Buy what you want to buy. If you can get test-rides in all three, that would probably help you make the decision.

Why buy the Evo or STi? Because they're probably the greatest bang-for-the-buck cars on the road.

Clutches will easily last longer than a year if you drive the car, not abuse the car.

 

2/3 clutches a year? I don't think it will be that extremem unless you don't know how to drive a manual....and a few sets of tires in a year again, I dont think that would happen unless you like sitting around doing burnouts for hours on end...

I do hear the ride for the Evo is a litte harsher than the WRX.

 

i am going through the same thing. i am planning on buying a new car in about 1.5-2 years. i currently drive a 02 focus ZX3 and i autoX in it alot. don't laugh. i can more than hold my own with cars that cost twice as much. but as good as this car has been to me i find myself wanting more. here comes the problem. i want a car that handles well, preferably AWD, and has a turbo (ease of upgrade). the choices that lie before me are the WRX, EVO, and the STi. like you i can get the WRX for around 22-23k. it is a great preformer and with a few modifications can dominate STX with the right driver (at least in my region). now for about 6k more i can have the EVO which comes with 44more hp, huge brakes and even better handling (at least i assume). for an estimated 5k more i get 29 more hp than the evo, handling on par with the EVO, brakes that are equal to the EVO, and a slew of gadgets. now the question i am asking myself is this. is the EVO worth 6K more than the WRX? if so, is the STi worth 5k more than the EVO? or should i just use the money i save buying a WRX and mod it to the point in which it will slaughter both cars? but then i have to think about the warrenty. damn, this is a hard choice to make.

 

Honestly, if you plan to just drive the Evo everyday and never take it to the track, then I would have to say it's not the best car to buy.

It sounds like you're looking for a car that has a sporty, but comfortable ride, low maintenance, long lasting components, etc. The Evo is basically the opposite of all of these and it's not built to be driven soley on the street. Just the quick steering ratio will get annoying when you're on the highway... gotta have full concentration and both hands on the wheel. Add a really stiff chassis and the same JDM suspension setup and you have a very uncompromising car. You can always add hp to the WRX or any car for that matter.

For the money, the WRX sounds like the best deal for you, since you're getting everything you want for much less... the only thing you're not getting is the Evo, which probably deep down inside you've always wanted

Mark

 

Of course ride quality is subjective, too. I put a road race spec suspension on my Subaru and upgraded to a stiffer rear bar. Add on 17" rims with lower profile tires, and the ride is definitely a lot stiffer than stock. But it's not unberable, and that configuration of the car has seen more than 40,000 miles in less than 2 years on daily commutes and several long road trips. I like the feel of the road I have.

After driving my girlfriend's 1994 Civic EX (with 140,000+ miles, ack!) for a week while the Subie was in the garage, I really came to appreciate the ride quality my car has. Well that and the HP.

 

Let's keep this like the title of the thread suggests - realistic.

The ride of the Evo is basically sports car harsh. Think RX-7. Maybe a little harsher than that. The ride of the STi is around M3 firm, a bit more than that, but offset by the fact that it's lighter than an M3 (same for the Evo). While I have my issues with the suspension of the Evo, I'm also an old man (relatively) with fairly specific preferences and fairly clear views of handling that are not necessarily correct for other people. On a scale of 1 to 10 for daily liveability, I'd rate them:

WRX: 9
STi: 8
Evo: 6
M3: 8
GT-R: 7

But those are compromises you make for handling.

As for tyres and clutches. Yes, if you go to the track on a rather consistant basis, and I'm not talking the ones that are a quarter-mile long, you will go through consumables quickly. You will in nearly any car that makes more than 200hp and weighs more than 2400lbs if you are going to the track. Impressions of the Evo are skewed because people don't buy them as daily drivers. Many of the owners go to the track/mountains with this car, and of course they go through tyres and clutches quickly. If you want to economy car around, you can, and the components will last long enough. But you are then missing the entire point of buying the car...

If you are worried about those costs, you probably shouldn't be buying an Evo or an STi anyways. This is a drawback of the cheap price - it puts a supercar into availability for you, but it still will have some supercar costs. People that buy an NSX/GT-R/Corvette have similar worries, but since they paid so much for their car, their economic status precludes those worries.

Extra power... Doesn't seem to bother Mustang V8, Camaro, Corvette owners.

I do agree that you should buy the best car for your needs, though. A friend quoted to me once that "people buy the cheapest car their ego can allow", and that is so true. You want some reality? Buying a 10 year old sporty sedan that originally was a 40K car, and buying a 8 year old Miata and tuning it out would in the end yield you a better day to day car + a better sports car than the Evo or the STi, and those two cars would be cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain daily, cheaper to insure, and would be a lot less worry from thieves and jealous idiots. However, and I'm just as guilty as other people, you just got to have an Evo/STi/B4 regardless. (at least my excuse is that parking per car is about $300 a month, thus necessitating a one car lifestyle...)

Cheers,

Paul Hansen

 

What are you guys talking about, all the gadgets, Hp, stiffness of the EVO and STI are most defidently NEEDED! If you don't understand that then they aren't the cars for you.

Honda Insights and Toyota Echo's are very practical, maybe look at one of those. J/K

 

some DATA so you can take a desision which one is better:

EVO VII GRS WRX STi:
Engine: 1997cc in-line 4-cyl 1994cc boxer 4-cyl
Power: 276bhp @ 6500rpm 262bhp @ 6400rpm
Torque: 282lb ft @ 3500rpm 253lb ft @ 4000rpm
Compression ratio: 8.8:1 8.0:1
Gearbox: 5-speed manual 6-speed manual
Brakes: 381mm vented discs (front)
381mm vented discs (rear) 330mm vented discs (front)
305mm vented discs (rear)
Steering (turns): 2.0 lock-to-lock 2.7 lock-to-lock
Wheels: 8.0 x 17in alloy 7.0 x 17in alloy
Tyres: 235/45 ZR17 225/45 ZR17
Length: 4455mm 4405mm
Width: 1770mm 1730mm
Height: 1450mm 1435mm
Wheelbase: 2625mm 2525mm
Weight: 1400kg 1430kg
PERFORMANCE:
Max speed: 155mph 150mph
0-60mph: 4.4 secs 4.6 secs
0-100mph: 11.0 secs 11.0 secs
0-400m: 12.8 secs 12.9 secs
Fuel economy: 24mpg 23.3mpg

 

hmmm, no i understand these cars very well indeed. you should ride in my focus. i have friends in trucks that complain about how stiff the suspension is. don't get me wrong. i'm drooling all over the idea of having an EVO or STi in my garage, it's just the extra cost of these cars over the standard WRX that is giving me pause. i think the bigger brakes, better suspension, and extra hp of the EVO amke the cost much easier to swallow. i'm still kinda hung on the STi. i guess i'll just have to wait untill i can read a comparo of the two cars and see just how much the extra power and DCCD/front LSD really matter on the STi.

 

For daily driving, an Evo is a bit too harsh on US roads. Most of the time you wont even be able to use the max power of the car(unless you take it to the track).

The WRX is a great compromise for a daily car + performance. It is much cheaper than the STi/Evo because you can buy it for about $23k, get a nice ride (not too soft or too hard) and pretty good performance.
You also dont need to worry much about the car getting stolen or stuff ripped out. STi/Evo owners are going to be high crime targets unfortunately. . .

The clutch on the Evo is really hard too, I feel. The WRX is much easier to shift but I suck at driving

So, if you only can only own one car and you drive it everyday, go for the WRX. It will be overall a much better deal.

 

Eh, isn't the above STi data based on the Euro STi?

USDM STi has 300bhp, 300lb-ft and 2.5L last I heard.

Has the Euro STi been tested to clock 12.9s on the 0-400m drag? It seems a little too optimistic.

Evo VII GSR should realistically have about 303bhp or so (dynoed by the Japs at 307PS).

By the way, 2-3 clutches a year is due to a fault in the clutch assembly of the VII. It has since been recalled and apparently fixed.

STi doesn't suffer from excessive clutch wear.

But then again you Americans drag race at every opportunity

Sorry didn't mean that as a racist comment (but it's TRUE right?)

 

To hell with that. STI'd be my only car. Take my grandma to go get groceries with it. If she doesn't like the ride, she shouldn't have asked for a lift.

and I don't know where herson got his specs, but they're quite a bit off.

 

The Evo will be harsh, but I'm sure you'll get used to it. If not, don't get it. Get another car other than the Evo/Sti/WRX. If you are 16, don't get it...start with something else until you become a better driver.

I noticed that there are a lot of tools on this site...

Sorry, don't mean to be an ***...I just see too many young driver crashes who don't know what they are doing. Take a driving school. Don't think you are a good driver from the beginning.

 

Yeah, you're comaparing two Euro spec cars. They don't apply here unless your importing. It probably be the reverse if it were the US spec.

I would go with the WRX if it's your ONLY vehicle in the household. The Evo will be my weekend car so I wanted something very sporty but with 4 doors. The Sti is just a little too out of my reach for this type of vehicle.

 

Actually, there are not many good drivers... But yes, street drag racing is popular here.