Hello,

I've been lurking around on the site for a while and finally got around to registering. Thought I'd say hi. I'm in the market in the next couple months for an EVO. I come from the Subaru side of the fence, and owned two 04 WRX sedans, one moderately modified, one stock except tires. One is sold already and the other is on the way out the door. Don't get me wrong, I love the cars, and the community, but Subaru as a company has let me down on multiple occasions and for the money spent, my wife and I are unhappy customers, and they have lost future business from me. I'll save the drama story for another time.

So, I have test driven several EVO VIIIs, and I like the car. The EVO IX & MR look promising but I cannot find one locally yet to check out. I know the "technical" differences between the MR and the IX, but what I am wondering from you tenured owners, is the difference in the ride feel justifiable for the added cost of the MR in your opinion? I ask because my wife will also drive this car from time to time, and the VIII I can tell you is way too rigid of a ride for her to take much liking to. Similar to a Spec V I owned, or an STI. It seems to transmit every little thing in the road right up to the steering wheel. (Yes, I know, sport tuned suspensions do that..) Do the Bilstiens realistically smooth it out enough to be worthwhile? I have seen a couple opinions across various threads, but wanted to hopefully get a few more. This car will remain stock for quite some time so I want to get as close to what I am looking for as possible right out of the box. If they do provide a more gentle ride that is honestly enough justification for me to go with the MR. The rims make little difference to me, the Enkei's and BBS's are both nice IMO. Sorry this was a bit long, and thanks in advance.

 

Wow, not a single opinion? Yikes..

 

I have the regular IX and you will feel every bump in the road. I wouldn't say its really harsh, but the MR goes a long way into calming the suspension. If the harsh suspension is of concern, look into the MR if you can afford it. I know I would of done it, but I just couldn't justify the price hike over the regular and I'm happy with my decision.

 

I don't mind it myself, unfortunately I live in NM and the "little" bumps in the road are frequent so every bit that helps is worth it in my situation. It is a chunk of change extra, but I'll probably end up keeping the EVO for some time. Decisions Decisions. Thanks for the input btw. = )

 

We all love drama here!

 

Hehe, oh believe me it is a good one. I'll save it for when I am finally out of my second WRX permanently LOL.

 

The MR suspension is nice. It feels about the same as my Ford Focus 4-door. The 6spd is great too.

 

if you do get the mr sell those. you should get at least 1k for them and buy yourself some muellerized buddy clubes. I promise you will not regret.

 

If you want to keep it stock, the MR is the way to go. The Bilsteins really do ride alot smoother and softer, while still improving the "racecar" handling.

EVOlutionary

 

The plan is to keep it stock for a while. My bad experiences with Subaru began when I started modding my first wrx, then they started dodging the bullet with my second wrx despite the fact it was never modified and they actually caused some problems on it (documented). Ok, here is a relatively brief version of the drama story:

The first wrx was in my name, the second was in my Wife's name, and she was the primary driver of that one until a few months ago when we bought her a Jeep for a daily. Despite the fact it is a totally seperate car, and a totally seperate name it was registered under, Subaru decided to link the two cars and treated us both the same. I sold the first WRX bone stock after having some repairs done by Subaru on my expense. The warranty was supposed to still be fully in tact according to them. The person who bought it had every belt under the hood fly apart mysteriously (not an issue you hear about with WRXs ever, especially that new) and Subaru jacked him around as well over it telling him they were "aftermarket belts" and his fault. The person I sold it to is not into modding and secondly there's no point in changing the accessory belts without changing pulleys, which few do anyway. Come to find out, they are Subaru belts, but from a subsidiary company they own, which the dealer put in when I paid for the repairs I had prior to selling it. Sound funny? Rigged even? Yeah. We think so.

The second WRX my wife custom ordered with a specific configuration. It came off the truck with a gash in the paint on the bumper/fender area, nothing huge, but required repaint. They took it, and supposedly repainted the bumper. Looked fine for a while. A few months down the road after we moved cross-country, the paint began to peel, only in the area they painted. They did not do a proper job, it looked like they sanded down the general area and did a quick spray. It didn't bond and was falling off. The dealership that did it refused to cover it saying it was a warranty issue and my new local dealer should do it. They refused saying it was a dealership issue and my old dealer 2300 miles away should fix it. They started ignoring our phone calls, service manager too. I involved SOA, and they dodged the bullet too for nearly a year now. I ended up having it painted myself just so I can sell the thing. Everyone admitted the paint failure was not our fault, but no one wanted to step up and do what was right. BTW, this one had an extended 8 yr 80,000 mile warranty on it.. what a waste. So to sock it to them, I am demanding the extended warranty be refunded this week, and the last WRX is out the door hopefully in January. I can think of no better way to make my stand than to go to their "rival" Mitsubishi. LOL. Just so happens I like the EVOs so what a perfect way to send them a message, along with a formal complaint to the BBB, and me spreading the word amongst my friends with WRXs what SOA did to me.

I love the cars, but the company behind them has issues to resolve before I buy another right now. So Subaru is on time out for me.

 

You won't be any happier with Mitsubishi service either. Do a search here and you will know what I mean. Evo is a great car but Mitsubishi is notorious for bad dealerships and warranty policy.

 

Welcome to the forum!!


I had a 03 limited edition Sonic yellow WRX, and I sold it after two years of costly tranny repairs and pathetic performance results.
Now I have a Evo 8 MR and the Evo 9 GSR.

You are jumping from one galaxy to a much better galaxy, no matter what Evo you get you are in the right path.

Be aware the Evo 03-04 had a big issue with the transfer cases which has an analogy with the WRX's and their tranny issues.

The 05 Evos are great, the transfer case issue was adressed and fixed, they added the LSD and ACD and a significant upgrade in power.

The 06 Evo9 is the ultimate machine, they spool up very well and it has a bigger turbo than the Evo 8 and the addition of the MIVEC system similar to the STI variable timing.

As far is the MR , I am going to try to simplify as much as I can because this topic has been adressed here soo many times.

The MR is the best Evo ever build in the market stock from the factory. It will cost you more than a regular Evo GSR and significantly more than the RS but it comes fully loaded with all the gadgets.

You have two choices, get an RS and not have some equipment but save money or get the regular Evo which comes fairly well equipped or get the MR that comes with everything but you pay more.

The answer to the Bilstein, they are very nice, comfortable and quiet. If you are planning to have your spouse driving it, she will love it, the ride is smooth but also grippy.

I hope that answer some of your questions

 

I've driven the an EVO VIII, EVO IX and EVO IX MR. There is a difference between the MR and the regular. If you have the means and plan on keeping it a long time, I'd definitely recommend the IX MR. It's the last of this platform, and it's the best! The ride is much more "comfortable" my wife, who's used to modified suspensions and driven an EVO VIII, thought the IX MR was "plush" . All while maintaining the great handling EVO's are known for.