One last thing I just noticed I thought I'd weigh in on and let you know.

I saw you said if you got a GSR you would want to take the wing off. I have an MR and I'm buying a wing off a GSR to put ON the car, because to me, an Evo just doesn't look right without the wing. It just looks weird on the back end with the little duck-lip spoiler and it just doesn't fit the car. But that's my personal taste. And going with an aftermarket spoiler isn't an option for me, because 99% of them are just too over the top, require drilling into the trunk lid because they bolt on differently instead of in the sides like the OEM wing, and border on that "rice" territory. I never was one for huge wings, and I always laughed at Civics or certain cars that had these huge wings on them, but with the Evo it just fits. I don't know why, but an Evo just looks weird and wrong without the wing, but again, that's just my personal opinion and taste.

Just be forewarned, those wings ARE bolted in several places. There's 2 bolts on either side of the wing on the outer lip of the car. If you have a newer model MR without the rear wing, and you're curious, if you open your trunk and look on the outer rim of the trunk, you can see the divots where the holes are meant to be drilled for the spoiler to be bolted on, and then I believe there is another bolt that goes more towards the center of the trunk, as the GSR I looked at had a little flap on either side of the plastic base of the wing that looks like you can open with a small flat head screw driver. I haven't opened this up, because I've only had the chance to look at the one at my local dealer's showroom, but I'm guessing that is a flap that just covers another bolt used to anchor the wing.

So if you have plans on taking the wing off, first off you're going to have a car with no wing, AND no smaller duck-lip spoiler like the MR's have. You'll just have a bare trunk. Secondly, you're going to have to have the car taken to a body shop. Otherwise you're going to have a bunch of large holes on your trunk, and your trunk will probably begin to leak, and it's going to both look bad and probably start to rust because bare metal will be there.

So if you plan on taking it off, you'll either need to do 1 of 2 things.

First thing is to have the holes filled in with either Bondo or another filling agent, and if you want it done right you'll need to have the metal acid treated, sanded, then bondo'd if you want the bondo to actually stick to the car and not chip away and look like crap. Then you'll need to have it repainted. So you're looking at the cost for labor of having it taken off, having the trunk prepped, holes filled, and repainted. If you have the knowledge of body work, you can probably take it off yourself, sand the car, acid treat it, bondo the holes, sand it down again so everything is ready, but in terms of painting, unless you actually have the skill to do it, nonetheless the equipment required for doing it, having it painted is going to be something you'll have to have a body shop do. I've done painting on boats and things like that, but never a car. I don't have a large enough air compressor, or the required equipment for the compressor for keeping moisture from building up, and I don't have the correct paint gun. You're going to be buying an Evo, so you're going to want to make sure the thing looks good and not crappy. Last thing you'd want is having a brand new car and having huge holes in the trunk, or having a trunk lid that doesn't quite match the paint of your car with runs all through it.

The 2nd thing you could do is either A) Just tell the dealership's parts department you want to order a new trunk (Check with the parts department to be sure, but the MR trunk might come with the small duck-spoiler already bolted on it. So if you do decide to go with a GSR, check that out and you may want to order the MR trunk so you get the small lip spoiler) Or go with option B) buy an aftermarket trunk lid like some people do when they have Octane Blue cars, or White cars, and get the black trunks. Only problem you're going to run into when buying an aftermarket trunk is getting it in the color you want, so even going with an after market trunk you're probably still going to be looking at the cost of having it painted.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, as it might not of been something that even crossed your mind when you were thinking of having it removed. It could influence your decision, but don't let the wing be the only thing that holds you back if you end up deciding on a GSR. Honestly, I'd just leave it on, as it really completes the look of the car; as I said I have an MR and I'm getting a GSR wing to put on it, because I honestly think the car just looks bad without it. But if you do go with a GSR and really and truly want that wing off there, just know you're going to be looking at shelling out money for either body work, or a entirely new trunk.

 

Thanks to all above for the responses, especially Stonewall and USCBryan.

I'm still up in the air here, but it is possible I might have to go GSR as a matter of finance.
It saves enough $$$ to make a big difference.

I personally would prefer the five speed, but I like the idea of the auto feature - I'm trying to be realistic, I'm older and don't necessarily need to shift through gears anymore, although I do admit it can be enjoyable.

Running some numbers, who knows, as you correctly pointed out, IT IS UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL.

So, we'll see. It is also possible that I (unfortunately) might end up on a completely different track.....and that is an entirely different matter.

In regards to the wing, if I go GSR, I still might remove it, [buying an MR trunk is a good option] but I was likely going to take it to a good body shop I know of, remove it, and shave most of the logos off.

That way, if it happens, it gets done RIGHT.

THANKS!