I called the dealership in North Dallas today, I just asked if they have a price on the EVO yet, they came back and said only "29 to 31". Do you think this is MSRP or just the premium you have to pay to get one of the first 5,000? Will that come down at all?

 

That's most likely the MSRP.

 

That's MSRP. The District Sales Rep for my store is sitting 5ft from me and just said that MSRP is going to be right at $30k give or take a couple of dollars.

The four packages will be;

1. Low-spoiler no sunroof
2. Low-spoiler w/sunroof
3. High-spoiler no sunroof
4. High-spoiler w/sunroof

All other equipment will be the same.

Expect maybe a $1k difference depending on which variation it is. High-spoiler no roof should account for about 85% of production BTW. The sunroof was the marketing departments idea. Nobody at MMSA wants it.

 

so . . .

$30k for high spoiler no sunroof
$31k for high spoiler w/sunroof?

 

huh thats funny i called a dealler in new york and he pulled the #'s out his *** like 35,000 + i was like no do you know anything and he was like no not really they didnt send us any info on it, so i was like what you wanna know...

 

Is that guy's name Paul? If it is, he's wrong. All the numbers I've seen it's been 75% w/ big spoiler and roof.

 

Hmm, with the specs that are running around, will have hard time selling those cars. I do believe that car is going to be fast (actually, faster than anything else in that price range). I have no doubt about that. But, racing specs are not everything that is important when most of the people go to buy a new car. There are so many other things that are present, and I am afraid that some other cars might be more intriguing than a little aggressive looking sport car.

For the rest of us, there is no question whether we would go for the E46 330i or an EVO, but we are definitely not a majority of the people that will have to buy it to make it worth for the

Of course, it is all IMHO...


Mr. AWD

 

No it's Chad, and the mix represents what sales wants, not what marketing wants.

 

Are you guys saying the initial release will have the larger spoiler for most ppl?

 

That 75% was for the "initial production" run. Marketing, in their infinite stupidity, is guessing what people will want, including color breakdown and option breakdown. They will probably guess that 25% of us want silver, 20% white, and so forth; and that for some bloody odd reason 75% of us want a sunroof. However, once dealers actually get to order what they want, it'll shift towards Mark's estimate of 85% w/o the sunroof. Unfortunately the "initial production" may be all 6000 of the 2004 models.

 

The initial run is essentially one car per top-tier qualifying store. Maybe 3-400 cars???? After that, I think we will see where the mix works out. Our new car manager doesn't seem to think anyone will want anything other than big wing/no roof and our district rep agrees. A 15% sunroof mix is probably about right since I think some people will go with it, just not the majority. If we are lucky though we should be able to order combinations that fit our pre-orders so it won't be too much of a problem.

We're still not allowed to place our orders yet.

 

Just out of curiosity what is the big drawback to a sunroof other than the weight?? Does it make the body less rigid? I could take or leave a sunroof however I was just curious why most people were against them.

 

By cutting a hole in the roof structure, you do decrease rigidity of the overall car. But the difference is likely small, and wouldn't be noticed unless you take it to the track and compare with a non-sunroofed Evo.

But the more important issue is the added weight. The sunroof adds weight to the highest portion of the car. This added weight makes a difference in how the car handles by increasing the center of gravity. Increasing the center of gravity will increase body roll, and decrease handling.

I wouldn't consider getting an EVO if the sunroof came stock on every car.

SC~ who has a type R, so he can relate to the no sunroof thing.

 

SC - spot on. Don't forget the inevitable leaks and maintanence/repair costs of a sunroof, as well.

One note, I would view the structural strength as more significant than the weight penalty. You're replacing steel with glass, so the added weight isn't that significant. Losing 1/4 of your roof is probably more so, especially when you get a significant weight transfer to 1 corner (braking into a turn/accelerating hard out of a turn).

 

It was said by someone at the Type R board I also frequent that the sunroof system weighs 40 - 50lbs in the Integra. Because not only do you have the added weight of the glass to deal with, but there is the added weight of the motor and other mechanical parts to get the thing to operate correctly.

I'm not sure about the Lancer sunroof system, so I can't speak about it's wieght.

SC