I was wondering how many of you owned some type of porsche and then switched to an Evo. I use to have a 91 Porsche 944 S2 til someone crashed into me when driving it. I changed to a WRX but I don't like how it understeers (the Porsche handled very neutrally). The power is good though and it's more practical. However, the handling really annoys me and I was wondering if anyone can give me a comparison?

 

I highly recommend you test drive an EVO.
Many dealerships will scare you and say you cannot test drive the evo. You have to let them know you can buy it first then they will let you drive.

http://www.CarPhoto.net

 

I don't wanna mag compare, but there have been many races/tests/comparisons of the Evo vs Porsches, Ferrari's, etc and the evo has come on top most of the time. I've never driven one of those supercars, but from what I've heard, the Evo's performance compares very well to them.

 

I owned an '87 951 with a K-27 turbo.. The car was real finicky when the weather changed. The car was a lot of fun , and quite fast.

That being said, I'll take my EVO ANY day .

 

I had an 97 993 C4S for a short while (long story but I did not sell the 993 to buy the Evo).

I think it depends on what you are looking for - straight performance or "feel" of the driving experience. For me the Porsche driving experience (i.e. steering feedback, clutch feel, gearbox, brake feel) cannot be duplicated by the Evo, even if Evo is a faster car. There is something about the Porsche that makes the whole driving experience greater than the sum of the parts.

The Evo is a great car, I like it more and more each day, but I feel that it falls a little short on the driving experience (even though I don't consider myself a good driver). Many magazines have covered this issue about how the Evo is fast but lacks "something." The SCC issue that put the Evo up against the C4S (996 version) describes the C4S pretty well.

 

I was actually thinking last night. If I had the cash for a second car I would purchase a 2000 Carrera 2. I was actually thinking about this last night.

 

Can you be more specific? Everything I've read has been just the opposite.

Here's the complete SCC article. My take was the Evo walked away with top honors (even though it had a smoked clutch).

 

I used to drive a 928 as a daily driver, then when I got tired of paying Porsche maintenance costs, bought a 3rd gen RX-7. Today I still have both of them, plus my Evo.

I will say that the 928 and the Evo are the only two cars I've ever driven that feel rock solid at high speed. I had the RX-7 up over 150 MPH, and it felt like it was a good gust of wind away from taking off like an airplane. The 928 and Evo just feel like they were meant to drive fast. Taking the 928 up to 140 MPH was one of the most amazing demonstrations of high speed stability and control I've ever felt. The Evo at 125+ felt no different than at 60 MPH -- literally, no different. That was on the road course at Summit Point, and I had to keep reminding myself how fast I was going, because it felt so incredibly comfortable and poised.

I would say that both the 928 and Evo have very good near neutral handling. Both of them tend to understeer unless you really try to get the back end loose -- but the back end will get loose if you force the issue.

I think the Evo doesn't have the Porsche "feel" -- but I don't think the Evo "feel" is any worse. Just different.

 

i currently own a 3rd Gen Rx-7. I am contemplating about selling it and getting the EVO. I love my car to death, but i want something new and fast. The 7 felt very flimsy at 155 when i went against the newer M3's. So flimsy that the drivers' side headlight cover blew off and hit the windsheild, luckily no crack. I think i might be very close to say im getting an EVO.

ALI

 

I owned a 86 944 T (951)...great car quite fast...but the evo is, in my opinion, the far better car and much quicker....the reason for the neutral handling on the 944 was the perfect 50/50 weight distribution...the evo compensates for it's nose heavy 60/40 quite well with it's 4WD system

 

I've actually driven the majority of my street miles in Porsches. I've owned (and used as my daily drivers) a '79 911 SC, then a '90 Carrera 4, then the '00 Boxster that I just traded in on my Evo two weeks ago. I also owned an '85 944 for a few months as a Winter car a few years ago. (I also owned a '99 BMW M Coupe before the Boxster.)

I've always been a handling guy. I raced formula cars for a few years after high school. For pure handling feel the Boxster was the best of the Porsches by far. There's just nothing better than a well balanced mid-engine car.

I really disliked the AWD system on the C4, it was rather obtrusive and made for a heavy turn-in.

The 911 SC was great fun, if only because it rewarded good driving so much and made you challenge yourself to keep it on the edge. The slow shifting 915 transmissions in the SC was the only thing that really detracted from the driving experience.

The 944 was surprisingly (almost amazingly) well balanced and a pleasure to drive handling-wise.

I've of course driven most other models and versions and they all pretty much fall into one of the above categories.

It was the handling of the Evo that got my attention. It is the best handling non-mid-engined street car that I've ever driven. The chassis is just so well sorted out. The structure is stiff and the AWD system just helps with the traction without detracting at all from handling feel. The brakes are excellent, as are the overall driving ergos. In short it's simply a wonderful driver's car. And, to answer your question, I find it to be easily a better driver's car than any of the current Porsches (Although I haven't driven a GT3 or Carrera GT yet, and I expect great things from the GT3).

As for the WRX, it definately isn't a handling star like the Evo - even in STi trim, but there are a few things that you may be able to do to dial out some of the understeer. The first place to start is with the tire presures.

As others have said, you really should go test drive an Evo. It'll blow your mind. When you do, be sure to check the tire pressures, most are sitting on the lot with 50psi from shipping still in the tires.

Hope that helps a bit.

--Josh

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I would like to get another Porsche, but I need to have a daily driver that is practical (hence a 4 door car).

GoEVOGo: I get what you're trying to say. I've driven many different cars and the Porsche has this feel of stability and security while still giving good feedback and a sense of speed. Probably like they say, "Porsche, there is no substitute."

Limey: Yeah, the near 50/50 weight distribution for the 944 helped. Plus teh fact it is a stiff chassis (for its time) and used a good suspension geometry (again, for its time) helped.

JWA: I did adjust the tire pressure to help cope with the understeer, but the WRX still pales in comparison to the 944 S2. What did you think of the STi compared to the Porsches?