at the point where you can get the car going every single time clutching it and giving it gas once it's moving it's time to apply this is a more efficient way. That's literally the only difference IMO. It's the same process, but you're giving it gas at a different time to allow you to get the car going not only faster, but more efficiently. When you clutch the car like normal and feel it start to grab then around that point (each car and clutch will be different. There is no way to explain the perfect time. You will have to feel that out over time) is when you want to give it gas while you're releasing the clutch. If you have a problem with modulating your gas pedal then you will probably rev it up higher than needed. This is ok. Just remember that releasing the clutch in a smooth process is still important. If you can get the car to hold around 15-1700 RPM while releasing the clutch just like you practiced then you should be well on your way to getting the car going like a pro!!

Good luck and I hope that helps.

And PS if you're grinding gears you either have a problem with the car or your driving. Make sure the clutch is all the way in for the entire gear change. Smooth operation of the clutch like you practiced above will help each gear change feel better, but the hardest IMO is still the start.

AndyCT9W

I've heard that with the 4s if you start it with the clutch in it causes the crank to walk and eventually spin the bearings. I don't know if that is the actual cause but I do see a lot of 4s in NZ with wrecked bottom ends so just to be safe don't start it with the clutch pressed.

Noble713

Thanks for all the advice. I've gotten a *little* better over the weekend but still stall out about 3-5 times daily. Not only am I learning a manual but:

1) learning it on a high-performance vehicle
2) driving in a foreign country, on the "wrong" side of the road
3) hills! Oki has plenty of them, the most annoying being at the base entrances where I'm forced to stop to show my ID (I'm a Marine @ MCAS Futenma, BTW)

I'll be sure to hit up those sites for parts, hopefully not for a clutch or transmission anytime soon.

evo8426

iTrader: (27)

Huh How else is the car supposed to start and move?

-Jarred-

iTrader: (1)

I think the point he was making was that you should start it with your foot off the clutch pedal with no gear selected. He is right that a lot of Evo IVs here in NZ have had crankwalk issues like a lot of 2G DSMs, and starting it without the clutch pedal depressed with no gear selected goes a long way to reducing the risk of crankwalk happening.

ProPilot04

iTrader: (11)

Not intending to sound like a dick... but where did you hear that? Have any reading I can look at?

-Jarred-

iTrader: (1)

Don't have any particular reading for ya, it's just what I have been told over the years. I understand it is that starting the car with the clutch pedal pedal down puts some thrust load on the end of the crank causing wear and eventually walk over hundreds of starts per year.