Get 05 like me. I have EB Evo.

 

05 has 10.5 hotside with acd and lsd

 

get 05

 

just wait for the IX ang get that!

 

i can't wait that long! lol

 

'04, less sh*t to break, granted you won't get the mad JDM braggin' rights of having the car drive for you, and installing a 10.5 hotside is a lot easier than ripping out a weak six speed and overly complicated center diff

 

not to start a war here with your anything, but how do you know the six speed is weak? ever had experience with it, or a proof? just wondering.

 

Legit question. Their were issues with it's first year run in Japan and it's just my personal opinion that when you shrink things to fit more of them into a box that the likelyhood of something breaking increases. Go with what feels right for ya man... I'm just a bit of a minimalist and with as fragile as these cars can be I would hesitate throwing any more factors into the equation.

 

HIDS can be bought at anytime really, but the front list and acd only come on 05 models intercooler sprayer can also be bought aftermarket. my suggestion go for an 05.

 

What are you talking about? I've never heard these statements or read them except in your post. What evidence do you have to prove the 6 speed tranny in the MR is weak? Also, what's with this "overly complicated center diff"? Why do all these things that have been used in Japan and other countries suddenly become liabilities?
I have the '05 MR and none of your statements appear to be justified. Also, the question was about an '04 vs an '05 EVO... Don't they have the same 5 speed tranny? I can tell you for a fact that the '05 EVO MR is very strong. I have the same power now with XEDE and a cat-back exhaust than my '03 GSR made with every mod you can imagine exept the stroker kit..... How do you explain that? BTW, my tranny has not failed yet.....

 

Dude look at the service interval points of the jdm acd, it would be impractical considering the amount of mileage Americans put on their cars compared to the Japanese. I appologize for confusing the fact that the only '05 with a 6 speed is the MR. The fact does remain that an active diff has more parts, more parts equal a higher probability of failure in my book. Please don't get defensive, the guy asked my opinion and I gave it to him, if you are happy with your MR then that's awesome. As far as your argument about having the same power with your MR as you did with similar mods on your '03, that's great but I just don't understand what you're arguing, I personally would hope you had a little more with the improved turbo. Just treat the tranny well and you should be fine, all I'm saying is that with Mitsu's build quality and consistancy record as of now with these drive trains the last thing I would personally want is another gear in there to shrink the rest, especially when the ratios are pretty much the same as the five speed from what I have heard.

Take care

 

Where can I see the info about the interval points of the JDM ACD? Anyway, the service intervals for my car according to the owners manual are not different from the ones in my previous EVO VIII...... I know that 's quality issues are worse than some, but lets face it, it aint that bad. The case for the 6 speed is definitely larger than the 5 speed so I don't see how you can say they put more (weaker) components in the same case... Finally, the gear ratios of the 6 speed are definitely different from the 5 speed, specially the 4th and 5th gears. The 1st to 3rd are almost identical but the difference in the rest make a huge difference in how the car drives.

IMHO the 6 speed is superior to the 5 speed for general driveability and probably for the twisties. It might be that the 5 speed is stronger and can take more abuse that the 6 speed, but surely the 6 speed is not "weak". As far as the ratios, I doubt that you'd see a difference in drag racing or autox. I don't know about track racing....

 

Cool, I have heard that people with the 6spd are having to shift into 5th in the 1/4 mile, not saying that's what this car is intended for though... I did not know that the 6 spd case was bigger, just didn't think that there was much more room for a larger case down there. If this is the case that's awesome but I will always pick a 5 speed over a 6 speed for daily abuse and strength, just me. Good luck with whatever you get man

 

The truth is that I've not taken my MR to the dragstrip so I have no clue of what it will do or how the 6 speed will work in that scenario. What I've noticed is that for my daily driving and for the occasional twisties, the 6 speed is very sweet. The ratios are very well chosen and the car just rides very well. For me it's vastly improved from the '03 GSR that I traded in. For other ppl, the 5 speed might be better.... I don't know, but really, the MR is a very nice package plus they are quite powerful.... Mine puts down 257 whp on a DD dyno (translates to 290 whp on a Dynojet). I'm happy with the MR

 

was yours stock when you dynoed it?