EVO == drool
 

Well, I went by the Mitsu dealer Sunday afternoon. The EVO was stashed in the garage waiting on new plugs (aparently the test drives haven't been kind to it... if anyone buys one, get one still in the wrapper).

Anyway, the dealers were happy to let me back there to see it... it helps that I showed up in a WRX I guess... :lol:

1st impressions: That car is AMAZING! Looks much more "finished" than the WRX, i.e. there's a whole lot less to be done to it to get it ready to race. :twisted: The Eineke rims are dope, the Brembos rock, the Recaro seats are nice (maybe a little too wide, but not too bad), the wheel and pedals and the AWESOME shifter are in better locations for my lanky-ass than the WRX.

The interior is very comfortable for driving, but I think it lacks in features. The WRX dash has a place to toss a cell phone, and the optional double armrest containers. The EVO's dash is pretty but not as functional... no place to toss stuff near the shifter. Only a single DIN for the stereo, so forget about adding aftermarket navigation, or DVD, or anything other than a single DIN stereo. There's also no place for a gauge pod like the WRX has up top. Center tach is nice, but the gauges weren't impressive in any other way.

Trunk's a little smaller than a WRX, but there's enough room for a sub and two bags of golf clubs.

Under the hood is amazing. Very well laid out motor. The FMIC is sick! Twin-scroll turbo, water spray, cold air intake... Chatting with the dealer (he used to race for TRD in Hawaii, so he seems to know what he's talking about... hell he know more about the STi than the Subaru dealers) I was told the EVO has a grounding problem... it needs an Earthing mod. Also the intake manifold is kinda restrictive, but it's an old motor, there's plenty of aftermarket parts to fix that.

Since the car was in the garage, the guy wouldn't let me start it up :x, I'll have to go back in a few days and see if I can test drive it. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, what I got to see of the EVO VIII, I'll give an 8.5. 'Course I didn't get to drive it, and that's worth like 60% of the overall score. It better be fast as hell, with rock solid suspension and brakes like retro-rockets! If it's not significantly faster feeling than my WRX, then it's not worth the $30k + $6k mark-up. Especially w/ 50 miles of ass-beating test drives on it.

So, in conclusion... the EVO is a sick car. Out of the box it seems like a worthy competitor to a well modded WRX. However, I fully expect the STi to get a 9+/10, and at the same price.

On a side note... I dropped by Lithia to see the '04 WRXs... they had a wagon in the service center... that's it :x. I told the guy (who was all over my trying to get me to trade in my '02 on an '04... yeah right) I was interested in the STi. Here's what he told me:

"Well, there's about 650 dealers in the US, and we're in the top 5 for sales, and we're only getting 6 STis. Subaru's only making 400 of them."

Muthafscker what!? :lol: That guy's a retard if he thinks Subaru's only gonna bother making 400 STis. Considering the cost of R&D and the cost of building a production line for only 400 cars (the US STi is only going to be sold in the US) the STi would have to sell at like $1 million each just to break even. C'mon man, this isn't a goddam hand-built Ferrari... it's a mass-produced Subaru! They're going to make more than 400. Hell, if Subaru's smart they'll make 'em till they're sitting on the lots with sticker prices below MSRP. I hate dealers that make up shit and/or lie to customers. I mean seriously, where'd that 400 number come from? Common sense dictates that's a BS number... unless a bunch of Japanese dudes with FHI badges told me "400" I wouldn't believe it. Hell, I'll bet Subaru builds more than 400 STi Type RA Spec C's for racing purposes. I'm going to have a field day when that car comes in, and I go down there to talk about it with the dealers.

Me: "So how's the regenerative braking system on this work?"
Dealer: "Well, erm, it's the best in its class!"
Me: "Oh yeah? I hear the A/C isn't powered by the motor?"
Dealer: "Yep, it's totally electric, so there's no drag on the motor.*"
Me: "So how much power does this have?"
Dealer: "300hp, 300tq"
Me: "At the wheels?"
Dealer: "Um.... no, the horsepower is at the turbo."
:lol:

* they actually told me that when I was buying my WRX.

Sounds like the EVO looks sick! I might have to go down and check it out also.

The dealer at Lithia said something like that to me also. Like they were only going to recieve 5 STi's and they were only producing like 500 in the first year. :x

Bunch of yokes they are.

The EVO's are real nice there even nicer when you get to sit in one that has like 15-20.000$ in to it like the one I sat in at Vivid. :lol: [img:62971d65fc=600]http://www.vividracing.com/evo/images/evowallpaper1.jpg[/img:62971d65fc]