Impressive and honest review. How many X MR owners will actually keep their car stock engine performance wise? HKS produced that 385hp in an MR but what are going to be the long term effects is the question.

 

Looks like the MR is going to be my next daily driver. I had a quick look at some pics and the interior is much better looking in the MR compared to the GSR.

 

wow MR will be perfect for me because i get lazy shifting sometime

 

I have a bum knee and driving an old school manual hurts when I get stuck in any kind of traffic. Hell, it can bother me going stop light to stop light.

The SST equipped MR is the only Evo I could realistically drive and not have to worry about getting caught in traffic.

 

Thanks for the review. Your review of the interior seems to go somewhat contrary to the few guys who have owned their Evo X for the past week or so. They have GSRs and describe the interior as having cheap plastic and a rental car feel. Does the MR have different plastic materials, or is the only difference the Alcantara/leather seats?

 

Well, thats not entirely wrong. I do agree that the X and even the IX have a slightly cheapy plastic. I noted this especially in the GSR, mainly on the center console and door panels. Even still, its a definite upgrade from the IX. The MR trim level seems to hide this a bit more. One example of this is the trim around the shifter. The GSR has a basic chrome square surrounding a vinyl boot. Not terrible, but it does say rental car slightly. Of course vendors are al ready making replacements for this and its still better than that god awfull fake metal/screw trim ring on 8 GSR. The MR however has a nice white stitched boot and far better looking trim plate. Makes the whole center console look better.

As far as all the differences, its hard to say as there were a number of subtle changes. The seats were the biggest and make a bug differnce in look and feel, but there were several more like the example above

 

now you guys are making my DD choice difficult: IS-F or Evo X MR. of course I'm keeping my IX MR. Good write up BTW!

 

Makes me wonder if we may be able to buy these upgraded trim components as parts from the dealer once the MR comes out.

 

+1.

I have been debating off and on going with the an Audi or VW just for DSG due to my knee but it is good to hear the SST isn't a disappointment. I am curious though as to how it compares to the DSG in the Audi/VW so I can't wait to drive them back to back.

 

That shouldn't be a difficult choice as there's a $20,000 price difference!

 

Get the IS-F. You already have an Evo IX.

 

my thoughts exactly! but sampling the X MR is too hard to resist!

 

You and me both, Audi and VW also claim that the wet clutches should last the life of the car(at least based on an article I read). I wonder if the SST can do the same.

 

now we just need to see the 8,9, and 10 race against each other

 

Longfury and Brennok, if you're going to test drive a DSG, then test drive a VW R32. AFAIK it is the most aggressively tuned DSG that VW/Audi currently offers. The DSG in an A3/A4 is not nearly as crisp, esp. when rev-matching the downshifts.

Thanks for the review. I just had a chance to check out some GSRs, can't wait to see what the MR looks like in comparison. Here's to hoping that the MR's fully automatic tranny will boost sales numbers...

l8r)