There is no laser in OK to speak of. Watch for the K and Ka bands only!

 

Anyone ever see Two Lane Blacktop????? Great movie from '71 with two youngsters, at that time, in James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (yes, the musicians) and classic actor Warren Oates. The kids have a stripped out, big block '57 Chev. They get into a cross country race with Oates and his sweet Goat Judge. Good movie to watch before you take a cross country trip.

Also, even though you won't be making it up this way (Omaha/Midwest) on your trip, be careful in those wide open states. Us car fanatics aren't the only ones who know that wide open spaces make for easy fast driving. Up here, the Statey's drive some mean-*** Z28's. I've seen it many, MANY times. They can see you coming miles away. And, with nothing but flat straight road, you won't be outrunning them. If there is one thing that a Z28 can do well, its go fast in a straight line. I've seen the far end of 170 in a friends mildly modded LS1 SS. And even though we all know the Evo and STi are fast, they aren't even close to that fast. Just be aware.

Also, take it easy when people are around. If there are other cars nearby, take it easy. You have 2000-ish miles to have fun, there will be plenty of time to open up. I've done the drive from OMA to PHX a few times. There are lots of time you'll want to just rip it, but just take it easy. You'll have plenty of miles to have fun when you're the only car on the road. At least if your going to drive above the law, make sure its only you thats taking chances. Ok, enough blathering from me. Have fun. Roadys are fun times. I agree with everyone else. Take lots of pictures and lots of video. These will be a couple days you wont want to forget.

Hilg

 

That's just what I was going to say!! They have pretty good steaks there but ain't no way I could eat that "Colon Blaster" of a steak! But if you like beef that's the steak to get, something like 128oz's!

 

We wont be going too too fast all the time. We will be cruzin in the north 80's most of the time and we will hit the 110 in open Rd's for some time. I am sure I would like to top my EVO and see what is the true top speed is. I have the Bel Vector 985 Radar Detector which helped me alot what do you guys think about it though?? Let me know??

 

welcome to cali guys =D

 

So how did the trip turn out?

 

Not there yet, we will be on the way on monday 5 AM

 

You should come to the DC Evo Club meet on Saturday at Mach V Motorsports. Noon to 3pm - food, etc. We should have 28 or more Evos there...

There is a thread about it in the regional forums. We could give you a nice send-off!

Chris

 

I will try but, i am toooo busy packing

 

I understand that - good luck either way! If you show up, I'm the bald guy with the blue evo... look kinda like this:

 

link: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969048871196

Jan. 24, 2004. 01:00 AM Two road lions show their claws in winter
Mitsu Evo, Subaru STi flex rally roots
Hype confronts Canadian reality

LAURANCE YAP
Sometimes you really have to pinch yourself in this job.

Here I was a couple of weeks ago in what was probably the only Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (Evo for short) in Canada, riding along a snow-covered back road, in cold pursuit of a $47,000 Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

The two sport sedans (sticking to the speed limit, which was tough in these conditions) were kicking up a storm cloud of snow, their engines were humming and whooshing in their turbocharged power bands, performance winter radials clawed at the ground, and I was having the time of my life.

A cold January morning in the ultimate, not-available-here forbidden fruit rally special and its mortal enemy: life didn't get much better than this.

The whole Evo-versus-STi thing was a natural, partly because it's been done so many times before by the Americans in warm climates.

How would the two cars fare in Canadian conditions, on the type of roads often used in winter rallies? How different would they drive on the road rather than the track? How brightly would their rally heritage shine through?

And, above all: Was the Evo really the "sick ride" that I'd been reading about, or would it be a case of overwhelming hype?

Inquiring minds wanted to know, but Subaru didn't have an STi press car in its winter fleet.

Doh!

Clearly, I would be needing help with this, but help was just a phone call away.

A brief ring to friend and Subaru Rally Team Canada hot shoe Tom McGeer sorted it all out. A free day was found, a couple more phone calls were made, and a day later — how'd he do that? — a World Rally Blue STi showed up magically in his driveway. Running on summer tires. No matter: another couple of calls and a quick run to Subaru of Mississauga saw a brand-new set of Blizzaks installed in record time.

The conditions really couldn't have been any better: The highways had been plowed, the back roads were covered with a fresh dusting of snow from the night before and the sun helped mitigate some of the record-cold temperatures.

We set off in the Lancer first, McGeer openly curious about the car that has, until now, been his primary competitor in the Canadian Rally Championship. First impressions? That it's a lighter-feeling, less-substantial car — "more of a tourer," he says.

The 2.0-litre engine produces 271 hp compared to the STi's 300 (on 94 octane fuel, that is), but the real difference is in the way it delivers its power: the Evo's speed builds linearly until somewhere around the tach you realize how fast you're going; it has none of the initial thump delivered by the STi's larger, 2.5-litre engine. They sound pretty similar though, a smooth four-cylinder thrum overlaid by the restless whooshing of a turbo's wastegate.

We head up north to find some closed roads where McGeer can do "a little bit of sideways," and he immediately notices the Lancer's sharper turn-in and its super-quick steering. But it's a bit of an illusion.

"On exit, you find that the car's rear end actually washes wide. In the STi, you have to drive a bit harder through the understeer on turn-in, but once you're set up for the corner, the limited-slip front differential really hauls you out."

Indeed, when I have a go a few minutes later, I find myself driving quite slowly indeed: the Evo feels exceptionally confident on turn-in, but once you're on the gas, its rear gets pretty lively. I can see how the American magazines have rated it as more fun: it feels alive and nervous in a way the Subaru never does.

In the STi, McGeer's markedly faster throughout our entire road loop, and that isn't because he's got a whole lot of experience in one — his rally car is based on the last-generation Impreza, and the only crack he's had at an STi was when he put 500 km on one to break it in before the dealer launch.

Rolling on winter tires, it feels a lot closer to the Evo than I first expected: the softer sidewalls have introduced a degree of suppleness and compliance that have completely eliminated the crashing and banging of the suspension I'd experienced on summer tires. In fact, with its bigger engine, the Subaru feels the more refined of this pair.

The Subaru is not just a faster car because it pumps out an extra 30 hp and has an extra gear in its six-speed box. The Subaru has a traction advantage that comes from the way its three differentials have been set up: with a front limited-slip unit, a computer-controlled central diff, and a rear limited-slip. It seems to find traction where the Evo, with its open front diff and simpler mechanical centre diff, seems to just spin its wheels, scrabbling at the pavement and sliding across the snow.

"The STi feels like it's really dug into the ground," McGeer says. The Evo feels like it's dancing across it. "But if you put a limited-slip front diff on the Evo, it would probably do just as well as the Subaru." (In fact, Mitsubishi sells in the States an Evo 8 RS with a limited-slip front diff, no sound insulation, no radio and A/C, for $2,000 less than the regular $29,000 U.S. standard Evo.)

All of this has to be put into a bit of perspective. The conditions we were driving in were extreme; we'd chosen snow-covered roads with a helping of glare ice to explore the cars' handling. On pavement and in more normal conditions, these all-wheel-drive rockets would be very close indeed.

On pavement, the Evo is actually the better of the two. It has a sweeter shifter whose five longer gears allow you to experience a longer accelerative rush through each cog; its steering is alive and writhing in a way the Subaru's never is; and because of its taller stance and bigger glass, it's easier to see out of and place accurately on the road, even though it's actually larger than the STi in every dimension.

It may not be as fast as the Subaru, but it's still darned fast, hungrily closing gaps between clumps of traffic and passing cars a dozen at a time. The interior's a nicer place to work, with huggy but not confining Recaro seats, a more polished wing-shaped dash design, and a metal-and-leather Momo steering wheel much nicer than the STi's faux-granite and leather piece.

In the end, we decide there's less to separate these two than you might expect.

Driven by a sane driver on any regular road, they'd be equally capable, fast and exciting. On slippery surfaces, there's more of a difference, but that's primarily because Mitsubishi's made a conscious decision about what equipment to include for the U.S. market, and at what price it wanted to sell the Evo.

For in Europe, there's an Evo FQ300 version (FQ standing for f***ing quick, it's quipped) with not only 300 hp and six gears, but also an active centre differential and front limited-slip.

Compared apples-to-apples with an STi, McGeer thinks the car you choose would largely be down to which car's styling you prefer, or whose rally team colours you choose to wear.

Would he choose the Subaru? "Of course, I'm biased," he says while tugging on his blue-and-yellow toque, "but as a rally driver, the fact that the STi gets better through a corner — with maybe a little bit of that initial fight on turn-in, but also the way it really hauls you out of one — is more confidence-inspiring than the Lancer, which starts out so well but proves more wobbly.

"On the road, there's very little to distinguish the two, however. They're both incredible cars, faster and more capable than most drivers will ever need."

Too true, but I would never complain about a surfeit of capability in any car; that's what makes vehicles like this as exciting as they are.

As for me? Tough call. I love both these cars.

So maybe it really does come down to styling. I like the way the Evo looks better than I like the STi's Japanimation curves and wings, and you can't get an STi in yellow.

Like many a car nut, novelty matters as much to me as anything else, and as fine as they are, a base Lancer, or even the 2.4-litre, 160-hp Ralliart for which the Evo remains a "halo" product in other parts of the world, just won't do.

If they ever do decide to bring the Evo here, I would definitely have a dilemma. Maybe I'd need one of them and one STi, too.

Just before I pinch myself and wake up from that dream.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laurance Yap can be reached at yap@mac.com.

 

So here goes another evo vs sti thread. The Sti has a electronic throttle so it makes it much harder to tune so that scares me off of the sti. But I would love a six speed. I know that the Evo has some Hp hidden in its ECU any dynos of stock tuned evo's

 

you usually get around 20-30whp from a ECU reflash. Thats for a stocker of course.

 

Hey noob, do a search and stop waisting bandwidth.

I swear....I see the same topics everyday on the same stupid crap.

 

Chill out yo. Everyone makes mistakes. He's new to the website. Everyone cant be like you