I'm curious about the differences between a stock 2005 evo 8 with ssl and an evo 9 (standard/gsr whatever you want to call it). My friends VIII feels entirely different then my IX's suspension. His feels stiffer and meaner, mine feels softer. I'm wondering if this is a difference in suspension or possibly tires, or maybe even just wear on the suspension components, since his has 70k miles.

 

Stock, there's no difference save for mileage. If one car has 18's and the other 17's, you'll notice. Same with different brands/models of tires.

 

Compare the evo 9 mr vs the evo 9 gsr. Bilstein vs Mitsubishi shocks. The yellow shocks vs the black ones.

 

I upgraded it to the MR suspension

 

He has 17's and so do I but different tires.

I was considering going with the MR suspension, but wanted to check and see if there was a difference between the standard 8 and 9 first, because since I liked his so much I might just be able to get new tires and be happy(for a little while).

I have kumho ecsta's, I guess I'll see what happens when I go to a different tire. If I'm still not happy I'll start looking into the MR suspension again.

 

It could very well have been a combination of tire differences and suspension wear. I would first try upgrading to something like the Dunlop Z1s then, after you've gotten used to those, you can either buy springs for the stock KYBs (Swift Spec-Rs would work very well) or upgrade to either the MR Bilsteins or the Bilstein HDs, also with upgraded springs.
-Alex@ECS

 

If you liked his cuz it was stiffer than you don't want MR suspension cuz I'm pretty sure its softer than the GSR suspension. I could be wrong though.

 

This.