I got my Evo christmas day, and I'm not even christian! Anyways, I'm at 5.5k miles which isn't a lot so I can't say much about reliability but I do love my Evo. I have been pulled over a few times for stupid reasons too, no moving violations. The only thing I've noticed, apart from the car being absolutely amazing, is that it really takes time to learn how to get the most out of the car. I plan on keeping the car stock until I get close to mastering the Evo. (Autocrossing, and some time in the future, track days, are certainly helping in that respect ) That way when I mod my car I can truly appreciate each mod.

 

I'm not trying to single this guy out but his post raises some issues and captures the general negative "my Evo sucks" sentiment there is towards the Evo on this forum.

It's been my experience that it's the "noisy minority" that generally voices their negative experiences in regards to build, quality or mechanical problems. I'm sure there are many Evo drivers that never participate in this community but I'd be willing to be that statistically speaking, the people with issues post more often about problems then people who write glowing reports about how everything is normal with their car.

No doubt put a "weak" clutch into the Evo to save money. A clutch is "first line" wear & tear item. A transfer case, transmission, half shaft, etc are not.

An analogy, I could use a 40A fuse in fuse box i nmy house to keep my toaster from popping the 10A fuse I should really use to be safe. The problem is, when the toaster overloads, it's not going to be the fuse that pops, it will be the wiring that goes, burning the whole house down with it. I don't think reasoning is much different. The "weak" clutch is there as overload protection.

Launch? Who launches? If you're launching then you're trying to accelerate quickly from a stand still. Sounds an awful lot like a drag race. Granted, there are varying degrees of hard launches but none of them are good for the clutch or the rest of the drive train.

I think the reason this subject stirs up so much controversy is that it's the driver that is generally scrutinized first when one of two otherwise "identical" cars experiences a failure of some sort. Often it might have nothing to do with the driver but again I'm willing to bet that a majority of the time it has to do with driver behavior or operating condiotns, not a material defect or deficiency.

While not the most statistically sound survey , people should take a look at this thread: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=80643

89% of those participating have experienced minor issues or no issues at all. Of the remaining 11%, I'd speculate that over half of them are the result of some sort of contributory negligence in the form of asshat street racing, repeated hard launches, drag racing, autocross, road racing, etc.

I was a "German Iron" stalwart for years. The Evo is by far a much better assembled car than the VWs, Audis and Porsche I've owned. The engineering is very much on par with German and American engineering, if not better. I've had NO build quality issues. Yeah, the dealer I bought it from (Stohlman ) sucks ***, but it's not a huge issue for me since the car doesn't break.


That's what this place is for, voicing your opinion. I'm sorry this guy is so frustrated with his Evo and the problems he's experiencing. For every one of these guys I think there are probably 3 that feel the complete opposite. I hope people that come to these forums realize that Chris and many other owners love our Evos and have few, if any, problems.

 

s2k handles better than evo? My friend 03 s2k fish tails like a ****. Sorry, off topic. I stop here.

I'm at 18K and still on stock tires, stock brakes, and stock clutch still graping like a chimp. The evo is also my first standard car, so go figure. To be honest with you guys, I've learned to drive a standard with this car. Actually, the dealer let me learn on one of their lancers, and then I took off with the EVO. I have launched the my EVO at least 15 times. Overall, I love my EVO and it's by far the best car I have had. hehehe...it's also my first car...

 

Well, I agree the S2000 isn't a "beginner" car to drive fast because of it's tail-happy nature (like most rear-wheel-drive cars), but I bet a seasoned driver can drive it faster around the track than in the EVO. Let me just put it that way.

BTW, this is one of the topics that were brought up by the thread originator, so you are right on topic.

 

To wrap up the S2K vs Evo discussion (I've owned an '01 and currently own an '04 - the 2.2L one), I can honestly say the Evo will clean the S2K's clock stock for stock if only because of the exit out of corners, esp. tight ones. I spun my previous S2K twice during "spirited" driving, but I have NEVER come close with my Evo. Honestly, I use the S2K as my putt-putt mobile, for when I want something quiet, stylish and a little more relaxed to drive than my Evo. They are both great - just extremely different. If I could have one more vehicle, I'd get a Titan with the heavy-duty towing package to tow the Evo to the track.

 

Well you have both so your better then all of us, damit...

 

I'm just the opposite. I drive my S2000 faster around the track than my EVO. A stock EVO understeers quite a bit thru some turns (compared to the S, that is), so it didn't matter if it had all that low-end torque. The all-wheel-drive helps mask driver-induced mistakes, so the EVO may appear, and it is, easier to drive to its limit compared to the S. Since you are also in SoCal, talk to Aaron Bitterman and he will tell you the same thing.

 

Let's see: high power, high grip, all-wheel-drive, short gearing.

Yea, it's going to understeer under power.

 

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