I had that with my dealer too. My IX was the only one for sale within 250 miles of my location in michigan by a dealer. I wanted to leave after they stereotyped my appearance, but it was the only Evo and a 5spd no-sunroof IX in my color at 34K miles!

They said all kinds of kids were inquiring about the car daily, but no one had any money. Problem is that I too am only 23, and quite skinny, 155lbs wet yet 5'11 tall. I look just like those poor high school kids and my dealer wouldn't let me take the car on my own despite showing him my paystub and proving income. I'm a lead software developer for a large company and make close to six figures.

So I went anyway and tore *** around with him hanging on the ceiling handles until he wanted to get out. Then after he *****ed and complained about my driving, I said it doesn't matter because this is my car. I purchased the car that evening and had them deliver it to me the next day... Maybe they learned something? Probably not.

 

ROFL. ++++REP!!! Awesome story. Bastard salesman.

 

Thanks for the review. Interestingly enough, I'm considering the purchase of a Cayman S. (to compliment my X MR) I've had extensive seat time in them on the track (I'm a PCA instructor), and I'm finding it hard to resist. They are just wonderful cars.

 

two things I don't agree with you:

1. Evo's gearbox is not that great!

2. Evo handles better than the Cayman.


good read otherwise.

 

It does?

 

thanks for the review but most owners of an evo will not leave it stock. once modded the x should spank the cayman with no problem (more so than it already is). even the base X unmodded is only half second behind the aston martin v12 vantage on the track. where does the cayman rank? yea i thought so. i gaurantee you that you didn't test it properly because evos are known for their superior handling even when compared to much more expensive vehicles. even one of the main selling points of mitsubishi was a quote from a car magazine that said it flat out spanked the $85K porsche and walked all over the little lotus. how do you like them apples? i don't care if your cayman can do a straight line quicker, because the real world isn't all straight lines, ponies and unicorns. there are turns, mud, snow, gravel, you name it. plus its cheaper to mod and repair an X, gauranteed.

 

Wow, earlier this year I narrowed down my choice of vehicle to replace my aging Evo VIII to these same two: pre-owned Cayman S or new Evo X.

I got some substantial seat time in a Cayman S last year in Scotland (long story). If you've been to Scotland (or England, Wales, or Ireland) and driven anywhere other than the motorways you know this about the roads: narrow, curvy, bumpy, beat-to-all-heck, very little runoff, and usually wet.

These are roads designed for an Evo. And on these roads the Cayman S was just freaking amazing. Fast and confidence-inspiring, wth cat-on-velcro-like grip. And comfortable for extended travel; they have a truly surprising amount of luggage space by virtue of having two trunks.

I'd planned to bank cash through mid 2011 before car-shopping, but circumstances forced me to move up my purchase, and the cost of the Porsche was ultimately the deal-breaker for me. When I was shopping, what I considered to be a good 4-year-old CPO Cayman S was pushing $40k, whereas I was able to get a brand new base 2010 Evo X GSR for $31k right as the 2011 models were coming out.

Both the Evo and the Cayman are absolutely amazing cars. Circumstances similar to those that got me behind the wheel of the Cayman in Scotland have also given me the opportunity to do things like drive a BMW M5 around Lime Rock (that's a LOT of car for an itty-bitty track!). The Evo and the Cayman are the two best cars I've experienced. Probably the only thing I've been in that offered a more sublime driving experience than either of those two was a Ferrari F430. But the Evo and Cayman have real world practicality that no Ferrari will ever have. Ferraris are toys. Ridiculously wood-inducing toys, but toys nonetheless.

The Evo is probably the best 4-door car in the world, and the Cayman is probably the best 2-door.

Evo and Cayman FTW.

 

wow what a great review.. good writeup

 

The Cayman has an overall level of quality, materials, build construction, precision, and refinement that the EVO does not match…in my opinion.

As 911 owner, for 6 years, wait till your Cayman ages more. The Evo's build quality seems to be pretty stable, the Porsche one day will just start to "fall" apart. My 996TT has 50k on the clock and now needs to have the Trans resealed, to the tune of $2437.00. I could buy a new trans for the Evo for that kind of money.

 

I know you made your choice and were looking for something more refined.... but I'd *really* like to hear your words about an Evo IX.

The fact that you can comfortably compare these cars having seat time in them makes your review much more "aligned".

You should pop into a dealer and drive a 2006 IX 5spd some day.... I would love to hear the review.

 

I'm not the OP, but I owned an VIII, own a X, got some seat time in a IX MR, and did an extended road trip in a Cayman S. So I'll bite.

In short, the lack of refinement in an Evo IX is its greatest shortcoming. As a pure driver's machine, it is certainly in the same league as the Cayman and the Evo X. But when one is buying single car that will be your daily driver, track toy, and road trip whip, an IX can be very difficult to live with. I took a 6600 mile road trip in my VIII (and two other 4000+ mile road trips), and the lack of a cruise control alone is almost a deal-breaker.

The IX's driving position and driver-centric cockpit is superior to both the Cayman and the X. (The X's ergonomics are my biggest gripe with the car.) The IX cockpit is actually better than any car I've ever driven (and I've driven a lot). But the IX's cockpit only works if you fit in it, because it has almost no adjustments.

For pounding over rough pavement, the IX is better than the X. The X will bottom out on stuff the IX eats up. The Cayman, however, is surprisingly composed on the rough stuff.

The X's engine feels weaker than the IX's. Part of that, though, is the the X's engine is much more usable down low than the IX's. So what feels like strength in the IX is actually turbo lag that the X does not have. Even so, the X definitely does not pull up high like the IX. The X's greater weight is certainly part of the reason for that.

As far as the automanual gearboxes go, the Porsche PDK and the Mitsubishi SST are in the same league of epic awesomeness. The PDK gets the nod, barely, for having a steering wheel shifter that allows you to shift simply by flicking your wrist; it's almost motorcycle-like.

The IX and the X are very, very different cars. The IX is more like a de-tuned rally car (because, ya know, that's basically what it is). The X is more like a cut-rate Audi S4. The IX's suspension is less forgiving, and the car naturally understeers more. The X is far more neutral - so much so that I had difficulty dealing with the oversteer when I first started hammering the car.

Both the IX and the X are awesome, and as value for the money are almost unparalleled in autodom.

 

Excellent review/write up. Always nice to see a more mature audience into cars like these even if you don't own one so I can tell my wife it is not just a kid car lol.

 

My dads got a boxster S in his garage and Ive got the VIII. I havent driven the boxster enough to compare but hopefully I will do a side by side test here soon. Good writeup.

 

Thanks... What about launching differences? Does the Cayman launch well? It has a competitive 0-60 close the others.

What about low end grunt? I find that my Evo IX makes more torque at 3000-3500rpm than the lightened 97 Cobra I had before. The Cobra pulled harder up top from 5000-7200rpm compared to the Evo. The 96-98 Cobra had the B heads which are basically high rpm heads begging for boost. I was surprised since for the Evo I was expecting more of a top end machine while the Cobra would be better under the curve. It was actually the opposite! I found the Evo's powerband to be rather large with only an extra "off guard" acceleration issue. You can't just stab the throttle at ~3000rpm or less and get any real acceleration when caught off guard. Such as a car swerving near you or that bad spot for a yellow light where stopping requires hard braking or you risk running it without bumping the throttle a bit. But when you want to go, at any speed, you can always make one shift and simply fly just like the Cobra. The Cobra always needed a shift too! Thus the lag is really only if you are caught off guard. Any other time you're ready in the correct gear. I find the mileage better all around. And I had ~2000rpm in 5th gear around 70mph and I babied the throttle. Figured with the Cobra at 2800-2900lbs with weight reduction that I would better the evo by using my low rpm torque to gently maintain speed. Nope, notta. The Evo wins hands down already and I'm on the stock tune I believe. I will be tuning for some economy for the hell of it. I love having options. The ACD is fantastic. I really notice a change for every mode. It's quite obvious to me and I'm surprised I commonly hear people say they can't tell. I could almost drive through a small course and tell you what setting it was on without knowing.

I think the Evo is much better on the highway. No need to downshift to pass, or really accelerate hard... Cobra needed a downshift to do anything other than pass. 5th wasn't an acceleration gear, mostly a fuel economy gear. Where as now the Evo gets decent mileage at the same RPM where the power is. It's interesting to have both compared to a V8 requiring lower revs to get good mileage where no power is available besides a little torque.

Evo's gearbox is my biggest gripe right now. I really think it's sloppy feeling, I can feel the soft lines connected to the trans. The linkage is terrible. I had an MGW shifter I installed in the Cobra that was simply fantastic. Notchy but in a smooth reassuring kind of way. It was either clicked in gear or not and had no restriction besides an annoying reverse gear that required rocking forward or backward a sliver. Put it in 1st and simply release the clutch enough to barely lower the rpm, then it would click into reverse. Never had problems, it's just something you have to do with the T-45 trans. My 98 GT was the same way. In the Evo I believe I have stock everything shifter wise. I'll have to try some bushings.

Anyways. Thanks for the reviews guys. I think we all share a deep love for cars.....

 

Good reviews..