Evo X cross country 2000 mile impression
D'OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just got home. I'll get up in the morning to take Andrew back to Dyno4mance, which is about 2 and a half hours south. I'll wash it and snap some pics. If you thought it looked dirty in the earlier pics, it looks just awful now.
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I guess I need to post some impressions. Its late and I'm loopy tired, so this might not make too much sense. I'll try to expound some tomorrow if you guys have any questions.
"The seats are the best car seats I've ever sat in." -Andrew
I agree with that. He commented that they are more like Japanese market car seats, and its true. They are a lot tighter than the IX seats and have substantially better bolstering. When I drive on long trips, my lower back usually hurts. Nearly thirty hours of driving, two days and 2100 miles, and these seats did not bother my back at all.
Other than the great comfort of the new Recaros, I actually think the interior in my IX was a little nicer. The plastics in this car are even a little cheaper than the IX, and the seat fabric is lower quality than what covered the IX seats by a good deal IMO. The trim on the dash and doors is downright cheesy to me. The steering wheel was a bit odd to me at first, but now I like it more than my IX wheel.
There are some things that are better on the IX and some better on the X. The fit and finish of the X just smashes the IX. This car is screwed together so much better than a IX you have to drive it to believe it. It tracks with much more stability. No vibrations from the road are transferred to the wheel in this car like in the IX.
Power is alright, but its stock, lots heavier than the IX, and therefore boring. I was stuck with 90 and 91 octane a lot early on. I was really happy when I crossed the middle of Arkansas and hit 93 octane. I didn't get on the car until 800 miles and did not redline it until a little after 1000 miles. The midrange is decent, its a bit soft up at the very top.
Fuel Ecomony sucks. IMO, this is because of overall shorter gearing as well as the fact the car is heavier. At the best, the computer said we managed 23mph. At the worst when I was driving like a hooligan, 16mpg. The computer is nifty. They ripped off a lot of BMW ideas in its implementation.
The crown jewel of this car is its handling. I got to push it a bit, but I was nowhere near the limit. And the limit is _substantially_ higher than the IX in my opinion. SAYC is retarded cool. The fact we did not get it on the US market VIII and IX cars is a crime. To me, the mags that had the IX faster in comparos is because of power:weight. If these cars had the same power:weight, the X would crush the IX.
I didn't think the Advans could be better than before, but these new ones are. These tires are simply amazing. They are 245/40/18.
If you want a drag car, the IX is still way ahead, but if you want a handling car (like the Evo really is meant to be), this car is an Evolution in every sense of the word and has the (US spec) IX trumped with ease.
More tomorrow...
"The seats are the best car seats I've ever sat in." -Andrew
I agree with that. He commented that they are more like Japanese market car seats, and its true. They are a lot tighter than the IX seats and have substantially better bolstering. When I drive on long trips, my lower back usually hurts. Nearly thirty hours of driving, two days and 2100 miles, and these seats did not bother my back at all.
Other than the great comfort of the new Recaros, I actually think the interior in my IX was a little nicer. The plastics in this car are even a little cheaper than the IX, and the seat fabric is lower quality than what covered the IX seats by a good deal IMO. The trim on the dash and doors is downright cheesy to me. The steering wheel was a bit odd to me at first, but now I like it more than my IX wheel.
There are some things that are better on the IX and some better on the X. The fit and finish of the X just smashes the IX. This car is screwed together so much better than a IX you have to drive it to believe it. It tracks with much more stability. No vibrations from the road are transferred to the wheel in this car like in the IX.
Power is alright, but its stock, lots heavier than the IX, and therefore boring. I was stuck with 90 and 91 octane a lot early on. I was really happy when I crossed the middle of Arkansas and hit 93 octane. I didn't get on the car until 800 miles and did not redline it until a little after 1000 miles. The midrange is decent, its a bit soft up at the very top.
Fuel Ecomony sucks. IMO, this is because of overall shorter gearing as well as the fact the car is heavier. At the best, the computer said we managed 23mph. At the worst when I was driving like a hooligan, 16mpg. The computer is nifty. They ripped off a lot of BMW ideas in its implementation.
The crown jewel of this car is its handling. I got to push it a bit, but I was nowhere near the limit. And the limit is _substantially_ higher than the IX in my opinion. SAYC is retarded cool. The fact we did not get it on the US market VIII and IX cars is a crime. To me, the mags that had the IX faster in comparos is because of power:weight. If these cars had the same power:weight, the X would crush the IX.
I didn't think the Advans could be better than before, but these new ones are. These tires are simply amazing. They are 245/40/18.
If you want a drag car, the IX is still way ahead, but if you want a handling car (like the Evo really is meant to be), this car is an Evolution in every sense of the word and has the (US spec) IX trumped with ease.
More tomorrow...
Trust me, I hit it in less than 2.5 hours everytime.
