i'm 42 and now dd the evo. no issues outside of **** gas mileage but i knew that before i bought it
i have a gsr

 

All I'd say is be careful when modifying the car. I no longer DD my evo, but I'm happy as hell I don't have to. I love it and love driving it, I would DD it, but I wouldn't enjoy it quite as much if I were DDing it as when it was stock/near stock. Reasons are:

1) I have soo much money into it and hours spent working on it that the fear of an accident (even though aftermarket parts are covered with my insurance) would make it more stressful. I'm ok with something happening during a fun weekend drive, but getting hit by a soccer mom in a minivan on my way home from work would suck.
2) I have soo much money into it. I know this is the same but this is from the perspective of wear and tear. Besides the damage to body parts and show stuff, the wear on the coils and other stuff would add up and cost a lot more to keep running.
3) I miss how quiet the car was oem. To say my car is "loud" is a gross under-exaggeration. of course I don't have rear seats, I have a fuel pump in the trunk the wines, I have a loud exhaust and loud intake. The sacrifices for the performance became very clear to me when I drove my buddies GTR. I'd say performance wise our cars weren't that far off. He had me beat in power, but I have more grip. That said, I realized that the GTR just did everything with soo much more class and ease of effort.

well that's just my warning. The car is wonderful stock. A tune on completely stock hardware can yield really impressive results. If it's a DD with a lot of miles driven everyday, that's all the mods I would recommend someone do performance wise.

If I were able to start over right now that's what I would do. Just enjoy the car for what it is from the factory and not stress driving it everywhere.

 

I have a 2011 MR with 45K on it. Running costs are outrageous. It's costs as much per mile as a Maserati.

19mpg average
Front rotors $700 a pair
Brake pads $350 a set
Tires $1200 a set - I'm on my 4th set.
The list is endless.

Mods HFC, catback, ETS 4" intercooler, AEM intake.

Remember, it's an econobox with factory performance bits. You can do much better for $40k if you want a dd

I have a 1995 subaru legacy as a dd. I prefer it for my commute

 

Uhhhh if you're paying that much for stuff you're not doing enough research. You can get rotors/pads/tires a lot cheaper and most likely better than stock. Regular maintenance it always a plus.

 

I'm a old dude here driving 08 gsr and right now its my DD which kinda sucks. But its
all I have to drive fight now. I'm just waiting for tax time and buy good truck. Then I'm
going play with the X and make it a better performer.

 

i would definitely get the MR! esp when you still have the spirit to have fun with your car

 

52 and daily driving my 10GSR (stock no mods). I take off the road for 3 months in winter to avoid snow/salt but other than that drive as much as I can. GSR revs high on highway so MR is a better choice for long hauls. This car has been a great for me, but if I were to buy a new one it would be an MR; I find the GSR shifter a bit disappointing and expect the MR makes optimum use of available torque which is difficult to achieve with GSR even with quick shifts on warm transmission.

 

Speaking of interior tech, a few questions come to mind...
Does the evo have
-auto dimming rear view mirror?
-garage door opener controls?
-Bluetooth connectivity for hands free phone use or streaming music?
-Heated exterior mirrors?
-Built in CD changer?
-console compartment?
-cup holders that honestly hold a cup?

I can read options lists, but they don't point out details like these, and I thought you guys might have an opinion to share about how good or bad some of these things are. These are the things I will be giving up in my current car. (Except for the streaming music). Thanks for any insight!

 

true...

I test drive MR and GSR back to back... and I took MR in a heartbeat... DCT allows you to freely rev to redline so much easier to extract most power and fun...

 

I'm 42, and DD my GSR. I really have no issues, except when I step into a lower performance car and realize how much better the x is.

 

I was 48 when I bought my EVO VIII.

That was over a decade ago. I was 58 when I took delivery of my X MR a year ago.

As a DD, the things to watch for:
- The ride is harsh. Be ready to steer around the worst road patches.
- The steering column doesn't telescope. I'm 6'4" and I can get enough leg room, but it's a bit of a reach for the wheel.
- The heater isn't going to cook your feet. It'll warm your cabin, but heat rises, and it doesn't blow much hot air onto the floor.
(More of an issue for old guys with poor circulation. )
- Unlike the VIII, there's no rear wiper. Okay if you're moving, but in the city, the drops can leave little circles from dirty rain.
- The trunk isn't exactly spacious. I put runflats on mine (even harsher ride), but got back some trunk space by leaving out the donut spare.

I have the NAV option, so the answers below might differ without it:
On the MR, yes.

Not built in. I keep my door opener in a dash cubby.

Yes, plus a USB connector in the glove box.
I can charge my phone while I drive.

Not sure. Never had them fog up on me.

No. But with the NAV option, you can insert an SD flash card in the user slot, for music, with no moving parts.
MP3, but this isn't a Roller: the audio differences in the cabin aren't going to be obvious, if you have older ears.
I put a 4G flash card in, and have several hours of music without having to take up a lot of space or worrying about changing media.

I use my home computer to rip my favorite tracks from my CDs and encode them in high quality MP3.
The only annoying part is that it doesn't follow the directory tree on the SD card when playing.
(Sort by title, by artist, etc. So set the ID3 fields on your MP3 files.)

A couple, but not large. Decent glove box, and a pretty good armrest box.

There's that annoying 2 cup holder in the console that can't be used for anything else, without it getting under the cup divider and jamming.
But I wouldn't carry a cup in a car that can pull over 1G in a corner.
This is a car to *drive*, even on a commute. Have breakfast before you get on the road.

The first time I went to a burger drive-thru in the VIII, I put the bag on the pass seat and started for the one block drive home. I stopped at the corner --- and all the fries wound up in the passenger foot well.
The 30 lb computer bag rolls around the trunk of the X, even sitting in the donut tire well.
This is a performance car. Anything not nailed down is going walkabout.

Those heavily bolstered front seats aren't just for show.

As for the big wing: the X doesn't really need it.

The VIII was the basic econobox shell, with the sharp drop off the roof and a big rear deck. The vacuum lift of the rear deck wasn't significant to the FWD econobox, but the AWD needed the spoiler to keep the rear wheels glued down.
But the X is more aerodynamic. The cabin is further aft, the rear window has more slope ("fast back"), and the rear deck is higher and much smaller.
So there's nowhere near as much rear lift as the VIII.

The VIII didn't get the full good out of the wing until you approached 80.
The X wouldn't need a wing at any speed that wouldn't get you arrested on the spot.


The biggest issue with a used one would be to find a car that's still stock.
There's a lot of extra performance to be found in ricers, but it tends to be at the price of reliability.

After 11 years, my VIII only needed oil changes, routine service, and one HID replaced -- but I kept it stock. (Oh, yes: The factory battery only lasted 9 years.)

I ordered mine from the factory.
The twin-clutch Getrag is a joy to live with, but I'd want the warranty on such a complex big-ticket item.

 

Wow ^ stock VIII ...

I do miss my viii at times.

DC traffic sucks with viii's manual thou...

 

Agreed with one addition: Pizza Hut seems to have sized their box to fit perfectly in the recaros. Didn't move an inch on the 25 mile ride home (3-5 miles of which is mountain switchbacks), which is not something I can say for anything else in the car. I was not easy on the curves, however, I rarely brake, and brake hard even less.

As a bonus the heated seats on high also kept it warm! Just be sure to put a towel or something down (grease).


Edit: As for the cup holders yeah... about the 3rd or 4th day I had the evo, I learned the hard way open top containers are a BAD BAD BAD idea. Had a can of arizona tea... luckily I had drank most of it, it ended up on the passenger seat. Luckily I had paper towels and leather wipes on hand. Only containers with a [screw on] lid are allowed now! So, soda bottles are ok, but coffee drinkers be screwed.

There are actually 4 places to store beverages up front in the evo. 2 cup holders in the center console, and 1 bottle holder on each side in the door. I've never sat in the back so no idea what's back there XD

 

DC traffic sucks with any vehicle.

Had another dweeb pull out into the left lane in front of me, to hold formation on the 5 MPH car in the 35 zone.

I don't mind people taking their time.
I mind people taking everyone else's.

 

i made an MP3 DVD .... holds more music, displays album info/coverart and sweet EVO background.


i have a 2008, and went to the dealer to check the newer "cupholder with cover", because there was an online parts vendor selling the part and i wanted to check it out in person for possible replacement. after seeing it, i realized the older one is better - the flip up cover is nice, but the actual cupholders are not nearly as deep as the old ones. way too shallow.