RallySport9

iTrader: (20)

I could never for the life of me understand comparing the two. completely different set ups. completely different cars. The only thing they share in common is four door awd..hmm how many other cars can we compare that to..

when choosing a car the sti didn't even cross my mind because of how different it was. Not just aesthetically but the internal orientation was worlds apart. I feel like high school kids compare the two. Hence all the amateur YouTube videos. Most who compare them aren't familiar with either or have never even owned either car lol

kaj

iTrader: (60)

OP is interested in both, so he has to compare to the two. Yes, there are other AWD cars, but he's not considering any of them.
Besides high schoolers comparing the two, so does Option as well as other magazines, t.v. shows, etc. They have always been in direct competition with each other.

aaronhinch

Wow some many replies thank you all!

I was gonna try to reply individually to each comment but this has gotten a lot bigger response than I was expecting, so here are my overall comments for now:

I've compared the Evo to the STI because most tuner magazines that I've read and many internet car review sites have compared the two as apples to apples. To me, someone who has only driven an 06/07/16 STi and an Evo FE, I was trying to get a good baseline of comparison to something that I am familiar with.

Also, thank you to those who tried to get back to my initial few talking points from my first post... I did my best to frame this discussion around those few questions so that this wouldn't explode into a Subaru vs. Mitsubishi debate.

A few other things: I do like the exterior design of the hawkeye sti's but I like the Evo 9 more. I like the Evo interior much more than the gawdy blue sti interior.
My plan will be to buy an MR for the better DD'ability of the 6 speed. I am aware of this being the weaker trans, but I do not plan to ever exceed 400 tq.

I'm really liking what I'm hearing about the reliability aspect of the Evo. And yes, I've heard that working on the boxer motors is painstaking to say the least.

RallySport9

iTrader: (20)

I get that they're compared by professionals too but I think it's because of the spotlight put onto the subject by so many people, most of which do not even own both platforms lol.

As for helping OP with his decision, I said this because I just don't know if OP has the impression that they're so similar that's the reason he narrowed it down to those two. I was just trying to tell him from my perspective having experienced both, that shouldn't be a reason for choosing between those two. As I think they're not worthy of a fair comparison.

aaronhinch

My biggest reason for narrowing it down to these two cars is a few reasons:

- I want a turbo car that I can enjoy driving as an "A to B"/DD car as well as a weekend fun run car

- I want an AWD car that can handle the Michigan winters since I will be living here for the foreseeable future (RWD daily is not something I want for this reason)

- I want a tuneable and customizable car that I can make my own since cars are my passion

- I want an aesthetically pleasing car- the Evo 9 and the hawkeye sti are ones that I like the look of

kaj

iTrader: (60)

I found Subarus to be difficult to work on compared to inline fours. I got used to it, but was relieved to get back to an I4 when I bought another Evo.
the one thing I liked was doing the timing belt. Never have I had an easier time. It's all right in front of you and color coded.
other than that, I hated working on it lol
as for the mitsu 6spd, I don't know that it's better for dailying other than it shifts really smooth and you may like where the lever sits, compared to the 5. No real advantage that I can think of. I kept mine for those reasons and because I like the ratios (I track and autox).
I also kept my car at 350tq. Not sure I would run much more. 350 doesn't leave me feeling derived, though. It's plenty.

aaronhinch

Thanks for the input! The only reason I see the 6 speed as an advantage is for the mpg on highway. I drove a 5 speed Neon SRT-4 in high school and the highway drone & mpg was pretty bad.

kaj

iTrader: (60)

I haven't looked in a while but I don't remember much difference in ratios between fifth gear in the 5 speed and 6th Gear in the 6. At Least not enough to justify that being the reason to use it. Six speed cars are rare, but on the bright side, you can pick up a 6-speed transmission and all the materials needed to swap it for about five to six hundred dollars.

nemsin

iTrader: (19)

Stock vs. stock, the Evo has an edge as the steering is better and the engine holds more power reliably.

But if you are going to mod your car, all bets are off. The Evo and STI are both great platforms. Particularly, the 2008+ GR STI chassis makes a great starting point.

At the end of the day, pick the car that feels right to you. You can make either fast and reliable.

aaronhinch

I had not considered this. After some research the gear ratios are as follows:


1st 2.785 2.909
2nd 1.950 1.944
3rd 1.444 1.434
4th 1.096 1.1
5th 0.761 0.868
6th XXXX 0.693

PLEASE PLEASE correct this next statement if I am looking at this incorrectly:
it looks to me that the MR will have slightly higher torque out of 1st gear (2.909 > 2.785), and the MR will have slightly lower RPM's at a fixed speed in 6th gear vs. the same fixed speed in 5th gear of the GSR (0.693 < 0.761). I mentioned first gear just so someone could correct me if I'm not understanding how to read these ratios.

aaronhinch

Sorry the formatting is not very good. It looked better while I was typing it out. Hopefully everyone understands that the middle column is for the GSR (5-speed) and the far right column is for the MR (6-speed).

barneyb

How much noise an Evo makes depends on your choice of exhaust. A 6-speed is not going to fix a bad choice of exhaust. A 5-speed is more bullet proof. I've driven from one coast to the other behind the 5-speed and no problems. So, I'd suggest looking for an Evo and not worry about the transmission. Just buy a 6-speed if you happen to stumble onto one.

aaronhinch

From the previous few comments I'm becoming much more open to a 5-speed. So thank you! Both transmissions have their own pros and cons it seems, so at this point I think the 5 vs 6-speed won't have any bearing on which car I buy. It'll be which car is the most well maintained, most tastefully modded, and lowest miles- regardless of 5 or 6 speed.

Do the 6-speeds still seem to be more prone to failure even in a lightly modded form (330-350 whp)? Or is it only failure prone when trying to push bigger power (400+)?

Jonno99

Don't know what it is but your either an Evo guy or a Rexy guy and paths don't seem to cross

Turndown

iTrader: (2)

I believe the 6 speed is only ~200rpm lower at a given speed than the 5 speed so not a huge difference. If you got a 5 speed and did the 4.11 FD you'd drop your cruising rpms significantly so that's another route if you wanted to spend the money.