I noticed a lot of people trading their 03' Evo in for the MR. For those of you that have done modifications to your 03', what did you learn from your first Evo that you will apply to your new one? Any regrets (i.e. aftermarket mods)? Now that you have experience with an Evo and have a clean slate to start with, what would you do and what wouldn't you do again, or differently?

 

i think trading in the 03 is stupid. Take the $6000 increase in price and the $5000 depreciation, i can put that $11000 into my 03 and kick any MR's a$$. But, hey, if you got the green, go buy the bling........

 

WERD...

 

yea booooooyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!! I agree

 

How much are you guys getting for your 03's when you trade them in?

 

with out a doubt!!!!!

 

I don't really think the MR is worth the extra..... but that's just my opinion

 

Personally, I'm not in the market for a new Evo as I love my '03 and the USDM Evo 8 MR doesn't offer a significant enough improvement for me to take the financial hit that trading up would involve. [for the record: I love the MR and would have gone for it if it were available back when I bought my '03...but I can't justify trading up at this point!]

But if I were to buy another Evo and start modding it, there is one thing I would have done differently. I initaly installed a Buschur 3" cat-back with Magnaflow box. Within a month or two, I ended up getting the 3" downpipe and high-flow cat. This meant fussing around and cutting the flange off the cat-back unit and fitting a short adapter in front of the cat. This was a big waste of time! I should have gone straight to a 3" turbo-back right from the beginning and saved the time, money, and aggravation of doing the same job twice.

So, I guess my first piece of advice would be not to waste time with a cat-back exhaust and just go stright for the turbo-back.

Also, my original tires took a huge beating last summer when I took the car out to a few track events. The wheels had almost no camber and the outside edges of the tires were ruined. When I got the car aligned, the camber and toe settings were ridiculous! After a proper 4-wheel alignment, the tires had much more even wear...but the damage was done.

So, considering the high cost of the Yoko Advans, my second piece of advice would be to get a good wheel alignment asap.

I guess that's pretty much it.

Emre

 

Great info! I just got my turboback (helix/megan racing combo) on, and it is a huge improvement over stock. Definately the first mod to do. Trading in for an MR is tempting, but when it comes down to it, its just not worth it for the price. If I traded in, I'd probably just go for an '05 gsr. The good price and E-ACD, among other little changes seems to be worth it. But then again I'll probably end up holding out for an '06 Evo IX.

 

Where in michgian are u located? I'd like to check out your MR if you are around detroit.

What people have said about trading their Evos for the MR is just about what the general consensus would say. Most people just do not want to take the hit. If the MR had all the goodies the JDM version has (super AYC, etc) it might be a whole different ball game. But the Evo is such a great car out da box, an extra gear and bilsteins is not worth the premium. I mean you can get the 05 GSRs and still be as cool..minus the badging and MR only color.

BUT... i guess... I'm not really answering your questions am i?

 

I personally wouldn't have traded in an 03' for the MR just because my cousin and few other guys I know have 03' EVOs. There all nice.

This is my first EVO (Actually, my first BRAND NEW car). So I decided to shell out the few extra bucks to get the MR. If I'm spending 30Gs on a car, what's another 5 (in my opinion).

Kayaalp - Thanks for the post. Thats exactly what I was looking for. I know a few guys with modified cars or trucks that say they would do a lot of things differently if they had a clean slate to work with. Thanks for the input.

rsboy - I'm in the detroit area. I've only heard of one other Grey MR running around the detroit area. I'm currently de-badged and I'll have my winter rims on in about a week. Keep an eye out for me. I'll do the same.

 

well, usually the 2nd year cars are made with most of the bugs worked out, so maybe you're getting more than you're acknowledging.

They fix all the problems the first year model is having and fix it, so technically the best evo to buy is the last year model.

 

03Evo + RnR GT35R > MR my choice is clear and i got the 5 speed to hold it up = )