Wow....

 

Ok how can't you, please enlighten me.

Now I dont know if you understand or not. But one of the first things I posted is that I would not buy an MR because it would be no benefit to be and I believe the extra money that it does cost you could be used on other things.

Now you and that other guy keep asking me about my accomplishments when I have never stated I have won events, am the best driver or whatever.

You guys need to stop smoking...

 

Because you said this without knowing what you were talking about:

"MR no. You can install a much better coilovers for alot cheaper and then use the left over money for your power mods."

Then were refuted with this by silverevo8:

"What do you mean by "much better coil overs"?. My guess is that to get a better suspension than the stock MR you'll have to spend at least $3K on parts alone and then you have to spend mucho bucks in installation and tuning... Even then you'll not have the same ride as the stock MR . Are you sure you can already drive beyond the capacity of the MR? My guess is that you cannot even drive the regular stock EVO to its limit. Of course, I might be wrong, please post proof of your driving prowess and I'll apologize in public "

To which I said:

"Fwiw, I know I can't push the stock MR suspension to its limits, which is why I haven't upgraded it yet" (notice I race quite often and even win those races)

But then you boasted:

"I can push the stock evo to it's limits, not that hard chief. Please dont assume things about me since you have no idea who I am, thanks."

So, you justify your comments by saying it's not hard to push the stock suspension to its limits and that we shouldn't make assumptions about you as if you're a great racer, but then when we give you the benefit of the doubt and ask about your racing experience, you say:

"Sorry I dont have any trophies or what not, but you can push the limits of the stock suspension on the street, i'm sure you know this."

That is a joke - a complete joke. Sorry. Apparently, our assumptions about you having no idea how to push the stock suspension to its limits were true. Anyone who thinks they've learned to drive the Evo to its limit from driving on the street simply has no clue whatsoever.

 

As far as driving I am a good driver. Back to my question which you shy away from. How can't you push the stock car to it's limits on the street?

If I had time I would definitly do some events, but working 40hrs a week and going to school full time does not allow me to play with my car all day.

 

That's fine. There's nothing wrong with not having time to race. I don't have a problem with that.

I do have a problem with someone advising others not to get an MR just because they can easily throw on some coilovers to save money and be like an MR since the stock MR suspension is so easy to outdrive. You can't learn the limits of the stock suspension on the street, because there is no room, no place, and no chance. You need hours of track time at full speed braking hard from 130mph on the straight going into a 40mph tight right turn with an increasing radius outlet onto a back straight with another hard brake with a left turn into an uphill esses just before a downhill off-camber right bank ON THROTTLE. You can't get this stuff on the street, and it is not legal, safe, nor possible.

 

Ahh I see, alright. Yeah that's testing the suspension hard core.

Ok well that was enough e-arguing. Back on topic!

 

we dont have MR/RS/GSR here in australia. we basically have the MR version here without the BBS/suspension/HID but everything else that the MR has in the US we have as a base model. HID is not an option here as its still within the boundary of legal/illegal but it will be another factory option soon as i have been told by the dealership. to get BBS/suspension here u pay another $3200. IMO it was worth it for the suspension but not for the bbs wheels. the ride is smoother and it lowers the ride by afew centimeters. because our base model is like mr, i have driven both cars with 6spd manual, 1 with and 1 without the BBS/suspension. i cant comment on the 5spd manual on the evo IX but i've been driving a skyline R33 with 5 speed and i wanted to have the luxury of a 6speed on long cruise. anyways im not goign to use the 5th/6th gear in city driving anyways but for times when i will be driving 70-110km/h the 5th/6th will come in handy at lowering fuel consumption. if u guys could purchase the suspension on its own it would be great, the bbs i have on mine will probably be sold off so i can purchase advans RG-II 6stroke

 

Sounds kind of like VIR!

Anyway, I'm back to indecision mode now, having read this thread, especially the Motor Trend test. I'm wondering if I'll regret not getting the MR now. For those who have the MR, I've only driven a GSL (which turned in amazingly) and wonder if the "softer" Bilsteins on the MR kill that responsive feeling that sold me on the EVO? Also wonder how much top-heavy weight that damned sunroof on the SSL will add (plus the steel roof). So not sure now...

 

I drove both cars back to back. Power felt spot on in both which was expected as its the same engine. The MR's 6 speed box did however feel significantly smoother and the car did ride a lot smoother too. I for one will be getting the MR over the GSR! As far as peoples comments on the 6 speed being weaker, dont our Mitsus have the best backed warranty so even if it was true I dont see it being an issue...
MarK.

 

So far I would say that the 6 speed tranny "weakness" is nothing more than idle speculation. I would like to know how many 6 speed trannies have failed so far VS the 5 speed trannies. One might be able to extrapolate the data and find out if there is any sort of statistical possiblity that the 6 speed tranny is more likely to break than the 5 speed..... Until then, it's not only pointless but actually incorrect to say that the 6 speed is weaker than the 5 speed.

 

There has been no evidence of the 6spd tranny being weak. Many of us have been racing our MRs religiously, and that includes 140+ nasty drag launches. I'm killing clutches, but my tranny holds up wonderfully to all 3 types of racing (drag, auto-x, circuit). It does make logic sense that it is weaker, though, because it's more gears/metal squeezed into the same space, so some parts are less beefy than the 5spd.

WRC-GO, that's actually Summit Point, but VIR may have a similar section. The "softer" Bilsteins actually are only "softer" in terms of daily driving. When racing, they perform amazingly. There is no loss of turn-in or dropoff of handling vs the non-MR. In fact, it seems to be superior in all ways to the non-MR suspension.

The SSL version is 3338lbs vs the MR at 3285 and base GSR at 3263, with 30-40 being the steel roof w/power moonroof right on top.

 

Thanks, race Viperdays at VIR every year and, aside from the order of the turns you described - very similar.

I'm thinking more and more it's gonna have to be the MR for me...

 

I've had both a GSR and now an MR. The responsiveness is pretty much the same. With the MR you just have a smoother ride mainly at low speeds when it comes to cracks and bumps in the road. This is just regular street driving mind you.. The track is a whole other topic. I didn't care much for the SSL seats. They didn't seem to fit the car very well. Nor did the leather on the doors. But this is just my opinion.

 

I'm not a hot shoe and I really don't qualify as a very good driver (as in racing driver). However, I can and do push my cars pretty hard from time to time . I've driven the '03 EVO VIII and the '05 MR through the turns at the tail of the Dragon at Deal's Gap. There is a huge difference in handling between those two cars. Of course, the front LSD makes a big difference and the 6 speed tranny ratios might be a little bit better, but I think that the MR Bilsteins and springs make a huge difference. It's like driving 2 very different cars. The MR is waaay better on those twisties than the standard '03 EVO VIII.
BTW, I've also driven stock Miatas and modified Miatas (turbo charged, supercharged, type R suspension, modified suspension with lowered springs and adjustable Konis, a supercharged Integra GSR with coil overs, and adjustable shocks as well a stock '03 WRX.
IMHO, the '05 MR is by far the most confidence inspiring of all of the cars and will handle so well that it actually can make a so-so driver look good and feel good. I think that people who think that the MR's handling is inferior to a regular EVO are fooling themselves and have never driven the MR to compare.....

 

I should have specified what I meant with response. I think what his question was regarding was how well the car responded to steering input. That's what blew myself and all my friends away when even driving the '03. But I can definitely feel the difference of the Front LSD around a certain turn in a certain canyon.

Ok off topic.. I've had an '02 WRX before. Talk about squishy stock suspension! If you didn't use throttle to suck yourself through a turn.. it was miserable.