Hello EvolutionM Punters,

This is my first post on this forum. I am a new member and I am very excited to be able to participate. I have been lurking on and off for a couple of months trying to learn as much as possible, but now it is time to join the melee. A big "Hi!" to everybody.

Firstly, a little backstory. I was recently in New Zealand on vacation looking for a second car option. I drove a bunch of different vehicles which were all "fine" but the one that really stole my heart was a lovely 2006 Evo 8. At the moment I drive a BMW 540i Sport which is a nice car in a luxury muscle-car kind of way, but nowhere near as fun as the Evo. I fell in love. I have to have one. I just have to!

So, as soon as I returned home (Pusan, South Korea) I made up my mind to sell my wife's car, give her my 540i, and get myself an Evo. A couple of people are interested in her car. It should be sold soon. So now I have to get cracking and sort out which Evo I am going to get, because I will need it to get to work as soon as her car is sold.

In particular, I am quite fond of the Evo 6. I like the little fender flares around the wheel arches and the aggressiveness of the front end. I hear that it is also a bit more "raw" to drive than the later ones, and a bit easier to tune than the mi-vec models. There are two candidates up for sale here in South Korea, so what I want to do is ask for some purchasing advice from those on the forum who are more knowledgeable than myself, -which is probably everybody. I have an idea about which one I want to get. I would like to see if other members think I am making the right decision, and also to learn the reasoning behind their opinions. That way, I hope to have my eyes open wide when I pull the trigger. Second guessing oneself after the fact sucks doesn't it?

So, the options:
Option #1. 1999/04 Evo VI. 118,000kms. No accidents. 16.5million won (about $16,500 say). Silver with a black carbon bonnet and gold wheels.
-Six spoke Advan wheels
-Turbo timer
-ProFec Boost controller version I(?)
-Monster Carbon Bonnet
-HKS blow off valve
-3inch manifold to exhaust tip, and intake
-Boost, Oil, Temp Gauges
I contacted this guy to ask him about how much boost he was running and how much HP he was making just to get a feel for how much abuse this engine might have had. He told me that he only ran the engine at stock boost levels (1.2 bar he said), and treated 'er like a lady .... (but if you are running stock boost, why have a boost controller?). He also said that this was his second Evo, and he was quite the Evo enthusiast. He wants to move on to an automatic now, probably because Korea has a lot of big city traffic. I suspect that he has done his maintenance well, but that's just a guess. This car has been for sale for about six months.

Option #2. 1999/12 Evo VI, 69,000kms. No accidents. 18.5million won (say $18,500), White with silver chrome wheels.
-KS-Rom ECU
-SSR GT II wheels 17"
-Evo IX steering wheel
-Engine damper, Torque damper
-Walboro 255l
-Brake Lines:APP hose
-Clutch: power 조작 (?) cylinder, [I can't find that Korean word in the dictionary]
-HKS SLD speed defender [removes top speed governor]
-SUS Turbo manifold (expensive part, I think)
-Greddy Rs type blow off valve
-Profec B Spec2 boost controller
-Clutch: RalliArt Direct Twin
-TD05 HRA 10.5T titanium turbo
-Evo IX Billistein springs
-Diffuser, down pipe, exhaust etc 3inch.
-1.8bar/350HP
This car seems to have had more done to it. Nice turbo, but I am a little concerned about the high level of boost. This car has been for sale for about a year!

My initial impulse was to prefer Option #2. It is a lower mileage vehicle, and the paint job looks ok. I was also attracted to the fact that it seemed to have more upgrades on it. But then I started to think about the level of boost the guy was claiming to run in the ad, and I started to think that the engine might have had a hard life.

From that point on, I began to prefer Option #1. It is a higher mileage vehicle, but the guy's description of how he has looked after the car seemed quite sincere. This guy loves his Evos. I have not talked to the owner of Option #2 because he is selling the car through a part-time dealer of some kind (probably his friend, I think). He has clearly put a lot into his car, but just the word "Dealer" -of any kind- puts a bad taste in my mouth. I don't know. Maybe I am being irrational about that.

Another thing I liked about Option #1 was that the car is a bit cheaper to buy. I could probably knock $2,000 off the price on both of these vehicles. The cheaper price would leave me a bit more money to spend on personalizing the vehicle to suit my own tastes. I am a hardware junkie and I love to build my own computers and stuff. I could totally see myself spending a lot of money in the future on this car, getting the bug and going for more boost, better turbo, maybe/likely even a stroker motor one day. I have that kind of disease. More GHz! More HP! I think there will be a lot of people on here who can relate to me. Already I am starting to think that 400wHP would be quite awesome to have as a goal for a DD toy. F@#*! I haven't even bought the car yet!

If I buy Option #1, I think I will have to get a paint job done. I will probably keep the black carbon fiber bonnet as is, but paint the rest of the car Matte Black. I think I will also get the wheels powder coated black. From there, I might have to look at the cat. It might be old or crappy, so I might have to put some money into that. Then sort out the intake or inter cooler piping or anything else that could be done better on the breathing/piping side. Then maybe a turbo upgrade and more boost. After that, cams etc. Then when I get really crazy....

If I buy Option #2, I might leave the paint job as is for a while. Eventually, I know I will probably paint it blue or black or something. White won't keep me interested for long. It does have this aftermarket KS-Rom ECU, which seems attractive, but I can't really find any detailed info on it, so I don't know if it is really any good. I suspect it's not that great. I would probably start looking directly into fuel rail/injector upgrades. After that, probably straight into engine internals -forged/stroker, cams, head job and so on. The turbo seems awesome, but I'm not sure how old it is or what kind of life it has led. Hmmm!?

As you can see, I am leaning towards Option #1. -A bit cheaper, less upgrades, maybe led a bit easier life, more of a blank canvas from which to start. But I'm not sure that this is the right choice. I could go the other way too. It may be that there are no bad choices here. Can someone please give me some sage advice?

I am going to include some photos of these vehicles. The first two are of Option #1. The second two are of Option #2. I also want to include a couple of dark horses in this race, for your perusal.

The fifth photo is a white Evo 7 (looks like 8) with 115,000kms on the clock, 272 cams, HKS exhaust and piping, RalliArt ECU, stronger Greddy clutch of some kind, lightweight Greddy flywheel, and Volk lightweight wheels for 20million won ($20,000). If anyone has a comment to make about that possibility, please tell me. It has been for sale for four months. That could also come down in price, according to the owner.

Lastly, there is also a black Evo IX for 33.5 million won or near offer. It has 33,000kms on the clock, directly imported from who knows where, which claims to have the following list of mods:
-Boost Gauge
-Fujita Intake kit
-Fujita up-inter pipe
-New opera cilinder
-Megan full cat back
-Megan turbo outlet pipe
-Fujita intercooler pipe kit
-Tein stech lw suspension
-Megancore spark plug wire
-EXEDY LIGHTEN FLYWHEEL
-HKS racing spark plug (열가8)
-DCC uppipe and cat-less pipe
-Waibro 255L fuel pump evo9 edition
-MIVEC maximum treak 30degree map
-EXEDY SINGLE ORGANIC CLUTCH KIT
-SAMCO RACING BOV (recirculate type)
-all new gaskets (turbo, exhaust pipe etc)
-Pressure test on everything (leak down, compresstion test , vacumm test)

If anyone has a strong opinion on this option also, please speak your mind to me, although, as I say, I am mainly focused on the Evo 6 pair.

I thank you all in advance for reading all this stuff. I also thank you in advance for your help and advice. I am quite excited about this upcoming purchase, and I think I am going to have a good time here on the EvolutionM forums. I think it is my kind of thing. Once I have bought this car, the next thing I am going to pick forum members' brains about will be a list of mission critical spare parts that I should order and keep on hand in case stuff breaks down. Mitsubishi has had no presence here in Korea until very recently, so parts have to come from Japan. I don't want to be waiting around for 2 weeks without a car just because a silly little water pump broke down or something. But that's for next time. For now, thanks everyone for looking at this. I will be interested to see what people think.

Grateful Forum Noobie,
Michael Cassidy