Anybody have info on weather they will or will not put the 6 speed and the acd, etc in to challenge the STI?

 

I think they basically will have to do something to step up to the plate. Especially when the sti comes in at $30,995 msrp. I really think that they were caught by surprise a little by subaru. I think they were expecting a 271 to 276 hp like we all were. By the time subaru announced their plans for the new sti, it was too late to change. Now that leaves 2 options.

1. Bring over a ralliart version to compete. But in order to not kill the sales of your base us evo you have to make the price difference a little more. I.e. If you can get a ralliart version for 32k or the current evo for basically $1000 to $2000 less after you add the wing etc. Most buyers would be a fool not to pay the extra, thus killing your sales for the current evo. With that said would everyone pay $4 to 5k more for it? Which is probably more realistic?

2. You bring over the 6 speed and acd next year. You would basically not be able to up the price much at all if your really going to compete against the sti in price.

Personally I would be fairly disappointed if I had already bought the evo and either one of these options happened. And I am not saying that to bash the evo. I would feel the same way if that happened to the sti. Luckily the sti is coming fully loaded.

I guess a final option might be to bring over some ralliart performance package of some kind such as a chip. But that would have to be dealer installed to keep your warranty. And thats a tough thing to do here in the states and stay with in federal guidelines. Prodrive is very similiar to ralliart and has packages available for the normal wrx and they are currently working on one for the new sti. But unfortunately they will not be warrantied here even though they are in the uk and japan.

 

naw, i think knew that the Sti was going to outpower the EVO, but horsepower isnt everything. I have read a few articles about the Sti, and the editors of the article have said the comparisions between the two have been pretty neck and neck. I think that by the time the Sti will be released the greatest difference will be the price...The Evo will start to hover more around MSRP and the Sti will be over their MSRP which will make a world of difference to buyers. (at least to me) It also depends if you are going to be keeping everything stock, im a big fan of the 4g63 and would have more fun with that engine than the scooby. But will see, but i dont think the scooby is going to be in a league of its own, they will be very close in performance.

 

I don't think there's any stepping up required. So far, all the reviews have put the cars neck and neck, and in some aspects (handling) the Evo eats up the Sti. I don't think is too worried about it.

 

I think the cars will be similiar as well in some areas. I think obviously the sti has the advantage stock with the power and torque. The problem with modifying anything is that you lose your warranty. Now I know the law says a dealer can't deny you if you upgrade something. But we all know in the real world this happens all the time.

Either way I hope everyone enjoys the car they choose.

 

I wouldn't be surprised it they did nothing until the the next Evo comes out. It took three years (Euro's got their bugeyes before we did) for the wrx headlights to change after all the complaints and low sales. Right now the Evo has great reviews and sold over 300 in the first 30 days. They're gonna cash in on it for at least 2 years. The only weakness is power in the upper rev band but it's not that bad.

 

My only question: What makes you think they can't compete now? We haven't even had a real chance to see how the new STi performs.

 

Fireball - you bet me to the punch!

I don't think MMC needs to change the Evo to compete with the STi. Both are going to be great cars, and hopdfully ignite an excellent rivalry here in the States.

 

Ok #1 does anyone know what a ACD does,unless you drive on dirt roads and race it,also planing on rebuilding that unit every time,its usless.head to head w the sti,well its no longer a fair match.Sub.put a bigger motor in the impreza, the destroy the technology competition.

Besides wait till you see the RS in sept. this year,I love sellin mits.

 

I think in many ways, less is more, more or less. .

 

Don't get me wrong,I do not intend this as a flame! I am about a week from gettting an EVO8 and just hate it when manufacturers make a change from one year to another after you spend your hard earned $$$on the current model, now I dont mean they shouldnt upgrade, just that it is april now and if I waited till fall for a 6spd and acd etc I would be happier than getting the current model that is specs wise less than the STI, I love the EVO and dont really care for the Subaru, but dont want to have a superior car come out 4 months down the way either....
is ready to sell cars in other countries namely I think it was one of our closer neighbors and said they would sell the Evo 8 after the Japan and US launches, with the 6 speed, AYC, AYD etc, which just makes me wonder why they didnt just load it up here from the get go! I appreciate all the responses, keep em coming! thanks!

 

Whoa ....... there skippy. I'm old fashion I guess, but shouldn't we wait until the STI gets here before we declare who has to challenge who? Bench racing is fun but numbers rarely define the actual driving experience of a car and I'm anxious to here STI owner feedback. Until then, the STI has nothing over the EVO.

Speedlimit..........

 

sure the evo is neck to neck with the STi? Then since the evo is cheaper you obviously made the right choice.

Subjective handling differences aside and DCCD aside, if you want more low end torque stock, er 2.5L is kinda hard to beat---twin scroll or not. Sorry, displacement is everything in low end...try challenging a z06 or a viper for low end.

2 different cars made for two different philosophies of driving. Lay off the Sti is better or Evo is better..because it is too subjective. Of course, people who sell the stuff have to brag about their products, but sellers generally have a motive and are not objective.

That aside, I don't think the next evo might see a bump in displacement to compete with the STi and not because does not get it. This is because this requires a change in strategy. Subaru is recognizing that they will make or break their fortunes in the US thus their cars are now designed specifically to satisfy US demand and not about the tax-restricted 2.0L in the rest of the world. Believe or not, this is a big thing. Not quite easily done. may or may not be going down the same path. I think they should since Japan is a dead market and Asia (outside of China) doesn't seem too hot.

Although I would like to see a 2.3L 4G93 twin scroll-turbo, I seriously don't know if this is going to happen since does not have a forestor, impreza wrx line to spread the development overhead...and charge a reasonable price. It will be a major change... and if that happens, the first sign we may see will be a tarmac spyder and an airtrek turbo. Still, that may take quite a few years to happen...timeline projection at least 2 years. That said, the future for STis look brighter, for now and don't be surprise if they decide to plunk the 2.5L forester engine in the wrx and add the normal wrx intercooler (forestor XT has a really small one) for an upgrade to 250HP next year. See what I mean...an entire line of 2.5L turbos to spread accounting cost.

Sad but IMO probable.

Sorry for ranting

Nick

 

I'm gonna say Evo will not change for another 2 years atleast.
The next gen will surely have ACD/AYC and be pretty much exactly to JDM Spec.

 

I won't be surprised if changes some specs for the U.S. Evo in the second model year. I was screwed by Nissan after I bought my car. Seven months after I bought my 2k1 Maxima, the 2k2 with the 3.5L VQ engine and the 6-spd with available HLSD came out for the same price. I wish I could have waited.
Maybe will put in a GDI version of the 4G63. That would dramatically increase torque output without having to bump up the displacement. If I buy a 2nd year U.S. Evo, I would rather not have AYC, but I would like a torque-sensing front LSD included. I could live with the ACD if they decided to put it on, but I don't want it to cost too much more or drastically increase maintenance costs. If it did, I'd say just leave it off.
For marketing purposes, may have to bump the power to 285-300 with tuning and put on the front LSD to compete closer to the STi in a lot of consumers' minds.

[edit] I wanted to add that getting the 6-spd tranny in the Evo isn't necessary for me. I don't have the overall gear ratios memorized, so I can't recall the specific differences, but while it would be nice to lower revs at high speeds, I'd rather not shift more often in the lower gears. I like the fact that 60mph can be reached at the top of 2nd gear in the current 5-spd. If they do bring the 6-spd to the U.S., I'd probably not use 5th gear under normal driving.