I wrote about my Evo IX MR purchase here. I still have and love the car.

And remember the Saleen I mentioned in the original post? Wound up getting that too. In fact, I'm taking it on Mustangs Across America in a couple of weeks. Ah, for the heady days of yore, before the economy tanked and we had money...

Anyway, I dropped by the local Reno Mitsu dealership a couple of days ago, and they still had three new Evo X MRs on the lot. They are, to put it mildly, desperate to sell them-- they offered $1500 under invoice for a gray one that had been sitting so long the battery was totally dead: they had to jump start the car for me to drive it!

Well, it definitely doesn't have the razor-edged persona of the IX, nor is it as fast in a straight line, although out of respect for a car with only 80 miles on it, I didn't thrash it particularly hard. It's nice to have a decent climate control system and cruise control, not to mention nav and all that stuff; and playing with the SST tranny is fun, especially listening to the way it blips the throttle on downshifts. I understand it handles even better than the IX although to me the car felt heavier and softer; again, I didn't thrash it too hard on the drive. But it's definitely a car I could see driving cross country in, something I'd be loathe to do in the IX.

Although the price is tempting, I'm probably going to stick with my IX for now. If Mitsu doesn't intro a 2010 Evo, I'd consider buying a 2008 as an investment.

 

Agreed completely, I loved the MR and GSR I drove for the exact reasons you liked it over your IX. SST's upshifting bothered me a little, but otherwise it was a great experience. I know how you mean about it feeling heavier and softer, the STi is the same way too, especially coming from the Porsche... And yet with the years of racing experience under my belt I can tell what both the X and the STi are capable of.... and that's quite a lot more than the massive grocery-getter family sedan/wagon that they feel like.

 

it sounds like you should have test drive a gsr!

 

I have been considering a Saleen as a DD, but they told me that they could not order one that has all the mechanical stuff but with stock cosmetics. I really don't want anything visual that says it is anything other than a run of the mill production Mustang. They were willing to lose the fancy rims, but not all the other stuff

 

That's like saying you want an Evo in Lancer clothing...

 

You could buy a stock Mustang GT and have Saleen install their supercharger and suspension. Or at least you could, back before they went out of business (sigh).

 

Sorry, five speeds won't cut it for me...I don't do LONG highway trips in the Evo, but I have been known to do the Reno<->San Jose run over the mountains a few times (278 miles)...

 

So you want the extra gear that revs at a few hundred rpm less? Having the 6 gears on one of these cars is nice, yes. But coming from the Porsche to the STi... 6th gear is MUCH higher in the rev band. Hell, so far the STi gets 1 mpg less on avg

In short, if you want it to save gas or be quieter, it's not going to do much of either. Top speed in 6th is the same as top speed in 5th, and the gears are small enough that it doesn't change much. I think some people even posted somewhere what their RPMs were at in top gear in an MR and a GSR. I think it was like 3200 and 3400ish.