I have two vehicles that I am thinking about selling and getting one to replace them. I have an 01 Wrangler with about 80k miles that has been modified for off road use but I never go off road anymore. It is unstoppable in the snow but with two kids it's become pretty impractical. I also have an 02 BMW 330i with about 40k miles that is great but the rwd means I can't take it out if it snows or if there is a chance of snow. Even with snow tires the hill coming into our development can be pretty bad. I've been trying to find something that will be fun on the road and good in the snow. I know the Evo will never be as unstoppable as my Jeep or refined as my BMW but it should split the middle with a lot more performance to make it fun.

Questions;

Is $20,000 realistic for a reliable EVO?

Is the Evo 9 MR the only one that comes with a 6-speed manual?

There is an Evo X at a local dealership that has an Evo X advertised with heated seats. Is that a common option? Can you get them on any other models?

What RPM do the 5-speeds to to run at on the interstate @ 70 mpg?

And the last really dumb question, when babied whats the best mpg's you can expect out of an Evo?

Thanks for your help

 

You should easily find a Evo 8 for under $20k, Evo 9's in my area tend to go a bit higher.

You are correct, the MR's are the only 6-speed option. Heated seats are not available in the 8 & 9's.

In a stock Evo, I think you can achieve ~18-22 mpg driving conservatively.

 

full freeway driving, 25mpg is average at 65-75mph

70mph is ~3200rpm in 5th, 65mph is exactly 3000

 

Thanks for the quick replies

 

any more question?

We are here to help each other out.

 

Buy one you will enjoy it. If you get one where you planning on selling the jeep and if so does that mean the evo will see snow duty? If you plan on driving the evo in the snow ,plan on picking up some snow tires.

 

Thanks, how's the stereo in these? Thanks

I had it sold once last summer but the deal didn't work out. I'll be getting a set of winter wheels and tires for what ever I get. We have two set's of wheels and tires for my wifes' Flex and I have twos sets on two different vehicles

 

The stereo suck big time so just change it out when you have extra money like me

 

Ok to answer some of your questions. While $20,000 is very realistic for an Evo, it kind of depends on what year you are looking for, what model, etc etc. I have an 8 MR, 21K miles when I bought it and it was a tad over $20,000. A steal if you ask me.

Evo 8 MR also came with 6 speed. That's what I have and while some people will complain about the 6 speed tranny being junk, I have yet to have any problems with mine.

MPG's, I'm not to sure of but I know my car is NOT the best on gas. When I first got my car I went to a car show about 40 minutes from my house. It was topped off. I drove there and back to my house and I dipped under a half tank, probably more. Granted, I did get on the car and play around with it, but even just driving around town and what not, it certainly doesn't get the mileage my daily does.

 

1) For an Evo 8, yes 20k is reasonable.
2) For an Evo 9, eeeeh, maybe.
3) 05 Evo VIII MR is also a 6 speed.
4) Heated seats are an option for the X for the 2011+. You have to get the $37k+ model with the Sight and Sound package, as well as the Leather and Roof package... or you could just add aftermarket heated seats for like $400.
5) X's tend to run around 2900-3400 RPMs at highway speeds. VIII or IX I don't know.
6) Who the **** cares, it's an Evo, lol. If you're worried about gas mileage, this may not be the right car.

 

Others have already responded, but whatever.

1. At this point, yes, if your criteria is just for a RELIABLE Evo. Want a lower mileage example or a bone stock one might add on a few extra thousand, since that's what everyone wants, and the market value of those is a little higher.

2. The VIII MR and IX MR both came with 6-speed manuals in the US, and not any of the other variants. The X MR and X SE both have the 6-speed dual-clutch.

3. From what I remember, the heated seats are typically bundled with certain packages as someone else mentioned. But they were on the X SE as a standard feature.

4. The five-speed will be at around 3200 rpm at 70 mph. It's not too bad. The noise has never bothered me (and frankly doesn't really get to me until I'm going 85+ mph), and if you can stay at that speed without boosting, you'll easily exceed the highway mpg rating by a couple.

5. I kept an Excel file with my mpg of every tank since I bought it brand new. I have a bone stock IX SE that has always had the proper maintenance done. My car isn't tracked, it's my daily driver that I have fun in when the situation calls for it. My average right now is 21.72 mpg throughout the life of the car. As far as the "best" you can expect, the car was originally rated at 19 city/25 highway mpg. Here are my best tank averages that were well above 25:

09/23/2007: 26.22 mpg
04/13/2008: 26.73 mpg
09/17/2008: 26.02 mpg
12/06/2008: 27.07 mpg
04/17/2010: 29.10 mpg
06/05/2010: 30.40 mpg
01/23/2011: 29.19 mpg
07/28/2012: 26.30 mpg
11/26/2012: 26.02 mpg
12/15/2012: 27.98 mpg
01/19/2013: 26.29 mpg
01/26/2013: 26.56 mpg

Frankly, hitting 24-25 mpg on an all highway trip isn't too hard in an Evo. But going beyond that does take a little bit of patience and self-restraint, since it's very tempting to just jab the throttle and fly past cars on the freeway, and then before you know it, you're just passing cars nonstop. But it's totally doable, though a lot of the younger drivers tend to not believe it, but I've managed to do it a number of times. That being said, I'll admit that the times when I did 27 mpg or better were VERY boring (and sometimes uncomfortable, if I wasn't running the A/C), as I was usually hoping to beat my best mpg in those situations and usually sticking to around 70 mph.

 

I would prefer a 6-speed and mpg's aren't my top priority. I will probably leave the car mostly stock so the 6-speed should hold up. I want something that will cruise in relative comfort and get decent mpg's. As far as comfort and mpg's go I'm looking to split the difference between my 5-speed 330i and a Jeep with 4.88 gears, 33" tires and several hundred pound's in body armor.

What are the major differences between the VIII and IX? From what I have read the IX rides a little better because of some Bilstin shocks but is that about it?



Those look like pretty good mpg's. I've gotten as well as 33 in my BMW but that was when I brought it back from NY spending most of the time going 55-60 mph on fairly flat interstates.

MPG's definitely aren't my top priority though. I want something fun, reliable and AWD.

 

If you plan on keeping the car stock, then I don't see you having any sort of issue. The Evo is by far one of the most comfortable cars I've ever driven/rode in. I could probably drive forever and not get uncomfortable. It does get decent MPG, I won't say it doesn't. I'm just used to being able to last almost 2 weeks on a full tank haha

 

The ride between the VIII and IX isn't really different. But the Bilsteins are offered on the MR model of both the VIII and IX, and those have a slightly softer ride (but still with nearly identical handling). But seeing how shocks are wear-and-tear items, you can eventually get Bilsteins anyway, plus there tends to be some sets of them in the "For Sale" section since people do upgrade to coilovers.

Other than that, the major differences are mentioned frequently, but the main ones that come to mind are the front bumper and wheels (though the VIII/IX MR and IX SE all have the BBS wheels). The colors changed a little bit (different shade of white and blue, yellow being an VIII-only color in the US, gray being only available on the VIII MR and then the IX/IX MR), the interior trim had slight variance (some things changed color while other pieces had different materials/textures). The IX got smoked headlights and taillights (compared to the full chrome ones of the VIII). The engine got a bump in power for the 2005 model year, but the 2006 IX got MIVEC and another bump. The IX wing then only had the actual wing portion being made of carbon fiber (whereas the VIII wing was pretty much completely made of carbon fiber).

Yeah, same here, but that doesn't mean that you can't ever try to get good gas mileage (contrasting to those who say something akin to "It's an Evo, why do you care about gas mileage"). I think 30-31 mpg is probably the peak mpg of a bone stock Evo. The day that I hit 30.40 mpg, I know I could've done a tad better (I hit a spot of traffic that obviously slowed me down), but frankly I don't think I'd have done THAT much better.

 

Uhh, what? Lol

The VIII/IX cars aren't built for comfort, sorry that's the most comfortable car you have been in. Granted they aren't the worst thing on the roads, the suspensions aren't setup for the best ride quality.