I have owned my 03 Tarmac Evo since the end of August. It was modded with a 2.5 exhaust, intake, and TurboXS BOV(gotta change that). My previous car was a 94 Formula with 4:10's out back, programming, some shifting goodies, and all bolt-on's(except headers). My exhaust was y-pipe to hollow cat to SLP Loudmouth. I was NEVER pulled over in this car for the 3 years I owned it. In the past month, I have been pulled over 4 times, 2x's for loud exhaust(my Firebird was illegally loud, evo isn't), and 1 time for rear window distraction(the other time was for no front plate). I had to show the cop the owners manual to prove the wing comes on the car stock. Cops follow me everywhere...
that is the thing I hate most about the EVO, it's a bullseye(and my driving record is clean)

the only other 3 things I really dislike about it, or at least miss about my old car are:
-miss having 6 gears
-miss the sound of a modded LT1(350) or just a V8
-here's the "redneck" part, I miss t-tops

But other than that, I love my EVO:::rant off:::

 

Yeah.... cops seem to loveeeeeee chasing after imports compared to domestics.... seems to be a trend all over the country. Why a 2.5 inch exhaust though? You should get a full 3" to make it sound a bit meaner... then again... sounds like the cops already dont like you.

 

For the record, I was previously more of a muscle car guy then an import guy, I had always planned on getting a Mustang GT or building up a 5.0/350. The EVO is definitely the type of car that threatens a lot of the purists. Its not low, impractical, or almost violent like a lot of the American performance cars. Cops around here definitely seem to target imports more but thats just something to be accepted when you go against the grain in buying an EVO over a Cobra, GTO or a C5. As for the 5 speed I love the way this car pulls on the highway as its presently geared and while I wouldnt mind a double overdrive the car seems to get fine gas mileage as is. As for sound you're really not going to "beat" a V8 but these cars have a nice distinct tone themselves. I'd say my car has more of a German sound to it with my RMR turboback. The T-Tops thing is definitely understandable a friend of mine has a third gen bird and I def love those but I get by with my sunroof option.

 

I have the 2.5" exhaust and love the sound of it. It fits my mods better anyways (let's not get into this debate).

Do you have a magnaflow muffler? If not, they provide some of the best sounding exhausts as most of us think.

My previous 2 cars have 6 gears and I do NOT miss that. I seemed to go from 1st - 4th or 2nd - 6th all the time because I didn't need the middle gears.

 

OUTSIDER-I didn't put the exhaust on the car, I was gonna change it immediately, but after bringing the car to TurboTrix, they said the 2.5 was good enough for now and there was no need to upgrade until I did more to the car

fury656 vbmenu_register("postmenu_1287493", true); -I kind of miss having a violent car, even other muscle car guys called my car violent because it was so damn loud

vbmenu_register("postmenu_1287493", true); boomn29 vbmenu_register("postmenu_1287501", true); &fury656 vbmenu_register("postmenu_1287493", true); -I loved the 6 speed, because the transmission was geared really aggressively in the first place, and giving the rear 4.10's kept me constantly in my powerband(2200 for peak tq) and ready to launch, burn-em, jump the car, etc...whenever I wanted, oh yeah, it was mated to a SPEC Stage 3 clutch(ceramic), which wasn't so much a clutch as it was an on-off switch.
Glad to see I'm not the only one with these problems!

 

What's with New Jersey people and T-tops and F bodies

Let it go man. And Bon Jovi sucks too.

 

you'll get no argument about Bon Jovi, but think about it, from 93-02 what was faster for the $? PLus we got SLP here

 

both our cars are magnets. i went wingless but i still attract alot of attention. world rally blue and gold rims aren't very low key. neither is a catless hks exhaust. but i have not been pulled over or even really stared at. i guess around here if you drive normal you will not get messed with

 

that's the thing, I don't f-around(i'm 27 and my only ticket was when i was 17), the 1st time I got pulled over, the cop rattled off the plate from my Formula and I was like WTF?!?, but then again, there is a house down the street from me that has 3 ricers living there and they street race around my neighborhood so I probably got lumped in with them.

 

Bingo...(that's the profiler in me It's where and when you drive. I don't get tickets too often (95% of time speeding when I do), I know my way around San Diego and have been zooming around since the orginal VW GTi. It's not really the EVO so much as seeing the Evo in a certain "environment" =). Racers have been gathering in SD for a long time and after a few months of activity if you were caught in that area at the wrong time in anything that remotely looked sporty you'd be watched or pulled over - Just the way it is - people get nervious with a bunch of yahoos around so they call the cops to clean things up, normal move along. Problem starts when you love sporty cars but live or commute in the wrong "environment"

Like clockwork when I first got the Evo I wanted to "sniff around" for something and I got popped for no front lic plate...twice =) I avoid those areas at those times (or just be super chill around there) and I don't get the stink eye from the man.

 

2.5" straight pipe will take care of the exhaust complaint. It'll rumble like a VIPER.

 

I get pulled over pretty consistently but I have a get out of a ticket ID card on me at all times.Peace MR. Officer sorry and I am not out here driving dangerously!(pun intended)FWIW I have had cops pi$$ed off when I pull my ID out. They are just itchin to get suspected ricers IMO. Not good practice to ticket fellow peace officers because payback can be a biattch and their peers will look down on them for it. Not that i am in a position to pay them back nor would I. Just not good practice.

 

Not true. I have a video of my car 3" straightpiped and it's not that loud.

 

Just messin with ya.

I went wingless for a couple weeks and it still attracted attention due to the loud exhaust and the overall presence of the Evo with huge Brembos, FMIC, vented hood, wide body look.

I'm lucky here in my city modded cars almost out number stock ones. Almost everyone is pimpin wheels, tint, exhausts, lifts, drops. So no big deal.

Cop showed up at our meet one night and we had 8 Evos all backed in without front plates and he was looking right at them and did not say a thing.

 

i cant stand the turning radius