I have been playing back and fourth in my mind about the whole EVO and STi thing. I have my heart set on a used V///, I would like to spend $24,000 or less on one. The reason I love the EVO is because it looks killer, a mean look to it unlike the STi. I see an STi alone and I think wow that's sweet but then I see them both side by side and IMHO the STi looks boooring as hell so appearence hands down goes to the EVO, handling as well though I hear as a daily driver you most likely won't be able to tell the difference.

When it comes to modability the EVO wins hands down as you all know, I would like to stick with some minor things in the outcome if I were to own one, TBE, Flash, SAFC-II, CAI, HKS 272 Cams, Walbro 255lhp fuel pump and MBC... slap some tint, paint the rims and smoke the headlights and wow my dream car, that is not a lot of money and they respond extremely well.

The STi seems to be the better "leave it bone stock" car and that is probobly partially due to the response it gets from mods, not much... taking about twice as much cash to get the same gains as an EVO is discouraging so I am almost positive it will be the EVO.

The point of this thread is to go over some points of view on the stock for stock reliability, reqular maintinence and required input to both cars as an owner. I understand that with high performance you also need to put a bit more money into the car for upkeep. I was wondering if I could get some points of view on the two. The EVO clutch I hear is weak, the STi as well but not nearly as bad... people all say weak to the abusers however I was wondering how long I could expect to have a good working clutch if I were to replace it with an aftermarket, or is it going to last just as long or a similar time frame as the stock one? That can be a pain in the ***.

I understand tire wear on these is a little bit more inevidable then your average car and the stock ones suck in the wear dept but how long could I expect an all season tire to last me? (of course depending on the tire, a general not too expensive tire but not too el cheapo either)? Do both cars chew up the tires the same?

With a 20,000 ish mile EVO or STi could I get a list of when certain things may need to be replaced based on experience of a spirited driver, I don't plan on AutoXing it, dragging it, even with my mods I will just have the car and perform some more aggressive higher speed driving when the coast is clear, playing around etc but nothing very harsh, no launches, no donuts or dumb things... I plan on having the car, working on it, modding it to an extent of the list created above. People make out the EVO to be a maintinence freak, like owning a Porsche or Ferrari... Is the STi any less of a repair and replace pain in the *** then the EVO? I really would like the EVO but not if it is going to nickle and dime me to death like a beater would.