S4 is 46k+ I think. In two years that will be $48k easy + options. Typical Evo owner from what I gather is typically younger, just starting out salary wise (from a recent poll a lot of $50k-$70k income and therefore the 15+% difference vs. the S4 IMO is too high to compete.

 

I've been driving my wife's new A3 with the 6-speed DSG gearbox around for the past couple of weeks and have come to the conclusion that, as good as the AUDI DSG is, semi-automatics still need a LOT of work.

- clutch slippage off starts is noticeable and could be abused badly
- when accelerating around a sharp turn, the paddles end up in the wrong place
- rev-matching is nice on downshifting, but when you're in a tight spot, it takes too long and messes up brake feel
- downshifting to accelerate is sometimes slow due to auto rev-matching by ECU
- in full automatic mode the ECU keeps the rpms way too low when cruising in city traffic
+ perfect for drag racing (minus the clutch slip issue) ... shifts near instantly.

So I'll take one with a full manual transaxle, thank you very much.

BTW - I Love the looks of the Evo X. It looks angry! Mwahahaha!! Put some teeth on it ...

l8r)

 

40 - 45k depending on the package

 

Your way off base as a 2006 Audi S4 6 speed w/ a few options is about 53 grand. There's a $1700 gas guzzler tax on the car. Add Naviagtion and your @ 55 grand.

A 38-40k Evo 10 vs. a 53-55k S4 is a pretty big chunk of change in price difference.

 

Without a doubt the Evo X will come out approximately i believe 2.5-4 yrs from now ( this is my speculation). Also the price for a reg GSR Evo X would be the price we pay now for an MR. The MR will def will be above 40, c'mon its gonna be a whole new platform with the new engine and new looks ( just hopefully the HP is above 300 HP+, and the performance would be even better).

I'm also glad that they have shift-tronic (or semi-manual), thats like an auto. Ppl say its bad cause c'mon the performace from a stick to auto ain't the same. But i believe computers are way faster than human beings ( exception to a few drivers here in the forum that just think like the car). + gettin it an auto will get more sales b/c most american just wanna press on the pedal and don't want a hassle with stick.

 

I highly DISAGREE with paragraph 2 of your statement. I, being a former owner of a 1990 Nissan 300ZX 5 Speed (my "affordable" dream car) LOVED the fact that it was stick. I drove an auto version to see if I could convince myself to like it, and I absolutely could not. Even now, driving a 2003 OZ Lancer, I HATED the automatic version. Not only was it incredibly slower, but it wasn't nearly as fun to drive. Manual all the way.

 

When the evo 8 came out, they they sold fast right from the start. I go past the dealers now , and the same one's are still sitting their. Most evo owners are younger buyers, or repeat evo buyers, 40 grand is way to much for an evo.

 

And the DSG is "The Benchmark"!

 

I'll bet a dollar the sequential shifter won't be on the base X. Heck, I'll even bet a dollar it won't be available on the X at all. And, yep, another buck that the USDM won't include the bucket seats in the Concept-X.

The X will look a lot like the Concept-X, but the interior and mechanicals will be quite different.

 

Good point. The answer is no, and a transmission is only as good as its control system. Hopefully, the Evo X system may be more like the BMW SMG. Unfortunately, I see the Evo X costing close to $40K unless they do the usual and de-content it for the U.S.

 

anybody good with photoshop? I'd like to see the X in black and GG...

 

I really don't want to start a flame war, but IMO DSG is arguably the best "semi-automatic" available on a street-car (that's why I bought an A3 for my wife). If anything, any Evo semi-automatic needs to be better than the AUDI DSG, which, in turn, is already better than BMW's SMG. If you don't believe me, drive them, you'll see.

l8r)

 

Given that Mitsu only recently converted their WRC car to paddles it should either be a good paddle-gear-box setup or a disaster. Obviosuly in racing-trim they can make it work but who knows how streetable or affordable that will be.

 

Has anybody else noticed that it has dual exhaust pipes? That seems strange for a 4-cyl engine car.

 

On the current rally car they just converted. They had it on previous evolutions but due to thier other issues on the current model the chose to run a regular shifter to work out the bugs on the car first and avoid unnecessary trouble.