Evo X Accelerator Pedal Failure

[MatsHolden]

An Evo X owner has had the unpleasant experience of the accelerator pedal shaft failing on his new Evo X. I can't believe they're using injection moulded plastic for such components. And from what I can see, a very poorly designed injection moulded plastic part at that!

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f320/MatsHolden/mit_evox_pedal1.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f320/MatsHolden/mit_evox_pedal2.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f320/MatsHolden/mit_evox_pedal3.jpg

[Ice]

Oh mY !


plastic fantastic.... thats shocking

[DirtyHarry]

what a rip off...so much money for a car and you can literaly say its made out of plastic

[MatsHolden]

Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with the correct plastics in the correct application and if they're designed accordingly. However this is an example of the wrong plastic, for the wrong application with the wrong design.

[sooty]

Whatever happened to a nice set of brushed alloy pedals?
That's just really really bad on bitsamissing's part...

[poita]

bitsamissing alright!!
thats rediculous.
i dont know too much about plastics, but he must off slammed it hard or something.
unless someone can explain the techincal side of it.........

[MatsHolden]

bitsamissing alright!!
thats rediculous.
i dont know too much about plastics, but he must off slammed it hard or something.
unless someone can explain the techincal side of it.........

Depends, could've just been stressed at that point one too many times and the plastic fatigued. The plastic could've been too hard and brittle. There could've been a glitch in the injection moulding process allowing air bubbles to remain in the component... way too many things to consider.

[poita]

either way, not good at all
bet niks glad he got the STI

[Dee]

why not just make it metal ????

[MatsHolden]

why not just make it metal ????

Cost and weight.

[Shaun]

Most pedals are made of plastic on most vehicles

[Dee]

idiots.... (not you guys)

cost and weight over broken pedals......

[MatsHolden]

Most pedals are made of plastic on most vehicles

Most vehicles i've seen have metal shafts... The pedals may be plastic but shafts metal.

[DirtyHarry]

my shaft is hard metal

[sooty]

my shaft is hard metal
Did the operation hurt?:p

[Shaun]

Most vehicles i've seen have metal shafts... The pedals may be plastic but shafts metal.

Would you like to see the parts catauloge of where i am right now ? i can kindly post a copy of them and pictures of about half a dozen pedals that are plastic.

Its not as un common as you think they are.

[sooty]

Would you like to see the parts catauloge of where i am right now ? i can kindly post a copy of them and pictures of about half a dozen pedals that are plastic.

Its not as un common as you think they are.

Don't take everything as such a personal attack lol.
I'm sure Mat, like most of us, is just used to seeing the shaft as being metal. I know i didn't think of any of them as being plastic. Maybe they are making more and more plastic nowadays...it's a "the more you know" type moment :)
Thanks for raising it to our attention

[Shaun]

Most vehicles i've seen have metal shafts... The pedals may be plastic but shafts metal.


Its not as un common as you think they are. Most Manfacturers these days on new cars are using plastic pedals.

[poita]

my shaft is hard metal


Bend over i want to show you something.

combine that with ur sig, oh so funny :D

[blueraven]

just checked, mine is some kind of alloy.

[MatsHolden]

Would you like to see the parts catauloge of where i am right now ? i can kindly post a copy of them and pictures of about half a dozen pedals that are plastic.

Its not as un common as you think they are.

No Shaun I don't. I just stated that most i've seen personally are a metal compound of one kind or another. The pedals themselves most of the time I've seen are plastic, just not the shafts that i've seen. I just havn't seen the shaft FULLY constructed using injection moulded plastic much before; have seen partial comonents of pedal shafts made from plastic to enable them to break away in the event of an accident. And as i've stated earlier, i'm not saying it's a bad thing using plastic as it can be done, BUT it has to be done the correct way.

[Shaun]

No Shaun I don't. I just stated that most i've seen personally are a metal compound of one kind or another. The pedals themselves most of the time I've seen are plastic, just not the shafts that i've seen. I just havn't seen the shaft FULLY constructed using injection moulded plastic much before; have seen partial comonents of pedal shafts made from plastic to enable them to break away in the event of an accident. And as i've stated earlier, i'm not saying it's a bad thing using plastic as it can be done, BUT it has to be done the correct way.

Working with this shit all day every day makes me alittle more exposed. Many truck Manfacturers have been using fantastic plastic pedals for many years now. All Mercedes Benz Vito vans have been using them for some time. Yes i agree its a common problem for them to break but as you have said its a feature introduced for when an accident occurs.

its not uncommon for them to break though.

[Snotty]

i blame walkinshaws over inflated pricing for these shit pedals being in mitsubishis

[blueraven]

i blame the govt...

[Wraith]

LOL what a funny thread :D

I'm going to guess and say the owner of that Evo 10 in question has gotten way too excited over the cars performance and stood on the gas pedal way too hard LOL :D

I'll have to bring this up on the couple of Evo forums I'm a member of - havn't come across this miss-hap with the new 10 on any of them yet, or probably havn't seen it :)

Seriously though Matt, you never know what's really happened unless this person tells you how he actually broke it...maybe he has gotten his foot caught side ways and yanked and snapped it accidentally or something else along those lines ???

There are as Shaun stated lots of car types with pedals made from polymer compounds (plastic) of one sort or another...

BR glad to hear the Sti ones are metal :)

[rusole21]

Thats quite interesting! Looks like a glass filled reinforced nylon. Hard but brittle in some applications. Im a tool maker and work with plastic injection moulding machines and dies alot. I bet he is glad it was the accelerator and not the brake!! Immagine that!

[bornwild]

Would you like to see the parts catauloge of where i am right now ? i can kindly post a copy of them and pictures of about half a dozen pedals that are plastic.

Its not as un common as you think they are.

#1


Its not as un common as you think they are. Most Manfacturers these days on new cars are using plastic pedals.

#2 :rolleyes:

Come on Shaun...Third time lucky! :D

My opinion on plastic pedal shafts....not that bad if the proper kind of plastic is used as Mat said. It should have a higher elastic region however with a medium youngs modulus. Don't want it too hard nor too ductile.

[OPC]

i blame walkinshaws over inflated pricing for these shit pedals being in mitsubishis

hahahahahahaha

[USC]

#1



#2 :rolleyes:

Come on Shaun...Third time lucky! :D

My opinion on plastic pedal shafts....not that bad if the proper kind of plastic is used as Mat said. It should have a higher elastic region however with a medium youngs modulus. Don't want it too hard nor too ductile.


doesnt the evo have drive by wire? if so, the pedal does not need to be that strong as it is not pulling any cable. i think the pedal mut have been outsourced to china;) ..where they used recycled plastic big M bottles to make toys and accelerator pedals.:p

[xplosv57]

doesnt the evo have drive by wire? if so, the pedal does not need to be that strong as it is not pulling any cable.

Yes but it still needs to be strong enough for the pedal not to break.....

[Shaun]

Yes but it still needs to be strong enough for the pedal not to break.....

Its hard to say.. Is this a one off case? Wait and see in 6 months . Saying the plastic isnt up to standards is a rather big call . Have you actually seen the pedal and seen the stress fractures in the flesh. For alls we all know is the pedal could have been mashed to the floor not in a way that it was designed for. A Heavy right foot could have been abusing the pedal for alls we know

I would be reserving judgement for another few months and seeing if others owners of the EVO X have this problem. it could be a one off issue and to make a call of the plastic being " rubbish" is not quite fair and is rather miss leading.

[chrissn89]

My mums got a Mitsubishi 380 series 3, when i was cleaning it yesterday i had a look and its got a plastic accelerator pedal, but the break pedal is metal. I know this car is in a totally different class. Oh and its got drive by wire. The plastic looked and felt solid.

[USC]

+1


Its hard to say.. Is this a one off case? Wait and see in 6 months . Saying the plastic isnt up to standards is a rather big call . Have you actually seen the pedal and seen the stress fractures in the flesh. For alls we all know is the pedal could have been mashed to the floor not in a way that it was designed for. A Heavy right foot could have been abusing the pedal for alls we know

I would be reserving judgement for another few months and seeing if others owners of the EVO X have this problem. it could be a one off issue and to make a call of the plastic being " rubbish" is not quite fair and is rather miss leading.

[Wraith]

Its hard to say.. Is this a one off case? Wait and see in 6 months . Saying the plastic isnt up to standards is a rather big call . Have you actually seen the pedal and seen the stress fractures in the flesh. For alls we all know is the pedal could have been mashed to the floor not in a way that it was designed for. A Heavy right foot could have been abusing the pedal for alls we know

I would be reserving judgement for another few months and seeing if others owners of the EVO X have this problem. it could be a one off issue and to make a call of the plastic being " rubbish" is not quite fair and is rather miss leading.

+2

I've checked the 2 Evo forums I'm a member of and there is no mention of this kind of thing so far !!!

This does seem to be ATM anyway, an isolated case...

Like I've previously stated, it would be good to know the 'actual' circumstances that happened to take place for this pedal to break ??? was it broken whilst driving, or was it broken in some other manner ??? not that we really care anyway ;)

[astrauturbo]

its a weight reduction kit~

[xplosv57]

Its hard to say.. Is this a one off case? Wait and see in 6 months . Saying the plastic isnt up to standards is a rather big call . Have you actually seen the pedal and seen the stress fractures in the flesh. For alls we all know is the pedal could have been mashed to the floor not in a way that it was designed for. A Heavy right foot could have been abusing the pedal for alls we know

I would be reserving judgement for another few months and seeing if others owners of the EVO X have this problem. it could be a one off issue and to make a call of the plastic being " rubbish" is not quite fair and is rather miss leading.

You can reserve your judgement for whenever you please, seeing this happen, even being an isolated case is something of a worry regardless of how the car has been driven!!

I've seen a few cars with plastic accelerator pedals break, (and to their credit have been redesigned with better materials) and also seen cars being thrashed to buggery and the pedal has withstood any abuse whatsoever!!!

As Mat has stated above, plastics can be used in this application as long as it is the correct plastics being used and manufactured in the correct way!!!

Even though this has been an isolated case, i'm sure Mitsubishi would not be leaving it for 6 months to see if it happens again, they would be taking measures to rectify the issue!!!

[bornwild]

I'm guessing the bloke who drove the car pressed the pedal with an idiotic amount of force....I know I know it still should not have happened but you know....Asians are soft people so they didn't exactly build the pedals to sustain huge amounts of force.

And the break pedal has to be steel....:)

[USC]

may be his foot got caught under the accelerator pedal and when he tried lifting hard, it cracked.

[astrauturbo]

maybe he is a sti fan and broke it to show how shit evos are.

[sooty]

may be his foot got caught under the accelerator pedal and when he tried lifting hard, it cracked.
this is what i'm assuming, it's purely speculation, but i don't think it was a downwards force that cracked it, more likely he had his foot in between brake and accel, and as getting out of the car, pulled semi out/sideways on the pedal, just the way it's designed this sorta stress seems more likely to cause failure...

[USC]

or it could be a lie!!! some sti fan posted some rubbish on there so people think EVO`s are crap.

[Wraith]

this is what i'm assuming, it's purely speculation, but i don't think it was a downwards force that cracked it, more likely he had his foot in between brake and accel, and as getting out of the car, pulled semi out/sideways on the pedal, just the way it's designed this sorta stress seems more likely to cause failure...


+1

It's also what I'd put my money on, as I stated in my 1st post, I wouldn't be surprised if this persons got their foot caught sideways or something and yanked it out in some manner so as to cause that break....maybe he or she was trying a new style of heel/toeing technique :D

[Wraith]

or it could be a lie!!! some sti fan posted some rubbish on there so people think EVO`s are crap.

I don't think a single isolated case of a pedal break would ever have such an effect...

But bigger things like gearboxes or engine mounts letting go on just a few vehicles would have a profound effect...

Good thing is though, the Japanese car makers and their dealers are quick to get on top of and rectify such circumstances - unlike some others I won't bother mentioning :rolleyes:

[Shaun]

You can reserve your judgement for whenever you please, seeing this happen, even being an isolated case is something of a worry regardless of how the car has been driven!!

I've seen a few cars with plastic accelerator pedals break, (and to their credit have been redesigned with better materials) and also seen cars being thrashed to buggery and the pedal has withstood any abuse whatsoever!!!

As Mat has stated above, plastics can be used in this application as long as it is the correct plastics being used and manufactured in the correct way!!!

Even though this has been an isolated case, i'm sure Mitsubishi would not be leaving it for 6 months to see if it happens again, they would be taking measures to rectify the issue!!!


If its a known problem that happens all the time a superseeded pedal will be put in to place. If its an issolated problem they will look at the use of the pedal and see if its driver abuse.

[Snotty]

i agree with the conspiracy theorists, looks like a logitich steering wheel pedal to me....

[OPC]

i agree with the conspiracy theorists, looks like a logitich steering wheel pedal to me....


logitech...

looks like a VXR pedal to me