Drank the Kool-Aid™
i,m 49 and on my second evo and heard all the b.s about isnt that a kids car (people have no idea). congrats and welcome. do a warrtalon package from Buschur Racing and you,ll really fall in love with the car or something similiar in modding. good luck!
Originally Posted by Qest
Try it, you'll change your mind. Sure, they're not worth the money, but damn if they aren't a great place to spend some spare time!
To the OP, thanks for the cool writeup, and congrats on your purchase!
To the OP, thanks for the cool writeup, and congrats on your purchase!
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 633
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From: Okinawa, Japan
Originally Posted by dramsey
I'm a lifelong car nut; in the past I've leaned towards American performance cars ('68 GTO, '71 Vette, '84 SVO Mustang, '88 Mustang GT, '90 Taurus SHO, '94 Caddy STS); my foreign cars have mostly been Toyotas from the '70s (when there were no performance cars), although a Fiat X 1/9 in college was an interesting diversion.
I've been planning to buy my dream car for close to a year now. I was leaning heavily towards the BMW M5, but after some thought decided I wanted something more "tossable", especially since I already have the "luxury sedan" thing covered with an Acura RL. But I was still aiming for something fast and fun, but Expensive With Which To Impress the Country Club Crowd.
I drove the Z4M Roadster, Porsche Cayman, even a C6 Corvette (which, while fast, was curiously uninvolving. This may have been the fault of the auto tranny-- of the 11 Corvettes the local dealer had, all were autos). The local Mercedes dealer doesn't keep AMGs on the lot, but I don't recall their nimble reflexes ever being mentioned in a review, so it's probably just as well. The local Ford dealer has no Shelbys on the lot, but I did drive a stock Mustang GT (nice car for the money, runs out of breath past 4K RPM though), and they did have one Shelby allocation left that I could exercise for about $60K. I've planned a trip to Irvine, California to visit the new Saleen store and test drive a Saleen 281SC*.
Last Sunday, on a whim, I drove an Evo MR. My worldview has changed. This car is, as they say, awesome beyond all space and time.
I don't care that it's a fraction of the price of the cars I was looking at, and will be looked at askance by the aforementioned country club crowd (FWIW, the counter boy at Kragen thought it was cool. So there). I can feel every pebble in the road and know what the car's doing down to the nearest millimeter. Even the sublime Z4 M Roadster wasn't this good, although it did have an even thicker steering wheel.
I got the "Special Edition" in dark metallic gray. It's a complete flashback for me-- back in the day, Momo wheels, Recaro seats, and Cibié lights were de facto mods for any car I had (trivia: you didn't need a hub adapter to put a Momo in a Corvette). Here it's all done for me. Everything the driver touches, or that "touches the road", is the best componentry available.
The relatively low-rent interior makes the car easy to work on: I've already swapped the gauges and radio, and hardwired in my Valentine One, based on info I found in this forum. Being able to actually do some work on a car, however trivial, means a lot to me. I can't see myself ripping apart the dash of an M5, or even my RL.
I'm not looking for more performance yet, but I can see adding stuff like headers and a cat-back exhaust in the future.
And there may be some cachet to probably being the oldest Evo owner in town-- I'm 50.
Signed, the guy who could have pretty much any freaking car he wanted but went with an Evo.
*I'm still going; already have the tickets, and it'll still be fun.
I've been planning to buy my dream car for close to a year now. I was leaning heavily towards the BMW M5, but after some thought decided I wanted something more "tossable", especially since I already have the "luxury sedan" thing covered with an Acura RL. But I was still aiming for something fast and fun, but Expensive With Which To Impress the Country Club Crowd.
I drove the Z4M Roadster, Porsche Cayman, even a C6 Corvette (which, while fast, was curiously uninvolving. This may have been the fault of the auto tranny-- of the 11 Corvettes the local dealer had, all were autos). The local Mercedes dealer doesn't keep AMGs on the lot, but I don't recall their nimble reflexes ever being mentioned in a review, so it's probably just as well. The local Ford dealer has no Shelbys on the lot, but I did drive a stock Mustang GT (nice car for the money, runs out of breath past 4K RPM though), and they did have one Shelby allocation left that I could exercise for about $60K. I've planned a trip to Irvine, California to visit the new Saleen store and test drive a Saleen 281SC*.
Last Sunday, on a whim, I drove an Evo MR. My worldview has changed. This car is, as they say, awesome beyond all space and time.
I don't care that it's a fraction of the price of the cars I was looking at, and will be looked at askance by the aforementioned country club crowd (FWIW, the counter boy at Kragen thought it was cool. So there). I can feel every pebble in the road and know what the car's doing down to the nearest millimeter. Even the sublime Z4 M Roadster wasn't this good, although it did have an even thicker steering wheel.
I got the "Special Edition" in dark metallic gray. It's a complete flashback for me-- back in the day, Momo wheels, Recaro seats, and Cibié lights were de facto mods for any car I had (trivia: you didn't need a hub adapter to put a Momo in a Corvette). Here it's all done for me. Everything the driver touches, or that "touches the road", is the best componentry available.
The relatively low-rent interior makes the car easy to work on: I've already swapped the gauges and radio, and hardwired in my Valentine One, based on info I found in this forum. Being able to actually do some work on a car, however trivial, means a lot to me. I can't see myself ripping apart the dash of an M5, or even my RL.
I'm not looking for more performance yet, but I can see adding stuff like headers and a cat-back exhaust in the future.
And there may be some cachet to probably being the oldest Evo owner in town-- I'm 50.
Signed, the guy who could have pretty much any freaking car he wanted but went with an Evo.
*I'm still going; already have the tickets, and it'll still be fun.
Very well written and articulated. It is refreshing to read from someone that has command of the English language. I can tell that you will enjoy your EVO. BTW, Nice choice of color and options, you have the best of the best.
However, what are you going to do when the new Skyline GT-R35 hits the American shores it will be better than the Porsche Turbo and all of the aforementioned cars in your post. Its price will be basically two MR's at 70-80k.
I plan on owning both the Skyline GT-R35 and the EVO IX MR SE, the two best cars on the planet IMHO. At this particular moment the US Navy and my current orders are holding me back. It is hard when you have the cash but are not in the right place in your life.
If you plan on modding your EVO please PM me I have a pulse on tasteful modifications that provide the best results while staying within OEM reliability. People will pitch packages from tuner companies but more often than not there are parts that are not necessary or that are redundant in the next steps. Above all of the opinions that you will hear, the best resource is the search function and your own deductions based on others opinions.
Good luck and Enjoy the Kool Aid (EVO owners are like a cult just like the origins of the title of your post),
-Nate
Last edited by EVO-8-Nate; Oct 15, 2006 at 07:58 PM.
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 47
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From: Bay Area
Excellent post. I also test drove several other more expensive cars with "cachet" before buying the Evo:
Porsche Cayman S - You hit it head on with the nickel and diming by the time we optioned it out we were on the dark side of $70K - plus I found it uninvolving and somewhat passionless......that and the car looks like JLo from the rear.
BMW M Coupe - less civilized and more awkward than the Cayman - but a real hoot. Problem is - it's a BMW. You guys think Mitsu QC is spotty - own a few Bimmers - I can live with a couple of rattles and weird noises in a $35K car - but not in a $60K one. My third BMW was my last..........too bad because the M Couple was a lot of fun.......
Lotus Elise - gutless down low.....that plus interior pieces were falling off during the test drive.
I don't give a crap what people think of the wing or VG on my 9 - I love driving the car - period.
Enjoy your new toy!
Porsche Cayman S - You hit it head on with the nickel and diming by the time we optioned it out we were on the dark side of $70K - plus I found it uninvolving and somewhat passionless......that and the car looks like JLo from the rear.
BMW M Coupe - less civilized and more awkward than the Cayman - but a real hoot. Problem is - it's a BMW. You guys think Mitsu QC is spotty - own a few Bimmers - I can live with a couple of rattles and weird noises in a $35K car - but not in a $60K one. My third BMW was my last..........too bad because the M Couple was a lot of fun.......
Lotus Elise - gutless down low.....that plus interior pieces were falling off during the test drive.
I don't give a crap what people think of the wing or VG on my 9 - I love driving the car - period.
Enjoy your new toy!
Originally Posted by kapolani
ps - you're going to have every racer boy pulling up next to you and wanting to race.
, tell them to drive carefully, and go. They'll probably be thinking about how they wish their grandfather was cool like that.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 166
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From: PA
Originally Posted by Evoryder
country club = white guys ?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 21
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From: Reno, NV
Originally Posted by Yur
We may be in the same line of work 
What do you do?
What do you do?Yes, it's much different from writing end-user applications at Apple back in the day, but it pays the bills and finances the toys.
I was impressed rather simply by your excellent spelling and grammar, it was most refreshing to read someone's thoughts who has the buying power to own something so much more than a "Teenager's Car". I agree completely as a new Evo owner myself, it's simply unlike anything else. I've driven (not owned) a Saleen S281, an '04 M3, a C5 Corvette, a Camaro SS, and a Carrera. Not one of them impressed me more than an Evo. Now, I am by no means rich financially, and my ability to drop 70k is laughable at best. But the sheer enjoyment of knowing my 30k (+/-) vehicle feels far superior to many costing tens of thousands more is highly rewarding.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2006
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From: Reno, NV
However, what are you going to do when the new Skyline GT-R35 hits the American shores it will be better than the Porsche Turbo and all of the aforementioned cars in your post. Its price will be basically two MR's at 70-80k.
If you plan on modding your EVO please PM me I have a pulse on tasteful modifications that provide the best results while staying within OEM reliability. People will pitch packages from tuner companies but more often than not there are parts that are not necessary or that are redundant in the next steps. Above all of the opinions that you will hear, the best resource is the search function and your own deductions based on others opinions.
My biggest question is about cams. Historically, performance cams have improved higher RPM power at the expense of lower RPM power and smoothness-- remember the lumpy idle of some 60s muscle cars? Now we have motors that can advance or retard the cams as required, although the lift and duration remain the same (except in cases like Honda's VTEC system, with different lobe profiles that can be switched in).
I'd worry that aftermarket performance cams for the Evo would sacrifice the already weak sub-3500RPM range end even more. If performance can be improved throughout the rev range, why wouldn't Mitsu have done it? It's not as if it costs more to grind a different lobe profile...
Originally Posted by dramsey
I have to wonder whether Nissan can sell a supercar at that level in this country. Still, any car nut's read about the Skylines for years. The question is, what will it bring to the party that the Evo doesn't already have?
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...hlight=skyline
Unlike previous iterations of the Skyline, this coupe is not based on a sedan, but rather is bestowed its own two-door architecture that will likely pay dividends in the car's performance. We don't have much word on the Skyline's mechanicals, but Winding Road's Chris Paukert surmises a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 derived from the 350Z's powerplant putting out somewhere in the range of 450 horsepower and 370 ft-lbs. of torque. All-wheel drive from the previous GT-R's electronic ATTESA ET-S torque-sensing system is onboard and four-wheel steering is also a possibility. Check out more photos by following the read link.
