I'm back for a second go-'round with an X. I currently daily drive a 335d, a fantastic car, that's also boring the living hell out of me. It's also a joke in the snow even with proper snow tires.

Sooooo, I was originally looking for an '06 MR but decided that, despite having loved my VIII, I don't want to daily drive a car without a warranty and I think I'm past the point where I demand a manual in all of my cars. Plus, shopping for clean, unmolested cars is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I miss the immediacy of the Evos. I drove the new Subaru STi. Complete letdown. I considered an S4. Too expensive. I kicked around a 335xi. Too similar to what I have.

I've been looking for basically an Evo but one that's a bit more adult and one where I won't necessarily have to shift for myself.I'm left with the MR Touring as the obvious option which I previously dismissed. It checks all the boxes in my head. More subdued appearance, sunroof, leather, heated seats, AWD, and fun.

So who has gone from a GSR to an MR? Any regrets? I'm not looking for a manual vs. sequential comparison because that's been beat to death but I'm wondering if you're overall satisfied with the SST.

 

As an addendum, I hate the slushbox in my 335d. The throttle lags so horribly that I have to plan to punch it nearly a half second before the car moves. The paddles respond so slowly to shift inputs that they're nothing more than racing-chic aesthetic additions. The transmission loves to downshift improperly while exiting a turn.

I want crisp, responsive, and intelligent.

 

In my experience people who buy BMW's generally want a car with some level of 'status'. Not saying that's the only criteria, but that's part of what draws people to BMWs.

If you are OK with losing the 'status' by 'stepping down' to an Evo, then by all means. I would say the Evo is definitely the more fun of the two (between an 335 and Evo), but really they aren't that dramatically different. I would say Evo has better steering feel, and slightly better handling in day to day (becomes more dramatic in favor of the Evo when pushing it) but it's not big enough of a difference (to me) to warrant the hassle of actually switching cars.

In terms of GSR vs MR, I'd recommend you test drive both. The MR is incredibly smooth, and one of the most driver friendly dual clutches on the market, it really listens to your commands of when you want to switch, but it's not something that can really be explained well until you drive it.

Oh, and 993 Porsches are my favorite

 

Ian, what happened to the 'Stang?

Glad to see you getting back into the EVO game, even if it is for a DD, lol. shoot me a PM with your track schedule, haven't seen you out there this year yet.

 

I actually owned a GSR previously. It was a wonderful car and I'm not sure why I sold it.

Thanks about the 993. It's a lovely car, oil leaks and failing HVAC excluded.

Marc,

My track schedule seems to be on temporary hold. The 993 needs a new slave cylinder soon and I don't want to risk having a non-functioning clutch. It also has developed a small oil leak (as of yesterday) that I haven't diagnosed yet. I have however sorted all of the worn bushing issues.

As for the 'Stang, I still have the order in on it but I'm probably going to pass on it. I have a feeling I would tire of it quickly even if it is a tremendous performer.

 

Honestly man if i was you I would look for a mint Evo IX. Thats just me. Especially if you owned a Evo 8, theres nothing better then the IX IMO. The X's are awesome and thought about it, but theres clean IXs out there that you have to find. Ive seen a decent amount of them also. Also one more thing, its a Evo and AWD you have to get manual GL man!

 

I believe he already had a GSR..

Anyway, I have not rode in, much less driven an SST, but I met a guy last weekend that just got a brand new MR touring. The interior, well the seats, are VERY nice. Much better that the stock GSR seats (and I love my seats)..

I have seen some guys that test drive the SST and say it is amazing and blah, blah.. Then a few months after buying the car say they miss shifting, once the "newness" wears off. It really just depends. When you say the 335 is "boring the hell out of you", I would take that as you would rather have a GSR to liven things up a bit. Remember, you can get a GSR with the MR-T interior now..

 

I don't want to shift my own gears. When I get the hankering for rowing, I take the rolling oil leak out for a spirited spin.

It's not that I don't like rowing gears; it's just that I end up traveling to the NYC/DC/Philadelphia areas enough that sitting in traffic with a manual was something I had a greater stomach for in my 20s.

 

I agree. If it were a third car and not a primary car, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a IX.

I'm becoming lame in my old age and I want the automatic option along with the heated seats.

 

i think the evo X SE may be something you may want to consider too

 

Just a heads up, the MR also has the half second lag you described earlier..

With some practice, you can get it down to maybe a quarter second, along with some tuning..

But it's also got the same problem. Bugged the ever living hell out of me at first, but you get used to it.

 

kyoo, they don't make an SE anymore. Only MR, MR Touring and GSR.

So as many of you have noticed I went from a MR to a GSR.

If I had the choice, I'd take the MR over the GSR every day of the week, including track day weekends. My MR with less power obliterates the GSR on a course / daily driving.

I got rid of my MR for 1.5 reasons. I was planning on buying a house, which didn't pan out, and the transmission is still $8k to buy if something small goes wrong with it. With that being said I never had one issue with my transmission, but wasn't going to attempt to pay $10k to replace it when my warranty ran out and something did go wrong.

That last point is all that kept me from getting another MR.

If you do get an SST, make sure you get '10 or newer. They have software updates that makes shifting better.

Also there are a few people that have MANY unreleased options for this transmission. When they finally get released, the MR is just going to be untouched, possibly in the 1/4 as well.

HOPEFULLY the SST will be rebuildable in the next year or so. If it is, cost will significantly go down and it will be a great option. If you can get over the fact that it's $10k to replace, go for it. If you aren't going to mod and want to bank on it going down in price before your 60k miles is up, go for it.

 

True it does, razorlab has a fix for it though:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ter-found.html

 

I spent 5 months looking for a clean IX that wasn't almost as much as a X for a track car. No luck, and getting financed for the ones that were as much as a X wasn't going to be possible since most financial institutions go off of NADA, and these cars were $5-$7k over NADA.

IX's are cool, but the OP wants to DD it. You miss out on things like cruise control, climate control, 9 airbags, hands free, more comfy seats (imo).

The one thing I definitely miss from my CT9A days, rear wiper.

 

Me too!