I drove a moderately modded STi at a dealership and was impressed with how smooth it rode. It was really quick too, but then i drove my friends 390awhp evo and i was hooked! The handling is sharper its better looking and the brakes are better as well. That and like most people have been saying the STi is more expensive than the Evo for no improvements. Best thing ive heard that sums it all up is the STi is a highly tuned street car while the Evo is a mild race car on the streets... Something along those lines... Its late and i cant think that well right now, but hope it makes sense and helps you.

 

+1

 

f). Notchy shifter/shifting compared to the EVO

 

this is easy... I wanted a sunroof!

 

I bought the evo because I'm asian...nah jk, I've always wanted an evo ever since the old school evos. I knew what they can do and the fact that they were not available here, made me want one so bad. Don't get me wrong I'll take an sti any day but I got to have my evo too.....

 

Generaly, my mad respect towards EVOs comes from Audi, BMW, Porsche, VW tunning community. All those people really acknowledge the value that EVO provides for roughly $30,000. You would point at one of those E36 M3s, Audi S4s, VW R32s and ask. "Can it keep up with a stock EVO MR?" The answer is always YES (assuming a roadtrack), but then they elaborate on the answer "but not without some serious modifications that might ruin my everyday streetability".


I also got a chance to ride shot-gun during an open track event with one of the instructors in a virtually stock EVO with reprogrammed ECU and 255/40-17 Toyo RA1.
It simply blew me away. Compared to race ready, full roll cage mustang, chipped S4 w/ suspension and huge stoptechs and E36 M3s.

To think of it you can buy a used European sportscar for $15,000, dump another $5,000 - $10,000 into it and you'll have a car similar in performance to a stock EVO MR. Now spend another couple of grand, and get and EVO, you'll end up with a warranty, fresh chassis, fresh bushings, fresh fluids and an outstanding platform.

In case of STIs, I see plenty of them go really really fast, but the fast ones are not stock, it's usually a stripped car with a cage.


Which makes me think what a good value an EVO really is, I just don't see STi doing the same in a near stock trim. Any car can be really fast given enough time and money. That's why I am such an EVO lover. Let's not forget how EVO can do 320+AWHP on a stock turbo and that you actually can dial in -2 degrees of camber on a stock suspension without camber plates.


Thanks everyone, for your input!

 

Mine was an easy choice.

I went to the Subaru dealer and they wouldn't let me test drive an STI, or even sit in one. I went to Mitsubishi test drove, filled out credit app and was out of there in under an hour. I drove straight back over to Subaru to deliver a middle finger to the a-hole salesman I was dealing with there.

 

The Evo just fits my personality and driving needs better.

 

The Reason why I bought the evo was because of the movie "who am I" with jackie chan. He was driving an Evo V I think and I was like what kinda car is that. After i found out about I fell in love. But of course the STI was always an option. I liked the smoother ride and the turbo lag was better too. But after looking at the engine bay I was like . There was **** everywhere it just looked complicated to work on and it's true a lot of people tell me its hard to work on and they don't get as much power as the evo. But as far as the smoother ride and the turbo lag which was better on the STI I fixed that problem with my evo. I just traded my EVO VIII for a EVO IX MR which had the better supension and the mivec. So I got a better ride and less turbo lag and am a happy camper

 

When I decided to get the evo, I didn't even consider the STi to be honest. Others on my list were the RX-8 and the s2000. Back then, I was really concerned with handling and balance of a car, but the Evo just completely blew me away with its raw performance that I forgot about all that.
The reason I didn't want an STi is because 1) I had doubts about subaru build quality due to previous experience with a 97 legacy 2) Had everything that I didn't like about the Evo (AWD and poor weight distribution) but non of the parts that I did like

 

Same here.

 

I was in the same situation, actually worse off. My lust for high performance rally cars started with the Impreza STI 22B. I've always been a fan of subaru, and will always be. For some reason or another I ended up in an Evo, and to this day I still can't pinpoint why I chose the EVO over the STI.

Either way, you really can't go wrong because both cars are fantastic to own and drive.

 

Hahaha nice. The only thing was Mitsubishi didn't let me drive the MR, only the regular 9's were available for test drive. The impression I've gotten from the regular 9 didn't change when I drove home my MR, only better

 

i couldn't get a test drive at either Mitsu or Subaru. however i've driven an 05 VIII beforehand and ever since that drive i was hooked.

i picked the Evo because i figured if these two cars both got faces only their mothers could love, i'd want to be sure to pick the one that performs better, stock or modded.

the Evo prevails in steering, handling, response to mods, and backseats space.

my friend has a STi with about 300whp. the STi has better throttle response due to the extra 500cc and the ride is more comfortable.

if there were no Evo's i'd be in an STi; they're both freaking awesome cars for the money that's for sure

 

PRICE: In my country, cars get taxed according to engine size. As such, the new STI is considerably more expensive than the IX (MSRP $70k for IX GSR vs $76k for STI )

If costs were around the same, I would have also considered the Subi even though I don’t like the smurf color scheme of the interior. Considerable price difference and slightly better track performance of the EVO was enough for me. Now if the IX GSR was $5 grand more than the STI, my decision would most likely have been the other way around.