Hello Ladies and Gents, I am in the process of buying a 2005 Evo. I bought a 2007 Wrx in February of '07,loved it then traded it for a 2014 Wrx......that I Hate. I've always really liked Evolutions but never had the chance to drive one so I went to look at a 2012 Evo Gsr, the interior was cheaper and uglier than anything I had ever driven and the trunk looked smaller than the glove compartment. So I drove it and it was soft. I decided to look at a 2006 Evo 9 and test drove a 2005 Evo 8. The seats in the 8 were made of nice material the trunk was a usable size,then I drove it. After driving the car I asked myself why are the Evo and Sti compared to each other? The Evo is fast,handles far better than an Sti and I finally understood what all the Evo drivers were bragging about. My only concern is a clunk sound when letting out the clutch after shifting hard is this normal or is it transfer bushings that I have read about? I asked the dealer to fix the issue and I would purchase the car. The car has 100k miles but is in great shape. Thanks in advance

 

Is the clunk coming from the front or back of the car?

 

You may just not be too good at driving the evo. My evo did the same thing when I first got it. Every time I would get on it and shift I heard a clunk. But once I got some seat time and got better at driving the car, it went away. Never makes any noises now and there are no issues with the car.

 

The "clunk" you're hearing is coming from the rear diff. Don't bother asking the dealer to replace the bushings cause they're most likely not going to. So that leaves you with one of two options.
1.) Leave the existing bushings and and learn how to drive the car and find the clutches sweet spot. It'll take getting used to but you'll figure it out eventually and you won't deal with the "clunk" sound anymore.
2.) Upgrade the bushings to some solid bushings. This makes the clunk go away but makes the drivetrain much louder. I would only suggest this if its a track car.

 

I don't know if I would agree with you, I currently own both an evo and an sti and I consider them similar. Yes, the evo is a hair faster but by no means it is as badly as you are describing it. (I could be interpreting this wrong. If so, my mistake.) You had both wrx, STi handles A LOT better than the WRX when it comes down to handling.

Anyways, with your question, if the price is decent you should pick it up! Are there any mods on the 8?

 

it is totally normal, the clunking

 

no clunking is not normal. It may be typical because of common wear points, but it should be fixed not tolerated.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. It's possible that I was not shifting the Evo the correct way but no matter it sold to someone else so I'll be on the hunt again. As for my comment about the Evo and Sti they feel completely different to me, the older Wrx/STis are much,much,much better (build quality wise) than the newer ones. My wife commented about how the Evo felt as solid as a tank and the WRXs even STis we've driven are flimsy.