Hey guys,

Here's my story. I originally bought the Evo with intentions of keeping it bone stock and having it be my daily driver. The mod bug bit me and, as I'm close to AMS, I decided it would become my weekend driver. I wanted to get a daily beater b/f doing anything, so I just got a 98 escort.

Here is my dilemma. For me, it is impractical to go road racing. It is too expensive to get into tracks and the amount of abuse/replacing parts that it must lead to is way too expensive. That leaves me with straight line racing. The evo just doesn't seem set up to be a drag racing car. After doing some research, it seems like the car doesn't upgrade very well (dyno numbers on web sites are HEAVILY inflated vs. what people actually dyno at), the car can't be launched hard w/o getting f'ed up, and only the tuner companies with endless budgets can run low 11's or 10s.

I would probably not lose very much money on my Evo if I sold it. I paid 25K for an 03 Evo with 7500 miles on it (it was less than 10 months old when i bought it in June). I could probably get 24-25 for it now (w/ 10K miles on it). I was thinking about getting a 1st generation DSM or even a VR-4 or R/T and building it to run low 11's or even 10s. That way, I could use some of the money I spent on the car to buy upgrades for a cheaper car.

Let me know your guys honest opinion. Preferably, people who have had built Eclipses/Talons and have had a built Evo.

BTW, I am not crazy about the Evo's styling, but think the handling is awesom. Also, the mileage sucks, but it doesn't matter as that's what the beater is for.

Thanks guys

Ever thought about autocross? Not hard on the car, its cheap and challenging.

not cheap, if you do it every weekend and you need to change the tires out every 3 months ... doh!

but auto-x is so fun.

Still cheap relative to road racing. IT's more practical to auto-x every other weekend and use one set of Ecsta V700s ($600 for 4) per season...maybe 2 sets per season. You car doesn't get abused as much, the race fees are much lower, and it's still a lot of fun.

If you want 1/4 mile why not just get an old mustang? I personally didn't like the VR-4 due to the weight. The car feels like a pig and the DSM is just old and parts harder to find if you start breaking parts.

Drag racing is not as exciting for me compared to auto X or road track. Drag racing is in my opinon the worst for cars. All my drivetrain feels like crap after 60 launches in anything. To get a good time you must powershift and that is very hard on the drivetrain with the lauch. I personally find same launch and powershift= consistent runs for braket racing. This is another reason to stay away from turbo cars if you want to be compeditive.

Unless your talking about stock clutch and non drag radials Slip slide and clutch is cheaper than drivetrain.

Evo has been the forbidden fruit of cars in the U.S.

Finally it's here and you want to get rid of it ??!!

Keep the car unless it's a financial dilema. Then do what you got to do.

Good luck on deciding.

if i were you i'd keep the evo..

Dude you might think that you can save money with an older car but in the long run it breaks more frequently and costs about the same. I am speaking from experience! I had a bad *** 300ZX TT that could beat 95% or better of the cars in my town but every freakin day something else was wrong. I got sick of fixing things and for one last time brought her to 100% for sell. I trully loved that car! I am almost the equal to Master mechanics due to that car but it gets old. Stick with the EVO it will be worth it in the end. Save your money buy a house and in the future you will still own the EVO and it can be you project car. Man what a project car to start from. It is the benchmark for all others! Keep that in mind...

My .02 cents,

-Nate

You got to pay to play

Either way.....

I have a 92 Eclipse GSX that ran mid 11's on a stock block and head with just 264/264 cams (160,000 miles). It finally started losing compression after three years of abuse. You will break stuff once you get below 12's. Most likely the transmission but also rear end if you have 3 bolt, transfer case is possible (although there is a recall so you should be able to get another from the dealer), half shafts and clutches are also good for problems. I have about 12 - 13K in my car and now need a motor and transmission. Used parts are pretty easy to come by from my experience. My friend has 3 six bolt blocks right now all with big rods and can readily find parts cars for $500 - $1000. If your going 1G, look for a 92 with the 6 bolt/4bolt combo.

I have also owned a 92 VR4. Stay away from the VR4 if you have the mod bug. Parts are expensive and were not easy to find when I was looking.

The EVO is a great car that is probably best suited at Solo2/Autocross events if you want to race on a budget but some serious sh*t could still happen. One other important question is...are you doing the labor on the repairs/aftermarket parts? If not, racing is very expensive no matter what car you get. In which case you will want to look for something that is extremely reliable.

try autox!.. once you autox in the evo you will not want to sell it.. its an autox machine!

I agree.

I drag race for about 2 years or so at the track only? that's long before I did other setup races on a closed course. It's not that exciting. There is only so much you could do on drag racing. Of course vendors love it because you need more parts to go faster 1/4 miles, but with a car like an Evo, there isn't much you need, besides tires and driving skills to get a good time and have fun.

Auto-x actually takes some driving skills to get a good time on. It's something you could learn and learn and something that could be applied to real life situations.

ever since I started doing auto-x, turns are a lot safer, negotiating the traffic got easier, driving in hazzarous situations are no problem, and everything concerning driving is a lot easier and I have more confidence to attack it.

Really, there isn't that much that could go wrong on auto-x. Just have to make sure you change the oils often if you auto-x, rotate tires, etc.

Road racing is expensive. A day at the road racing on a R compound tires, you have to be ready to replace your tires, if you're running hard.

brakes goes out faster, rotors and especially for the engine, it's rather hard.

a lot of people do burn their motors out doing that.

But auto-x is cheap considering.

Then again, we're not like warton there making $100 bizzillion dollars a year.

I'm actually tempted to get me one of those used miata for $3000.

Put some hoosiers on it (cheap at 15" rims) and do some runs with basic bolt ons.

they're such a fun car on auto-x.

sounds like you need to sell your evo and get yourself a supra

Are you talking road racing with other cars or just track days? Roading racing with other car is very expensive with any cars. If you just want to do track days, then the cost is not too bad, as long as you don't crash. My evo is for both everyday and track. I attended two weekend of track school so far. The expense are: school fee, extra oil change, brake fluid and front brake pads. I have to say that is best money that I ever spent. I am totally addicted to track days.

* flame suit on * Personally, I wouldn't use evo for drag racing. I think it is a shame that so people tune their evos and sti for drag racing only. These car are meant to be on the twisties and road tracks. If drag is your cup of tea, then I would suggest a mustang, camaro, or vette.