MITSUBISHI ADVICE         Rolling Road Tuning   Rolling road tuning gives us the opportunity to test your car under real live conditions. This allows us to find a fault with a car or to test its performance.   If you cannot come to us for rolling road testing, please be sure to use someone who knows your car well. Check them out. Ask how many Evos they look after. Ask friends for recommendations.   We have had horror stories of tuning companies testing STi V Imprezas with the centre diff control in the wrong position and then telling the customer that the gearbox was busted. Be careful out there.   If you are having your car tested on our rolling road, please try to observe the following points. This will enable you to get the best from the work we carry out. At the end of the test we will provide you with a power and torque graph. It is not always possible to do a before run if the car is running badly, preventing a safe full power run.   When you book the car in with us, be sure to explain exactly what you want us to do. This allows us to book the correct amount of time to do the job properly. For instance if you book a power test (30 minutes) and then ask if we can carry out a Phase One ECU conversion (6 hours) it does make things difficult if we have 8 other cars booked in that day!   If the car has a fault you want us to cure, please explain as clearly as possible the symptoms. Not what your friend told you it is but how the car behaves. If the car has been elsewhere to have the fault looked at, please tell us. We have had instances of someone else adding a small fault whilst looking for the main one, which does complicate things.   Please be sure the car has enough fuel in it. If we are working on a car and it runs out of fuel it is the most frustrating thing in the world.   Please check your car for oil and water levels. We do assume that the car is in a fit condition to be tested. Whilst we take care with all cars it is not possible to carry out an interim service before every test.   If you want to wait with the car please wait to have the details of your car discussed with you. Unlike some other companies, we are happy for you to watch us test your car but there is nothing worse than someone looking over your shoulder saying "my friend who used to work at a Mitsubishi garage said it is the crank position sensor, what do you think it is?"         Servicing   Below are a couple of points that will help us to perform servicing on your car to the best of our ability.   Be clear what it is you want us to do for you when you book the car in. It is no problem to say that you want a thorough check over but you are not sure what else it needs. This is far better than booking the car in for an oil change and then when you come in we find the car needs a major service and cam belt change.   If you want to provide us with parts to fit, it is no problem but let us know in advance so we know what we are going to be doing.         Track Days   How hard do you drive on a track day? 90%, 100%, 110%?   Have you any idea how hard your car is working too?   How hard do you drive on the road? 60%, 70%?   Track days are incredibly hard on a car. No problem for an Evo but bear in mind how much you are stressing the car. Everyone understands that brake pads wear quickly, tyres wear on the edges faster than normal but what else?   Think of the stresses on wheel bearings, wheel studs, discs, suspension bushes, oils, steering joints, engine mountings, brake fluid etc.   If you are serious about track days and do more than two or three a year then look at the maintenance schedule of your car. You cannot expect to do this to your car and then poodle off home and go to work in the morning, checking only the washer fluid level.   We have been looking after track day cars for ten years for customers with Cobras, Cosworths and Skylines.   You should think about a service and check over after 3 track days if they are occurring within a 2 month period. If you regularly visit the track and cannot bring your car to us then please take some advice from us for free.   The list below is in addition to the usual tyre and brake checks:   Change the brake fluid twice a year. Change oil and filter every 3000 miles. Check the air filter every meeting. Clean if cleanable every other meeting. Change wheel studs and nuts (if applicable) every year without fail. Change transmission oils at the end of the year. Inspect discs for cracking and overheating after every meeting. Get wheel bearings checked at the end of the year. Change cam belt every year (depending on road mileage). Check suspension alignment twice a year and all bushes (unless an off meant this was recently done). Check all air, water and fuel hoses and clips for stressing and chaffing every meeting. Check engine and transmission mountings at the end of the year.   Regarding actual track day use, try to follow this advice:   Take a torque wrench to the track day and check wheel torque after 1st session and then at the end of the session before lunchtime. If one stud only needs tightening at any time then it is stretching. Replace immediately. Do the last lap of each session a lot slower than the others, let the whole car cool down. Do not switch off immediately on returning from the track. Do not put the handbrake on immediately on returning from the track. It can warp the hot rear discs, because of uneven cooling. Try to keep the car still with the engine running but with no handbrake or footbrake. When you switch off the engine put it in gear, do not use the handbrake. Check oil and water (carefully) before each session.