Before I bought my EVO VI I also tried out a 2.5 litre WRX STI. The drive test happened on the very same place at the very same time. Here's what I found. The wrx felt like a front wheel driven car in every corned. In order to make it drift into the corners I had to pull the hand brake every time. It was very frustrating, because every time I had to remove my hands from the steering wheel. In the EVO all I had to do is to push the gas a bit harder or kick the clutch while accelerating in the begining of the turn. The evo was very easy to handle, the WRX was a bit harder. The suspension was also better in the evo. Inside is much much more beautiful I know that the TME is a special version but still. Those recaros with the embroidery.... Im loving it. On the mechanic side the WRX has its intercooler on the top of the engine. What a stupid thing. The heat of the engine goes right through the intercooler, making it even hotter. The EVO has its cooler right in its front with a nice opening on the bumper.

So after the test ride we did a comparism on the highway, we started in 3rd gear, and accelerated right up to 230 km/h. The wrx is 300 ps, the EVO is only 280 (1 bar pressure) but the EVO had a modded air intake and sport exhaust system. So lets suppose that these add another 20 HP to the EVO so the contest was fair enough. And guess what happened? The EVO beaten the WRX with 50 meters, which is a lot I guess. What is the reason? The weight!!! The EVO is less by 150 kilos at least. This shows on the cornering, braking, accelerating ability.

So, ladies and gents, as you might have guessed I bought the EVO. And Im in heaven since that day. This car is absolutely fantastic.

Buy the EVO.

 

you cant get an evo VI in the US, and the evo VIII is VERY noticably slower than the STI

 

Here in Hungary I know two EVO 6 for sale. One of them is a real must have since the owner only used it at every second week. It only has 25,000 kms, and this is a TM edition also. The price is 46.000 USD. Why cant you buy EVO 6 in the US???

 

well mitsu has never really felt the need to start importing the evo to the US until subaru brought the wrx over, so now they are rivals for the best rally car. i ahve always wanted an evo and the evo III and evo VI have seemed to be the best evos based on magazine reviews. but finally when the evo came to the us they were already on the evo VIII and for the US it is WAY tuned down compared to the euro and japan versions. here its only 271 hp, dynoed its low 200's and we have 91 octane in cali so it detonates like crazy and retards the timing. when i test drove it comparing to the sti it was very slow, almost disapointing. i would love to have an evo VI, but the sti jus felt like a much better car than the evo VIII to me.

 

Ok I see your point now. Yeah I've go to agree with you that the EVO 7,8 are just living in the shadow of the earlier great EVO-s like the 6, and the 91 octane fuel just makes everything worst. The new terrain adjustment system in the all wheel drive train sometimes just let you down, moreover the whole drive train tends to be much weaker than that in the EVO 6. Maybe the EVO X! I've read the specs and it is going be a real road monster again. Who knows maybe the three diamonds will rule on the roads again...

Here in Europe we got 100 octane fuel at almost every country (I guess except Italy), so pumping up the compression and/or the turbo is not a problem. But then I wonder how some fellows overthere made well over 1,000 BHP toyota supras.... I gues its not related to this topic anyway.