Is it worth buying a IX over VIII for Mivec?
I have both...I love the 8rs but the 9gsr is my favorite. The off boost torque of the Mivec is well worth the upgrade. One thing I don't like about the 9 is the 4th gear, my tranny is coiming out tis week and getting a new 3rd/4th gear change.
if you waited this long why not just wait until the X comes out. Also check out the evos listed on worksevo.com for sale. With each one already slightly to moderately modded and an additional credit (at least 5,000) to spend on works products.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Fontana
j/k your are right
I owned a 2003 EVO 8 and now I have a 2006 9 SE. I am going to give you an honest review of both.
The 03-04 EVOs didn't come with ACD and thus (unless RS) didn't have the front LSD. Without the LSD the transfer case is prone to failure and the car doesn't really handle like it should. I had upgraded my transfer case to the ralliart front LSD. The cost was $800 and it was well worth it. Night and day difference between open diff and the LSD.
The 05 EVOs came with ACD and the front LSD. The 05 also came with a bigger turbo hotside and thus ended up making more power than the 03-04 version. Keep in mind the hotside is only a $250 mod so its easy to bring an 03-04 up to speed. I did the swap and again it was a night and day difference.
There are other differences between models like MR, SSL, and RS but odds are you will end up with a GSR or SE.
The EVO9 has Mivec, a bigger turbo, different gearing, a much better looking interior, and stylish front bumper.
I loved my EVO8. Once you toss cams and the hotside on the car it turns into a beast. If it wasn't for the screaming deal I found on this SE I never would have sold the car. In the end it only cost me $4k to upgrade so that is a no brainer. I have nothing bad to say about the 8 but to truely make an 03-04 perform like it should you will have to upgrade to the 10.5 hotside and ralliart front diff. I had no problems with my 03 at all.
Now I have the EVO9 and there are things that I truely love and there are things that I truely hate.
I love the front bumper and black seats. But honestly the EVO8 is nearly as sexy. Its not as much of an upgrade as it its an appearance mod.
I hate ACD. ACD is crap. They should have skipped ACD and instead used RS LSD diffs. This is a subject I'm sure some will argue about. Its alot like ABS... some love it some hate it. I prefer the pure 50/50 mechanical split without the interference from the ECU.
I love the strong low end from MIVEC and its definately the MIVEC not the turbo. I had the 9 turbo on my 8. I also had cam gears dialed in for midrange and it still didn't hit quite as hard as te MIVEC does. None the less it still doesn't pull up top like an 8 with a tuned set of HKS 272 cams. I would upgrade but EVO9 aftermarket cams haven't been showing very good returns on stock turbo cars.
Lastly.... I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the EVO 9 4th gear. It is way too short. If you drag race or road race you'll be shifting into 5th and even though its geared a little lower its still a pooch. I have no idea why Mitsu did such a thing. They made several changed but they f'd up when they changed 4th. If they would have kept the 8s 4th gear the new tranny would have been PERFECT. At 6500 miles I hate 4th gear soo much that I'm half temped to send it in to TRE for the gear swap alone.
Summary. An EVO is an EVO. If you plan on upgrading stuff then the 8 is just as good as the 9. Seats and bumpers can be swapped and so can go fast parts. They only thing that is a real change is the MIVEC and personally I wouldn't make the a deciding factor. A cammed and cam gear tuned 8 can be just as much of a monster. The gear change is a big job so think that one through. Everything else is easy.
Find a good deal on either one and you will be happy. If you already own an 8 I don't recommend upgrading unless its a screaming deal.
One thing is for sure.... definately don't go buy a new one now. The minute you drive it off the lot it will have 2 years depreciation.
The 03-04 EVOs didn't come with ACD and thus (unless RS) didn't have the front LSD. Without the LSD the transfer case is prone to failure and the car doesn't really handle like it should. I had upgraded my transfer case to the ralliart front LSD. The cost was $800 and it was well worth it. Night and day difference between open diff and the LSD.
The 05 EVOs came with ACD and the front LSD. The 05 also came with a bigger turbo hotside and thus ended up making more power than the 03-04 version. Keep in mind the hotside is only a $250 mod so its easy to bring an 03-04 up to speed. I did the swap and again it was a night and day difference.
There are other differences between models like MR, SSL, and RS but odds are you will end up with a GSR or SE.
The EVO9 has Mivec, a bigger turbo, different gearing, a much better looking interior, and stylish front bumper.
I loved my EVO8. Once you toss cams and the hotside on the car it turns into a beast. If it wasn't for the screaming deal I found on this SE I never would have sold the car. In the end it only cost me $4k to upgrade so that is a no brainer. I have nothing bad to say about the 8 but to truely make an 03-04 perform like it should you will have to upgrade to the 10.5 hotside and ralliart front diff. I had no problems with my 03 at all.
Now I have the EVO9 and there are things that I truely love and there are things that I truely hate.
I love the front bumper and black seats. But honestly the EVO8 is nearly as sexy. Its not as much of an upgrade as it its an appearance mod.
I hate ACD. ACD is crap. They should have skipped ACD and instead used RS LSD diffs. This is a subject I'm sure some will argue about. Its alot like ABS... some love it some hate it. I prefer the pure 50/50 mechanical split without the interference from the ECU.
I love the strong low end from MIVEC and its definately the MIVEC not the turbo. I had the 9 turbo on my 8. I also had cam gears dialed in for midrange and it still didn't hit quite as hard as te MIVEC does. None the less it still doesn't pull up top like an 8 with a tuned set of HKS 272 cams. I would upgrade but EVO9 aftermarket cams haven't been showing very good returns on stock turbo cars.
Lastly.... I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the EVO 9 4th gear. It is way too short. If you drag race or road race you'll be shifting into 5th and even though its geared a little lower its still a pooch. I have no idea why Mitsu did such a thing. They made several changed but they f'd up when they changed 4th. If they would have kept the 8s 4th gear the new tranny would have been PERFECT. At 6500 miles I hate 4th gear soo much that I'm half temped to send it in to TRE for the gear swap alone.
Summary. An EVO is an EVO. If you plan on upgrading stuff then the 8 is just as good as the 9. Seats and bumpers can be swapped and so can go fast parts. They only thing that is a real change is the MIVEC and personally I wouldn't make the a deciding factor. A cammed and cam gear tuned 8 can be just as much of a monster. The gear change is a big job so think that one through. Everything else is easy.
Find a good deal on either one and you will be happy. If you already own an 8 I don't recommend upgrading unless its a screaming deal.
One thing is for sure.... definately don't go buy a new one now. The minute you drive it off the lot it will have 2 years depreciation.
truthfully, i know my opinion will be flamed by the 9 owners, but i have an 05 evo 8, non ssl, i love it death, it moves like a bat outa hell with my mods, i rode in a friends 9 i dont see what the fuss is about with the mivec. true you can get good power with lil mods, but if you want that big juice power get an 8
ok i have a 03 evo 8. yea the 9 has a bigger turbo and yea u can put less money into them to make good numbers. But u also pay a lot more for a 9 then a 8. I picked the 8 because i want to mod it any way. Also look at ams evos they are the fastest out right now and they are 8 right. If u are going to mod a 8 if ur just looking for a fun dd then a 9.
I owned a 2003 EVO 8 and now I have a 2006 9 SE. I am going to give you an honest review of both.
The 03-04 EVOs didn't come with ACD and thus (unless RS) didn't have the front LSD. Without the LSD the transfer case is prone to failure and the car doesn't really handle like it should. I had upgraded my transfer case to the ralliart front LSD. The cost was $800 and it was well worth it. Night and day difference between open diff and the LSD.
The 05 EVOs came with ACD and the front LSD. The 05 also came with a bigger turbo hotside and thus ended up making more power than the 03-04 version. Keep in mind the hotside is only a $250 mod so its easy to bring an 03-04 up to speed. I did the swap and again it was a night and day difference.
There are other differences between models like MR, SSL, and RS but odds are you will end up with a GSR or SE.
The EVO9 has Mivec, a bigger turbo, different gearing, a much better looking interior, and stylish front bumper.
I loved my EVO8. Once you toss cams and the hotside on the car it turns into a beast. If it wasn't for the screaming deal I found on this SE I never would have sold the car. In the end it only cost me $4k to upgrade so that is a no brainer. I have nothing bad to say about the 8 but to truely make an 03-04 perform like it should you will have to upgrade to the 10.5 hotside and ralliart front diff. I had no problems with my 03 at all.
Now I have the EVO9 and there are things that I truely love and there are things that I truely hate.
I love the front bumper and black seats. But honestly the EVO8 is nearly as sexy. Its not as much of an upgrade as it its an appearance mod.
I hate ACD. ACD is crap. They should have skipped ACD and instead used RS LSD diffs. This is a subject I'm sure some will argue about. Its alot like ABS... some love it some hate it. I prefer the pure 50/50 mechanical split without the interference from the ECU.
I love the strong low end from MIVEC and its definately the MIVEC not the turbo. I had the 9 turbo on my 8. I also had cam gears dialed in for midrange and it still didn't hit quite as hard as te MIVEC does. None the less it still doesn't pull up top like an 8 with a tuned set of HKS 272 cams. I would upgrade but EVO9 aftermarket cams haven't been showing very good returns on stock turbo cars.
Lastly.... I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the EVO 9 4th gear. It is way too short. If you drag race or road race you'll be shifting into 5th and even though its geared a little lower its still a pooch. I have no idea why Mitsu did such a thing. They made several changed but they f'd up when they changed 4th. If they would have kept the 8s 4th gear the new tranny would have been PERFECT. At 6500 miles I hate 4th gear soo much that I'm half temped to send it in to TRE for the gear swap alone.
Summary. An EVO is an EVO. If you plan on upgrading stuff then the 8 is just as good as the 9. Seats and bumpers can be swapped and so can go fast parts. They only thing that is a real change is the MIVEC and personally I wouldn't make the a deciding factor. A cammed and cam gear tuned 8 can be just as much of a monster. The gear change is a big job so think that one through. Everything else is easy.
Find a good deal on either one and you will be happy. If you already own an 8 I don't recommend upgrading unless its a screaming deal.
One thing is for sure.... definately don't go buy a new one now. The minute you drive it off the lot it will have 2 years depreciation.
The 03-04 EVOs didn't come with ACD and thus (unless RS) didn't have the front LSD. Without the LSD the transfer case is prone to failure and the car doesn't really handle like it should. I had upgraded my transfer case to the ralliart front LSD. The cost was $800 and it was well worth it. Night and day difference between open diff and the LSD.
The 05 EVOs came with ACD and the front LSD. The 05 also came with a bigger turbo hotside and thus ended up making more power than the 03-04 version. Keep in mind the hotside is only a $250 mod so its easy to bring an 03-04 up to speed. I did the swap and again it was a night and day difference.
There are other differences between models like MR, SSL, and RS but odds are you will end up with a GSR or SE.
The EVO9 has Mivec, a bigger turbo, different gearing, a much better looking interior, and stylish front bumper.
I loved my EVO8. Once you toss cams and the hotside on the car it turns into a beast. If it wasn't for the screaming deal I found on this SE I never would have sold the car. In the end it only cost me $4k to upgrade so that is a no brainer. I have nothing bad to say about the 8 but to truely make an 03-04 perform like it should you will have to upgrade to the 10.5 hotside and ralliart front diff. I had no problems with my 03 at all.
Now I have the EVO9 and there are things that I truely love and there are things that I truely hate.
I love the front bumper and black seats. But honestly the EVO8 is nearly as sexy. Its not as much of an upgrade as it its an appearance mod.
I hate ACD. ACD is crap. They should have skipped ACD and instead used RS LSD diffs. This is a subject I'm sure some will argue about. Its alot like ABS... some love it some hate it. I prefer the pure 50/50 mechanical split without the interference from the ECU.
I love the strong low end from MIVEC and its definately the MIVEC not the turbo. I had the 9 turbo on my 8. I also had cam gears dialed in for midrange and it still didn't hit quite as hard as te MIVEC does. None the less it still doesn't pull up top like an 8 with a tuned set of HKS 272 cams. I would upgrade but EVO9 aftermarket cams haven't been showing very good returns on stock turbo cars.
Lastly.... I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the EVO 9 4th gear. It is way too short. If you drag race or road race you'll be shifting into 5th and even though its geared a little lower its still a pooch. I have no idea why Mitsu did such a thing. They made several changed but they f'd up when they changed 4th. If they would have kept the 8s 4th gear the new tranny would have been PERFECT. At 6500 miles I hate 4th gear soo much that I'm half temped to send it in to TRE for the gear swap alone.
Summary. An EVO is an EVO. If you plan on upgrading stuff then the 8 is just as good as the 9. Seats and bumpers can be swapped and so can go fast parts. They only thing that is a real change is the MIVEC and personally I wouldn't make the a deciding factor. A cammed and cam gear tuned 8 can be just as much of a monster. The gear change is a big job so think that one through. Everything else is easy.
Find a good deal on either one and you will be happy. If you already own an 8 I don't recommend upgrading unless its a screaming deal.
One thing is for sure.... definately don't go buy a new one now. The minute you drive it off the lot it will have 2 years depreciation.
