Hard 8

I have had my red Sport Package MT for a year and a half now, and it's in perfect condition with about 13,000 miles on it. I love it but every so often I regret not getting the Evolution that I also test-drove.

I have a very clear mental picture of the differences between the two cars. I know that the 8 has a much nicer interior, arguably better customer support, and is in general a much better long-distance cruiser and it probably is of better quality. I know that the Evo is a high-strung boy racer tooth-rattler with a cheap interior, and that it grips like death and accelerates like a scalded monkey, and that Mitsubishi may sooner or later withdraw from North America.

Knowing all these things, I still sometimes dream of that turbo rush and those sticky all-wheel-drive tires and that boy-racer feel.

So, I'm NOT asking about whether for reason (A), (B) or (C), one car or the other is preferable.

What I AM asking about, is, when my car is about two or three years old, with me averaging less than 9,000 miles per year, whether it would be pretty much an even swap, if I sold my 8 privately and bought a used, low-mileage Evo 8 that was also a few years old.

I know I'd take a hit on sales tax, but otherwise, I'm just curious.

Again, right now this is just a vague whimsy; it's not my plan to do it; I just want to know if it's a low-cost approach.

Thanks.

Imp

+

= dev/null

What EVO hasn't been beaten on/modified? I wouldn't look down the road in this case.

Hard 8

OK, good point, but I mean a clean one. I recently met a dude driving one who seemed very much like me: late 30s / early 40s and pretty low-key. I did not get the impression he was beating on it. Might be hard to find one like that, but they must be out there. (Incidentally, I've also seen several older guys driving STis. Go figure.)

policyvote

Older guys seem to dig rally more. I once pulled up to a stoplight, and next to me was a cherry-condition british green Triumph, being driven by a guy who was at LEAST seventy years old. Dude had racing gloves on, big knobby tires, and an oxygen hose running up to his nose. Dude had a death grip on the wheel, and was staring at that red light like it was his worst enemy.

THAT's the kind of old guy I want to be.

Peace
policy

DARKMAZ8

this is a must read for any potential evo owner.....

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=9270


good luck.. :D

Rhawb

Older guys may dig rally more, but thanks to games like Gran Turismo, LOTS of kids are interested in cars like the EVO and STi. For that reason alone, I would stay away from either of those as a used car unless I knew that the person it was coming from really took care of it. Being that those cars are a bit high strung to begin with, I wouldn't want to be pushing my luck any more than I absolutely had to as far as abuse/reliability is concerned. Personally the 8 is the perfect car for me, but if you think you'd be happier with the EVO, maybe you should check it out. The happier you are with the car, the more you're going to enjoy the drive! :D

Ike

I was going through this same scenario a few months back and I was able to find a couple Evos that had less than 5k miles on them. One was for sure a repo and the other I got the feeling they just realized it wasn't a good car for them. I even found a used MR with 500 miles that was traded in for an M3. These cars may have been beaten on a bit but one of the Evos had the OEM tires and they looked pretty good. If you beat on the Evo the OEM tires will be toast in 5k miles.

I've also seen a lot of older people driving STis and Evos and driving them very gingerly. Lastly in general people that buy these AWD turbo cars are usually enthusiasts and even if they drive the cars a little harder they also take very good care of them when it comes to maintenance. Things like letting the engine warm up fully before getting on it, using expensive synthetic fluids are pretty common in the AWD turbo car circles. I think finding one that hasn't been modded heavily and was taken care of pretty well won't be all that hard.

I don't know if it's a low cost approach, thus far the Evo and STi especially are holding their value better than the RX-8, but you could probably come close to breaking even. If this is something you seriously want to do and haven't driven an STi yet, do so. It has 95% of the fun of the Evo but makes for a better daily driver IMO. The one thing that edged the Evo over the STi was the steering, but I don't know if I'd want to live with the twitchy steering on the Evo every day and as a result a lot of that fun would be lost. I really thought the Evo would be the one I wanted after a series of testdrives but it wasn't the case and I decided to wait a year or two and get the STi I wanted rather than get the Evo right away.

Im_DANomite

iTrader: (1)

how about trying to re-sell an EVO down the line?? especially an RS. i don't think you'd have a good chance.

Hard 8

Thanks, all. Ike, I haven't driven the STi, but what you say makes sense. If I ever did decide to go that road, I would have to check one out.

Damn, that C&D article is scary.

DreRX8

hmm...I've actually seen the STI and EVO selling for slightly less than 'comparable' year/mileage RX8s--at least around here. The thing is there are far fewer of them around on the used car market.

Rhawb

I agree with Ike. If I had to live with one of the two as a daily driver, I'd take the STi in a heartbeat. It may not be as razor sharp with its handling, but it's going to behave a lot better on crappy paved surfaces. Also, I'd prefer to have the (relatively) nice interior of the STi (especially the newer Saab-style interior) over the EVOs decidedly economy interior.

Ike

Well, I looked at an 04 STi with 13k miles that was priced at 27,500. I tried to buy it for 26k and was denied, they wouldn't even haggle with me. They said they would get their price, and I just kind of nodded and expected them to call me the following week to come get the car... It never happened and the car was sold shortly after that I'm assuming for around 27k. This is a car that had an MSRP of around 32k and was about 2 years old. If I wanted to I could go right now and get a brand new RX-8 with GT package for less than that used STi.

I've seen some private party STis going for less and they all seem to sell pretty quickly. The only people that are buying used RX-8s for anywhere near what is being asked are people that don't do their homework and realize that you can get a new RX-8 for 5k below invoice. I probably couldn't even get a new STi for 500 below invoice let alone 5k, and that speaks volumes for the resalability of these cars.

Ike

The interior is certainly nicer on the STi, but the seats in the Evo are incredible. Mitsubishi got the important things right (though the clutch feel is better on the STi) and Subaru blew it a little when it comes to the seats by making them wider for the porky Americans. Still great seats in the STi but they don't even compare to the Recaros in the Evo.

DreRX8

While I prefer the looks of the EVO more than the STI I'd have to go with the STI also, more liveable and slightly less expensive to own. That's another thing Hard 8--the EVO is a very expensive car to maintain--synthetic oil changes, huge appetite for tires/brakes ($900 brake jobs etc) factor that into your decision. The EVO is a demanding machine.

Hard 8

Yeah, I saw that in the C&D article above. Can't believe those oil change and brake job prices!!!

Rhawb

True, I like the material they use in the Evo seats better as well, it seems to be a bit grippier and better at keeping you from sliding all over. As far as getting the important things right, I think that's why I don't like the Evo as much as the STi. They're just too bare-bones to drive every day, imo. The STi isn't a whole lot better (which is why I don't have one) but if I had to choose one or the other, the Subaru would get my vote.

HeelnToe

And of course, if you haven't done so already, join some of the Evo forums out there to get a more balanced, averaged idea of the Evo's reliability.

DreRX8

The article wasn't slamming the reliability of the EVO it was talking about how frequent and how expensive the routine work is on the car.

Hard 8

Good idea, but I waste enough time on this forum as it is! :D

Ike

Here's a video you might like, it's not the 2.5L like the USDM STi which by most accounts makes the car better. But overall it sums up how I feel about the two cars. I'd rather own the STi but I'd rather romp on the Evo on a track. Also a thicker rear sway on the STi makes a big difference in handling, as do a few other minor tweaks so for very cheap you can make the car less livable and more of a track car. With the Evo you're kind of stuck with a razor sharp car that feels more at home on a track. Both cars have recently bettered their times on the track as well by a couple seconds each.

http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php...post&id=207687

Hopefully some of the people from the lounge calling these cars factory ricers will catch a glimpse of this vid.

crossbow

Get an Evo MR instead of the RS...The MR actually lapped the rx8 in the Enduro Challenge on Best Motoring International.

Ike

I think the point of this is saving money or breaking even, not spening a lot more on a car.

cas2themoe

I don't know where you live but there is no way you can get a Brand New RX8 with GT package in my area for the price of an used STI!!! I'm in Maryland! The LEAST I think you can get one around my area is for $32,000.

BlueEyes

hmm, I had never seen that top gear episod with the evo and sti. It would have been nicer to see them really thrash them around.

cas2themoe

I believe they did, against some type of new Lamborghini. It kept up pretty good but he said the Turbo lag is horrible.