Infin..., your honesty is refreshing, and your initial observations are right-on, given your lack of experience with a manual.

The Evo is indeed weak on low-end torque, and launching the car properly takes a bit of skill (perhaps the reason that some of the folks here who chastise you for lack of experience also fry their own clutches prematurely). This is to be expected, given the smaller displacement. Hats off to Mitsu for keeping true to the WRC 2 litre formula - anyone can throw a bigger engine in (that means you, Slowburu). When I bought my first new 996, I remember a bunch of "seasoned" Porschephiles stalling the demo car at the dealer launch. Don't listen to this crap...most true performance cars have a learning curve.

I bought my Evo to be my snow car (Blizzaks on SSR Comp's), as it's not so expensive that I'll cry about paint wear, and for driving long-distance between my California and Arizona homes at 100MPH/25MPG. And you're right, the Subie's "fake" Recaro's don't get it done. Fifteen hours straight-through behind the wheel in my Evo, and I feel great every time, even after choosing fairly rough but seldom-travelled/patrolled roads.

Fair play to you for going for the gusto. Always buy performance - be it skis, windsurfers, bikes, whatever, you'll rise to the task more quickly, trust me.

By the way, I'm an old fart and WRC fan from my Europe expat days.

Cheers,
-DT

 

It IS heading that way.

At 20, I:

Was so poor from putting myself through college that I didn't have enough to eat, let alone buy a $30K toy.

My favorite car was a Lancia Delta Integrale (the FIRST REAL Evolution)

could recite Keith Code.

had 5 years of experience heal and toeing let alone not knowing how to drive a stick.

could port a small block Chevy head by hand.

worshipped Ayrton Senna.


My question is: Who the hell are you people and what planet do you come from? How can you enjoy this car if you have NO idea how to drive it, how it works, or its place in history? I usually don't get in on this kind of silliness on this board...but jeezus!

 

Get the STi. As a starter daily driver car, it will make a much better choice than the Evo.

Then after you get familiar with the stick and all, you may want to try to explore more of the STi, and it should understeer, which IS GOOD FOR BEGINNERS!

Not to flame/discredit you; I started out in an STi too, and it understeered PREDICTABLY.

 

Whoa boy don't get your panties in a twist. Basically the only part of your post that was relevent was me not knowing how to drive a stick. The rest was filler. And since when are there prerequisites to owning this vehicle. It's a car, not a national treasure.

 

ding ding ding.....i know my local dealer will turn me down...and ya know what im glad...because when i get my car i want to be sure that there were no joy riders in it b4 me.....i like knowing exactly what my cars have been thru...i got my si with 300 miles and thats too much in my book

 

Hey OnlineAlias. sounds like you were 20 in the 20's. So what if infin could afford a 30k when he's 20. Times change. That has nothing to do with him deciding what car too choose.

If you read his post you will see that he admitted to not knowing how to drive stick up-front. Were you not a virgin to stick at one point or another in your life? Also it's good that you know the history of the evo. But who gives a ****. Infin just wants to purchase a car and needs an opinion. I didn't know you had to pass a history test to be worthy of a car.

Yo Infin. Just consider your driving style and which car complements it more. Me personally I like to keep my options open meaning that the evo is extremely moddable. So if ever I decide to upgrade it is easy. Imagine you buy an Sti and a ricer embarasses you on the street. Then you're stuck between a rock and a hard place because modding the Sti is expensive and damn near impossible. That's unless that means nothing to you. Trust me when I say that after you purchase any one of these cars and you get used to the power and speed you're gonna start wanting more.

 

Please don't flame me for saying this but as much as I like my Evo, I have to say that for the most part it's a toss up between the Evo and the STi.

Evo: better handling, love the 4G63T engine from my Eclipse and Talons

STi: more power, electronic differential

At the time I bought my car (July), I was able to get my Evo for $1,000 under sticker. The STi was still going for $3,500 over sticker. So basically price is what made me get the Evo. If they were both going for the same price relative to sticker, in all honesty I would have bought the STi.

 

Yah I agree I will mod, the question is how soon. I know the Evo is way more mod friendly and I have taken that into consideration.

I would also like to state that I wasn't blaming anyone for the poor test drive. It was simply my inability to drive it well. I also don't think I should be grateful for a test drive. It's my money, if they want to sell a car they will let me test it. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm not paying $30k on a car I have never driven. That's insanity.

 

All power to ya infinity! He has to start somewhere. Why not support him? Listen he definitely needs more experience with a M/T and maybe he should practice a little more before taking a test ride but don't flame him. Test driving a car can be an experience and uncomfortable for a young and unskilled M/T driver. It's infinity's problem if he buys the car and fries the clutch and I am sure he is aware of this (especially considering the $ he is shelling out to buy it). On the other hand though if you will be broke after you buy this car and if you plan to street race like a maniac once you learn how to drive it then NO don't buy this car!!!

 

hmmm fry ur clutch... just get another... hey atleast u aint grinding like a mad men.... evo is definetly not a car u wanna start out learning how to drive stick... but oh well have fun! and as for daily driver thing... this is obviously your first real sports cars... all sports cars will smack ur *** everytime u hit a bump... get used to it...

 

And I wasn't suggesting you do. But let me ask you this, you were upset that the salesperson didn't know much about the car, what kind of questions were you asking? Tell me they weren't fan boy questions like "How much do the Enkei's weigh by themselves?" or "What's the spring rate for the coils?" or "What is the cfm rating for the turbo and intercooler?" Stuff that hardly any salesperson will know. But then again if they were simple questions, then most of those could probably have been answered right here on this site, are you the type that just wants to test your knowledge on someone else to prove you know more?

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, even though the other guy isn't here to tell his side of the story. Let's just say he was very poor on his product knowledge and needs to get better, but to make up for he says, "hey, let's go for a drive, perhaps that'll answer some questions." So you get in, start grinding first, the car bucks and shakes and nearly stalls and you haven't even gotten off the lot yet. So he's supposed to say, "Hey, let's take it up on the freeway and try some high speed merging" or "hey, I know a great curvy road with lots of blind corners and sweepers, let's go down it." No, he says, let's cruise down this side street with no traffic where you won't have to take it out of first.

Seems pretty logical to me. I hope you are satisfied with whatever choice you make.

 

I'm talking about not acting like a white knuckled baby on the test drive. Obviously if the guy makes a big deal out of the kid stalling the car it will affect how comfortable he is with the sale. What do you care anyway?

 

Great idea, since first gear is the hardest to manage in any manual car. Lets just cruise around in 1st the whole time! Whee!

Lets go 20 miles an hour in this performance car to see how it really handles! Yay!

Yeah, that's gonna get the guy a sale.

 

He didn't make a big deal about stalling it, did you read his first post? What do I care? As much as you do apparently to respond to me.

If that's all he can handle at that point in time under those conditions then so be it. IF they chose to let him practice on their car to earn his business then so be it too. Maybe he should go back during the day time and try to find a big open parking lot to drive in. I just don't think its worthy of a rant if they don't want to take that chance.

 

Stop knocking the kid. It's obvious he needs some more M/T time under his belt. What he wants to buy is his perogative. I might not agree with his review of the STI but everyone has his opinion. He obviously wants to hear your rebuttals to his reviews because other members with more experience with the car may have better advice for him. That's what forums are for! I don't talk to you fools because I have no friends, lol, just messing, actually you make more friends. I love you guys <as I drink another beer> !