picked up my new Evo last night...
 

No pictures yet. It was pouring rain and dark out by the time I arrived at the dealership. I will post some up the evening when I get home from work.

I can't say enough about the handling on this bad boy. The rain was coming down in buckets. There are reports of flooding, road closures and mudslides all over the news. I just put the ACD on "gravel" and carved up the foothills around my house. If it wasn't for the windshield wipers going back and forth I wouldn't have even known it was raining. The driver feedback on this vehicle is by far the best I've ever experienced. It lets you know after about minimum time behind the wheel exactly what it can and can't do.

Anyways...I'm not going to push it until the roads are dry and the tires are broken in (there's some sort of sealent on them). I also can't really comment on the power yet either because it's still being broken in...but I can say the boost comes on like a raped ape...ALL AT ONCE. It's a total rush. :eek:

Only complaints so far are the huge gap in gear ration between 4th and 5th and the sound of the front windshield rattling. I read up on both those issues going in though. 5th gear is for cruising and the rattles go away after about 1500 miles.

Congrats...EVO's are sweet.

Sweet, congrats.

Thats great man. I would love to drive an evo.

Thanks guys. This thing makes my SRT-4 (which weighs 350lbs less) feel like a Lincoln Towncar. The gearing and steering ratio on the car is uber aggressive too. They built this thing for car nuts just like us.

Awesome - post some pics when you get the chance.

Congrats...enjoy!

I would definately love to drive an EVO as a toy--too harsh and down on looks for my daily driver though.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...id=41413&stc=1 https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...id=41414&stc=1

Sorry.... not something I'd own...
Why are so many people talking about this "plain jane" looking car?

Don't apologize. It's not for everybody.

Welcome to the club. I got one of the first batches in '03 and the car is still just as fun as the day I bought it. What color did you choose?

Thanks. I got white one. How has your clutch held up? I'm not a stoplight-to-stoplight kind of guy but I do notice that I need to bring up the revs a lot higher than I'm used to in my old car to take off from 1st gear.

I'd be interested to hear about your clutch as well Wombat, I drove one with 5k on it the other day since they wouldn't let me testdrive a new one, and the clutch felt like complete and total crap. That really scared me off from buying the Evo since it was a worry I had going in. :(

My clutch has held up fine and is still going strong at 26k miles. I've had a few launches but I'm not drag racing every weekend. If you're a drag junky then you'll definitely need a new clutch at some point. Take care of it and it should last at well over 20k.

There does seem to be a lot of clutches that go out really early on these cars. The only thing I can attribute this to is driver error or drag racing. Ike, you know as much as I do that the combination of AWD and big horsepower can certainly destroy a clutch very quickly with poor technique. I talked with one guy that burned his clutch up in 8000 miles and he admited that he was pretty hard on the clutch. In talking with him it sounded like he was drag racing every weekend (legally and illegally).

Another driver admited that he slips his clutch all the way till full boost (3000-3500 rpms) all the time. Sure the car is faster but at the expense of excessive clutch wear.

IMO, the EVO attracts a lot of teenage drivers with very little manual experience. It also doesn't help that here in the US we live a 1/4 mile at a time. I think the combination of these two things has lead to a lot of premature clutch failures. There also the fact that on a forum, most of the posts are problems or issues. So 2-10% of the owners make 90-95% of the noise. There was a poll a month or two ago about the stock clutch on 300+whp EVO's and I believe 75% of the owners said that the stock cluch was holding fine.

No doubt that the clutch is the weak part of the drivetrain but IMO it was designed that way to keep the stress of a 6000 rpm launch off the rest of the drivetrain.

That's more or less what I've heard first hand from other local Evo owners. Drive it to last and it will. I baby my cars but this car is geared so low I literally need to restrain myself from hauling a$$ in the low gears. Thanks for the info Wombat.

BTW...have you done any mods?

Well over 20k doesn't make me feel better lol. I launched my modded DSM daily and didn't have to replace a clutch until nearly 100k miles.

Wow you guys are quick to respond. I didn't even have time to edit my post so I quoted my changes.

Steiner - Only mods to far are the UK badge and a grounding kit. A new house and baby have drained the funds.

Ike - There's not many EVO's with more miles than me so I can't really tell how long this clutch will last. So far it's no different than any of my other manual cars, all of which I sold before they needed a clutch replacement. (When sold: Saturn was at 77k, Prelude was at 45k)

That's such a good point. You never see a thread titled "just here to say I'm not having any problems". People generally post to complain or get help and advice. Nobody posts things that are uneventfull. It's just not newsworthy.

Out with the old and in with the new! :D

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eblackhandclan/SRT_EVO.jpg

Nice - I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm not sure I like it without the wing...Looks funny to me for some reason. I'd love to take one for a test drive, though - haven't gotten the opportunity to drive an Evo or an STi, only rides, and I hear they're both very entertaining.

the STi is an incredible piece of machinery tooo.. since Evos are not sold here .. sTi rule the roads.. :D

i test drove one.. and im still awed in my mind..unfortunately the trade price offered wasnt up to par.. so i bought an 8 instead!.. :o .. which by all means has its own positives...

Very nice. Now run em on highway, and tell me which one's faster. I got an STI instead of EVO, because I just felt better about reliability and drivability under daily use more with STI. Either way you can't go wrong, and I do think under normal driving the clutch will last. Please don't tell me you own an rx8 as well. It's obvious power is what you truly care about, owning both those cars. I kept RX8, to appeal to my refinement side. Enjoy. :) BTW. I am very jealous. I only wish I had wingless option on STI. I got stuck with it, and it will cost me time,money and a lot of hassle if I want it gone. I'd have preferred STI without it, and I think you did well. People might think it's a OZ rally. :)

No I don't own an RX-8. I'm just a fan. In fact, as of Saturday at noon I don't own the SRT-4 anymore. My buddy has a stock SRT-4 and when my car gets broken in we're gonna have a little freeway run.

Cool. You better watch out for him though. Those babies are deadly on a highway roll. I'd take him off the line as well, to prove your superiority. :)

Yeah I'm curious to see how they stack up. It's been a long time since my SRT-4 was stock so I really couldn't even accurately say. With stage 2 on my car I put about 3 or 4 carlengths on my friend SRT-4 from 60mph-90mph. I know that I've read lots of "kill" stories :rolleyes: where SRT-4 owners claim to have pulled on '03 and '04 Evos out on the highway. I don't doubt that but the '05 Evo models are putting about 10-15 more horsepower to the wheels and an extra 8-10wtq. Maybe it will be different. It will be fun nonetheless.