aaronhinch

I have driven an 06 and 07 sti with intake and TBE and enjoyed the ride and power.
Im not trying to start another evo vs. sti thread, nor a fanboy war here. I am calling upon experts who have driven both the evo 9 and an sti of the years 04-07. I am in the market for one of these vehicles but I have not driven a 2006 Evo. I have read most stickys and searched for a good comparison of how the two drive but haven't found the answers to the questions I'm asking:

-Which suffers from more turbo lag? Which seems to have the most immediate pedal response?

-Which feels more nimble through the turns (yes this one depends on a lot of other factors)

-Which one in a lightly modded form would make the better daily driver (comfort, maintenance/reliability, mpgs)?

I realize the best way to get these questions answered would be to test drive one myself, but the closest evo that I've seen to me in the last few weeks has been one in Indiana (I'm from Michigan), and with this semester closing out I don't have time for a road trip for another couple weeks.

If there are any Michigan evo owners reading this, I'd love to sit down and pick your brain or go for a ride along!

hutch959

iTrader: (18)

i had a 2005 Viii... bought new... loved it. mostly stock

I had a 2014 STI. just didnt think it handled anywhere close to the evo. spent some money on suspension...
sold it.

had a 2006 IX... back to razor sharp handling.

to me the STI's plow.....
Evo's turn.

i didnt like the STI.... and i dont plan on buying another one.

aaronhinch

I appreciate the feedback!

Any and all comments on this topic are welcome.

MinusPrevious

iTrader: (3)

The EvO has the STI in the engine dept IMO. Iron block / closed deck block on the EvO vs the open deck on the STI. Simplicity in the exhaust system vs the more complex system due to boxer motor (They do win w/that distinctive exhaust note)

The STI has the EvO in the tranny dept & it might be a bit more robust & its design is more direct than the 90 degree pwr transfer of the EvO

In most all competitive venues (drag, road course, autox) the EvO's will always be one of the top performers

aaronhinch

Yea the subi rumble is hard to beat... but I've heard that a lot of the issues of the EJ motor is due to the UEL header design? Not sure if this has been proven?

And is the 90 degree power transfer just how the transmission links up to the crank? I haven't stumbled upon this during my research. Could you please explain a little more what this means or link me to some more reading on this?

Thanks a lot!

MinusPrevious

iTrader: (3)

There are some drivetrain schematics out there but its basically this:

EvO has a transverse engine design so the trans output is 90 degrees to the crank

Vs the STI which is almost like a longitudinal design w/the crank in-line w/the drive shaft

Something like that

Wanted EVO IX

From what I've seen the Subie guys won't even mess with an Evo or at least not in these parts. That should say it all! I let a local test drive my Evo IX a few weeks ago, he had been looking for an Evo IX for past year and ended up with STI. The regrets of the purchase were in his expressions and words. My car has some mods but closer to stock and he was blown away by my Evo IX power and handling. Subi is a Hard Parkers car from what I can tell.

kaj

iTrader: (60)

it creates uneven pulses, heat, etc. Pretty bad news, from tests I've read. I wish I woulda kept the links.

OP:
you're on an Evo forum, so of course everyone will say it's better lol.
IMO, the Evo handles better. The STi is a bit more comfortable and feels quicker stop light to stop light/ daily driving due to the larger engine/ extra torque.
anyone would be happy with either.
I think the Evo IX is great for Anyone seeking a performance vehicle for motorsport applications, but not so great as a daily driver.

rage mang

iTrader: (3)

i test drove almost the whole spectrum of evos and stis before i came to my purchase my evo 6 heres my answers to your specific questions with the model years 04-07 evo n sti

-turbo lag wasnt much of a issue for either cars tho i will give the nod to the sti for having slighty more response on the lower end with the evo having a more enjoyable top end feel i had more fun with stepping on the accelator of the evo and running the whole rev meter out than the sti but the sti did feel like it had just a bit more torque on take off response but the top end just didnt feel as manic as the evos
-i definetly would go with the evos on this one the initial turn in response was sharper than the stis tho the stis did feel like they had more traction especially on loose surfaces where it found grip and adjusted the evos just turn in so much harder even more so when the suspension gets modified both have similar turn exits with lots of turbo whoosh getting laid down on the pavement
-the sti was definetly the more comfortable daily the cabin didnt get so hot the interior materials were a tad better steering wasnt as heavy as the evo the clutch wasnt as stiff and the engine didnt complain if you werent going fast. Mpgs were roughly the same for both cars but maintenance is a different story with the evo being way ahead on the easier scale bolts werent hard to reach alot of room in the engine bay a much more simple engine design compared to the subarus boxer motor
I went with the evo 6 in the end for it felt the most like a true raw rally car compared to the newer models same can be said with the older gc generation stis tho i did feel like the differences between them were less evident than in the newer models.
As for the specific 04-07 models you were asking about i feel like it would definetly come down to aesthetic preference wether you like how one looks over the other there really isnt much that seperates the two performance wise tho i would think the price difference is pretty major now that the evo is discontinued.

Turndown

iTrader: (2)

STI's have a smaller turbo from the factory so they spool pretty quick, and the added displacement helps a bunch for the low end torque. It's my opinion that Evo's pull harder up top, handle better, sound better, and for me are much more fun car to drive. Interior wise a lot of people dislike the interior of the Evo compared to the STI, but I like the Evo interior better (I can't stand the blue interior personally). The ringlands on the Subaru motors are another weak point for the STI, and in most cases you can't even hit 400hp without building the motor which sucks, but if you were planning to do so anyway I suppose it doesn't really matter. In the end both are great cars, and are very fun to drive so it comes down to personal preference.

Evo_Goodness

I sold my built 400whp for my evo 8 my evo 8 has cams fp red built head and some other goodies on it and it would walk all over my STI now yes the sti was a comfy car but it cost me 5k in work to get it to a safe level that a stock evo engine can go way past...
There are people making 600HP on stock bottom ends on evos I also like the interior way more then my STI I'm not a fan of the blue sti interior all that much the Recaro seats trump the sti seats all day long....

And to be honest working on my STI was a nightmare doing spark plugs on it was a 3 hour job not fun my evo takes me 10 minutes

mrowka

iTrader: (6)

In general, if you enjoy fixing engines, get the STi.


If you prefer working on transmissions and transfer cases, get the Evo.


The STi will spool a bit quicker and is a bit more plush a ride, and seems to like bad roads/gravel roads better.


The Evo has sharper handling and better braking and is faster on tarmac.


Where I live, most (but not all) STi fanbois say that the Evo is the better car.

llDemonll

iTrader: (21)

STI is a nicer car to daily. 6-speed and cruise control win.

Evo wins in reliability.

For all normal driving in near-stock form, both drive almost identical in terms of ride, MPG, throttle response, cabin noise.

kyoo

iTrader: (29)

this is a good point. there are almost no major issues with the 06 evo 9. even the MR, which I'm sure you've heard about the weakness in trans, will not be an issue for the kind of driving you'll be doing. unless you start messing with the car a lot, they are kind of bulletproof. big factor for a student.

llDemonll

iTrader: (21)

Yep. The reason I ended up in an Evo was all the ringland issues that I hear STI's had.

The girl I dated a while ago owned an STI that I helped her buy. I've got a 2006 Evo 9 SE and she had a 2006 STI. I drove the car back when we bought it for the 3 hour drive and it was much nicer to drive than the Evo. For everyday use the cruise control is a godsend.

She never had any issues with her car. It threw an O2 code on the way to get it tuned one day and one of the coil packs had a loose connection, but outside of that no issues. There was a small exhaust leak on the uppipe or something like that which sounded pretty typical. Car was modded and made about 370whp and 350wtq so it was technically faster than my car (340whp/320wtq) but I never pushed it. Was new and not mine when purchased so the furthest I ever went through a gear was 5k at not WOT. Broke up a couple months after she bought that car and thus no driving it. Overall a more comfy car in terms of a daily driven car, but I wouldn't buy one over the Evo after owning my car.

Biggest factor for me boils down to reliability. While she had no issues with the car and it was solid for the 3 or so years she owned it (and about 35k miles), there's no guarantee that it would have stayed that way. Obviously there's no guarantee with the Evo either, both cars come down to how they've been treated and maintained, but with the Evo you don't have the plaguing ringland issue that may or may not arise.