meh, i am my own AYC its nice to have, but its alot more fun without it and takes more driving skill.

 

If i ever buy another evo. it will be a IX.

 

Yeah, skill to manage understeer. I don't miss that part of my VIII or IX at all. I love SAYC; the car is more balanced and I think its 10x more fun with it.

 

One thing's for sure, the X is much easier to drive fast compared to the IX since SAWC does all the car control bits for you.

 

I would say keep the IX and learn to out-drive the car's capabilities. Work on the driver mod first.

Then, if you learn to outdrive the car as it currently stands, the money you would have spent upgrading to the X, could be used to upgrade your IX to a level a stock X just won't be able to touch. You could buy custom-valved coilovers, other suspension upgrades, lightweight wheels with killer tires and a bunch of go-fast parts for all the money you would have to spend to get out of your IX and get into a X.

The X's a great car and stock for stock can hang with just about anything on the track. But, your IX is no slouch whatsoever and has more aftermarket support at this point.

I say keep the IX for another year or two, than upgrade to the X (or maybe it will be the XI by then). Either way, you'll have a blast at all the autox and track events you have planned this year.

 

I don't agree with that either. With stability control off, I've spun my X, but never my IX.

 

Why would you turn stability control off if you didn't want to spin?

 

Because stability control slows you down.
Because its the fastest way through the corner.
Because I can take the same corner 8mph higher in my X than I could in my IX and I was pushing the envelope... I found it!

 

The edmunds test shows 1:25.68 vs 1:29.02 lap time. In 13 laps the evo is down by more than half lap, and by lap 25 the GTR is in its mirrors ready to put it a lap down. For further perspective, the gap is roughly 380ft or 26 evo X car lengths per lap. And lets not forget, they didn't randomly select the evo X for this comparison, it is unquestionably the best handling sedan in the world. 26 car lengths on the best handling sedan in the world. If this isn't domination, I don't know what is.

If the X gets 400whp maybe it can compete, but at 400whp it's not going to be very reliable.

Disclosure: I have ordered a GT-R.

KG

 

understeer is not a problem if you know how to manage it. There are alot of mechanical and driver modifications you can make. Plus, the less electronics to help the better. Its a car, its all about the driver to learn what the car does and use that to get around the track. Ive been tracking/instructing for 6 years now, and love my IX for what it is, even withyou AYC.

 

I think most evo x guys who track seriously (like "Black-something or another") will do thoughtful weight reduction and be pretty light so they don't need to have 400whp.

I think once more parts are released this car will get close to 400whp on stock turbo and good fuel, time will tell.

 

exactly. that's why having a tool like AYC and utilizing it properly will actually add to the car and driver's ability.

 

Understeer is a problem because it is an undesirable condition. Can you tune it out with suspension and alignment? Of course.

I'm sure you know this, but SAYC is not "electronics", its a mechanical advantage, not too different from a differential in that it transfers torque to the place where it will be used more effectively. Would you prefer open diffs in your IX? Of course not. In this case, the "differential" is based on yaw. It makes an AWD car with a higher tendency to push behave more like a RWD car at turn in.

Don't take my word for it; you might be an instructor with lots of years experience, but people on this site who get paid to race Evos have reported that it is substantially better.

There are plenty of places to fault the X (weight). SAYC is not one of those places.

 

im not saying I wouldnt take AYC on a IX, but im saying, its nice to have, but dont bash the IX for not having it. Its just a different car (and in my opinion, alot more fun) to drive on the track. Its a different car that takes a different kind of driver. I just feel like with all these "driver aids" the true skill of learning how to actually go around a track is lost. BTW, im not that crazy old guy or anything that says "back in my car cars used to go uphill both ways...blah blah blah", im only 25, although only been instructing for 3 years. But I do feel like there is something lost with all these cars coming out with all these gadgets, electronic or not.

 

Just found this thread, I'll give my opinion on both cars.

The IX is a great car, very capable and pretty light. Very fun on track and there are plenty of them running great times across the nation. I loved mine when I had it, never thought I would sell it. I was perfectly happy with the car on the track, and was preppin it to run in NASA this year. After seein all the pics of X's I got kinda curious and called a few people, Robi, Martin etc. In talkin to them, and hearin what Robi had to say about it on track, I got really interested in one. So on a whim I posted my IX for sale.....23 mins later it was sold local for cash.

When I first got my X, I wasn't impressed at all, but I knew that going in. Stock this car is very slow, but handles pretty well. But once the car was modded, even with just the suspension done by Robi, it was so much different.....so much better.Yes the car is heavier, but you do not feel it, plus its easy to get 300lbs out of the car, which does help Now that the car has the AMS tune, its incredible. My X is consistently 3-5 secs per lap faster than my IX was at the same tracks (R/A, Autobahn, BIR), but on Neova's instead of the NT-01s I ran on my IX

Ive given many VIII/IX owners rides in my car, and everyone has the same reaction, they want a X. The car is not an Evo gone soft, its everything an older Evo ever was, except better. Yes, it took a few mods for the car to show its true colors, but its the same mods you do to VIII/IX's anyway. The USDM IX is fundamentally wrong from the get go, its set up to understeer. Yes, you can get around that, but it's tendency is still to understeer, unless you put in a modded diff like Nils. The X is set up to stay neutral, and mine is setup to oversteer, because I like a loose car. I dont have much else to say, but if you have any specific questions, let me know, Ill give you an answer.

-Ryan

BTW, Im not some loser just givin a random opinion, I have raced karts since I was a 9 y/o, 7 state championships in 3 different classes, 2 appearances in Stars of Karting (best finish 5th), 2 years at Redbull Drivers search back when it was goin on, 8 days testing a 997 GT3 Cup for EvoMS in AZ (no races yet ) among many other things. Yes Im new to the T/A scene, but hope to do well