The Impossible Evo Part 4: Ergonomics
I snagged this high-quality spacer and bolt combo at my local Ace Hardware. Perhaps not OEM standards, but dramatically better than what existed before and now my leg doesn’t hurt!

This half-assed mod sparked my brain for a whole-assed solution. Ditching the washers holding up the back of the seat I realized the bolt holes lined up with just the front raised. A quick trip to Ace Hardware yielded lovely spacers and extended 10.9 flanged bolts that would allow me to safely, more or less, raise the front of the seat. With the back of the seat in the OEM location, now I was much lower in the car, with my thighs nicely supported and all was right in the world. Right? Wrong!

Shhh! No one has to know.

Now that my leg position was great, it was time for me to complain about my arms being outstretched in the Evo X. For some reason, the steering wheel feels miles away and I always had to stretch really far to reach it. It’s a common complaint for Evo X drivers and it seems that Mitsubishi doesn’t condone cruising with a gangsta lean. Sticking with the mentality of the no-compromise street car, I wouldn’t be putting in an aftermarket steering wheel that removed the airbag. With that in mind, what is possible?

It may seem like a small detail, but the steering wheel on the Evo X is too damned far away! I don’t know of a single car I’ve driven recently where I felt I couldn’t easily reach the wheel while having my legs comfortable, but I think Mitsubishi got it wrong with the Evo X. Considering how good older Evos were, I wonder what changed in their design philosophy.

13 comments

  1. It’s the simple things! I too am amazed at how long it sometimes takes to figure out the causes of things like leg pain. Owning a car for many years gives you the time to steadily find and fix issues like this.

    1. I’ve always been a wallet in the front pocket kind of guy. Honestly not sure how I hurt my back but about 10 years ago I had to get injections. Once I learned soft couches and no leg support made things worse, I’ve just avoided those situations and I basically never have any pain. I figured out the car seat thing about 2-3 years ago and now 99% of my life is pain free!

      1. I had a 2011 tundra rock warrior just like you guys and it always gave me leg pain when driving. Seemed to me we be able to adjust the seat to fix it.

      2. yep, mine too! fun fact: if you do it long enough, it’ll pinch off bloodflow to your lower leg and your toes will go numb. fun!

      3. My wife corrected that habit of mine a while ago. It’s one of the biggest, yet easiest diagnosis she has to make.

  2. Paint Protection Film is a much better/stronger solution for keeping headlight lenses protected. The clear coat is still susceptible to rock chipping/stone-rash, and will start to peel/flake- sometimes within less than a year. Most modern PPF is rated to a minimum life expectancy of 4yrs on a lens, and can last up to 10yrs- and it is designed to resist and prevent rock chipping, along with providing UV protection. The other added bonus to PPF is that most modern PPF films are self-healing.

    1. I honestly don’t have any experience with PPF, but I will certainly look into it. The daily driver Honda Insight headlights were done over a year ago and still look as good as day 1, the Evo was done about this time last year and they look great as well, but it doesn’t get nearly as many miles or exposure to the elements. I totally see your points on rock chips though!

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