It was simple for me. The front of the STi is just downright fugly. I made up my mind before I even found out that the Evo is a better handling, more MOD friendly car.

 

here is my opinion.... the sti looks better on paper but in real life gets edged out by the evo...

if you arent going to mod at all, then you can go either or.

now if you are going to mod, hands down for the evo. the small power difference will be just a memory when you mod, as evo will quickly outrun the sti even with simple boltons.... the price difference between the two is about $1G... spend that into power mods and your evo will be putting down better whp.

now suspension, people love to bolton suspension mods and think they made a difference... suspension is more complex and needs fine tuning from a pro.... the evo already has razor sharp handling, it will take lots of money and tune to get to the evo level of handling.... ok nuff said.

 

i went through the same debate when deciding on whether i wanted to pay the extra 6 grand to get an srt4 or just get the ralliart. Dodge wanted 6 grand down for the srt4 and mitsu wanted nothing, so i went the cheaper way, which came back to bite me in the you know what

 

now, what color haha

 

well like I said, the final decision will depend on how the 05's do and how theyre holding up come spring time
if theyre doing good Im getting an EVO

Im thinking Rally Red

 

Ah.. MR uses Bilstein shocks, what does that have to do with KYB?

 

I myself had the same dilemma. I went from the EVO to the STI. I had my mind made up and was going to purchase a White STI after driving my friends STI. The next weekend I decided to go by Mitsubishi and test drive the EVO one last time. The next day I was driving home in the EVO and have no regrets except not waiting for the 05 with LSD. They are both awesome cars but I just felt the EVO as being faster due to the 19PSI turbo rush and the handling is much better then the STI. If you plan on mods and will be tracking the car, I would go with the STI...also I have had no problems with my EVO...7000 miles.

 

If you want all out performance-get the Evo. You want some performnce and comfort get the Sti. Evo weak points Clutch, harsh ride (tein springs will fix about 60% of that) MMC attitude towards warranty work. Sti's weak Point, turbo too small. Gears too short. Not a great handler like the Evo. Evo's strong point, all out performance in every department. Nice seats, excellent steering wheel. Sti's Nice dash board better every day driver better build quality. Who ever says these cars are the same are BSing.

 

This from the Car Connection today http://thecarconnection.com/index.as...&n=156....With most large car companies reporting sales this morning, a handful of companies turned in their results for October on Election Day. Of the companies reporting, Mitsubishi showed the worst results, with sales down 44 percent from October of 2003.....

If you buy a Mitsubishi you could wind up owning an orphan. That's why I switched but I've got to admit the EVO is a wonderful car.

 

My car has been modded since 2k. Ive abosolutely beat the crap out of the car and it just keeps taking it and taking it. The ONLY thing the car doesnt like is launching. It will do powerslides and long accerations all day but as soon as you start doing clutch drops, **** breaks.
Mitsubishi sucks but the Evo is awesome
I have 40k on my car with over 400 crank hp on my stock clutch and i have yet to do a single launch. There is nothing wrong with the clutch or transfercase as far as i care. **** simply breaks when you abuse it.

I own both cars as well and let me tell you that the evo is SO much more fun than the STi. We really havent done anyhting to the STi to make power other than an exhaust but as far i can tell, there's a lot of stuff you have to get taken care of to make much more power. (ie fuel pump, turbo, injectors, ect...) The STi clutch is stronger than the evo clutch though. Dont have any comments on the tranny except it grinds too. DCCD is pretty sweet. It doesnt handle nearly as well. Steering sucks. (at least on the 04) build quality is equal to mitsubishi except the STi has a better interior. Also, the evo has A LOT more interior space.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask :-)

 

You switched cuz you think Mitsu is going to fold? No way that will ever happen.

 

I think the main driver on this front is this: how many really desirable cars does mitsubishi sell? I can think of exactly (1). The Evo. Subaru has the STi, the WRX, the Legacy, Outback etc... Honda has the accord, civic... toyota has the Corrola, the RAV4, and that stupid hybrid thing...

Mitsubishi doesn't have the car line that attracts large # of people.

 

cant really lose either way, i went with the 05 sti which is much better than the previous ones and I have zero regrets, but then again my brother does have an MR edition and i get to drive that here and there.

 

Godai: Good question, I will find out. Maybe it was the regular '05 Evo, not the MR. He also went to Japan in '02 to work on the original shocks & had a proptotype Evo at a track event I attended in 3/03.

 

Several points to consider...

1) The clutch and transmission on the Evo, in my opinion, is far more superior than most other performance vehicles. However, if you like the amazing 0-60 times that many people post (~4.3-4.7 sec.) without any major mods you need to do a 6500RPM dump resulting in major slippage and in most cases (or eventually) burnt tranny or transfer case.

2) STi will probably run you 1G or more $$$ then the Evo, out the door. So, take that money and buy a ACT street clutch for $500 and have it installed for about $400 (at least here in VA)... Granted the clutch feel will still be horrible but you will spare the clutch during MANY high RPM launches...

3) To achieve the same level of handling from an STi you will probably end up spending (I'm guessing here) another $4Gs on a suspension package. Even then I don't think you are guaranteed to beat a stock Evo on the track...

4) Mods are a lot cheaper for the Evo then for the Sti for bigger gains in WHP...

5) Subaru dealerships are not as **** about warranty as Mitsu dealers are. As a matter of fact you will get a one year FREE subscription to the SCCA circuit... Mitsu dealers supporting rally events... Not a chance... If you even get your pic taken near one your warranty will probably be voided...

Anyways, that's my two cents. I say go with the Evo and mod your car responsibly and you should have no problems...

-From the guy in the Lightning Yellow Evo VIII Terrorizing I-495/I-395...