Ok. So i have decided to turn in my love of mopars to embark on the evolution journey. however I am having serious trouble making a concrete decision on a model year and whether i should go with an RS a GSR or an MR. im pretty familiar with all of the models I-X. financial constrictions will probably restrict me from looking at X's and banks most likely wont finance anything older than an 03 anyway so i guess its between the 8 & 9. I understand that when u go to a new model (for example the VIII to the IX) they increased the quality of suspensions, intercoolers, turbos, ect. Which based on that fact alone would lead me to want the 9. However i also understand that with the right mods i can make an evo VIII handle and perform just as well as an evo X. Whatever i do get will be my daily driver, i live in CT (new england) so winters here are terrible to say the least, so i feel the evo will serve me well year round (not that i want my evo ripping thru snow and getting rusted up by road salt but hey)
Lets keep in mind that im not looking to win the HP contest. Infact ill probably run it stock as long as i can until i crave more power or make more money. So im totally fine with buying something stock, however i understand 1 out of probably every 100 evos havent been molested, &people know this which is probably why ive been finding ones with mods cheaper than the ones that are totally stock.
Now thats not to say i wouldnt be willing to get one with mods but i cant help feel like im taking a huge gamble. I would assume any evo with extensive mods was done professionally and most will state if so, but part of me cant grasp why someone who dumped 10k into there engine bay is selling it for the same price of a stock one. plus the majority have 6 owners for an 05 i mean come on. i cant help feel like im going to be getting waist deep in someone elses problems and have no idea what to do if something goes wrong. I know Greddy, Vishnu and such companies are great but ive been seeing way too many different names and are starting to get confused.

i know most responses will be opinionated so im looking for facts as to why i should buy a certain model over the other. I would thnk the MR is what i want but ive read that the 6 speed isnt all its cracked up to be, i even see people swapping trannys for 5 speeds. Im not looking to fly at 200 mph. i mean eventually i will but thats irrelevent right now. Ive heard the 9 is better than the 8 by a wide margin but not sure how much truth there is to that. Is it okay if i buy something with mods? when do evos start crapping out? 100k miles? whats better for what im looking to do keeping in mind daily driveability, maybe pushing 400 hp one day or in that neighborhood 8 or 9? is it ok to buy with mods or should i look for stock? if i find one with 80+k miles should i stay away? im looking at buying across country to save money and get the best deal cuz i work at a dealership i can have it shipped to so i most likely wont get the luxury of seeing the car before hand and i understand that might be a serious mistake. help?

 

1. You'll be looking at 2003+ because those are the only ones available in this country. So nevermind the loan business.

2. In terms of the transmissions... you'll find plenty of people saying the 5 speed is crap, and plenty of people saying the 6 speed is crap. The 6-speed was designed for road racing (gear wise) and in the 65-75mph range will be at 3000 RPMs and below. It is "weaker" purely based on the fact that they are putting more parts into the same space and as such the parts are "smaller". That said, anyone in the business of driving like a pillock can break anything. If you want the 6-speed, get the 6-speed. If you want the 5-speed, get the 5-speed. If/when it breaks... then you'll have a broken transmission. No more, no less. There are companies like Shep that are rebuilding transmissions now... so there's that. My 6 speed is fine though (I'm the 3rd owner (just recently) and it's been road raced, has about 46000 on it now). Make sure it doesn't grind into any gear, and that the clutch grabs well.

3. In terms of which is better... the 03/04 VIII have the "smallest" turbo and therefor the lowest power. The 05 VIII they upgraded the intake side (I think) of the turbo and it was better. The 06 IX has the biggest stock turbo and MIVEC. All of these motors are 4G63's however... so the tuning potential is limitless. You can easily "bolt" your way up to 400hp with any of them. I'd say pick the body style you like, and look at that. If you want a bigger stock output... the IX is the way to go... but all of them are plenty fast for the street. Obviously, the newer the car, the better the mileage will be.

4. In terms of longevity... this is a 4G63 motor. It is a GOD motor. There are people running these cars with 200,000 miles on them. BUT, with ANY engine... you'll see wear and tear with mileage, ESPECIALLY with a car like this. Everyone that owns one, goes through the "honeymoon" phase if you will, so be mindful of that.

On that note... the biggest problems with the cars as far as I can tell are the AC clutch getting all kiddywampus and not engaging properly. People are working on a fix for this currently, (there's a thread in 1-9 general), and the transfer case. As soon as your transfercase starts to whine EVERYONE will pop on here saying that you have the death whine. Chances are good that you might... but the way that first and second gear are built in this car can cause them to whine, and most AWD cars will have a little driveline whine. So don't panic...

Other things I would POSITIVELY check are; Compression (different between the 8 and 9), the Brembos (the front calipers will "burn" brown if they've been used as directed (ie for racing) so that can be a telltale sign that the car was used as it was intended (if you will)... if not, they will typically fade to a really stupid pink color (my one rear is pink, the other is red, and my fronts are the (IMO) super awesome looking brown color). If the car has the JDM bumper, find out if it has a crash beam (might not care, but worth knowing)... and find out if the ECU has been modified at all. In my case, the chap had a CEL delete on it... so the CEL will NEVER come on (because the car has no cat). But this can be bad in certain circumstances.

Anyway... there are a couple of stickies on the topic... I think in this forum actually. Be mindful of the service mileages, because if you buy a car with 55,000 on it... and it has to go in for 60, that's just an added cost right away.

 

thank you. thats good to know. My only serious problem right now is i live in CT and there are literally none out here. there all out west in california and in the middle of the country. However i have found one or 2 that r in Illinois and Oklahoma. The pics look perfect, one is from a dealership one is not. the dealership has one an 04 MR with 36k miles and the private sale 05 MR has 25k. dealerships kinda high priced and the private sale seems too good to be true, but maybe not (vehicle also appears to be stock) My main question at this point is would i be stupid to go on the honor system and buy the vehicle have it shipped here hoping all is okay? keep in mind the dealership one is confirmed unmolested and totally stock. even if service records check out good, should i really take the trip across country? or would you think that with such low miles that i wouldnt have to worry much considering i do work at a dodge dealership and i would basically have it go as a dealer swap and purchase an aftermarket warrantee (possibly) or the private sale make like its a trade in so if anything does go wrong in first 60 days im covered anyway. what do u think?