I'm not on here much and post almost never, but I realized this morning that I've just gone past 15 years with my Evo 8. Since EvoM was there at the beginning, I thought I'd post a quick update . I'm not sure but it might actually have been the first USDM 8 delivered. Many thousands of commutes, school runs and road trips, countless rallycrosses, an auto-x or two, a gymkhana, one clutch, four set of wheels, more sets of tires than I care to remember, a blown HG and one unfortunate accident later, I still love this car and enjoy driving it every time I get behind the wheel. It gave me some mechanical trouble for sure, but tbh most of it was my due to my own stupidity and all of it was fixable. The paint is faded from the SoCal sun and it has a sizable shopping cart dent , but it's still objectively fast and fun as hell to drive even given that it's still pretty stock.

That said, it's time for a nice solid, driveable engine/tranny build and a paint job.. then I'll be good for the next 15 years

It's funny to read my first impressions from way back then.. a lot of them are the same things I love about the car today (the quick, communicative steering especially).

March 5, 2003:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ve-mine-6.html

And thanks EvoM for always being there to answer my questions.. this place is an awesome resource

Just thought I'd share anyway. Evos are awesome. That is all.

 

What would you do different if you had it all over again?

 

 

+1 on the mileage... looked thru the original thread.. man that 15 years ago. Wow.

 

Great question.. mostly I wouldn't do the dumb stuff that got me in trouble. When the t-stat stuck and the engine overheated, I'd have immediately parked it and called a flatbed, instead of trying to drive the last couple miles to work in short bursts. That would have meant the head didn't warp, which was the start of a spate of mechanical gremlins that ultimately resulted in me tearing half the engine apart. Interesting exercise though. I wouldn't have had that unfortunate accident (which was entirely my fault). I'd have checked myself after working all night on a driveshaft swap, instead of putting it all back together and going racing... without first topping up the t-case. Oops. And I'd have used Diaqueen and Mitsu OEM coolant from the start.

As far as mods, I've only done relatively minor stuff (brakes, clutch, dp, short shifter, audio, wheels) but there's nothing I regret really. I should have taken the restrictor pill out of the clutch line the first weekend I had the car instead of a year or so in, and when I had the clutch replaced I should maybe have been more picky because it sounds like someone shaking a bag of spoons under the car when it's off-throttle I do like the action on that clutch though. Things I'd definitely do the same - swap out the Altezzas, install and use a turbo timer, keep it smog legal (I have enough of those kind of headaches with other cars).

Nice - you have a build thread for yours? I don't think I need that much power necessarily but I'm interested to see what other guys have done who are in it for the long haul.

131k. I've DD'd other cars on and off (generally whatever isn't broken is the DD). I can't see myself selling the Evo now - clearly it doesn't seem like I'm ever going to want to drive something "normal" at this point, and there's nothing really like the CT9A cars out there any more. Oh and because mine also has a rally spec skidplate on a welded frame that would probably be kind of hard to explain to prospective buyers

I'm definitely gonna get it back out into rallycross, maybe track days, the occasional drag strip test and tune.. I feel like it has even more all-rounder potential to fulfil..

Tell me about it.. my son was in a (Recaro) car seat then, now he's about to graduate high school and the front passenger seat will barely go far enough back to fit his legs in

Pretty funny though, for those first three or four months it was like being a rockstar driving round in that thing, there was such a buzz about them and everybody wanted to talk about it or check it out. Good times.

I remember one really confusing conversation at a stop light.. something like.,
Guy in car - hey man, nice Evo, is that a 6 or an 8?
Me - thanks, it's an 8, that's the first one they sold here
Guy - an 8? Really?
Me - err yeah
Guy - doesn't look like enough space for a V8 in there
Me - [ah cylinders not Evo generations] oh.. right.. no it's a turbo 4 banger
Guy - ...err...
[light goes green, everyone is relieved]

 

Congrats on 15 years. I also have 2003 bought new but I didn't buy it until January 2004 so I have the better part of a year to go before I can say 15.

 

Wow an 03 OO! I'm an OO as well but I got my '05 in October 2004. So one of the first set of the 05s. Crazy!

 

Congrats!
My Evo is turning 12 this year, slightly more that 180k km now (about 112k miles) and still a lot of fun
Cheers,
Patric

 

Incredible to be able to own such a great car from the beginning! Many more years to follow!

 

I'm about 13yrs myself. 05 Evo 8 MR. Sitting at 21k miles but being built into a race car. Its the kind of car that once you fall in love with it, you'll always love them.

 

Very cool, thanks for reporting in! The Evo really is a timeless car and will always be very prevalent in the sports car industry no matter what is released next. I've only had mine for a little over 9 years and 100,000 miles. The truth is if you don't modify them much they are extremely reliable, safe, and fun to drive. When the mod bug bites we can't help it!

 

Great thread and congrats on being a lifelong owner. I still have my '03 with 136k on her. Love this car and will never sell it. It could use an overhaul like you're planning. I read Mitsubishi will only bring back the EVO if it's deemed 'marketable', which is just silly to me. But who knows what kids these days are into..

 

Most kids these days are more into tapping a glass touch screen than picking up tools and fixing their bikes. It's sad really.