Got My Red SSL Last Night! Happy!
Got My Red SSL Last Night! Happy!
I just traded in my 2004 RX-8 last night (great car, BTW) for the Evo. Here's a quick review, along the lines of the one I just posted in my SSL thread. A lot of the details you will know already, but they're just my observations and opinions:
Driving the Evo (aka Baby Huey) is a whole different experience from my RX-8. The cabin is orders of magnitude more open and light, especially with the sunroof open. The windows and windshield are much larger, the window sills a bit lower, the seating position much higher.
My three kids seem much to prefer the Evo's interior: They get power windows in back; they can open the doors themselves; and there's a lot more hip and shoulder room when they're sitting two across. We did three across last night, and that seemed good, too (less so for longer trips). Happily, the rear seating on the Evo (biggest in class?) really seems quite roomy.
I dig the interior in general: The small orange instrument cluster is low-rent as are the switchgear and door handles, but the dash overall is good to look at and the shifter, pedals and steering wheel are all delights to use. I particularly like the leather Momo wheel and mini-baseball-like black leather shift knob. The leather package adds leather to the door panels and center console arm rest, so they're pretty nice too.
The steering is very quick but I got used to it quickly. Turning radius is larger but still workable; I can still pull the necessary U-ey into my lot at work. Corners flat and quick. Suspension is stiff but I like that.
The power is a bit like walking a Rottweiller: As long as everything's mellow it just ambles along like a Tercel. Tip your foot into the throttle and the dog sees a cat and rockets forward like a guided missile, in a blur. Laggy? Yes; just a bit.
Engine noise is very purposeful, not just the exhaust but under the hood too. Loving all the details, even those I can't see: Magnesium valve cover, hollow cams, variable intake cam, forged pistons. There a cold-air intake with an extruded aluminum pipe running to the turbo; very nice welds on the pipe.
And I have always creamed of red Brembos and this particular style of wheel; can't complain there.
I also dig the looks front to back, flared boxy fenders, rear windshield wiper, stubby little antenna up top.
This morning I passed one motocop with his radar gun out, but I wasn't speeding; still made me paranoid though.
I will likely pull the wing off in the next few days; but I think I'll keep it for occasional use. The (hollow) carbon fiber is just stone gorgeous. My kids love it, of course.
I was afraid it was so Spartan that it wouldn't have an interior trunk release, but it does. Relieved about that. The "315-watt" stereo sounds good to me; much better than the 8. The sub box in the trunk looks cool.
From the outside, the car looks relatively small, but on the inside it seems almost huge to me. And one nice detail on the engine: It comes factory pre-filled with Mobile 1, and on the oil filler cap it's got a big Mobile 1 label. Cool. (I'm a big fan of Mobile 1.)
No pix yet, but except for the sunroof it looks just like this one:
Driving the Evo (aka Baby Huey) is a whole different experience from my RX-8. The cabin is orders of magnitude more open and light, especially with the sunroof open. The windows and windshield are much larger, the window sills a bit lower, the seating position much higher.
My three kids seem much to prefer the Evo's interior: They get power windows in back; they can open the doors themselves; and there's a lot more hip and shoulder room when they're sitting two across. We did three across last night, and that seemed good, too (less so for longer trips). Happily, the rear seating on the Evo (biggest in class?) really seems quite roomy.
I dig the interior in general: The small orange instrument cluster is low-rent as are the switchgear and door handles, but the dash overall is good to look at and the shifter, pedals and steering wheel are all delights to use. I particularly like the leather Momo wheel and mini-baseball-like black leather shift knob. The leather package adds leather to the door panels and center console arm rest, so they're pretty nice too.
The steering is very quick but I got used to it quickly. Turning radius is larger but still workable; I can still pull the necessary U-ey into my lot at work. Corners flat and quick. Suspension is stiff but I like that.
The power is a bit like walking a Rottweiller: As long as everything's mellow it just ambles along like a Tercel. Tip your foot into the throttle and the dog sees a cat and rockets forward like a guided missile, in a blur. Laggy? Yes; just a bit.
Engine noise is very purposeful, not just the exhaust but under the hood too. Loving all the details, even those I can't see: Magnesium valve cover, hollow cams, variable intake cam, forged pistons. There a cold-air intake with an extruded aluminum pipe running to the turbo; very nice welds on the pipe.
And I have always creamed of red Brembos and this particular style of wheel; can't complain there.
I also dig the looks front to back, flared boxy fenders, rear windshield wiper, stubby little antenna up top.
This morning I passed one motocop with his radar gun out, but I wasn't speeding; still made me paranoid though.
I will likely pull the wing off in the next few days; but I think I'll keep it for occasional use. The (hollow) carbon fiber is just stone gorgeous. My kids love it, of course.
I was afraid it was so Spartan that it wouldn't have an interior trunk release, but it does. Relieved about that. The "315-watt" stereo sounds good to me; much better than the 8. The sub box in the trunk looks cool.
From the outside, the car looks relatively small, but on the inside it seems almost huge to me. And one nice detail on the engine: It comes factory pre-filled with Mobile 1, and on the oil filler cap it's got a big Mobile 1 label. Cool. (I'm a big fan of Mobile 1.)
No pix yet, but except for the sunroof it looks just like this one:
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
From: Downey CA
Sweet dude.. congrats.. so I guess you got the SSL package? Good choice.. glad you are happy with it.. and plus you kids are too that is awesome. I hope you and “baby Huey” spend lots of time together on the road.
More thoughts (sort of talking to myself, here):
I was wondering, did a search, and found that the 03-04 Evos were the only ones with intercooler sprays.
I also just realized that because of the SSL's sunroof, I have no overhead sunglass holder. And because of the SSL fog light switch, I have no coin holder. Oh, well. That's the price of having one BAD *** CAR, I guess.
On the wing removal issue, I found threads pointing out that I can use those little sticky black hemispherical bumpers, that one uses as feet on appliances, to cover the holes.
But then I found this: http://www.mywhiteboards.com/prmariin30st.html Hmmm. Do some careful cutting and make some black strips ....
I was wondering, did a search, and found that the 03-04 Evos were the only ones with intercooler sprays.
I also just realized that because of the SSL's sunroof, I have no overhead sunglass holder. And because of the SSL fog light switch, I have no coin holder. Oh, well. That's the price of having one BAD *** CAR, I guess.
On the wing removal issue, I found threads pointing out that I can use those little sticky black hemispherical bumpers, that one uses as feet on appliances, to cover the holes.
But then I found this: http://www.mywhiteboards.com/prmariin30st.html Hmmm. Do some careful cutting and make some black strips ....
