8 Driving review......(small)
8 Driving review......(small)
well.. I finally had a chance to have some fun in my car ! ! left this morning, headed towards bear mountain N.Y. & back down route 301 for what I call a little R&R ! followed by a couple of friends driving a 320 whp wrx & a 2000 bmw supercharged m coupe ! ! I have personally driven some of the fastest production & non-production cars in the world .. and I have to say for 30 grand it's pretty much the most fun per dollar car you can drive on this planet ! ! The car is stiff..has some body roll but, In tight decreasing radius turns ..when your getting just a little understeer (wich you would expect)..a nice little lift off the throttle and the back end comes around so nice you just feed a little throttle & the car tightens right up ! ! high speed sweepers are just as awesome ! ! the car always remains "planted" even when you really pushing it ! ! I never had the car above 5,000 rpm ..it just squirts between corners ! ! it was only about 110 miles 'round trip but...I think the grin on my face will last at least till tuesday ! ! Im still having dreams of my navigator calling out the turns ! ! so...was the wait worth it ? ? HELL YEAH ! !
Evolving Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 259
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, TX
I have posted my review on 2 other forums, but here it is again, I thought it was awsome.
Well I said I was going to do it and it did...I test drove one. It was no small acomplishment, I had to sweet talk the dealer for 90 minutes and he only let me drive it when I knew more about the car then the salesman, and THE MANAGER. It was hilarious, finally the salesmen told me, "you know, I might sell a lot of cars, but I am not really a car enthusiast." I tried not to laugh. Anyway very very imporessed here is my report.
Engine
Very impressive, there is a littl ebit of lag, and from idle the boost hit at around 3200 RPM, but it is not like there is no power before that. I have a TT, and there is much more lag in my car then the EVO. The power curve is also very pleasing. The car pulls right up to the redline, and when you shilf, you are right in the meat of the powerband. The car also revs nicely under boost, but there is one weird thing I noticed. When up shifting, the engine is slow to rev. Considering how fast the car pulls up to redline under boost, when you heel toe and downshift, it takes A LOT of gas to to get the RPMs up.
Transmission
Very slick. The trasnsmission in the car I drove clicked off shifts very fast. I know that we have all read the report that the car doesn't like to be shifted quickly, but there must have been something wrong with that car. Shifts are quick, and 1-4 are good for acceleration, while 5th is just a tall overdrive. You are at about 6750 RPM at 60 MPH in 2nd too. There is one thing that is weird though about the transmission. It is short throw, and quick, but it feels like there is a viscous coupeling or maybe like you are shifting through sand. Don't get me wrong, it is very smooth and the gates are not a problem, but there is a weird resistance in the shifting that I can;t understand or can describe.
Handeling
We all know that the handeling is increadible, but let me give you an example. The salesmen drove for about 3 miles to show me what it could do, and he was on a veyr twisty road with a 30 MPH limit, and we were going 82 MPH!!!! The car is better then everyone has said. I have never seen handeling like this before. IT is the best handeling car I have ever ridden in period. IT makes an M3 feel like a delivery truck. The car corners without any body lean, and the seats hold you perfectly. I am a big guy, 6'3" and about 230 lbs and have a very athletic build, and if the seats did not wrap around me like they do, I would have broken the passenger window with my head being whipped around. The ride is firm, but not uncomfortable, in fact it is perfect for any person who will drive agressively. Brakes are well increadible. Very very strong, and without squeaking at all. However, the front calipers are huge in real life, They take up half of the front wheel. They look a little cartoonish, and of course the red does not help. There is a littl ebrake dive when braking hard, but that is a result of the huge braking force, and not the suspension.
Appearance
This car is beautiful in real life. There are minor fender flares that show up in the white and silver cars, and the tires even at 235, look very very meaty and agressive. IT is weird, from the inside of the car, it feels long and narrow, but from the outside, the car looks short and wide. There is a type of mose down stance that also makes it look more agressive. And the HID headlights are very nice and work very well.
OTHERS
There is a cool headlight adjustment know on the left hand side of the dash that moves theheadlights up or down, pretty cool stuff.
The back seat is very roomy for a car like this. I could fit there with the seat all the way back, and even with those huge Recaro racing seats. Also the trunk is huge. It could hold a lot of stuff, and coming from a car with NO trunk, this is a huge plus.
The engine looks so small in the hood. I know it is becasue the injectors and fuel rails are on the back side of the engine, but it pushed the engine very close to the bubper, and the battery is not in the corner of the engine bay, it is in the middle of the front quadrant, if that makes sense.
Overall
This car is awsome, the performance is amazing, and it looks so much better then it does in the magazines. I hate to say it but the low end problem is not really a problem. I hardly believe that anyone would complain about keeping the revs in the upper 50% of the RPM band. The car does not look quite as cartoonish as the STI (no neon pink or huge hood scoop) but there is a lot of carbon fiber in the rear wing. In fact the rear wing is covered on the inside with carbon fiber. Handeling is reported to be better than the STi, and it is increadible. Also I am sure that most of us in this forum would like to mildly modify any STI or an EVO and the parts are already here for the EVO, and there is nothing for the STI. I doubt that the extra 29 hp that the STi has will really make that much of a difference, especially if people are already getting more than 40 additional wheel HP with simple mods. The EVO keeps getting sexier. I think I might have been hooked...
Well I said I was going to do it and it did...I test drove one. It was no small acomplishment, I had to sweet talk the dealer for 90 minutes and he only let me drive it when I knew more about the car then the salesman, and THE MANAGER. It was hilarious, finally the salesmen told me, "you know, I might sell a lot of cars, but I am not really a car enthusiast." I tried not to laugh. Anyway very very imporessed here is my report.
Engine
Very impressive, there is a littl ebit of lag, and from idle the boost hit at around 3200 RPM, but it is not like there is no power before that. I have a TT, and there is much more lag in my car then the EVO. The power curve is also very pleasing. The car pulls right up to the redline, and when you shilf, you are right in the meat of the powerband. The car also revs nicely under boost, but there is one weird thing I noticed. When up shifting, the engine is slow to rev. Considering how fast the car pulls up to redline under boost, when you heel toe and downshift, it takes A LOT of gas to to get the RPMs up.
Transmission
Very slick. The trasnsmission in the car I drove clicked off shifts very fast. I know that we have all read the report that the car doesn't like to be shifted quickly, but there must have been something wrong with that car. Shifts are quick, and 1-4 are good for acceleration, while 5th is just a tall overdrive. You are at about 6750 RPM at 60 MPH in 2nd too. There is one thing that is weird though about the transmission. It is short throw, and quick, but it feels like there is a viscous coupeling or maybe like you are shifting through sand. Don't get me wrong, it is very smooth and the gates are not a problem, but there is a weird resistance in the shifting that I can;t understand or can describe.
Handeling
We all know that the handeling is increadible, but let me give you an example. The salesmen drove for about 3 miles to show me what it could do, and he was on a veyr twisty road with a 30 MPH limit, and we were going 82 MPH!!!! The car is better then everyone has said. I have never seen handeling like this before. IT is the best handeling car I have ever ridden in period. IT makes an M3 feel like a delivery truck. The car corners without any body lean, and the seats hold you perfectly. I am a big guy, 6'3" and about 230 lbs and have a very athletic build, and if the seats did not wrap around me like they do, I would have broken the passenger window with my head being whipped around. The ride is firm, but not uncomfortable, in fact it is perfect for any person who will drive agressively. Brakes are well increadible. Very very strong, and without squeaking at all. However, the front calipers are huge in real life, They take up half of the front wheel. They look a little cartoonish, and of course the red does not help. There is a littl ebrake dive when braking hard, but that is a result of the huge braking force, and not the suspension.
Appearance
This car is beautiful in real life. There are minor fender flares that show up in the white and silver cars, and the tires even at 235, look very very meaty and agressive. IT is weird, from the inside of the car, it feels long and narrow, but from the outside, the car looks short and wide. There is a type of mose down stance that also makes it look more agressive. And the HID headlights are very nice and work very well.
OTHERS
There is a cool headlight adjustment know on the left hand side of the dash that moves theheadlights up or down, pretty cool stuff.
The back seat is very roomy for a car like this. I could fit there with the seat all the way back, and even with those huge Recaro racing seats. Also the trunk is huge. It could hold a lot of stuff, and coming from a car with NO trunk, this is a huge plus.
The engine looks so small in the hood. I know it is becasue the injectors and fuel rails are on the back side of the engine, but it pushed the engine very close to the bubper, and the battery is not in the corner of the engine bay, it is in the middle of the front quadrant, if that makes sense.
Overall
This car is awsome, the performance is amazing, and it looks so much better then it does in the magazines. I hate to say it but the low end problem is not really a problem. I hardly believe that anyone would complain about keeping the revs in the upper 50% of the RPM band. The car does not look quite as cartoonish as the STI (no neon pink or huge hood scoop) but there is a lot of carbon fiber in the rear wing. In fact the rear wing is covered on the inside with carbon fiber. Handeling is reported to be better than the STi, and it is increadible. Also I am sure that most of us in this forum would like to mildly modify any STI or an EVO and the parts are already here for the EVO, and there is nothing for the STI. I doubt that the extra 29 hp that the STi has will really make that much of a difference, especially if people are already getting more than 40 additional wheel HP with simple mods. The EVO keeps getting sexier. I think I might have been hooked...
