I have an 05 VIII with 19,500 miles. I bought it 11 months back. I have the basic cammed Evo mods: exhaust, intake, fuel pump, boost controller, reflash, cams, and a few bits here and there. I've been thinking about my next upgrade: either building up the stock turbo (cheapest), building up an evo IX turbo (middle of the road and most attractive), or a GT series turbokit.

I've been looking most closely at upgrading to an IX turbo and doing some other mods like ported bits, intercooler, possibly alky and so on. Today I thought, I'm spending ~1100 on the IX turbo, what about just trading in for an IX?

Now my thought process has two big IF's but I think they're attainable with some haggling:

-I get NADA book value on VIII - 25,800
-I pay no more than 4k over VIII book value for the IX


The pluses:

-Subtracting the cost of the IX turbo, I'd be paying around ~3200 for an IX.

-I'd get NEW Advans, new brake pads, and clutch

-new design head/block, mivec, new ecu, nicer interior/seats

-new car w/ zero mileage and paint chips


The minuses:

-I'd lose ~3200 on the deal, plus a little more come excise tax time.

-I'd lose money on mods that I wouldn't transfer to the IX (cams and reflash)

-I'd lose the brand new all seasons I bought a month back.


Would you do, in this boat? I love the VIII, and it has 0 problems, knock on wood. But this is very tempting....

What it boils down to is: Spend 4500 bucks on the VIII to make it faster, or spend 4500 bucks for a new car that would be slower.

 

I think sometimes the same thing. Its just an impulse. Look at the AMS Evo on the cover of Modified Mag. Thats not a 9.......but it does 9's save your $3200 for the 8 and just make it faster. Forget the hype.

 

I was kicking this idea around myself...but in the end it is better to keep what you have and continue building it up. Yes you get a better turbo and the MIVEC head...but when you think about it the cost of modding the IX plus the finance fees etc. won't be worth it. You already have the ACD and LSD in front...so that isn't a factor for you. I decided to hold off because I plan to get the Evo X...if the X is in your future...definitely hold off.

Spend the money on a good suspension and good tires/wheels. The return on investment will be much higher.

 

Keep your 8. If I already had an 8, I'd keep it, but I went straight to a 9 and have no regrets.

 

Listen to me PLEASE

I went from a VIII with approx 300whp (had up to 264's) to a IX and I couldn't be happier. In my case I did not have to pay anything or lose anything to get my IX. Since you would I would keep the VIII and mod it.

 

sell your tires or do a swap with some else plus cash
do the same with the cams

 

so Spend ~3200 and get a NEW IX

the 9 is quite a machine. if i had the chance i would do it
so you lose some money - big deal
you only live once

 

Keep the 8. So what happen's next year or 18 months from now when you are hypothetically cruising in your EVO 9 with 19,500 miles owing $25K with $5000 in mods, and a new car comes out you want? Again you'll loose money. If you kept the 8 you'll owe less than $17K, maybe have 38K on the miles, and you might not loose any money. I flip cars years, and I nearly always loose money. I do it for the sport, the fun of driving different cars. My EVO is the 50th vehicle I've had in my 18 years of driving.

 

get the MR EDITION

 

I just pulled my brother out of his 05 Evo to a 06. It was close to an even swap. He had modded the 05 Evo recently and is switching the parts over. If I read your post right, you will be at a $3200 difference. Get as many parts off of you car as you can. You have to be on crack not to take that deal.

 

I think you should keep it if you are going to pay 3200 extra, keep the VIII and mod it, the VIII is a beautiful car as well.

 

although a new IX is rather hard to pass up.

 

i feel its a waste, i same like you just got my car last march i believe, and i have about 13,000 miles on it. now to go and trade it in for a 9? i mean i know the numbers are impressive and its a different body styleing, but NO THANK YOU! waste of money if you ask me. just go and dump that into the 8 then you'll have a monster. the MIVEC doesnt impress me that match to trade in. i'll stick with the traditional 4g63 motor.

 

I don't think your modded 8 will pull the money for a trade in. I know you said consider a perfect trade but you will be down more than the 3200. If you can get what you want for the VIII, then I say go for it. If i had the money, I would trade up....

 

It's tempting to trade in an VIII for a IX. My '05 has about 20k miles on it too and I bought it the same time you did. Maybe if I had an '03 or '04 VIII it would be even more tempting because you get the 10.5 hotside, ACD, etc that '05 owners already have on their VIII. I dunno though. The IX is definately a step forward, but it's not a huge step. Cosmetically they're so similair that I can't really honestly say I prefer one over the other. I think I'm OK doing the BPU+ thing with my VIII and waiting for the X. It's going to be a HUGE change compared to the Evo VII-IX because it's an entirely new platform and engine. Good things are worth waiting for. I say you keep the VIII and get a new turbo for it if you're not happy with the power. It's just not worth the hit you'll take right now to basically trade in Coke for Cherry Coke IMHO.