It is a daily driver and if your a family man it can be a family car also.

 

Daily Driver for me, love every second of it.

 

the evo sucks in rush hour bumper to bumper traffic
other than that
its a f awesome ride!

 

Driven mine every day for a year now. It's still fine as a daily driver with all my mods listed below. The ride is a little rough, and the gas mileage isn't great, but every turn can be a lot of fun.

-Paul

 

Mine's a daily driver also (about 20-miles a day). It's not great on gas depending on how bad your traffic is. It is harsh over bumps and certainly a rough (but fun) ride. You'll burn up the expensive tires more quickly too...but all in all I've been OK with it as a daily driver.

 

I've had my car for 3 months and 2 days and I have 7300 miles on it

I commute about 70 miles a day and that combined with weekend pleasure drives, comes out to about 30k per year. My only gripe is gas mileage. I used to get around 30 with my Civic Si and now get around 22-23. I spend around 300 a month on gas..sometimes more

Once I hit 30k or so I'm either getting a different job or a different car. I don't want to use up such an awesome car on daily rigors. I want it to last longer so I can get the most enjoyment out of it.

 

I've been using mine for a year as a daily driver. Other than one really annoying squeak in the passenger's front door panel, the car has been flawless. I take my two teenage sons to school and they appreciate the roomy back seat. I upgraded the audio system so we have decent tunes and satellite radio. The trunk is reasonably large, so it holds all the mundane stuff people cart around in life: groceries, baseball equipment, bags of mulch, extra clothes, and even plants from the nursery. Having four doors makes the car very appropriate for taking groups of co-workers out to lunch. For such a high-performance car, the Evo has very civilized manners for everyday use. Oh sure, it's noisy inside, the transmission whines, and the ride is stiff. But people would have you believe that the car is as crude as a go cart, and that is simply not true.

A couple of recommendations:

(1) Get all-season tires. In the summers, the Advans are fine, but during the cold months, you really need something more appropriate for the season. I have Pirelli P-Zero Neros and they are working out great. One added advantage of different tires is that road noise diminishes quite a bit. The Yokohamas, like all ultra-performance tires, are very noisy. Also, the stiffness of the rides smooths out a bit, too.

(2) Replace the floor mats. The stock floor mats are some of the flimsiest pieces I've ever seen and you will wear your heel through them in just a few thousand miles. I got some heavy-duty mats from WeatherTech. I can't say that I was pleased with the fit (I had to do some trimming) but the mats are made of thick rubber with black carpeting on top and they do the job. I also got their universal mat for the trunk, which helps when throwing wet stuff back there.

(3) Consider toning down the looks of the car. With a daily driver, you really want as little attention as possible from police, thieves, and car jackers. I put Evo VII JDM tail lights on my car, and I also removed the Carbon Fiber wing. The difference in attention I got was immediately apparent. I've never been stopped by law enforcement and my car no longer clears out restaurants (it really happened once) when I drive up.

(4) If you go on long trips, consider getting an aftermarket cruise control. Trips over three hours in length can become really fatiguing because of the need to hold the sensitive throttle in position.

(5) Be careful to pay attention at all times. The steering in this car is so quick that a dropped cell phone or spilled soda can easily cause you to look down for a second and drift over to the wrong side of the street.

The only thing I would add to the car, in addition to factory cruise control mentioned above, is a remote trunk release. I hate having to use the key constantly to open the trunk from the outside, as with my kids, I'm in the trunk five or six times a day easily. I would have liked to have seen a slightly larger gas tank capacity, too, but there's only so much one can wish for.

There are a number of people that say using such a high-strung car as a Evo as a daily driver is dumb. I don't agree. In the end, it is just a bunch of sheetmetal, rubber, plastic and glass. It's a machine. For tooling around town, it behaves, and for those unexpected moments on the way to the hardware store when the sun is shining, the road ahead is twisty and open, you can experience all the great things that one of the world's greatest driving cars can provide: the shear exuberance of driving.

 

best car i ever owned!

 

You will enjoy this car I'v been driving this car since it arrive in the US. It's a great commuting car in my opinion I drive from orange county to LAX every day and enjoy my EVO.
I'm planning on getting the EVO 9 once it available in the US. Enjoy it and have fun with your new toy.

 

Wow thanks all for the great input guys! Very cool

 

My evo is my daily driver and I put 2000 plus miles a month and I have no regrets. Gas is a b**** but I guess that's why I have my company pay for my gas

 

Lee_K:
you don't have the remote trunk release on the drivers side floor next to the fuel door release?
My 03 does.
Did you install cruise? Which brand did you use, Rostra?

 

Sorry, I should have clearer on that -- I meant a remote trunk release triggered by the remote control for the door looks that you put on your key chain. I believe stock Lancers have this capability.

No, I didn't install cruise yet, but Rostra I hear is a reputable brand.

 

Ditto on the MR smoothness.


I commute 70 round trip a day, and I have no problems. I'm geting almost 21 miles a gallon in mixed driving, and that's before the car gets leaned out with tuning.

 

drive it everyday never had any problems except for a windsheild rattle that the dealer took care of it. Its the best feeling hoping in the evo after a long day at work and gettin your money's worth out of it!