Just as the topic mentioned. I'm in the market for an Evo for my new street car and I see quite a few VIII for sale and limited IX on the market. I'm fairly picky about my cars and willing to wait until I find a car I like to buy.

 

The IX is definitely a step up from the VIII's. You would be hard pressed to find an VIII at this point that hasnt been rode hard, de-modded and sold. If you do a search you can find all the differences between the 2 cars.

 

IX can make crazy amounts of power with minimum mods. 330 + whp with only a TBE, Intake, Boost Controller, Fuel Pump, and Flash. Take a look at the Warrtalon/Buschur package.

 

I have mivec on my VIII

 

There is more of a difference than just mivec, between the evo 8 and the evo 9. for example better turbo and ACD. Imho If you plan a upgrading the trubo then save the extra money and get an 8 but if you dont plan on upgrading the turbo any time soon the evo 9 is better.

 

I know the differences in the car but never had driving experience in either. I'm most likely waiting to find the right IX for me. Hopefully there will be some of those that are giving up their IX for the X

 

Yes it is worth it having a IX over an 8 just for the peace-of-mind of having a new, unmolested car.

 

The '05's have ACD as well.

 

VIII if you plan to mod the hell out of it.

IX if you want a nice DD with just basic mods.

 

Cammed VIII with a 10.5 and your right around the power output of a ix. My buddy has a IX with the above mentioned mods and my car pulls on his even if we switch drivers

 

I owned a 2003 EVO 8 and now I have a 2006 9 SE. I am going to give you an honest review of both.

The 03-04 EVOs didn't come with ACD and thus (unless RS) didn't have the front LSD. Without the LSD the transfer case is prone to failure and the car doesn't really handle like it should. I had upgraded my transfer case to the ralliart front LSD. The cost was $800 and it was well worth it. Night and day difference between open diff and the LSD.

The 05 EVOs came with ACD and the front LSD. The 05 also came with a bigger turbo hotside and thus ended up making more power than the 03-04 version. Keep in mind the hotside is only a $250 mod so its easy to bring an 03-04 up to speed. I did the swap and again it was a night and day difference.

There are other differences between models like MR, SSL, and RS but odds are you will end up with a GSR or SE.

The EVO9 has Mivec, a bigger turbo, different gearing, a much better looking interior, and stylish front bumper.

I loved my EVO8. Once you toss cams and the hotside on the car it turns into a beast. If it wasn't for the screaming deal I found on this SE I never would have sold the car. In the end it only cost me $4k to upgrade so that is a no brainer. I have nothing bad to say about the 8 but to truely make an 03-04 perform like it should you will have to upgrade to the 10.5 hotside and ralliart front diff. I had no problems with my 03 at all.

Now I have the EVO9 and there are things that I truely love and there are things that I truely hate.

I love the front bumper and black seats. But honestly the EVO8 is nearly as sexy. Its not as much of an upgrade as it its an appearance mod.

I hate ACD. ACD is crap. They should have skipped ACD and instead used RS LSD diffs. This is a subject I'm sure some will argue about. Its alot like ABS... some love it some hate it. I prefer the pure 50/50 mechanical split without the interference from the ECU.

I love the strong low end from MIVEC and its definately the MIVEC not the turbo. I had the 9 turbo on my 8. I also had cam gears dialed in for midrange and it still didn't hit quite as hard as te MIVEC does. None the less it still doesn't pull up top like an 8 with a tuned set of HKS 272 cams. I would upgrade but EVO9 aftermarket cams haven't been showing very good returns on stock turbo cars.

Lastly.... I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the EVO 9 4th gear. It is way too short. If you drag race or road race you'll be shifting into 5th and even though its geared a little lower its still a pooch. I have no idea why Mitsu did such a thing. They made several changed but they f'd up when they changed 4th. If they would have kept the 8s 4th gear the new tranny would have been PERFECT. At 6500 miles I hate 4th gear soo much that I'm half temped to send it in to TRE for the gear swap alone.

Summary. An EVO is an EVO. If you plan on upgrading stuff then the 8 is just as good as the 9. Seats and bumpers can be swapped and so can go fast parts. They only thing that is a real change is the MIVEC and personally I wouldn't make the a deciding factor. A cammed and cam gear tuned 8 can be just as much of a monster. The gear change is a big job so think that one through. Everything else is easy.

Find a good deal on either one and you will be happy. If you already own an 8 I don't recommend upgrading unless its a screaming deal.

One thing is for sure.... definately don't go buy a new one now. The minute you drive it off the lot it will have 2 years depreciation.

 

I have a IX SE, but it's very similar to the 8. The difference is meaningless if you save the buttload of money and get mods. 05s are a great choice too. They have the added bonus of having a 5 year warranty (if you so choose to keep it). The difference becomes more trivial if you live near a decent shop that knows a lot about the cars, where the little problems get solved easily.

 

evo ix, has better fuel flow pump,, the cams on the ix wont need to be changes as quick like an 8 has to be,

dude search around youlle notice that the 9 takes less money to make power because of the pump,, mivec and others

 

If you are not into racing, any evo is worth buying. But if ur into racing, I say go for mivec.

 

05 SSL
girls cream over leather seats and sunroof


....that reminds me, gotta go clean my seats