Hey Guys,

I currently am the owner of a 2001 S2000 and love the car. It got totalled this year (fedex slid through a red light and hit me) and I am looking into a new car. I have previously owned Preludes and love Honda's.

I have always loved Evo's and since I live in CO think its time i owned a car that doesnt fear the snow.

What kind of car did you own before your first Evo? Is the IX that much better than the X? I like the X's look way more than the IX but I know the IX is the better car.

 

What makes you say the IX is the better car?

 

Because the IX would cost less maybe? The X is a better car overall and isn't as harsh or as basic, depends on what you really want.

 

I drove my friends WRX for a few months while he was deployed. It was fun and quick but I knew I wanted something more but wasn't too much into Subaru. Fortunately it wasn't my car so I went out and started looking at Evos.
I would say the IX is the better race car.
I test drove a 2 IX and 1 VIII and liked them very much! Their frantic, loud, and over the top feeling. My main gripe is that there is less of a usable power band for every day hooning.
Overall, there aren't many amenities in Evos in general, but after driving in the barely passable X for 2 years, I couldn't see myself ever DDing any older Evo.
On the X, after an exhaust, intake and tune, your back up to the butt dyno of the IX anyways.
But I did end up getting an X because, for a DD, I don't need the teeth shattering race car feel everywhere I go. But I do however still want a race car. The X is simply more comfortable, but all as much fun.
(also the snow is a blast in these things!)

Just some things I considered making my decision, hope it helps!

 

I think the better question is "what is your price range?"

You are more likely to find un-molested Xs than you will a stock VIII or IX.....but they will obviously cost you more. I have owned two other EVOs before my X (VIII GSR & VIII RS) and although I think their look is timeless.....I could never go back after driving around in my X.

 

Prior to my Evo X I owned a 2008 Civic SI coupe. I agree with you on the whole Honda thing. Joke all you want about VTEC but the powertrain felt special. Fast revving and great sound.

Stock for stock the Evo X didn't feel that much faster in a straight line from a roll. If you do want to mod for cheap power though forced induction is definitely the way to go.

Biggest difference in driving is the Evo's ability to power out of a turn. The extra power down low and S-AWC really lets you do some crazy things.

I don't have any experience with an IX or VIII so I can't really comment. But I originally aspired to own an Evo VIII when I was younger and I don't consider the X to be a lesser car. It certainly is heavier though. With backseats out, spare out, titanium exhaust, half tank of gas, and lighter rims the thing is barely under 3,400lbs.

 

i drove a integra gsr before switching to my evo after it getting it stolen. I can say i wil never go back to a honda. i love my 8 but i drove my buddy's evo x and it was a blast to drive also. drive them both and make your decision.

 

people love the 8/9 because its a "raw" feel. whatever that means. I could care less about that feeling. if I want a raw feeling car I would go back and drive my gutted boosted h22 cb7 that I had back in the days. yeah im over that lol. the evo x I love. I came from a way to many cars. but I traded my s2000 in for a genesis. sold genesis and went evo. I wanted one since they came out in 03. the evo x wasn't a option at first. I wanted a 8. then I wanted a 9. then I wanted a 10. after driving in them I liked how much smoother the evo x was.


lol. vtec is cool sounding. s2000 was the only Honda ive ever felt vtec engage. but it can be a misleading sound. it sounds faster than what it is. the evo x may not "feel" much faster but that's because its a constant pull with no spin and not loud. the boost curve is much smoother. but trust me. a 13 genesis will smoke a civic si. and my buddy has proven his evo x will smoke a 13 genesis easily.

 

Yeah it doesn't feel much faster but obviously it is. I wasn't trying to say they are equally fast There is more to how fast a car seems than just the gforces acting on your body. Sound, visibility, driver position etc. I would also say that when power comes on suddenly, like with boost lag and VTEC engagement, the car seems more exciting. I kind of like the on-off switch feeling!

I would argue however that a stock Evo is NOT a constant pull. It has good mid range that starts to die off as you get to higher revs. i.e. look at the torque curve.

The SI while not pulling as hard maintains a relatively flat torque curve (except for the spike at VTEC) all the way to the rev cutoff. That is why I banged into the Civics rev limiter all the time but never in the Evo. You would forget to shift the Civic as the torque never dropped off. The Evo starts to get sluggish abover 6,000 so I know when I need to shift. Hope that made sense. Tuned and modded it starts to get different.

 

the power comes on suddenly yes. vtec is like waiting for really bad sex. and waiting for it to kick in is a nightmare to get into your power range. the vtec sounds more exciting then it really is. your letting the sound fool you lol.

the si maintains a flater tq curve because of vtec. its starts high. starts to dip before vtec and when vtec kicks in then it spikes but falls back further then where it started. power continues to build. but after a certain speed and rpm hp takes over anyway and that constant pull is hp. vtec is a great break through for NA motors.

the evo x will have a further tq drop and you will feel that more because the turbo is designed to spool low end and it will spike higher than the hp and fall off further more because of it. that's the reason you think the car is sluggish after that. the tq was so impressive low. but you realized that the tq curve on evo x is still more than the hp on a si. and the hp is like 120 more.

the thing is that the evo x doesn't have to be killed and driven to high rpms to achieve its optimum power band like the si.

here are two factory dynos. ones from a si and ones from a x.

 

I hate seeing all around performance cars being compared to the SI. Economy car that offers nothing perfmance wise other than a good engine to build on.

 

I'm not even sure why this comparison is taking place to begin with. The two cars are not even close to being in the same class in any facet.

 

I like the "raw" feeling as well. I bet my X feels more Raw than 90% of the 8's and 9's. Not hard to make it feel raw. Changed out all the engine, trans and diff bushings to solid or as solid as I couid find. Hard mounted Cobra Suzuka Seats to the floor. Installed a OMP superlight steering wheel. Ohlins with 10k front and 12k rear. You feel the road, you feel the engine vibration, you hear the diff whine. RAW! Lol

 

Yeah that "raw" comment is over hyped. I own a modified VIII and a stock X. The X doesnt feel much different in terms of "rawness" the 4b11 is just a lot smoother.

 

My main car before the Evo was a Honda, though between the two, I drove a spare car (1998 E320) for a few months.

It's based on your preference, but I personally like the IX a lot more, and not just because that's what I have. I came really close to trading for a X when they came out before even having test driven one. It didn't happen that night, but when I did test drive the car a few weeks later, I thought it was cool, but just not as exciting behind the wheel. Don't get me wrong -- the X has been proven to actually handle better, and it felt that way when I drove it. But the IX just feels more tossable, and I like the steering feel a lot better.

If you like how the X looks, then just go for it. Frankly, it'll be way easier to find a X that you'll be happy with than it will be to find a IX that you're happy with, seeing how Xs are still sold new as we speak, and you have six or seven model years' worth of used ones to choose from. That contrasts to the IX having been available just during one model year, and nine years later, you figure there have been some casualties, and there will always be the ones that the owners won't let go of.

The Evo X is still a good platform... the engine is VERY responsive to mods.