Evo & WRX questions...

[Crawlin]

Alright, what years to look for in these two cars?

Have a friend looking for one. Wants the AWD so that rules out some of the other cars in the "fun turbo car" thread.

What years to avoid, what years to look for...??? What mileage to stay around? When do they start having issues?

Thanks for any advice.

[Holeshot]

Should have gave the guy at the show an offer for his Orange beast with the carbon fiber hood and spoiler.

[Crawlin]

that thing was PHAT YO!!!!!! hahaha.

[twicks69]

If you go with a Scoobie, stay away from the early generation WRX's as they have extremely fragile 5-speed transmissions that will break sooner or later -- even if the car is stock. The Newer STI's are pretty darn stout, and are alot of fun with quality differentials, a good clutch and a strong transmission all from the factory. The engine is a bit finicky, but if it is left stock, or is properly modified and dyno-tuned by a professional, they will last quite well up to around 450-500awhp. They also drive a bit more comfortably than the Evos, and have a bit more space to work with if you have kids.

The Evos have one big flaw from the factory. The clutch. The next weak point is the front diff and center diff when severely abused by racing, burnouts, launches, etc. With that said, a quality twin-disk clutch (don't go with a triple disk clutch unless you like broken transfer cases and transmissions) will help the car quite a bit for quick shifting and excellent engagement characteristics. The Evo's handling is bar none and is fun as hell to drive in any weather condition with the proper tires. If you are looking at Evo's, stick away from the 6-speed MR's as the transmissions are a bit more fragile, and the parts are more expensive, while not being able to be upgraded (other than the clutch). The Evo 8/9 5-speed transmission is pretty decent, though not bullet-proof, it can handle quite a bit of abuse. The engine is quite good with bolt-on's and even heavy modification, and there are several Evo's out there producing well over 1000HP with a built engine and alot of mods. Still, they are capable of producing 340-360awhp on the stock turbo with minor bolt-on's and are completely streetable.

The key thing with an Evo, is that it doesn't like being stock. You will want to modify the Evo if you get one. And then it becomes a money pit. If you don't modify your Evo, it will not like you, and will break more often. Modify it with quality parts if you want your car happy.

If you are married, and want to stay married...I would recommend a late-model WRX STI and keep it stock. If you are single and want ALOT of attention, buy an Evo 8/9 5-speed and modify the heck out of it.

[GTSLOW]

One thing I DO know is that if you get a subie get a STI since the 6speed is better than the 5speed in the WRX.

[VroomPshhTsi]

If you are married, and want to stay married...I would recommend a late-model WRX STI and keep it stock.

[eltness350]

i had a 04 evo8....do not buy....i had it for a little over a yr and like time stated the clutch is junk....blew up the trans...and smoked a transfer case....sold that piec of crap after all of that... subie FTW

[Beagle]

If you go with a Scoobie, stay away from the early generation WRX's as they have extremely fragile 5-speed transmissions that will break sooner or later -- even if the car is stock. The Newer STI's are pretty darn stout, and are alot of fun with quality differentials, a good clutch and a strong transmission all from the factory. The engine is a bit finicky, but if it is left stock, or is properly modified and dyno-tuned by a professional, they will last quite well up to around 450-500awhp. They also drive a bit more comfortably than the Evos, and have a bit more space to work with if you have kids.

The Evos have one big flaw from the factory. The clutch. The next weak point is the front diff and center diff when severely abused by racing, burnouts, launches, etc. With that said, a quality twin-disk clutch (don't go with a triple disk clutch unless you like broken transfer cases and transmissions) will help the car quite a bit for quick shifting and excellent engagement characteristics. The Evo's handling is bar none and is fun as hell to drive in any weather condition with the proper tires. If you are looking at Evo's, stick away from the 6-speed MR's as the transmissions are a bit more fragile, and the parts are more expensive, while not being able to be upgraded (other than the clutch). The Evo 8/9 5-speed transmission is pretty decent, though not bullet-proof, it can handle quite a bit of abuse. The engine is quite good with bolt-on's and even heavy modification, and there are several Evo's out there producing well over 1000HP with a built engine and alot of mods. Still, they are capable of producing 340-360awhp on the stock turbo with minor bolt-on's and are completely streetable.

The key thing with an Evo, is that it doesn't like being stock. You will want to modify the Evo if you get one. And then it becomes a money pit. If you don't modify your Evo, it will not like you, and will break more often. Modify it with quality parts if you want your car happy.

If you are married, and want to stay married...I would recommend a late-model WRX STI and keep it stock. If you are single and want ALOT of attention, buy an Evo 8/9 5-speed and modify the heck out of it.

i had a 04 evo8....do not buy....i had it for a little over a yr and like time stated the clutch is junk....blew up the trans...and smoked a transfer case....sold that piec of crap after all of that... subie FTW

That pretty much is all you need to know Chris. STI FTW

[Crawlin]

It's not for me, but I'll pass the info on. Thanks guys!

Just hard trying to find a non-beat-to-shit car it seems

[WhatsADSM]

Going to be exteremly hard to find a EVO that is either stock or *well* modified and treated well. It may also be a little hard to find it with the STI, however my experience has been that there are more "nice" STIs out there than EVOs.

Beyond that my comments pretty much echo Tim's to the tee.

[Beagle]

I looked for months and saw some nice modded sti's for some reason they were all silver haha. Even still every sti was in better shape than the evos i came across. Just after a stopped looking for an sti i got lucky and my car found me and it happened to be the color i wanted, bone stock and the cleanest sti i looked at.

[SSLEVO]

i had a 04 evo8....do not buy....i had it for a little over a yr and like time stated the clutch is junk....blew up the trans...and smoked a transfer case....sold that piec of crap after all of that... subie FTW

Lol, yours was obviously beat to crap then. You will have to pay to find one in good shape. I bought my 04 bone stock almost 2 years ago for 21.5 with 24k miles on it. Put about 2k in it and was runing low 12's. The stock clutch was still fine the day i sold it this spring for 19k with about 40k miles. She pulled a 1.6 60' on the stock clutch, doesn't sound too bad to me. The STI driveline isn't any stronger, they will both break if you launch them 10 times a day. The evo will respond to mods much better than the sti will though. Numbers in my sig are with the stock cams, intercooler and turbo on E85. Throw a set of cams in and an intercooler and you have a 400whp beast.

[eltness350]

i bought mine BRAND NEW homie! after about 10k of really only beating on it a little bit it fell apart..only had 370awhp.....im not sayin all of them r like that but its known the trans/transfer cases on those cars r weak....thats y ams/shepard make trans/transfer cases for these cars...just sharin my experience...

[twicks69]

i bought mine BRAND NEW homie! after about 10k of really only beating on it a little bit it fell apart..only had 370awhp.....im not sayin all of them r like that but its known the trans/transfer cases on those cars r weak....thats y ams/shepard make trans/transfer cases for these cars...just sharin my experience...

Shep, AMS, Jacks, TRE, and myself all use factory parts in the Evo 4-9 transmissions. The only real upgrades is using a larger diameter bolts in the transfer case by drilling them out and adding in Helicoils and bigger hardware, and an aftermarket gearset or differential. Otherwise, it is just a few tricks inside for oiling, and factory service upgrades for bearings and hub/sliders (all OEM).

The only other "upgrade" is using surface finishing/hardening (REM ISF, Shotpeening, Tungsten DiSulfide, and cryotreatment) on the gearsets to help them last longer and handle more power before failure.

[SSLEVO]

i bought mine BRAND NEW homie! after about 10k of really only beating on it a little bit it fell apart..only had 370awhp.....im not sayin all of them r like that but its known the trans/transfer cases on those cars r weak....thats y ams/shepard make trans/transfer cases for these cars...just sharin my experience...

Homie? Lol. Anyway, like twicks said they all use mitsu components, just have their own ways of modifying them here and there. At 370 whp there is no way you should be going through transmissions and transfer cases in less than 10k miles. Either you really beat on it and didn't maintain it or you got a lemon. I've logged countless hours on Evom and found the transmissions and t-cases to be fairly robust under 400 whp. I wasn't making quite as much power as you but close. No issues there, even on the stock clutch.