mikeb

congrats
and post pics

Gord96BRG

Congrats, Eric! You'll love it! 2 weeks after I picked mine up in July, my son and I left for a 2 week road trip to the Monterey Historics. It's a fabulous car for distance driving, and is very versatile - excellent for cruising on the freeway, and excellent for hitting the twisties (we did the Mount Hamilton run the day we left Monterey :D ).

Enjoy!
Regards,
Gordon

Evolv

iTrader: (1)

Eric - congrats

Hey Gordon where is the I'm planning a road trip to Ablerta and west next year, break in period for my 8

Gord96BRG

Here's a map - California Route 130, the Mount Hamilton road, runs from east San Jose, California, to the Lick Observatory. It's extremely twisty and windy, and the road down the back side is even better!

Regards,
Gordon

Zonker04

Thanks, everyone. I'll try to post some quick and dirty pix here.

Zonker04

And here:

SpacerX

Sweet pix, Zonker!

We're most likely going to pick up an "8" within the next few months. Have looked at and tested some other contenders (we've even considered a few SUV crossovers in our search to replace my aging PGT), but the 8 does it for us!

Love the red -- we haven't decided if we're gonna go Red or Ti, though Sandi is leaning towards Ti.

Just going to go with the sport model, just exactly like the one you picked up -- accents + CD changer + spare. We don't want/need all the extras, especally the moonroof.

mikeb

zonker
great pics
I love the red myself

welcome

Zonker04

Thanks, Dewds!

I yam loving this car. Had to scoot to make a left turn arrow this morning. Put down the hammer and made the light with half a second to spare, heel-toeing and downshifting and accelerating out of the turn: I could feel the tail thinking about coming out, but not quite doing it--sweet!!!! The traction control never kicks in under normal driving

Hard 8

Fast forward almost three years, and here I am again, posting in my own original thread, albeit under a different moniker:

When we left off before, I had bought the RX-8 after test-driving the Evo, and I was mighty conflicted between the two.

Well, the RX-8 was a noble steed and it served me extremely well over the last 2.5 years. Never gave me any trouble, handled like a dream, and got nice looks wherever I went. But eventually I decided I wanted a five-seater, and I never quite forgot about that Evo.

So ... last night I just traded in my 2004 RX-8 (20,600 miles; perfect condition; $19,000) for an Evo IX with the Sun(roof), Sound (upgraded stereo) and Leather package. Here's a quick review:

Driving the Evo (aka Baby Huey) is a whole different experience from my RX-8. The cabin is orders of magnitude more open and light, especially with the sunroof open. The windows and windshield are much larger, the window sills a bit lower, the seating position much higher.

My three kids seem much to prefer the Evo's interior: They get power windows in back; they can open the doors themselves; and there's a lot more hip and shoulder room when they're sitting two across. We did three across last night, and that seemed good, too (less so for longer trips). Happily, the rear seating on the Evo (biggest in class?) really seems quite roomy.

I dig the interior in general: The small orange instrument cluster is low-rent as are the switchgear and door handles, but the dash overall is good to look at and the shifter, pedals and steering wheel are all delights to use. I particularly like the leather Momo wheel and mini-baseball-like black leather shift ****. The leather package adds leather to the door panels and center console arm rest, so they're pretty nice too.

The steering is very quick but I got used to it quickly. Turning radius is larger but still workable; I can still pull the necessary U-ey into my lot at work. Corners flat and quick. Suspension is stiff but I like that. Rougher than the RX-8 but not too much so.

The power is a bit like walking a Rottweiller: As long as everything's mellow it just ambles along like a Tercel. Tip your foot into the throttle and the dog sees a cat and rockets forward like a guided missile, in a blur. Laggy? Yes; just a bit.

Engine noise is very purposeful, not just the exhaust but under the hood too. Loving all the details, even those I can't see: Magnesium valve cover, hollow cams, variable intake cam, forged pistons. There a cold-air intake with an extruded aluminum pipe running to the turbo; very nice welds on the pipe.

And I have always creamed of red Brembos and this particular style of wheel; can't complain there.

I also dig the looks front to back, flared boxy fenders, rear windshield wiper, stubby little antenna up top.

This morning I passed one motocop with his radar gun out, but I wasn't speeding; still made me paranoid though.

I will likely pull the wing off in the next few days; but I think I'll keep it for occasional use. The (hollow) carbon fiber is just stone gorgeous. My kids love it, of course.

I was afraid it was so Spartan that it wouldn't have an interior trunk release, but it does. Relieved about that. The "315-watt" stereo sounds good to me; much better than the base stereo in my 8. The sub box in the trunk looks cool.

From the outside, the car looks relatively small, but on the inside it seems almost huge to me. And one nice detail on the engine: It comes factory pre-filled with Mobile 1, and on the oil filler cap it's got a big Mobile 1 label. Cool. (I'm a big fan of Mobile 1.)

No pix yet, but except for the sunroof it looks just like the one below. The interior shots are of the leather package in other Evo IXs.

So I just wanted to say that the RX-8 was a great car, but at the moment I wanted (needed?) something different. Apples and oranges, in a way.

cruzdreamer

Great to hear about your purchase! I too am almost ready to trade my baby in for much needed space. Things have changed since I bought her....new jewelry business and my son is a lot bigger now and complains now about my car when he used to love it. My concern is what I will get for my 8....2004 Auto GT with 31,000 miles...great condtion, just some scrapes on the wheels. I owe more than $19,000 unfortunately. My hubby says no more rolling the upside down money into the next one!! So....I have to wait. I really hate to give her up but I need space!! Though for a sports car I have been more than pleased with the space and trunk capacity! IMO the RX8 is still one of the best looking cars out there. I am not an EVO fan.....too young looking for me but cool for youthful guys. I am 40 but I do feel like I am 30. So, now I want something cool and reasonably priced and with some good utility and good gas mileage. Here's what I want, well so far my first choice....( no comparison to an RX8...boo hoo), Chevy(yikes, did I say Chevy?) HHR. Love the looks and how I can customize it(love the orange), but it may be too small. Next...ok...brace yourselves.....Honda Element....ok on looks(new ones without the black plastic panels) but good for an autistic son, jewelry stuff and great on gas for it's cargo space...not to mention reliable!!!) OK....hubby wants me to get a van.....I am not a van person at all. So, one van type vehicle is only possible.......Mazda5....sporty looking little hauler and if it drives like the Protege 5 wagon I had before than it is a possibility.....white, tint windows etc. I read in some review that it drove horribly and that surprised me. Anyone else know about that one? Guess I can drive it for myself. So, my concerns are price, cargo, gas mileage and looks!!! Hard to satisfy all of those and still look cool and love driving my car! I have not been on the forum for about a year...busy.....but had to sort of talk this one out I guess! Thanks for listening! Wendy

Hard 8

Thanks for the nice note, Wendy. Those all sound like great options for you. I would encourage you to test-drive them and, when the time comes, go with what appeals to you most emotionally, and well as practically.

I have looked over the Mazda 5 but I have not driven it. I thought it was really cool. I also like the Element. I have not really looked much at the HHR, but it could be nice. Anyway, good luck to you and yours!

Raptor75

Just bought mine at the start of the year. I'm 44 and have two kids so the only criteria the wife mandated was it had to have 4 seats. 350Z, S200, Miata all ruled out right off the bat. Eov, WRX and STi were also ruled out pretty quickly, great for performance and AWD but did not like the boy racer image and low rent interior. Looked at the Eclipse but it is a lead sled and is lacking in many areas, pretty car though. It came down to two cars the Legacy GT and RX-8.

Legacy GT had all the goods of the STi but had a far better interior quality and amenities. It also had a better ride quality while only being slightly slower (0-60 5.1 sec) but was a very dull looking car. The RX-8 was a beautiful car and I always wanted to own a rotary. I read every thing I could about both cars for about two years. One month I was sold on the RX the next it was the GT. This went on for 2 years. When it was time to buy I test drove the RX-8 and new right then this was the car. Bought it two days later, love every aspect of this car except the abysmal gas mileage.

Hard 8

Excellent choice. A few years back the low-rent Evo interior put me off, too, but this new leather one is much nicer. Still cheap, but it actually looks nice in a lot of ways. The front Recaro seats are amazing; black perforated leather (see above). Yum.

I test-drove the Legacy GT a few weeks back. Damn, but that thing pulls like a freight train! Great bottom end. But I couldn't stand the front; reminded me of Taurus, and the interior was almost too nice for me, if that makes sense; I like something a little more basic and sporty.

The STi is great, but (1) they wouldn't let me test-drive one; (2) I can't stand the nose; and (3) I hate the blue seats. Plus, no sunroof. So that was out.

cruzdreamer

Thanks Hard8......Have fun with your car....all the car magazines seem to like the EVO if I remember correctly! I have driven the HHR and the Element but not the Mazda5. Both drove ok but in comparison to my 8, well, there is none and that is what I struggle with too. Looking for the fun factor(zoom, zoom) so I am hoping the 5 has it if I can't get the HHR. The HHR has more of the amenities(like leather,sunroof,heated seats, autodim mirrors,remote start etc.) I want and looks for about the same price...the others don't even offer leather!! So many decisions but I have time I guess. Thanks again and enjoy! P.S. Cool seats!

Hard 8

Thanks; you, too!

Raptor75

I hear ya, if Subaru could just get a good design team they would make a killing. I just could not image looking at the Legacy every morning for the next 10 years. Being from the Midwest I do miss that AWD. Have you seen the next Eov making the rounds at the car shows, very nice.

Hard 8

Yeah; the Evo X looks like a real beast, although I have to say I'm a sucker for the looks of the IX, which almost reminds me of an old E30 M3, boxy fenders, juvenile wing and all.

The X looks more like a hypersteroidal Acura TL, and I bet it costs a lot more, too.

Ike

My love for the E30 M3 is a big reason why I love the looks of the Evo and WRX/STI. There's just something about fender flares on a boxier car that make it look so intimidating and sexy in an understated way.

Also, I'll never understand all the fuss about interiors. It's all plastic, some a little "better" plastic than others and I just don't drive around looking at how beautifully molded my plastic interior is. Functionality wise, the Evo interior is damn good, great visibility, perfectly placed pedals, great steering wheel, the shifter position is very natural, and oddly enough all the vents seem to be placed better than in many of my previous cars. Oh, and the seats, best seats I've ever sat in in any car, including exotics.

Hard 8

What you said, Ike. And I am all about the user interface; that holy quadrangle of shifter, seat, steering wheel and pedals. The Evo (and the RX-8 and Miata) have them set up just riiiiight.

Ike

I can't use my normal driving position in the RX-8, me legs always hit the steering wheel. I sit more forward than most people my height, but most cars I don't have a problem with.

Hard 8

I like to sit forward, too, but it works for moi.

Krankor

I'm not sure I understand. What is you're height? I'm quite short, and have to sit quite forward just to reach the pedals. Haven't encountered a problem with legs and the steering wheel. I can't quite picture how you are doing it.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

maybe Ike is 10 feet tall thats why hes having a problem

Im 6 ft and I have no problem driving my 8, oh yes with my gf's parents in the backseat as well (just happened tonight)

Ike

I'm 6'2, and if I put the seat back a bit it's fine, but with the seat where it feels comfortable for me my legs hit no matter what.

In response to the original poster, get the Evo!