I'm surprised to hear that. Everyone I talk to swaps it out.

 

I wish I could drive a 9 with the AYC. Sadly they never were made available with AYC in the US. Man I really want a 8/9 but I fell love with the way the X handles. I love both looks, I love the way the X handles with the AYC. I just wish I could test drive the ACD 8/9. It’s been so hard and mind crushing, heart tearing trying to decide between the 3 generations. In one hand you have the X, gorgeous timeless look with amazing response and handling, braking and a modern car. In the other hand you have the 8/9, classic JDM car, childhood hero, extremely light to today’s standards, timeless look, but appreciating price tag, can’t say anything for the handling since I haven’t driven one yet. I’m just afraid that I’ll buy a X and the 8/9 stay appreciating to the point where I won’t be able to get one and I’ll knock myself for it or that I’ll get a 8/9 and hate that it won’t handle as well or be as fast as the X, hate that the AYC isn’t on the 8/9. I really need to test drive an 8/9. If anybody in the Houston area has an 8/9 they wouldn’t mind me driving please let me know. I really would like to drive one.

 

you're kidding, right?

As for the 8/9, hold out for a decent price or don't buy one at all. These inflated *asking* prices (not actually sales prices) are getting out of hand. You can find a better car for what some of these guys are asking....unless you are dead set on the CT9A, in which case that's understandable, but you will have to pay $$$

 

Update:

It's been a couple of months since my initial post and the start of this thread. A lot has happened since then, financial situation has changed, as of right now it seems like I won't be in an evo anytime soon. However, I have decided that if I get an evo, it is going to be the X. The CT9A can be raw all it wants but it won't match the earlier versions (1-6) and for that reason, the CT9A is out of the question. In conclusion, whenever I find myself with the financials to get into an evo, if USDM, it will be a X, if JDM, it will be a IV. The IV has the AYC that the 8/9 don't have, it's also lighter, right hand drive, straight from japan and for that reason I am no longer looking to get any USDM evo that isn't the X. I'll keep you guys updated

 

Don't feel been bad. That's how most of these threads end up. It's a commitment to find and buy one these days.
FYI most serious builders delete AYC in the older cars anyway, so make sure that's really what you want. Good luck!

 

The 4 is more prone to crank walk issue I heard. 1-7 also has the smallest fuel tank at only around 40ltrs.

 

all usdm evos are straight from japan as well.

 

It's been 2 years since I started this thread. Ever since the end of this discussion a lot has happened, to make a long story short, my financial situation didn't allow me to get any evo. In 2021 I ended up buying a blobeye subaru wrx wagon, it had some nice mods done to it, it has BCs, 265s all around, a cobb accesport and so on. I've always liked evos and decided since I couldn't get an evo I try a subaru. I would hate and ridicule subarus, crazy to be saying this but I grew very fondly of that wagon. Fast forward to today, I ended up getting rid of my 05 vette, figured I wanted a C6 Z06 and didn't want to dump anymore money on a base C6. One day I passed by the dealership where I drove a evo X for the first time, This specific dealership has had a blue final edition on the lot for a year now, that same final edition is still there to this day sitting on the lot. It was originally listed a year ago for 36k, now they're wanting 40k for it. I joked about being tired of seeing it sitting there to a friend of mine who was present whenever I drove an evo x for the first time. What was a joke turned into me opening up auto trader and looking up evos, I found one across the street from where I work and decided to swing by. Long story short, I traded in my base 05 vette for a 2015 GSR unmodded, single owner texas car. While I do miss the vette, I have been wanting an evo for years now, just figured I'd enjoy the evo more than I would my base vette. I will get a C6 Z06 later on but in the mean time, I'm happy to say I wasn't wrong with my decision. I now have a black subaru wagon and a white evo X in the garage. What a sight!

 

Looks like everyone has you covered. The X is going to be the better car. The 8 and 9 are great, but not as comfortable to drive. They are better suited if you want to play "Race Car". Add to that the fact that prices on 8s and 9s are getting ridiculous unless you get a real beater. If you are worried about resale values, then I'd definitely go a different route. These cars are built to be driven and somewhat disposable, though the build quality has been reasonably decent over the past years. Not investment quality.
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I have owned 2 Evo X's, an Evo 8 now an Evo 9.

All are great platforms. The flavor from the CT9 chassis is unique compared to the X. The X gave me way more confidence through corners. However, the Evo 8/9 does have great handling potential, with the addition of a few mods (ACD tuning and rear diff mod). Once this is done, the car handles like a beast, and YES without AYC.

I have driven a JDM Evo 8 in Jamaica for two weeks. This had the AYC system. It felt similar to an Evo X's system. With the AYC, you don't want to counter steer, as the system will adjust power to rotate the rear end. So you just simply keep throttle and hold your line while turning.

In the absence of AYC, you will have more control of the car, as the car wont try to rotate based on how you are approaching or coming out of the corner. It is all driver induced and corrected at this point. This is the case with the ACD tuning and rear diff mod. In the absence of this, your Evo 8/9 will have a lot of understeer (as experienced with unmodified USDM Evo's).

If my budget allowed, I would own both a Evo X and Evo 9. I don't like to compare them, as both cars were very satisfying to own.

Since I have to choose, I chose the weekend warrior Evo 9 !

Just my 2 cents ! LOVE THESE CARS !!!!

 

I think it comes down to personal preferences, what you want to do with the car and budget, but it is certainly easier to find a low mileage X in 2021. Have you driven them? If not, that is where I would suggest starting.
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