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Pictures from my delivery, driving impressions

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Old Mar 13, 2003 | 11:47 PM
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Pictures from my delivery, driving impressions

For those who can't wait: full pictures, hi-res and lo-res, plus thumbnails for easy browsing:
http://evo.jedinite.com/mine.html



I only put about 50 miles on the car tonight. Both city and highway miles.

The car looks incredible. When I saw the Blue in person, I was so impressed I was afraid I would be disappointed in my choice of yellow. But once I saw my car in person, I was sold. The yellow looks very agressive. The car is very very agressive from the front, especially if you're looking from eye level.

The yellow and black trim goes very well together. The spoiler stands out very well and really stands out nicely.

I was worried that the blue seats wouldn't look good with the yellow exterior. No worries at all - it flows just fine from the exterior to the interior.

I only made it about a mile outside of the dealership before I had my first admirer. Kid in a older Civic with a coffee-can exhaust rolled down his window at a stoplight and complimented the car. He couldn't keep his eyes off it...

This car is by far the most responsive car I've ever driven. More responsive than my (former) e46 M3 (even in "sport" mode), more responsive than the 996 911 Carrera I test drove one day... the closest car in terms of responsiveness (that I've driven) is the 996 911 GT2 (1 , 2 , 3 ). And even then, the Evolution responds better to driver input. Someone said it before - you just point and shoot. You can juke the car left and right, even at speed. I can totally see how someone not used to the car could roll this... with the amazing handling and steering response combined with the very short steering ratio, if you panicked and jerked the wheel a half turn (which is like a 90-degree turn in this car, more like a 45-degree turn in a "normal" car) you could easily get the car sideways and out of control.

Engine sounds great. Louder than expected. Noticable turbo whine, noticiable intake noise. Love it. Exhaust is good but mild (I'm used to the full race exhaust on my 1995 M3) - I'll definately be looking to improve the exhaust in the aftermarket (or with Ralliart from the dealer if it comes...)

Power seems pretty impressive. Turbo comes on like a lightswitch, at 1/3 throttle anyways. Didn't play with the gas much... but the power can very much sneak up on you even if you are babying the car. If you don't watch it you can hit 5000 RPM in the middle of turning through an intersection necessitating a 1st to 2nd shift in mid-corner if you don't anticipate it.

Brakes are very impressive, as are the syncros in the transmission. Pedal placement is PERFECT for heel-toeing, better than my race car where i've modified the pedals to improve heel-toe. The brake pedal barely needs any effort to grip with great firmness, and the pedal depresses to the perfect height to stab the gas to rev-match on the downshifts. The double and tripple syncros make downshifting a breeze. So much to the point that the car corrects so you hardly notice if you don't properly rev match the downshifts. Throws are nice and short, mechanical feeling but not too firm. A short shifter doesn't feel like a necessity... probably a lot of other areas to improve first if you are so inclined.

Yellow stands out like crazy. Tons and tons of stares, from everyone young and old. Probably helps that I'm the second one of these on the road in this town and probably the first that these people are seeing.

I've got a light schedule at work tomorrow, so I'm going to be doing quite a bit of cruising around. Saturday the weather's going to be wonderful... I've got work to do on the race car but I'm sure I'll get a few hours of drive time in on Saturday. Sunday the wife and I are driving up to Chicago for a couple of days.... can't think of a better way to break in the car.

Anyone locally who wants to hook up and check out the car, drop me a PM or something. We can work something out Saturday, or you can drop by the house while I'm working on the racer.

For those of you still waiting... keep the faith. This car is SOOOOOOOOO worth it. I couldn't be happier.

Next milestone: finish the break-in miles... and start winding this car up and seeing what she can really do.




Pictures aren't wonderful as darkness had already fallen by the time I got to the car, so these are shots from the delivery garage.

Some of my favorite pix so far:







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Old Mar 13, 2003 | 11:53 PM
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Heheh... for some reason I knew you weren't going to be disappointed! Welcome to the club jedinite!!!
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Old Mar 13, 2003 | 11:54 PM
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Congrats! 1 week till mine!
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Old Mar 13, 2003 | 11:57 PM
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congrats man! can't wait till i get mine! how old are you by the way?
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:02 AM
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Originally posted by the evo wins
congrats man! can't wait till i get mine! how old are you by the way?
Thanks.

I turn 28 in three weeks...
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:07 AM
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Finally Jedi!! congrats

Sharper than an E46 M3 and a 996gt2

Don't think mine's coming till early April good think I'm away from home working
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:18 AM
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jedinite, change your "Drives:" description now!!
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:31 AM
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Done and done. Also entered my car in the registry: https://www.evolutionm.net/registry/...cleid=1029&Ss=
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:35 AM
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look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do,
yeah, they were all yellow......
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:52 AM
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wow that's a very impressive review. i take it u love it!!!! damn i'd love it too. how do u like the interior? do you have any complaints?
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 12:59 AM
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From: Kansas City, MO
Originally posted by Smoktout
wow that's a very impressive review. i take it u love it!!!! damn i'd love it too. how do u like the interior? do you have any complaints?
So far I love it.

I need more seat time before I can deliver a more objective review.

Interior just flat out fits. Very functional. Lots of space, lots more than anticipated. Seats are wonderful. Form factor is good - easy to use the radio, perfect fit between the steering wheel, pedals, shifter, etc.

So far, no complaints. I haven't driven it hard enough to review (or to complain about) the engine or drivetrain behavior.

Stereo is adequate, nothing spectacular in the low end but good highs and decent mids. But that's not a complaint... the stero is a little better than I expected - most of my music will come from the engine. If you're in to audio, adding an amp and sub should give you really good sound.
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 02:44 AM
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Nice pics! I live in the St.Louis area, and got my Yellow EVO tonight as well.I felt your comments were straight-on! I have driven lots of BMW Mcars, S4's, and a few Porsches, and this car somehow transcends all of them. It is a very edgy feeling car, and could probably get you into trouble if you weren't staying on top of things! I think that is part of the draw with cars like this...kind of like trying to break a wild stallion, you might just get tossed!

One weird thing was when I was sitting at a traffic light seeing the heat well-up out of the hood vent like a mirage. A most intense and very cool car. BTW I emailed you about that front plate bracket, hope you have a good solution for not installing it!
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 06:32 AM
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Someone said it before - you just point and shoot.


That would be me..

Congratulations on yer new ride..
This comes from a fellow BMW enthusiast as well!
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 06:44 AM
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Nice!! I love the yellow... SOoooo NIce... Can't wait for my opportunity to get one...
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Old Mar 14, 2003 | 09:55 AM
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I still have 1 more month

looks awesome
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