I made that same debate for the last two years and I went with the EVO. Test drove both and my wife and I were more impressed with the EVO. There' s something about the STI that just didn't do it for us. Another reason being, for someone my size, it's more comfy and roomier in the EVO than the STI, hands down. On a more biased note, I'm more familiar with the 4G63 and lean more towards a conventional inline 4 rather than the boxer 4. If you plan on building your car up and getting stupid with it, I wouldn't even think about warranty which would negate most of your cons about the EVO. But that's just me... Go with what pleases you more and stop worrying about a warranty... If you plan on shelling out 30K for either of these cars, plan on shelling out more for mods and replacing broken parts... That's just the nature of the beast...

Just my .02

 

I was feeling the same way as u about 2 months ago, i test drove them both and in the end i picked up the evo cuz, to me it looks alot better and drives/handles better. Of course this is a evolution form so of course there is more bias here but trust me u wont regret getting an evo.

 

well just an update
im still torn between these 2 lol
im just waiting it out and im still trying to sell the lude
however, lately my thoughts have been on the EVO
my main concern is the tranny and clutch wearing out
Ill be purchasing an 05 if I do
I tried searching but I couldnt find anything about the 05's trannys and whether or not the clutches are holding up or not

so if anyone could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated

im leaning towards the EVO because:
more power potential
cheaper insurance
cheaper to buy
im trying to move back to NY lol(cant move back to NY if I get the STi...payments are a bit high)

 

clutch wont last if you plan to launch all the time
evo tranny > sti tranny

 

any grinding issues with the 05's?

 

FIXED

 

according to sport compact car mag, the sti has more power potential because of the engine being 2.5 ltr. In spite of that fact, the evo still won for car of the year and it won the shootout hosted by the magazine because the STI was more "work" to drive, where as the evo was 2nd nature and not a job. It was more focus on driving for fun and less on being so carefull to not screw everything up. Stock, the Evo has more high end, as evidence of its 1/4 mile being a bit lower, but its 0-60mph being slower than the sti.

just reporting what i read happy hunting

 

ive driven both and honestly not just cuz we are on a evo thread id pick the evo. i just like it alot better i also have an 03 evo i was alos considering the same as you but just stuck with 03.

 

never driven an sti but i have driven evo in snow..... does better then moms 4x4 Dodge ram. only one downfall u can bottom out. my friend in his VWr32 demonstraited this well in my driveway. last snow we had in ohio was pretty good got like 18inch cant really drive anything in that but after roads were plowed still about 4-6in on roads and such Evo did great. Never lost controll at any point thats of corse unless i wanted to lol only issue i had was snow in brakes. cleaned it out stops fine and was on my way powersliding at every turn ... *cough* i mean driving safely..... GL on ur choice u know my vote ..... Scooby who ?!

 

all I want to know is....since the 05's been out for a while now, hows the clutch holding up and is the tranny grinding or not?
I dont beat up on my car...well not all the time

the above will be the deciding factor

 

I have an 03 with almost 30k miles and still running/racing/draggin/launching my stock clutch.. hasn't given out yet!

 

remember that subaru had to increase their engine size by half a liter just to try to compete against the evo.

 

i wanna know about 05's

I did some researching...havent really heard or read anything about the 05's
plus the handling and how much power the EVO's get from putting in about $3K is mind boggling

I want a high 11- low 12 sec car
Its gonna take more than $3K in mods for the STi

I got a guy coming for my prelude sometime next week
then its off to the Mitsu dealer

 

If you're talking about modding the cars than it's a no brainer. Also, if you want an 11 second car, you're gonna have to launch hard. If this is the case, your gonna need to upgrade the clutch anyway.

 

^^^^