The windows do have a light tint to them. And when you can take first higher than 5k it'll be a little easier to use.

The gearbox smooths out a little after a few (hundred) shifts as well.

But as for driving impressions, I agree that it is really hard to give decent impressions until it's broken in. When I hit 600 miles I'll post my full impressions :)

Ditto on the 600 miles. You really want to romp on it, but I dare screw with my engine. I love it. I can feel the potential power beyond 5000 rpm. But I still have over 575 miles to go. Too bad Im working right now.

Check rollo's latest thread. I made a lot of comments on his comments. :)

Very twitcy steering at over 80mph. I dont' advise hands off with this car. Suspention is as hard as the 348 ferrari i've drove. Suck if your roads suck otherwise not a big deal.

Break need time to wear in. I was expecting more lag but it feels like a twin turbo car. {thumbup}

i'm sure that ferrari comparison will be very helpful to all of us around here. :p

-K

The video said 500 miles under 5k. Who told you 600?

Everything says 600 miles now.

Sorry, to tell you the truth i haven drove anything else as stiff. Even the dodge viper is a little softer.

drive it like you stole it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it breaks break it early!!
let them pay for it

**** it, video says 500, I'm stompin after 500.

Some comments:

1. My first mod.; removal of front lic. plate. It leaves one hole with a grommet in it showing. Wish the dealer would not have installed it but they put them on all their cars as soon as they got them.
2. Fooling around I took off the wing. Just 4 bolts; about 2 minutes work. (These cars are for us to fool with - right?). Once I got the 4 bolts out I found the wing is stuck on very tightly with a double sided tape like stuff. Had to carefully pry on it (be careful if you do this - go slow - I put a minor scratch in the trunk) and finally it came off. Again; GO SLOW.
Once off I found not two but three holes on the left and four (!) holes on the right. The fourth is a larger unused one at the bottem right. I have no clue what it was there for! The other additional holes on each side are like guide holes for two pins on the wing.
The car is really a sleeper with the wing off. I'll probably have mine off at times and on at times. Will get a small wing too just to see how it looks. I will be around some clients who won't apppreciate the big wing, though I agree the big wing should be considered part of what an Evo is.
3. Next mod: The S2000 antenna. Thanks Rollo!

Other observations (120 miles now):
A. The triple syncros are neat making slipping into 1st or 2nd very easy. (The shifter throw could be shorter - they always can - but otherwise it is very good).
B. My dealer did not even mention the pit pass.
C. My dealer explained switch on IC sprayer incorrectly. Owners manual clarified it for me.
D. Road noise is less (I think) than in two year old 911 Carrera that I get a chance to drive every so often.
E. I had a BMW 540 6 speed for 75000 miles and this car rides just a bit harder but is very similiar in many ways except it clearly outperforms the BMW. (This is not my daily driver but will be used a lot).
F. I live very close to a perfect country country road with lots of curves. This car handles the road in a very similiar manner to the 911 when driving at say 80%. It is just awesome.
G. Power feels better than the Porsche (at least so far -still keeping it below 5000) because torque peak is at much lower RPM compared to 911. It is just great to feel it come on.
H. The thing you will hear everyone trying to put into words is how the power comes on. If you are at like 3000+ and just give it a small amount of throttle it just takes off. It makes the car feel very eager and just plain fast. I was concerned this car would be more dead for jumping into traffic gaps and the like (my 540 6 speed was great for that), but it turns out it is even better than the 540; which makes for a really great driving experience. You just have to live with it a bit and you just love it. Sure it has less torque way down low than a car like the 540 but once you learn how to drive it you hardly ever get caught with the revs low. And if you are nearing 3000 rpm it just goes from there on! Very smooth transition.

I. BTW I bought mine from large bay area dealer who told every one they had large markup but actually sold to me after we talked a bit at a very reasonable price (a very reasonable amount above MSRP). So I would recommend everyone treat the dealer with respect and talk seriously about price and you might be surprised at what you can do. I was! Had my order with this dealer for some time but no guarantee on price and had expected to have to find one somewhere else due to Calif. markups. I was wrong. A few days ago I thought I would not even own an EVO until 3-4 weeks passed and I got own from somewhere else and now I have it from my nearby dealer!

Tuner/bob.

Which eastbay city are you in? I'm in Danville/boardering Blackhawk. If you are near by, the road you mentioned wouldn't be highland road would it?

If so, :thumbup: :thumbup: I'm only 5min drive from Highland Rd. :D

How do the brakes feel to you?

I have just over 200 mi. on the Evo now, and the brakes seem to have a bad "Pad-fade" feel to them right now. It seems to grab ok initially, but if you use more force, you dont get much more stopping power. I'm not using them hard, just normaly.

I'm hoping this is normal at break-in.

Well. I am not going to in depth because I want to read over some paperwork such as manual and stuff and learn a little bit about it.. Here is how my day went, I got lost on the way to dealership but finally arrived went through paperwork and got everything signed. 15 miles on car and the car perfectly cleaned no stickers no anything on it, my dealer lady made sure no one touched it, she even apologized for the 15 miles on the car but it was ok because i didn't expect to be 0... She rode with me to fill up my gas tank premium of course. Then I was off, my first impressions is that the suspension is really stiff, but in a way i like it, even tho if felt like my left tit was bouncing everytime i hit a crack i felt glued to the road. The tires seem to soak to the ground and the car was sliding accross the ground. Now this is my first turbo car, so i was really excited. I have kept it under 4k mostly all day and went up to 5k a few times just to strech the engines muscles. Day finished with 163 miles... I noticed the shifter for me is pretty long because i am use to my short shifter, so it may be somethign i want to change, but i can deal. The interior looks like a slick version of the lancer, and looking at a tach right in front of me was impressive. I noticed gear 1 is shorter than my asian manhood, and the rest get progressively longer being 5th quite long but good for highway. I do have to tell you i get the same feeling i did when i hit the gas on both my evo and my fathers 600SL. The car literally starts hissing(turbo) and next thing you know you are doing 90+ easily. I kept the radio off most of the time, some of it i left it on ,, and enjoyed some tunes. for stock stereo i enjoy it and will keep it for a month or so till i want a new headunit. But mostly i kept it off just to hear the spooling... The sound is beautiful and it reminds me of a cobra ready to strike...... I do have to comment on the recaros. Everyone i let sit in my car loves them. I am about 130 lbs and 5'5".. and i swear to god the seat was hiugging me. I waited till night so i can check out the hid's lights which are beautiful and give reflections of purple/blue.. It was funny because I drove to thousand oaks to **** with the cops, and was just cruising nothing illegal and a cop driving other way slowed down and just stared at me, than poped a ***** and started following me. so i kept my cool than he turned off. i thought it was interesting.... I been trying me best after every drive i let my car idle for a minute or so to cool down. than turn it off. (how long has everyone been idling thier car after)... Its honestly a lot more than i was expecting, but i really didn't know what to expect. I am happy that i made my decision, and i hope everyone is safe!... ^_^