What do you mean?.... There are no more people having driveline problems with EVOs that with any other car that's modified for more power... The WRXs have their share of driveline problems too. Out of the few WRX guys I know personally, 2 have destroyed their trannies...... Are you trolling??

 

Aside from hearing about clutches, Im pretty sure there are no drivetrain issues with the Evo. The 5 speed was supposedly put in place for US markets for "durability reasons".

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=30664

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=17829

Ive been on this forum for over a year now, I dont troll, neither am I putting down a stock Evo VIII, but when your putting 375-400 Hp to the ground your getting dangerous on breaking things that wern't ment to handle that kind of power (like people going mod wild on their engine in the threads listed above who were not thinking about what was happening to the parts that were actually putting the power to the ground, then getting pissed off about how they were shortchanged on a transmission and it was all mitsubishi's fault), Just like the WRX! (A car I used to own, RIP, the guardrail won the fight)

Simply a warning, not knocking the Evo.

 

My $ .02:

1. I prefer the look of the 350 to the Evo myself, even though I bought the Evo. It looks a little better now that I got rid of the Altezas, though.

2. Depends what you mean. In terms of fit and finish, luxury, or sex appeal (well, to each his/her own), then no (IMHO). A base 3-series BMW will get you farther on all fronts. A buddy of mine got a 325 around the same time I got my Evo, and for around the same price, and every time I get I think "damn...nice car!" But in terms of performance per dollar, DEFINATELY. Seriously, there is no other car for sale in the US with a better performance per dollar. The STi is close, but that's about it. The Z06 corvette rocks, but is 20k more. The 350 is great, but falls short in terms of handling. Same with Cobra Mustangs. 911s start at over 80k. First time I autocrossed, I was shocked to find that I was in the same class as 911s and Z06 corvettes. But I was even more shocked to find out that my little Lancer could actually beat them.

3. Difficult question, but these boards are a full of useful info. The good news is that the weak point seems to be the clutch, as opposed to, say, the engine.

Peace!

 

Well, I guess that's right, feldguy was asking some questions about the EVO and it seemed that your post was some kind of slam, but if you say no, that's fine, I believe you .

I don't think that putting 300 hp or more to the ground and ripping through the gears is a good idea for the EVO (or any other car that comes stock with a lot less than that). I guess people just get excited and start trying to get more and more power out of their cars (I can understand that, I'm guilty of it too ) Anyway, I think for relatively few bucks the EVO can get even faster than it's in stock form.

Frankly, as nice as the EVO is, it's no supercar and if anybody expects to beat V8's at the dragstrip and in the streets (bad idea anyway), they are gonna be disappointed. The guys with the Detroit iron are gonna generally hand them their butts. OTOH, the EVO really rocks in the handling, braking and AWD department, plus it's hella fast. It's a very nice car and a great buy for the money. Of course, if you dont mind taking some risks and spending some bucks, the bigger power can be had

 

I figure with no money down Im going to be paying around 490-500 a month for 72 months. Tough pill to swallow, I may have to save up a few grand.....

 

I am also contemplating on a new Evo. I would feel much better buying one today if the clutch wasn't an issue. And then hearing that Mits won't cover clutch failures for every owner. So I'm waiting to see what 2004 brings? Or waiting for a clearance sale on the 11 new Evo's on the local Dealerships lot.

 

If you have to debate, go buy a 350z.

Let's keep the EVO bloodline pure.

 

If you want turbo AWD 4-door, get EVO. If you want v6 RWD 2door get the 350Z. How hard cant that be......j/k

If this is gonna be your only car, Id say get the 350Z.

 

Crazy? This is the same predicament that my wife and I are dealing with.

She’s in love with the 350Z, and I’m sure when she gets to drive it, she’ll be more than happy with the power. She loves it’s looks, and she loves that it doesn’t look all boy-racer like. But it’s not as practical as we’d like our second car to be. We’ve got two kids, both in car seats, so if we all plan to go somewhere together, we won’t be takin’ the Z car.

I for one really want the EVO, because it’s an all-wheel-drive turbo car. There’s nothing like a turbo to get your blood pumping! But she’s a C.P.A. and doesn’t know if that’s the right kind of image she wants to be taking out her millionaire clients with.

Our car has to be sporty and fast, but look cool too. Tough decisions man!

Well, good luck with your decision. I know how you feel.

 

I was never slaming the Evo, I was simply disagreeing with Fireball's post on how the stock internals can handle like 475HP at the flywheel, I dont doubt for one second that the stock shortblock can handle the extra stress, but yet he didnt think or did not mention how the drivetrain can take that extra power. Thats the reason why I posted those links to transmission and clutch failure since about 50% of the people who have problems with their cars have them modified. I'm sure if you kept the Evo stock, you shouldent have problems since thats what Mitsubishi designed the drivetrain for, 271HP, 273 Ft Lbs Tq.

 

Well, I went to a Nissan - Mitsubishi dealer where they had 350Z's and EVOs next to each other in their warehouse. The 350Z is a good-looking car for sure (defintely nice next to the EVO), but IMHO the EO didn't look that bad next to it (if you like the sport compact/rally look).

I test-drove them back-back with a Nissan salesman who never rode in the EVO (I believed him because just about every car was still wrapped). Anyway, before the test-drives he bad-mouthed the EVO (the guy was a pretty cool guy, but into traditonal sports cars like Vettes, ,etc.). Let's just say that after the two test-drives, his argument for the Z shifted to looks.

IMHO, if you want a RWD, great-looking sports car, you should go for the S2K. It close to the 350Z in straightline acceleration from a stop (provided your willing to do high rpm launches) and has better handling and breaking (I think??). More importantly, its more fun IMHO. The Z will give you some good straightline acceleration from a stop without destroying your clutch, so if that's your thing, its not a bad choice.

 

Well since I once had a deposit and a buyers order agreed upon at 2500 under msrp on a 350z I can relate to this dilemna, which in the end wasn't nearly as big a decision as I thought it would be.

My reasoning behind buying the EVO starts with one fact; There is not a single car in America today that offers anything near the performance/prestige, and from the reactions to my car from average people i do mean prestige for 30k. Im 18 and a 2dr RWD sports car even seemed impractical to me. The car offers excellent visibility, practicality, and all weather drivability and it doesnt hurt thats its limited. Other then the taillights which do cheapen the look the body of the EVO is sculpted, with the flared fenders, brembos, hood vent,front end and yes, even the wing the car simply stands out in a good way. It is as close to a factory race car as you can get.

 

My major predicament was to have a unique, stlyish car that looked incredible ( I planned on adding a body kit, brakes, exhaust, eventually a power adder and everything to the 350z), when I realized I could have all that in one nice, logical, practical, FAST and incredibly customizeable and tuneable car. The Evo is everything I could want, and after driving another one (this one has some mods to it, HUGE difference), Im sold. Looks are looks, but performance is an entirely different thing. Functional before sex appeal is what I like, and its attractive when I see a car that doesn't look like its supposed to be that fast (the Evo). I see 1/3 the evos on the road as 350z's and even though the Evo is ricier, it still looks more bad ***. Who cares about class, class is when my girlfriend moon's a vette z06 after I rip the doors off of it. Mitsubishis Evo has lots of power. Fly Evo, fly.

 

I was talking in tongues in that last post, I meant to say that I liked the Evo but wasn't lured to it as much as the 350z, now thats changes. Im full blown Evoized