BlueEyes

I think I saw that episode, the murci vs the evo. Turbo lag isn't a problem if you keep the car in the power band, sounds a lot like what you have to do with a rotary engine.

Ike

Well I'm refering to a new 04 (there are many many of them withing 100 miles of me) which can be had for about 5k under invoice with rebates. Even if the Rx-8 ended up being a little more than that 27k STi I looked at the rates on a used car vs. a new car would make it a wash.

Hard 8

BTW, my brother has a WRX wagon, about three years old, and I've driven it several times. I really didn't like the driver - car interface, the turbo lag, the shifter, or the body roll. I assume that those factors are all way better in the STi.

Ike

Much better on teh STi, it feels like an NA car and has a totally different gearbox. The WRX is also very easy and cheap to improve, and the wagon has different suspension and geometry from the Sedan. Change the tires, rear sway, and gut a cat or two and it becomes a completely different car.

Hard 8

Cool. We're in California, where they're really uptight about gutting cats. He's looked at Vishnu's stages I and II, but we've never been able to figure out if he could pass a smog inspection (much less comply with the CARB regs) with them installed.

cas2themoe

I should move where you live then.............................. :D

ibfubar2000

from a point of view from someone who used to work at a Mitsubishi/Mazda dealer. (now it s Mazda only) Evo's are not worth the money unless you are willing to pay for the maintennace. I have seen quite a few customer with 8-10k miles needing new brake pads and rotors at over $1,000 per axle. I have seen 3-4 customers, and heard countless other stories, of customers having to buy new transmission at 15,000 miles or less because they put an aftermarket clutch in them and voided the warranty (costing the customer around $5,000) (if you are buying from someone else you may want to check on this, it is very common to add aftermarket racing clutches, our Mitsubishi factory rep. would void any transmission warranty as soon as he sees an aftermarket, (most common Eddie brand racing) clutch installed. oil changes are normal frequency 3k miles but cost about $40.00 because of synthetic oil. I have seen tires having to be replaced after a few thousand miles (also not covered by warranty and costing about $300 per tire.) so just because you are getting a good deal on a very fast car, you have to remember the maintenance involved, most people dont think about the maintenance and by the time the do it usually ends up with them yelling at the dealer because of the price. Just something else to think about.

Hard 8

Yup. Thanks.

Ike

Ib is correct but on the other side of things the Evo and the Imprezas are very easy to work on as an amateur. The oem tires are very expensive but tires nearly as good that will last much longer can be had for less than half the price of the Advans. No they're not cheap cars to maintain, but they're not nearly as bad if you don't let Mitsubishi rake you over the coals. But again it seems the STi isn't nearly as bad when it comes to maintenance and what Ibfubar pointed out is another thing that steered me in the direction of the STi.

Ike

The rebates were nationwide, it's no different where you live.

DARKMAZ8

I say keep the 8 and buy an fd......

Why you ask......cause the 7 cant lose...... :D

Ike

He's looking for a way to save money, not for a 10-15 year old car with a disposable engine and even more obscene maintenance costs that he'd have to buy outright and not be able to finance.

DARKMAZ8

I know it was a j/k..... :p

I say for daily driving get a used 2001 lexus ls430......black on black with ultra premium package..... :D

Or a 2001 m3 6spd......

goforwand

Ike, how much does it cost to improve the suspension and HP on the WRX? My brother is looking at a Saab 9-2X (WRX), as I can hook him up through my GM Plan through work...

He wants to bring it close to the STI level, but hates the look of the STI (personally, I think both are hideous looking, but to each his own..)

Ike

Depends on how far you want to go. Getting a used rear sway for 75$ will make a big difference and replacing the horrible OEM tires another big difference. That's enough for a lot of people. I got the same basic KYB AGP struts that come on the STi with STi RA springs for less than $500 used (off the car now). Beyond that coilovers for the WRX cost just as much as they do for any other car. But even then there's still a lot more to the STi than just some different springs and struts.

As for HP... there are a ton of ways to go about it. The cheapest would be using a homemade boost controller ($15 at home depot) gutting the stock uppipe and getting a used downpipe. For about $200 you're looking at making close to 275hp at the crank. The best and safest way IMO to do it is to get a Utec or Cobb Accessport for engine management (500-900 new) and a TBE and uppipe(700-1200 new) then later on down the road if that isn't enough for you add new injectors, fuel pump, turbo, and possibly FMIC. With those mods there are a lot of guys with well over 300whp but once you start getting that high supporting mods such as clutch and gears will become a must at some point.

Steiner

I bought a white '05 Evo RS about 3 weeks ago. It's everything I knew it would be...quick, agile, responsive, and very addictive to drive. The RS isn't for everybody though. I have no power windows or locks. As far as the manual windows....meh...but I'm definately planning to install power locks this summer because I'm getting tired of having to unlock and relock the doors for my passengers. Nowadays nobody thinks to manually lock a car door when they step out. I've accepted that and have been dealing with it. It is a very minor thing IMHO though.

I bought the RS over the GSR/MR for a few reasons...

First and foremost was the lack of a rear spoiler. That's not my thing. Of course cost was a factor too, but I could have saved up another month or two if I wanted to buy an MR. I also could have winged the payments on an '05 GSR and (believe it or not) was offered a brand new '04 GSR for the same price as my '05 RS. The local dealer was anxious to move the last of their '04 models off the lot.

Second of all I wanted a platform I could tune and, since both WORKS and Vishnu are within 30 minutes of my house, the aftermarket options are outstanding for this little 4g63. In the next few weeks (when my tax return comes) I'm planning to do my first mods...WORKS p2 brain flash and a cat-back exhaust. I should see close to 270-280awhp with just those mods alone. I dunno if you could consider no radio from the factory a tuning option...but within a week I had installed a system that pretty much blows away even the MR's special sound system...and for about half the cost. As an audiophile I knew this going in and had slowly been researching a system for about 3 months before I bought the car.

My 3rd reason for buying this car was the free maintenance, amazing road side assistance and 10yr/100k miles warrany...the latter of which I'm sure I will eventually void by year's end. Just the same Mistubishi is trying to dig themselves out of a finacial hole by offering lost of free perks. Maintenance on the Evo is high...but free scheduled maintenance will save you hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars over the course of the first 5 years. Of course things like tires and brakes fall outside of that.

And of course my final reason for buying this car is that it's simply the funnest car I've ever driven in my 13 years on the road.

I'm not going to compare this car to the RX-8 because they are both very different animals and the teenage fanboi legions will turn this perfectly good thread into a pissing match...but my coworker with an RX-8 loves driving it.

goforwand

Thanks Ike!

monzter

I too test drove the Evo (gsr) before purchasing my 8, but ultimately decided that I preferred the looks/interior of the 8 over the Evo's styling. I thought that the power difference wouldn't matter and that I would eventually get tired of the Evo's looks.

It turns out that what i've gotten tired of is the lack of power in the 8. I'm hoping that some FI kit will cure the power bug i've got and debate all the time on whether or not I would rather get rid of my 8 and pick up an Evo or STI.

AbusiveWombat

Thought I would chime in. I've had my EVO for a little over 2 years. It just turned 28k miles and I've had 0 problems. Also, i would like to point out that I'm still on the stock clutch. IMO, the clutch issues have more to do with the drivers than anything else. AWD + big horsepower + drag racing mentallity = short clutch life. It also doesn't help that Mitsu designed the clutch to be the weak portion of the drivetrain. If you're not doing 5-6k clutch bombs every weekend then the clutch will last plenty long. If you're into drag racing then pick up a $400-600 ACT clutch...you don't need the $1500-2000 twin disc clutches that are out there.

Let me address a few point from above:

1.) Maintence: The stock tires will last between 5k-18k depending on your driving style. If you're hitting the track every weekend then plan to replace the tires within 10k. The stock tires are nice, but they're terribly expensive ~$220 /tire. My stock rubber lasted 17k and I replaced them with some decent tires that were ~$120 / tire. There's a small difference in performance between the two but these tires are lasting much longer.

The other wear item that goes fast are the break pads...and thank god they do. The stock pads are really good at stopping but they also have a tendancy to leave a residue on the rotors. The residue makes it feel like your rotors are warped (steering wheel shakes when braking). I asked Mitsu about this and they told me the rotors were warped and it was going to cost me. Thank god for the forums where there are people that are actually knowledgable. The evom folks told me about the pad transfer and how to cure/fix the problem. The fix was to brake hard a few times from 60-80 mph to heat up and burn off the residue. This worked but also ate up my brake pads (~20k miles). I've since put on some low dust Hawk pads which sacrifice a bit of performance but for half the cost...and the added benefit of no dust.

That's all as far as maintence goes. The first year will be expensive but after that the tires and brake pads should last longer and will be cheaper...as long as you go with brands other than OEM.

As for the rest of the car. The paint quality is not very good and if I were to buy again, I'd probably go with white because it's less likely to show swirls.

Now for the good. This has been the most fun car I've ever owned. It has great power in all weather conditions, go-cart like feel, practicallity for 4 with a large trunk, and handles like it's on rails. I'm the type of person who goes through cars every 2-3 years and usually I'm looking for the next car within the first year of ownership. This has been the first car that I truely enjoy driving, even after 2 years. And my car is totally stock...I can't wait to hook up a stage1-2 from Buschur or Vishnu.

I highly recommend this car as it is the essense of fun to drive.

Mindtrip

I would get the EVO,WRX, STi any of them.

Ike

Someone misses their Subaru