After a year of heavily modding a WRX, the tranny finally went. Anyody who's read anything about wrx's know that the 5 speed manny has a tendency to fail at any decent amout of power. I'm busy right now taking it all apart and bringing it back to stock so I can tow it over to my dealership, have them fix the tranny, and then sell it. I knew this day would come, I was just hoping it wouldn't. The sad thing is: I wasn't driving it hard at all when it failed. I know these things tend to happen when modding cars, but it's time to move on, and now the big question so many have asked in times past: STi or EVO?

They are both good cars, I know that. I've never driven an EVO, but have driven quite a few STi's, both stock and very heavily modded. I did a bit of research before I bought my WRX, but mostly just reviews and such, and it wasn't until I found the forums that I found out that WRXs are notorious for smashing trannies to bits, even at stock power levels. Now I'm here to get it straight from the horses mouth. Is it worth it to go all the way with a 2005 MR as compared to say an 03 standard evo 8? Would I totally regret it or are they "basically the same car". I have much to read, but I'm not sure where to begin. I know they have certain clutch issues, but I have no problem changing one out for an aftermarket unit. My other choice is an 06 STi with the uber forged internals and slick new front facia, but i kind of want to change things up. I'm also sick of half the *******s on Nasioc, so a new car community would be a good thing as well

Basically, what differences would I expect between a IX MR and an evo VIII

 

The 05s and 06s make better power with just basic bolt-ons. If you're doing something big like a stroker and large turbo, go with the 8, otherwise I would go with the 9.

BTW, as one who made the WRX to EVO switch, don't go drive an EVO until you're ready to buy because you will want one bad.

 

I'm biased but I'd go with the IX too. And for sure don't drive until your ready to buy. It seems the STi is more popular, but every test I've read the EVO comes out on top and they've got a killer warranty. Go For It!

 

05 mr is rare...........drool......... i love my gsr though, 03s are beat to hell........ smaller stock turbo than 05 and 06...... all evos are relatively the same powerwise stock, theres more bells and whistles on an mr, the rs has nothing, and gsr is in the middle, weight and maybe slight horsepower diffrence stock, i'm talking up to 5 horses, not much.

 

Depends what you're looking for...the track/road race people will tell you to lean towards the MR, 05 has the upgraded turbo hotside and you'll get nice suspension + some other goodies. If you're looking to build a really fast car, might as well start off with the cheapest platform and throw money at it, usually people pick up 03's and put a nice turbo on it and run really fast for a small amount of money (compared to WRX's, which I came from the same deal....heavily modded 03 wrx to 06 IX)

 

E-wrex,


Welcome to the club of underachiever ex-wrx owners, you as many other hundreds of WRX we found out how fragile the WRX is made and how expensive it gets to fix them.

What you described happened to me twice in less than two month. Just as I repaired the first tranny the second tranny went bad not even driving it hard, overall I think that the WRX 02-03 are simply a POS vehicle that cost too much to make it run fast.

As per the Evo 8/Evo9 or STI?, they are all absolutely excellent cars, you can't go wrong with any of them but if you were to ask me which to get this would be my choices:

06 Evo 9 MR
05 Evo 8 MR
06 STI
03-04 Evo 8

Any Evo or STI is a Huuuuuuggggggeeeeee step up in performancecompare to a WRX(no matter how much money you spent on a WRX). Good luck!

Carlos

 

EVO IX all the way. You would be doing yourself an injustice bye not getting a IX without the MIVEC. Its simply easier and cheaper to make power than the VIII's. I personally wouldnt waste the money on the MR just for the 6speed and the Bilsteins. Just my opinion. Whatever you decide on , Im sure you'll be happy. BTW I had a modded WRX also before I went to the dark side.

 

I have both an Sti and a IX MR. Go with the IX. You will not be disappointed. It is a superb car that delivers more pure performance than the STi. It is sharper, quicker and more precise and it delivers more power whether it be stock v. stock or modified.

 

^Max, what happened to your sig man? I loved it.

 

Did you mean the 06 STi came with forged internals? I hope you meant you gonna built the motor when you bought it, cuz stock STi only came with a forged crankshaft, the rest are pretty much all CASTED parts.

 

The EVO 9 is basically like a EVO 8 with cams already, powerwise. Except that the 9 will still have the fatter lowend. The 05's were a good step forward over the previous years: bigger turbo, and most important to me, the helical LSD in the front! Also, the ACD.

So, a '9' with downpipe, exhaust, and retune will make as much power as an '8' with DP, exhaust, cams, and exhaust. Advantage to buying an '8', it should be a fair amount cheaper! The trick will be to find one that hasn't been trashed.

 

I say go with the STI! =)

 

Get the IX. Had a 05 Sti. Spent decent money and got ok power. Look at my sig. Spent little money and got killer power and handling.

 

+1

 

Had 04 and 05 Sti's threw money in and also got OK performance at best.

Buy the Evo beleive me you won't regret it. MR for RR or Highway driving 6 speed is nice. If your thinkig of Drag racing I'd go with the any of the other models with the 5 speed.

Good luck