I know I prolly shouldn't start another one of these threads but after doing some research I'm still undecided.

Anyways, to start, I'm looking for a car that has plenty of power when needed, snow capable, reliable, and fuel efficient when needed. While ralliart definitely fits the first two categories and maybe the last category, I'm still unsure about the reliability and overall maintenance cost due to the more advanced technologies (sst, for example).

My question is, to the fellow experts, after owning your car for a year or so, how much have you spent on your car excluding mods?

 

Tires are the biggest expense for me. The stock tires are worthless, so I had to get Yoko Neovas for summer and X-Ice xi2 for the winter.

Fuel efficiency is not the cars strong point. A Dodge Viper with its 10 cylinder gets higher highway MPG than a Evo X.

 

Thanks for your reply, but could you please provide me with some type of numbers? Like in a year, do you spend $2000, $5000 or something in maintenance and regular wear items? I know fuel is bad, but as long as it's not too bad (<15) I'm ok with it.

 

5 speed vs 6 speed......

 

To be honest... this car will take care of everything you want. As long as you stay out of boost you will get between 25-30 mpg on the highway (65 mph). An Evo X gsr is not geared for highway cruising... the TCSST's 5th and 6th gears are made taller for better mpgs. Smaller turbo means it will boost at a lower RPM which means that you won't have to rev the car overly much to get max torque out of it.

Typically with these cars, its the mods that cause the issues... or the abuse of the TCSST transmissions (ie brake torque launches).

If you take care of it, it will take care of you.

In terms of maintenance costs, the tires are typical GTS size so they will be DECENTLY cheap to replace (all depends what kind of performance tires you want). Brakes are GTS, no brembos here to expensively replace. The thing that gets expensive is at the 48 000 kms mark for the change of TCSST fluids as well as diff and etc. But that comes with the AWD part of the car.

Ralliart is the balance of all worlds. Im almost 100% sure its what im picking up come spring time.

 

Thanks, 25-30mpg is very acceptable. Tires and brakes I know are much cheaper than that of the evo's so not too worried there neither. But changing all the fluids I heard will cost over $1000 which sounds really expensive especially on a regular basis, can anyone verify this?

 

at my dealer the 30,000 mile service is 449 at the dealer

 

I wouldn't say its regular maintenance. Oil changes and air filters are regular maintenance items. The diff oil and TCSST oil changes might happen once every 2 to 3 years depending on your useage.

 

If you use the vodka with gold flakes in it as anti-freeze and Hello Kitty motor oil, then yes, your fluids will cost a fortune.

 

With seeing the 2011 WRX for 3-4 grand cheaper than a ralliart... there really is no competition anymore in comparing these. Wide body ftw lol. I wish ralliarts came with the evo body.. but oh well.

Have you considered any other options?

 

I'm not very adept with driving a manual transmission car especially with hills starts and parallel parkings. I would love to own a wrx hatchback (minus the rear headlights) but i want to stick with at least a semi auto

I was reading that one post that said the rear differential fluid along costs $400, scared the **** out of me right there

 

I use full synthetic mobil 1, usually I can get a good deal $30 with filter. I myself drive alot so I change every 4000-5000 miles. So I'm basically changing oil every month and a half. I have a 2009 ralliart, that has been driven hard, long distance, several scrapes, rear ended, and other abuses. So far I can honestly say that I've been very surprised at how tuff this car really is. I've driven through big pot holes at 80 mph. Through the dessert and now about to go through snow. This car is not the smartest daily driver, but it has held up. I to get worried at reliability but so far this has just amazed me. Just don't drag race everyday and change fluids regularly and I think you will be fine. I got this car because I wanted to try all wheel drive, and now I don't know if I can go back to just front or even rear. The best part is the worse the weather, the better this car performs.

 

Very glad to hear that. One of the main reasons I want to buy this car is I plan to take a roadtrip to alaska in the near future and I need a car that can handle well in adverse weather conditions; besides, living in colorado almost requires an awd .
Upgrading from a 115hp toyota corolla, I'll try my best to hold off on gas .

 

The only problem is that the stock tires on the Ralliart are "Summer Only" tires, so you'll need to switch those out before heading to Alaska or tackling Colorado winters!

 

Are you thinking about getting the sedan or the sportback, I really like the look of the sedan but sometimes I wish I had the sportback for the extra space, having this car almost feels like having an suv, a sense that it's very capable, on the other hand for daily driving I sometimes feel that it's over engineered for the daily commute. But like I said I really really get thankful when it rains hard or I get to drive through snow and mud. Getting an awd car is very nice, but it does require more maintenance, it's not like a corolla or civic, those cars seem like they can be abused and never break, I've seen 500,000 miles on civics with only 1 quart of oil inside the engine and still it runs. Also don't forget that this is a turbo car and therefore more complicated, so just be **** about maintenance.