test drove a 2008 evo gsr
 

What's going on I'm in the market to get rid of my 11 mazdaspeed 3 and get into an evolution x. Well today I went to test drive 08 Gsr with 27k on it the car feels very slow it feels like it's not boosting correctly what could this be no lights are on on the dash and the car definitely is slower than my stock speed3 even my dad who is not into cars said that the speed3 feels way faster from 2nd gear on. U could hear the motor reving out but barley feel the boost its definitely their but not much at all. I want to know maybe its just me but I don't think a speed 3 is faster than a evolution x is that possible that its only faster of the line because of awd or is their something wrong with the car??

Thanks and sorry if any of this sounds stupid

There was probably nothing wrong with it. A MSP3 was extremely close to my stock Evo9 when we did a highway pull.

i'd say the evo is probably just a bit faster, not smack-in-your-face obvious though. However, you gotta tune the evo to wake it up (a bone stock tune adds ~30whp).

Any signs of mods? If so, maybe there was a tune involved which he reflashed to stock before giving it to the dealer.

All that thing needs is a good tune! :)

Yea it actually sounds pretty normal. Especially if it has the stock '08 tune. The '08 tune was atrocious.

Once you get a couple bolt-ons and tune- or even just a good tune, you should be happy with the power.

Agreed with what was said above about getting it tuned. My Evo X is stock except for a K&N filter and ETS UICP right now. Bone stock the car felt right on the level of my 2010 Audi A4 with APR Stg II and all bolt ons. Once I added the K&N drop in and ETS UICP the car really picked up. I'm still on stock tune and just waiting to get my wideband gauge.

Stock for stock they should be about dead even 0-60 and 1/4 mile.

According to 0-60 times:

2008 GSR
0-60 = 4.9 sec.
1/4 mile = 13.6 sec.

MS3
0-60 = 5.1 sec.
1/4 mile = 13.7 sec.

So, basically a drivers race. I hate to paper race, but this is the best I can do since I have zero time in a MS3 and only 2 weeks in an Evo. :lol:

The real difference comes with modding. The stock Evo is tuned pretty rich and can make some good gains with just a simple tune. Cobb claims + 20% hp from a basic "Stage 1" tune on the 2008's. So there's a lot of potential from the jump without any bolt-ons. Also the Evo's tend to respond pretty well to BPU's.

Read up on some of the threads, stock the Evo is not what is can be, it takes a good tune to really unleash what it should have been from the factory.:(

Still, I wouldn't think it is slower by any means, though the X is kinda heavy and it may feel slower. :lol:

Yea but the car definitely felt like the powerband was not their and it wasn't smooth. I was thibkig that the car had parts on it and got switched back to stock and never reflashed back to stock. The car without a doubt pulled way weaker than the mazdaspeed it felt just like my Genesis 2.0t did but it also looked like noone ever put anything after market on it just powder coated rims I'm just going to have to test drive another stock one and see what's going on they are giving me the 08 Gsr with 28k for $23k ill be loosing my warranty.

See if a dealer near you will let you test drive a different used Evolution for you to compare.

Yea I can see what it is they are close to each other 1/4 mile.and 0-60 because of.the luanch but the ms3 is way faster on a roll I guess

28,000 is alot of loot

The 08 stock tune is just depressing

28k miles price is $23000

i got my 08 gsr with 29k miles for 24k. i think its a decent deal if the car is intact. When i first test drove a evo x stock hopping out of my stage 2 2010 vw gti , the evo felt slow as hell. I got the evo, slapped on a exhaust , intake and tuned it. Now the evo pulls like a raped ape. i would test drive another EVO stock and make sure that evo isnt a lemon.

Hey here is some info I can add. I hardly post but since ive had first hand experiences with both ill give u the low down.

I owned a 03 Evo 8, Speed3 08.5 x2 and now my Evo X and my brother has a 2011 WRX.

Now My 03 Evo8 had full bolt ons and Evo9 turbo and the car made 300WHP. I thought it was for what it was back in the day. I was like dam this is quick I loved it.

Than I test drove the speed3 for my Ex and I was like wholy crap is this thing faster than my 8??? The torque was sick and it put a smile to my face every time.

Let me tell you test drives are something else you really dont get the feel of the car until you test it limits.

So then after weeks of driving both. I felt that MY speed 3 exhausted its power after 5500 RPM and my evo kept pulling hard till redline.

So my thoughts are the speed 3 is a FWD torque monster and pulls you hard in your seat while the evos power band is more linear and just ends up barely passing up the speed 3.

Than I test drove the X and I was done a bit dirty because it was a used 1 and I think it was tuned because it was prety fast I loved it and bought it. Than BAM my EvoX felt weaksauce I was like ok I know what happened here..No problem a trip to road race eng (RRE) and Ill get my tune and a few boltons. Car is a ****en beast now. I still dont get that driver stuck in your seat torque and I think thats due to the AWD vs FWD feeling but it smashes on a lot of cars and puts smile on face for the 15 min drive to work every day.

The speed 3 with full boltons not even a comparison in keeping up with my X (This was actually tested with at least 3 speed3s).

In the end I think the Evo x was sent to us de tuned to pass all the smog and regulation crap. Trust me you wont be disappointed going from the 3 to the X.

Get it and do this:
Make sure its Wicked White or Phantom Black
Upper Intercooler Pipe
ETS Intake
Test Pipe
Exhaust
Tune

and you will be happy. My expensive ass intercooler and AMS downpipe was nice but I dont think I gained the power I was looking for vs the money spent on those items.

Alex