This dealer has an Evo just for test drives. It has over 3k miles on it.

 

Ok
i have both and heres my take

It really depends on what you want

I drive the evo daily and i have no problems at all. Its been modded since it had 1.8k on the clock (18500 right now) Modding the evo is so much easier and cheaper than the STi. Handling in the Sti is nothing like the evo. NOTHING! If you want the power of the Sti then use the money that you saved from buying the evo instead on mods. It should only take not much more than $500 to achieve this.

The Sti is very nice and is without a doubt much nicer than the evo. It is faster but again that can b fixed on the evo. But simple put, the evo has so much more potential than the Sti that its not even funny.

As for the ride, the Sti's really isnt much better. The suspension is actually stiffer and less forgiving than the evo. Its just that the seats soak up more than the evo's. Hitting bumps in the Sti will tire you to hell. Its really loud to drive on a highway with bumps. The evos seats support you so it doesnt seem as bad in the evo.

Insurance is cheaper on the evo too

 

Good luck finding aftermarket speakers for the STI. My fiance has an '04 WRX and I ordered a pair of Alpine 4" speakers for the rear doors and they didn't fit. I ordered them from crutchfield so I called and they said they sold me the set that fits the '03 WRX and they said they would fit. Aparently the '04's have different speakers from the factory and Crutchfield has nothing that will fit directly in the rear doors. Not to mention from '02 and up WRX they don't have anything that will replace the front doors because of the depth clearance. It looks like you are stuck with the factory options for the STI.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Sounds to me like you don't know how to drive. The saleman was probably nervous with you bucking around in first, stalling the car, and basically practicing your skills on a 30K piece of merchandise. So I guess its his fault because he didn't know anything about the car? He was probably too nervous worrying about you tearing up the car or having an accident with him in it.

So? They will still have to sell it. Mitsubishi doesn't refund dealers who turn cars into demos. And if it gets torn up they'll have to pay to have it fix. Parts aren't free and mecahnics like to feed their families too.

You at least got to drive both of them, right? Doesn't that count for something?

 

wait you test drove and you only stalked twice? twice is twice too often my friend .. no wonder they are nervous that ur driving it.. so would i

 

I already explained I am not good at driving a stick. Yes, it is his fault he knows nothing about the car. I don't know how my skill with a stick is related to knowledge of an automobile. Please call up my dealer and tell them not to let me drive their car if you are so concerned about it.

And driving the car on a dark side street going 20 mph doesn't count as driving it. So no, it really doesnt' count for ****.

 

yo, infinity, they actually let you test drive the EVO? dang, lucky .

The dealer on W. Henrietta here in rochester won't unless your practically already making a deposit on the car.

I say the clutch issue shouldnt play a major role in the decision of the car, as once you get better with stick, i doubt u'll notice it as much as you have now.

 

I stalled the STi and the salesman was extremely calm. He simply said start it again and it was fine. We drove on very busy streets and I was fine in it. For some reason I just wasn't having luck w/ 1st gear on the Evo.

 

Yah Cortese is deffinetly tighter about their test drives, probably because they don't have a dedicated test car. Carlisle doesn't have to worry about you putting miles on one that will be sold.

 

Errr...umm...1st gear is usually the trickiest of five Just don't post later that you've fried your clutch with under 5k miles and then blame that the clutch sucks...ok. Good luck with your purchase!

 

The salesman needs to get some ***** if he wants to make the sale. Making his customer feel comfortable with the car is paramount. He would have been better to laugh off the stalls and what not.

That said I do see the Evo being a little over the top for a first manual car, but whatever. My impression of the Evo after I tested it was that it was absolutely punishing on rough roads here in New England. I can't imagine it gets much better up in Rochester. The handling is superb and the power is great, but dang I would not want to daily drive that thing.

 

You're kidding right? How can making someone feel comfortable substiture for driving ability? Making sure the seat is in the right place? The mirrors? The HVAC is on recirculate so the burning cosmoline smell doesn't get in the cabin?

Whatever.

No, I won't. But it just sounds to me like you got an opportunity to do something a lot of others have been denied, but are complaining because things didn't quite the way you wanted. All I'm saying is it might have something to do with your driving ability (or lack of) rather then something your dealer did.

 

It's funny that's you'd call the Evo "one dimensional" for being tarmac biased. How many times do you drive your STi full-tilt on gravel roads? I don't doubt that a stock STi has an edge on deformable surfaces...but 99.9% of us are on tarmac 99.9% of the time.

Further, the reason the STi doesn't feel as good as the Evo is not just because of the stiffness of the springs! The STi has a slower steering rack that's pretty numb off-center. That won't be corrected just with springs! Sure, you could modify the STi's suspension (springs, shocks, camber plates, swaybars) to make the STi handle as well as the Evo...but you yourself said:

So, if you're comparing stock-for-stock, don't turn around and compare a modified STi to a stock Evo! An STi costs between 2-3K more than an Evo to begin with. Sure, you could spend another $1000 on suspension to make it feel as nice as a stock Evo. Of course, you could make a pretty sick Evo for the total cost of that modded STi.

Don't know if I'd agree. All of my racing and driving instructor buddies hate "active" suspension and drivetrain components. Every "experienced driver" I know wants a car that's 100% predictable at the limit...and active crap gets in the way of that.

That's fair. The STi definitely has less lag. However, I've never exited a corner an found the engine in a "flat spot." I suppose if you don't know how to heel-and-toe that might be a problem. There's enough headroom in each gear that you can easily keep the revs over 3K rpm (and the engine on boost) when cornering hard.

Emre

 

Don't know why you'd want stiffer swaybars up front. The STi understeers enough as it is! Stiffening the front would make the problem worse. You need to stiffen the rear, not the front.

Emre

 

let me add my 2 cents

I was in the same position as you were and had the opportunity to drive both cars before i went with the Evo. I'm not sure why ppl say the EVo's interior is cheap. I personally like it better than STI....The STi seats are bad and handling is good, but can't compare to the EVO. Also as this was your first time driving a stick, you may not know much about the feel of the transmission etc. The EVO shifter is shorter, has a better feel (mechanical) and much better throws than the STi.

The brakes on the EVo are better than the STi. The STi folks complain about brake fade while i've yet to hear anyone say anything bad about the EVO brakes. I've seen the EVO perform on a road course and it's just unbelieve how bad it tears up the competition. The ride is definitely harsher than the STi, but then if u want handling u have to compromise some where.

Don't get me wrong, i like the STi a lot but i went with what gave me more driving / performance pleasure.

Also, the final factor i considered was that after talking to my performance shop manager they convinced me to go w/. the EVo due to all the factors i mentioned above but also that EVOs easier to modify and work on than the STi.

You need to consider what you want, straight line performance or both handling and straight line...The STi definitely feels really torquey due to its bigger engine. Besides all the articles i've read in the magazines have always given EVo the edge even though it's less HP.

I don't think you'll go wrong with either car, but just make sure you know what your preferences are before you buy it. ... good luck