I'm not starting this thread to create ANY type of flame war and I know people here are going to be evo biased, that's fine... I just want the facts.

I have a 04 STi currently with intake/catless tbe/ebay tmic and a custom reflash turning 12.7@107mph on pump gas, the car in this configuration will not experience any failures that it wouldn't have had already experienced stock... but i've been giving the evo ix's a look for the past few months...

i've noticed at my local track evo ix's with bolt ons and a flash run about the same et/trap i do, but from what i've read low 12s to even 11s is POSSIBLE on the stock turbo (assuming race gas?)

I know the previous evos had some synchro/driveline/clutch issues, are those worked out now in the ix's?

What "gotchas" and other common problems would one expect from a bolt ons/flashed IX as a daily driver?

Basically i'm trying to compare my car vs. a evo ix with the same configuration on pump gas in terms of reliability and wager wether or not i want to get a evo... from how it looks the two cars would be pretty well equal in the power department, but that could just be the other driver

i dunno, let me know what you think

 

a well tuned evo 9 will make about 30 - 40 whp more than your sti on pump gas. All the 9 need is a flash, and full tbe to get 300 whp on a mustang dyno. (this is on 91) An equally modded sti generally makes arround 270 ish on 91.

 

The trick to making an STi hum is getting the tiny stock vf39 off the car.

In my experiences though, no other 4 cylinder car responds to very basic bolt on mods like an Evo IX. The only "gotcha" I can think of is the OE clutch, but if you treat it with some respect, you should see some decent life from it.

I wish you were closer, because I could get you a ride in a lightly modded IX so you could get a good comparison of one of those and your car for yourself.

 

Mod for mod the IX will always be more powerful than the STi, and the Evo has more tuning potential with the stock internals/turbo than the STi. I have a 1st gen Evo VIII and the only thing wrong w/ the tranny is they didn't put GM/Pennzoil synchromesh fluid as the factory fill. With this fluid it shifts like butter even at 75K miles with numerous track, auto-x, and drag racing days...

I'm biased toward Evos but I think there is a lot of data to support the tuning potential of the 4G63 with just bolt-ons, especially the IX with MIVEC and gigantic turbo.

 

Nice STi you got there, but IXs with just TBE and Flash are running quicker times and higher traps, or atleast should be (depends on the driver). As far as reliability, just as reliable as your car, although the clutch on an EVO can be a problem, especially when more power is added into the mix. 12.7@107mph is impressive, but check out this example of a IX-
R/T ..... .529
60' ..... 1.911
330 .... 5.451
1/8 ..... 8.396
MPH .... 83.20
1000 .. 10.927
1/4 ..... 13.070
MPH ... 105.69

That's bone stock, so you see it doesn't take a lot for IXs to trap 110mph and greater.

 

i might be off topic here but, if you are going to upgrade turbo on a evo, would you see more whp gains off a 8 or a 9?

 

I have not heard of any driveline issues on evo's other than people putting in out-of-spec oils and launching in destructive ways.

The ONLY 'gotcha' I can think of is the paint. And the interior. If you care about that sort of thing.

 

the 9 is strong period!!! and it doesn't take a lot to get tthem mid to low 12's. the STI on the other hand seems like it needs more tuning just to get to the low 12's. i might be wrong but #'s don't lie. if you were gonna buy one thats gonna make the most power on minimum cost the 9 is the way to go.

just so you know, i have both the STI and a EVO VIII in my garage now. the sti is fmic, tbe, pumped, ecu tuned and it just keeps up with my 8 with cams tbe, ebc and ecu tune.

problem wise the only one i've had in 38k miles is my clutch @ 8k, but that was mostly me launching. since then i haven't had a problem yet. but small things like paint, the brake caliper paint fading and the wing chipping are small things but i haven't had a problem with mistu fixing that either.

 

I agree

 

what is the vf39? Sorry don't know a thing about subi's

 

I'm guessing the stock turbo on an sti.

 

BoostFrenzy -- if you want to talk to someone local check out mievo.net, I know there are a few Evo guys out there. Might be able to see one in person, and get their first hand views on the IX.

 

 

well,

we have an 05 evo mr (2.3 gt35R), 05 sti (gt35R), 06 sti (stock turbo, utec, headers, tbe) etc...

the 05 sti started as my daily driver, then we picked up the evo as a shop project car, 06 sti is an employees (who also has an 04 wrx)....

having tuned both on stock turbos, big turbos, similar mods etc.... i really prefer the evo, and it is a much more stout car..

ive seen even stock turbo sti's kill pistons because of detonation etc..... not saying its proper, but the evos are very stout.

cheers

cb