[bnr34vspec2]

Hi all,

Lately I have been thinking of a new second car for me, I am very tired of the very poor performance of my Celica.

I am in the US, and both the EVO VII and the WRX STi will be available next year here. Those 2 would be my choice. I know most of you guys here have experience with them, which one is the better car?

I know some of you guys would say get a R32 GTR as a second car, but I think I would rather have something different. And beside I don't want to have 2 gray market cars that are not back by its manufacturer.

I used to want a NSX, but it is not factory turbocharged and it is too expensive.

Please give me some input.

Thanks ahead

 

[Fuggles]

I can't give you any comparisons but have you checked out the UK owners clubs for either of these? You might find people there who have both or tried both.

http://www.lancerregister.com/mlr-main.html
http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/

John

 

[DCD]

Jeff...Depending on which version of the Evo the US gets I would go for an Evo 7 GSR. You can't beat it as a well priced, reliable, powerful, fun beast of a car, and the fact that it has a pretty big boot and 4 comfortable seats....well what else can I say! Personally I just find the new age Impreza WRX way too ugly! ...and it just can't better the Evo...that's a fact!

 

[davewilkins]

Wait for scoobynet to spot this

 

[DCD]

He He.... facts are facts

 

[bnr34vspec2]

John,

Thank you for the link.

I will go check them out.

Jeff

 

[bnr34vspec2]

Dino,

From what the magazine say so far, the new age WRX STi we would get here in the US would be a slightly detuned Japan version with 261 HP, 6 speed and of course a little more weight.

The news of the EVO coming to the US was released at a US auto show a month or 2 ago, Mitsubishi said the US EVO would have at least 250HP, so my guess is it would have similar power to the STi, about 260HP.

Personally I like the look of the EVO over the WRX too, but I like the WRX because I can have the wagon version so I can carry GTR parts in I don't think the new WRX is very ugly, but the old one definitely looks way better.

I guess they are very similar car as far as configuration. I know the performance of the stock EVO is quite a bit better then a stock WRX just from watching Japanese video, I wonder how they compare after some light tuning? And also are they the same as far as being easy to work on?

As far as I know, Mitsubishi is normally less reliable then Subaru, is that true?

Thank you!

Jeff

 

[PeterRaf]

Jeff,

As far as I know, the Evo is less reliable than the Scooby, it also needs servicing every 4.5k. I agree it looks far better than the Scooby. I read last week that a major overhaul of the new Scooby is on its way. Sales over here haven't been too good.

If the only problem you have with your Celica is its lack of speed, why dont you go for a Celica ST205 GT4? Mine is currently standard ( 255bhp ) and is hitting 60 in 5.5 secs. I'm a new owner but understand the car is capable of around 430BHP with some mods. That should be quick enough for you. And you have the Toyota reliability as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go for.


Pete.

 

[wsurfa]

Dont think the 205 was ever an offical import into the US hence low numbers and main dealer support.

The 185 - ALLTRAC(in US) was and has decent performance when fitted with a hybrid turbo (has ceramic bladed turbo like the skyline that will disintegrate above 1.1bar). Exhaust, hybrid, boost controller, panel filter, will give c250bhp or more. My standard 185(.9bar) runs 220bhp so not a bad low cost choice, that and if you get a well looked after toyota they hardly ever go wrong

Cheers

Iain

 

[Duncan IV]

The Evo IS NOT a unreliable car!!
Ive had a Subaru WRX and now have a Evo 4.
The evo's on a different planet to the impreza when it comes to cornering,top end the subaru was quicker,acceleration is about the same.
The Evo doesn't suffer from heavy understeer like the impreza's .
Find any corner and i bet you could take a standard evo 10-15mph faster than a standard Subaru.

Dont get me wrong,The Imprezas are excellent cars and very reliable,i had mine for 3 years and it never let me down,up to now the Evo is also very reliable.
Ok the servicing intervals are small 4.5k,but thats only to change the AYC fluid which is a £30 job.While its getting that done its advisable to change the Engine oil,which most high performance car owners do at 5000 miles anyway!

the only downside and the thing i really miss was the noise coming from the subaru,equipped with a full Hyper system it sounded awesome.My Evo sounds like a Hairdryer

 

[DCD]

Jeff, If you need space Mitsubishi have just dumped an Evo 7 engine into their Airtrek! Can't beat that!

We'll just have to go for test drives of both cars while you are here

 

[polarbearit]

Driven Both - own one!

In my opinion the Evo is a better drivers car, and I'd love to have one as a second car. They have fantastic handling, very quick and are more tunable than an impreza.

However I drive an impreza for several reasons - Gearing and suspension are better suited to journeys. The impreza has a fuel tank, the evo appear just to have a small holding tank . I find the impreza a great car to drive at 7/10ths, the Evo is ok at 7/10ths but encourages you to drive it at 10/10ths!

Impreza will probably be cheaper (in the UK official prices are £26k for impreza, £31.5k for Evo 7), sightly more ecomical/practical and 90% as fun. It depends what you want from a car, but I think that while Impreza vs Evo debate is often done, they are quite different...

Jon

 

[Paul.GTR34]

Airtrek

Hello Dino.

Is the Airtrek a 6/7 Seater peeps carier?
Can you please posts some details/prices for me ?

I currently have a Mitsubishi Space Wagon (6 seater) and it drives well for a 2.4 GDI automatic.However I'v had nothing but trouble since I bought it when it was just under 2 years old including a head rebuild at 22k miles due to Mitsu using wrong type of oils.

I really want to get shot of it but I like the way it looks and drives esp. for a people carrier . I have heard of ones with Evo engines in and I asked the main dealer over here about them but he thought I was mad !

 

[Duncan IV]

polarbearit,
agree with you 100%.
The Evo encourages you to keep on pushing ,with its amazing grip its hard not to!!.The fuel tank is so poxy,that you will become good friends with your local optimax supplier

The suspension on my Evo is a lot harder then the standard wrx's,you can feel every bump and this gets transmitted to your A*s*!!

Some people dont like the seats ,but they are not a problem to me,i think the wrx ones were better built though.Haven't done many long journeys so can't comment on that,although my mate drove his evo 4 to the Nurburgring from Blackpool Many petrol stops were called for

At the end of the day its personal preference,both cars are excellent and if you own one or the other you are guaranteed a huge grin on your face.

 

[Initial_E]

Jeff

Did I tell you that I used to own a Mit Lancer MR in Hong Kong? I didn't have any problems with it at all in the first 2 or 3 years. however, I started having problem with the tiptronic gear box and I sold the car immediately. That still won't stop me from loving the EVO 7. If I were u, I would definitely go for the EVO7. I am now crossing my fingers and hoping that they will import that car into Canada.

 

[GU5I 80Y]

EVO !

subarus are everywhere

if your in the states you dont need suspention
all the roads are flat!

 

[DCD]

polarbearit...for your information, in the Japanese home market, an Evo 7 GSR costs 2.9 milion yen while and WRX STi 3.3. No choice there really! Too bad you guys get weird prices over there!

Paul.GTR34....A while back the RVR used to have a detuned EVO engine developing around 250bhp. I think the Airtrek with the GTA engine and gearbox was, for now, just a prototype. Anyway I think it looks pretty cool. Here is apicture of the "normal" 2.4 GDI version:

 

[bnr34vspec2]

Hi Pete,

As Iain correctly stated (thanks Iain), the ST205 never got imported into the US offically, and there is no way to get a real ST205 street legal here. I agree the ST205 is a very nice car, I would consider it if they are available. I only have a ST162, which is really boring

The ST165 and ST185 are very nice too, but I prefer to buy my cars new, so they are out of the question

I almost had a 3SGTE motor from a ST205 install into my ST162, make it into a FWD monster, but then I decided it is not worth it to spend so much money into such an old FWD car, so I bought the R34 GTR instead.

Thank you for your input.

Jeff

 

[bnr34vspec2]

Hi dino,

No way, I would never consider the Airtrek, that's a SUV....YUCK

I don't care how fast a SUV is, it is still a Jeep/off road vehicle with high center of gravity + they are ugly as hell

Thanks for the suggestion though

Jeff

 

[bnr34vspec2]

Hi Duncan,

Thank you for your opinion

Actually I am the other way around, I don't like the exhaust noise of the EJ20 boxer engine.

I guess the best way for me to find out is to test drive both cars.

For now I am leaning toward the EVO though. I guess partly is because I wanted a Galant VR-4 before and never had a chance to own one I want a EVO to relive my childhood dreams

Jeff