Hi I have done alot of research on the differences between the evo's but specs can only tell you so much. What I am interested in is wether the difference between years is worth waiting to buy a more expensive evo. I am tight on funds and would like to mod the car so I'm just wandering in your personal oppinion is it better for me to just save up and buy a newer evo or will the differences be made up in a few bolt ons? Thanks for the help in advance!

 

Well, which Evos were you trying to decide between? Judging by your posts, it's unclear whether you're deciding between an VIII and a IX or between a VIII/IX and a X.

 

i don't know anything about the 10's. however the 8 is slightly slower than the 9 stock but 200$ worth of parts and a tune equals them out. then you add 2000$ and a tune and u blow stock ones out of the water. i say do what i did and get an 03 for around 20 or less if ur lucky enough to find one for less then mod it

 

personally if i were you i wouldnt get an evo, if your tight on funds you have to look at something else. i love my car to death but it nickel and dimes me alot plus insurance and a car payment, you might wanna save. as for the evo 8 begining slower you are wrong and right in the same since. most real tuners go for the evo 8 because the evo nine came out with 10mm wider fenders and mitsubishi innovative value timing electronic control (MIVEC). the reason mitsubishi did this was for more appearance and drivablity to the daily driver however these two slow it down and mistubishi had to up the power in order to beat the old model the evo 8. as for the evo ten that is something way out there. this is the evo that will either make or break the evo scene to the shear fact the mitsubishi went and turn there backs on the tried and true 4g63 which has almost as much legacy with the evo as evo has for itself in the market. tho they did turn to a newer engine the 4b11 which then leaves it to the markets hands. wiether or not the scene accepts this engine or like in the past tosses it away we will have to see. there are certain parts out for the evo ten but it will be years before it is modded like the older evos and have parts that will last longer then a few runs down the track. as for what you should get, depends on you and how far you want to take your evo, if you wanna stay around the 420 and below horsepower range i would say evo 9 that way you can have fun and not completely kill yourself on gas prices. if you wanna go 420 and above i would say evo eight as to not run into a few cpu problems and other issues with the computer not recognizing what you have done. if you are an experiance tuner with alot of money and drive get the evo ten and start in your local shop and keep a welder close by and maybe you'll get in a mag or something, where ever your tuning career wants to go. but you will have to design your parts and map out the schemes of your car. yes there are parts out there but this is a new car which means the best ways of channeling you inner cooler pipes havent been found yet, and battery relocaltion kits havent been made and done come with instructions, and the list goes on so you decide what you wanna do and hopefully i help in your decesion. good luck

 

^ You're talking out of your *** during most of that.

 

Sorry about the confusion guys I'm talking between a an 8 and a 9. I mean I absolutely love everything about the evo and I was just wandering if you guys think the price difference is worth the gain between the years. By the way this car would be modified once purchased how extremem the modifications go is unknown. Thanks for all the help so far and keep it coming!

 

The best way to think of it is how heavy your mods will take you.

If for lightly modding a street car the evo 9 is simply THE machine because it takes to light mods so well, Mivec helps out here. If your planning on demonizing the car with huge turbo's gt35r or bigger then honestly a cheaper car is probably the way to go so you can take the extra cash and spend it on necessary parts like a built block and racing head.

So the choice is yours street car or demon?

 

Like RoadSpike said, consider how far you want to take your car in terms of modding in the immediate future. Everybody always tells themselves that they want to do a rebuild and get a huge turbo, but that doesn't always happen right away, and sometimes it doesn't happen at all, as they end up just getting minor bolt-ons to begin with and end up being content for a while. If this is the case, the a IX is the way to go.

But like you said, you'll have to consider if the price difference is worth the gain. Obviously a used IX, which is an '06, would typically have a higher asking price than a used VIII, which can be anything between an '03 and an '05. Personally, I'd say yes, just considering the differences out of the box along with the likelihood of the more recent model having more life left in it, which is a big deal if you want to keep the car for a long time. Plus I think the IX just looks better. Granted you can always make swaps to make the VIII look like a IX, but that's more money just to get on the same playing field.

 

Alright so I understand the statistical difference between the 2 but while driving them in comparison is there any huge differences? I have driven an 06 that I thought was one of the most amazing cars ever so I'm just wandering if the feel is identicall in the earlier models. Thanks!

 

^ Huge differences? Not really. The '03s and '04s should handle practically identically while the '05s and '06s should handle practically identically as well, seeing how the '03s and '04s had an open front differential/viscous center differential/mechanical rear LSD (with the exception of the '04 RS which had a front LSD) while the '05s and '06s had a suretrac front LSD/ACD/mechanical rear LSD. Theoretically the '05s and '06s should have a slight edge in handling due to the added hardware, but in the vast majority of situations you won't really notice that much of a difference, unless you're a skilled driver constantly pushing to car to its limits on closed courses. As far as the power delivery goes, the IX is the best all-around, as it has a lot more grunt down low due to MIVEC. It's nothing amazing (as it's still a small engine with a big turbo, so lag is very much present off idle), but there's more pull available sooner.

 

i personally don't like the MIVEC and will stick with my 8. i like a nice plain 4g63 with nothing being variable. that is just another factor you have to plan around when you tune etc. most people will argue against me when i say that however i feel the 8's are much better. all you have to do is throw cams on an 8 and cams on a 9 and the 8 wins.

 

^ Do you tune your Evo yourself?

 

A used Evo, a desire to mod, and "tight on funds" will most likely lead to disappointment. You'd be wise to buy the best car you can - newest, least miles, complete service history, stock and no sign of mods being there. That will probably run you ~30K.