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chris g
06-04-2003, 11:09 AM
Is it going to be useful to start getting info together about good and bad places to take our cars?

After nearly 6 months of VR-4 ownership I have some tried a few places either for servicing , parts, upgrades or just info and it may be helpful for VR-4 owners around the country

I have used dealers in London and Lancs, had the VR-4 modified and my prev MR2 at specialists in Essex and Somerset, ICE/tyres and other bits for these cars from various places and sought info and advice over the last 6 months from a variety of so called Mitsubishi specialists

What about a thread for different things or a single thread for ALL of this type of info?

Chris

malc
23-04-2003, 11:05 AM
Hi Chris :)

...u r not far from me INSERT INTO post VALUES (Bolton).

I have tried 2 main dealers - Gallaghers, Warrington and Chapel House, St Helens. Not partic impressed with either of them for product knowledge, but being main dealers they do keep my warranty intact.

But i have found a specialist garage called Smiths in Bolton who I am impressed with. They specialise in imported high performance cars - the place is nice 2 visit just 2 look at the exotica in there sometimes! They always have loads of Evo's and Scubys passing through.
There are only three guys working there and they have a wealth of experience and r dead easy to talk to.
I like the personal sevice I get there....
malc :)

BraindG
23-04-2003, 11:15 AM
Just moving to right forum..

I had an idea, about this. i might add a map of the uk, or perhaps just the areas, North West for example. from there we can have a comprehensive list of quality dealers..

keep them coming :)

Brind
23-04-2003, 07:52 PM
Originally posted by BraindG
North West for example.

Hey don't get picky, I live in the South East. :eek: ;)

BraindG
23-04-2003, 10:17 PM
But, But i live there.. but, Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad....

:cry2:

jaysback
24-04-2003, 06:53 AM
woh there. the S.W. has mitsi H.Q. just up the road in cirencester.
we aint going down the southern softies route are we:nono:
:devil2:

chris g
24-04-2003, 11:13 PM
Hi Malc

Do you have an address for Smiths - I may try and visit them on a day off

I use Walker Farrimond Mitsubishi at J12 M65 Lomeshaye Industrial Estate - they are happy with imports like mine

Ralliart Dealers and have EVO's in at times so turbo knowledge but uncertain about experience with our car

I feel confident with them - dealt with an oil leak - although it or another one or oil spillage maybe has appeared

Like all dealers they can miss smaller items at time but decent prices and friendly

Will enquire about other bits if you want - usually thru Xtreme at Dudley I think

Reasonably happy with them

Depends on this oil - if its a leak then their response/charges etc could affect my view of them

Chris

malc
25-04-2003, 09:54 AM
Hi Chris :)

The address is... Smiths garage, 29 Breightmet St, Bolton. Tel 01204 392204. The boss is Ian and the mex are Dave and darren.

Yesterday there were 2 evo's, a Scubi and my VR4 in there.
I have recently developed a slight warping of my front discs and they skimmed them 4 me - its fine now.
I was curious 2 know why this had suddenyly developed after running the car for over a year, and once we had established that I had not been running the car harder then usual, they told me about a problem that afflicts Evo's, and therefore possible VR4's too. Apparently, if u overtighten the wheel nuts, say by using an airgun, it often warps Evo discs.
I had new fron t tyres about a month ago, and the problem developed shortly after they were fitted, so the cinclusion is that the tyre depot overtightened my nuts :eek:
Smiths used a torque wrench instead... I hope thats cured it!
malc

haydar
18-05-2003, 05:46 PM
VR4s warp their disks very quickly especially if you use them at high speed just a FEW times. I'm onto my third set of front disks and another chap I know with a VR4 has had the same experience.

For anyone who needs brake disks DO NOT BUY VR4 disks and instead by aftermarket disks for the EVO IV. I've put EBC grooved EVO IV disks on my car and it's 100 time better, plus they haven't started warping. The dimensions for the EVO IV disks and the VR4 are the same, which is why they fit. Do confirm this first though if you are going to by non EBC disks.

chris g
18-05-2003, 08:31 PM
What year is your VR-4 and which bits did you have to buy, if any in addition to the discs?

Where did you get your EBC discs?

Which pads are you using?

I do not believe I have warped discs even though the car has done the Ring and a coup[le of othe trackdays

Perhaps I am not pushing the car that hard or more gentle with the brakes or a combination of both

BraindG
18-05-2003, 09:49 PM
Well, ive warped two sets of discs, one on old VR-4 and again on this one.. this was however under hard hard braking and hard acceleration, in general they were hard runs on the car.

Accelerating up to 80-90 hard on brakes down to 1st/2nd and off again.. INSERT INTO post VALUES (was on footage i was going to show peter at Japfest) i did this for about 40 miles on the first occasion. Really screwed the discs as you can imagine..

Under "normal" driving conditions I don’t believe the discs will warp.. the above mentioned drive was rather hard on the car, . My current car was slightly warped after a run back from Sheffield over snake pass. But as I said, I don’t believe the discs will warp under normal circumstances.

haydar
18-05-2003, 11:20 PM
Originally posted by chris g
What year is your VR-4 and which bits did you have to buy, if any in addition to the discs?

Where did you get your EBC discs?

Which pads are you using?

I do not believe I have warped discs even though the car has done the Ring and a coup[le of othe trackdays

Perhaps I am not pushing the car that hard or more gentle with the brakes or a combination of both


My VR4 is a 1997 model. You only need to buy the disks, no modification required to the car, though I also bought the EBC green stuff pads. The cost for the front disks is about £180.00 with the pads another £90 odd.

The other chap I told you about has just bought disks from Demon Tweaks INSERT INTO post VALUES ( 01978 664466) who do drilled and grooved front disks for £176 a pair, plus £65 for a pair of Freedom DS2500 pads. The pads I think are better than the green stuff pads from EBC but the DS2500 apparently wear the disks faster.


Hope this helps.

chris g
18-05-2003, 11:31 PM
Thanks haydar

Thats an option before deciding about bigger discs etc

Demon Tweeks are close enough for a visit in the near future and would be a decent drive out in the country

I cold check out all sorts of interesting bits - seats, harnesses, wheels and tyres - it would be like christmas

Brind
19-05-2003, 12:22 AM
Demon Tweaks are expensive.
If you want parts etc, you don't use them unless you don't know any better.
It's like going to Halfords and buying spark plugs and a new battery, it just isn't done!!

A lot of EVO owners don't like EBC brakes, and who better to know than them nutters.
Pagid, and Tarox have good wright ups.

jaysback
19-05-2003, 09:48 AM
hi guys.
just to let u know that i had a set of EBC sport 2000 discs and red stuff pads.
warped'em!

that might just be me tho. i'm a bit of a late'n'heavey brake person.

over on MLR they do get a real slating off the evo guys and now i tend to agree with them.

they have gone off to be skimmed INSERT INTO post VALUES (not the best answer); but when they cost that sort of money and only done a limited milage then it would be a waste to just junk them.

if i could go back and start again i think i would be giving my money to these guys http://www.hispecmotorsport.co.uk/
hope this helps u all out

kenslim
28-07-2003, 02:17 PM
Having just been quoted £950 plus VAT by a Mitsubishi main dealer for a full service INSERT INTO post VALUES (inc. all belts etc); i have been looking round for an independent specialist.

I have booked my car into VBJ INSERT INTO post VALUES (Newbury) as they seem very helpful/professional and knowledgeable. Also their quote was more competitive. I know others on this site have previoulsy used this company and recommended them.

I will post an update as to it went next week if anyone is interested?

LOMY
28-07-2003, 02:42 PM
Hi Jaysback,

If you have your discs skimmed wont it make them thinner and even more susceptible to warping ?

Brind
28-07-2003, 07:52 PM
I think that skimming discs just involves removing brake pad deposits, none or hardly any disc metal itself is skimmed.

banjo
28-07-2003, 08:57 PM
Just had my cambelt, power steering belt and plugs changed for £288 INSERT INTO post VALUES (incl VAT) all parts supplied by me, by my local car service workshop. They do all our cars INSERT INTO post VALUES (all Jap greys) and are very good. I live in Welwyn Garden City.

malc
28-07-2003, 11:18 PM
Sh1t! ..my discs have warped again too :Cry1:

I'm running standard discs with Greenstuff pads.
I REALLY havent been driving that hard!
I guess it wasnt the overtightened wheel nuts after all .

When I first got my VR4 INSERT INTO post VALUES (Oct 2001) it had standard pads and I ran them without any warping problems for over a year, then about 6 mths ago I changed them to green stuff to reduce fade. Since then my discs have warped twice.
Last time I had them skimmed and they were fine again - I hope there is enough left on them to skim them again.
I think I might go back to standard pads and see if that solves the problem.

Malc

P.S. Any Lancs guys INSERT INTO post VALUES (Lomy, ChrisG, BraindG + any others) fancy meeting up at a pub one night to compare warped discs???
:D

Spirit
28-07-2003, 11:25 PM
Malc

Give me a shout if you wanna change - I have INSERT INTO post VALUES (and now a couple others) National Racing 8 groove discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads INSERT INTO post VALUES (dogs bollocks) for £202 inc VAT plus approx £12 p+p from a local source.

Email or PM me for info if interested

Pete

Brind
28-07-2003, 11:37 PM
EBC are crap! verified by dozens of people on various high performance car forums.

Discs don't warp! when your pads get hot they leave deposits on your discs, harsh braking causes your pads to get very hot and in the case of EBC pads they are too ****e they leave heavy deposits on your discs.
When your brakes cool the deposits dry and harden this then gives you the sensation of 'warped' disc, when you brake your pads run over these deposits like little speed bumps.

'warped' disc is the best way to describe the feeling but it isn't technically correct as your discs don't actually warp.

If you do have crap brakes and even in general as ALL brakes will do it if you let them it is just some take longer to warm up, it is best to brake in stages... so you brake hard, let the car roll, brake, let the car roll and then finally come to a stop but try and be easy when you do finally stop as your pads will still be pretty hot, if you stop instantly as it were, the pads will leave an imprint of deposits.

Simple! :)

malc
29-07-2003, 10:45 AM
Thanx Spirit979 and Brind :)

That makes some sense to me coz i can see dark patches on the discs - presumably the build up of deposits u mentioned.

Ok, I think the starting point for me is to clean the deposits off and change the pads.

A Q for Pete... I presume the NR8G discs use the standard calyper, so r same size as standard discs? Are the ferodo pads a 'hard' pad? Ok on the road? track?
Presumably i could fit those pads with standard discs if they clean up OK?

Thanx guys,
malc :)

pjjohnson
29-07-2003, 03:41 PM
Malc, this is another Pete answering your question - the Ferodo 2500 pads are fine for road use, and can be used with standard disks and calipers - they are probably harder than std compound but not as hard as some 'racing' pads and seem fairly kind to disks.

Brind
29-07-2003, 04:10 PM
I've heard many reports on the pads the first Pete mentioned, and they look to be one of the best pads available!!! they have been known to take heavy track use very well and then still be more than capable for long term braking afterwards on the normal roads! so that proves how good they are!

The pads mentioned are like for like, they just replace your existing ones, any discs the same size will work or if you can clean up the ones you have they will be okay too.
I'm going to install the same pads when the time comes, and possibly replace discs too but I'm still looking at other types as I want them drilled and grooved.

Spirit
29-07-2003, 09:14 PM
Yeah spot on there. From the reports I read Ferodo introduced them as the DS2000 where road only and the DS3000 where track only so they are an excellent compromise for a car such as ours.

To show you how good they are take a look at the AP Racing 6 pot upgrade kits that retail for around £1500 - they use these very pads ! What better advert than that :D

Brind and PJ are correct - they are like for like with no caliper changes needed - and considering Mitsy want £440 approx for front discs/pads that I think we all agree are crap you just can't go wrong