ClubCJ - The CJ Lancer Club

I'm buying a used ra sometime soon and just worried as i've been reading sst horror stories. How common are they in the ralliart?
Looking at a my13 ra 60km with supposed full service done at around 50. Found at a dealership. being a 12 model its factory warranty is out soon which has me a little worried as i dont want to spend thousands of $$ fixing a problem couple months down the track.

the ra seems like a good car but if it has these major issues ill stick to the other models (es, ls, vrx)

can anyone shed some light?

TC-SST reliability basically comes down to how it was driven (stop/start, highway, constant thrashing?) and whether it's been serviced. I would be inquiring as to whether the SST fluid has been replaced in the car and, if not, factor it into your budget and get it done soon. The 105,000km interval in the manual is way too long and the 45,000km "hard driving" interval is more appropriate.

As an example, I've done 70,000km on my RA including half a dozen track days and it hasn't skipped a beat! So treat it right and the SST will work like a dream.

And if you're keen on an RA, I probably wouldn't look at the lower-grade Lancers. At the end of the day, they're not AWD performance cars. If you're worried about SST longevity, can always shop around for 2013-2015 RA's that have plenty of warranty left.

^ totally agree with all the points Nate made above.

Regular oil servicing is the key here, and if the car is being tracked then better oil cooling added to the mod list.
The stock intercooler is rubbish, but that is easily fixed with an EvoX part.

I would be more concerned with the state of the fuel pump hi-speed relay.
This is one item that must be replaced with a better late model part.

I'm considering upgrading to a late model Ralliart in a couple of years when my VRX is paid for, hoping I can get a MY15 at a good price by then.

If you look after it then it will last a lifetime

Totally agree with responses above with regard to correct maintenance. Mitsubishi has really underestimated the service requirement for the SST, although I think they have made significant improvements on the later models due to the issues on the earlier models. Still 105K Km for the SST oil change is way too long.

I bought my RA when it had about 110K Km on the clock and the previous owner had only done one SST oil and filter change adhering to the service schedule set by Mitsubishi. The car was under warranty when I got it and having driven a couple of other RAs, I felt that shifting on mine was not as smooth. I took it to the agent and they diagnosed it to a bad clutch pack. Got it replaced under warranty and now the SST is smooth as ever. It reads 126K km now. I make sure that I get the SST fluid condition checked during every service (7500 km). Will keep changing every 40K km. Better to be safe than sorry.

Turbos will always have more problems than normally aspirated cars. There is always a penalty for performance and high end mods and tuning. Is it worth it? depends on you and what you want! Other penalties are higher purchase price and higher running costs.
Benefits Wow factor and great performance especially mid range where most of our running is done.

Some or most of above positives don't relate to the current trend, to pint size engines with turbos rather then the larger NA engines they had before. Time will tell a story here!!

Regular servicing helps, 40000 is probably even too long.
Earlier models of SSTs, before around 2012 2013, tend to have the mechatronics units leak over time causing clutches to wear as they allow have more and more slip. If you only replace the clutches the problem stills remains and will burn out the clutches again so the mechatronics units also need replacing. To repair this properly is around a 10000 repair to get a new mechatronics unit and clutches. This seems to become apparent around the 130000 to 150000 km marks. Unfortunately servicing mechatronics units has not worked and only new units seem to properly fix problems.

Craker wrote:Regular servicing helps, 40000 is probably even too long.
Earlier models of SSTs, before around 2012 2013, tend to have the mechatronics units leak over time causing clutches to wear as they allow have more and more slip. If you only replace the clutches the problem stills remains and will burn out the clutches again so the mechatronics units also need replacing. To repair this properly is around a 10000 repair to get a new mechatronics unit and clutches. This seems to become apparent around the 130000 to 150000 km marks. Unfortunately servicing mechatronics units has not worked and only new units seem to properly fix problems.

Is there one too many noughts in there" Or is 10 thousand right?

That is correct

My MY09 RA is currently in for gearbox surgery...
Mechatronic unit, clutch packs, shift fork, etc. just north of $10k
My gearbox was always slightly dodgy and 'gave up the ghost' after a couple of judicious engine mods...

Troupy wrote:My MY09 RA is currently in for gearbox surgery...
Mechatronic unit, clutch packs, shift fork, etc. just north of $10k
My gearbox was always slightly dodgy and 'gave up the ghost' after a couple of judicious engine mods...

ANd how many ks are on it?

I have 78 on my 2009 RA and my gearbox is in immaculate condition lol...

fearfulmaster1 wrote:You can either have $5K in maintenance reserve or put the $5K into the purchase price and get a more recent model. Up to you.

Or if you're not willing to spend the money on taking a risk, buy a NA CJ or a Manual Evo..

Mystique wrote:

Troupy wrote:My MY09 RA is currently in for gearbox surgery...
Mechatronic unit, clutch packs, shift fork, etc. just north of $10k
My gearbox was always slightly dodgy and 'gave up the ghost' after a couple of judicious engine mods...

ANd how many ks are on it?

I have 78 on my 2009 RA and my gearbox is in immaculate condition lol...

106K on mine. Daily driver that does a lot of very short, start-stop driving...never gets warm unfortunately.
Changed sst fluid at 80...used Motul fluid.
When the last major engine mods were done the guys used a Fuchs fluid.
Tuner flushed it with Transmax Dual and improved it heaps.
Anecdotally fluid does appear to play a role in the longevity of the 'box. Driving conditions also. Style, maybe...I always use Sport/SSport and shift manually and have never launched it hard (well, comparatively).

I do wonder whether the additional 100+kwatw made any difference...