Evo - a quick reliable daily driver?

[awd-drifter]

good read. I'm also in the same boat. I've got student loans to pay and I'm wondering if I could afford it. Maybe next year though. I've been looking for an Evo also and it seems that the good ones are the more expensive ones, obviously. But the "alright" ones have some mods here and there, are lowered price but they obviously are the ones that have been beaten on. I sort of trust the Evos that get babied more. I've been reading that the Evo's transfer case also likes to go out also. Changing the trans, t-case and rear end pretty often would save the drive train from it's destruction.

[Matt D.]

I bought my car with 46k, now has 106k. Aside from the leaking exhaust valves causing the car to be hard to start in the winter the car hasn't let me down. 5th gear grinds a bit, right rear wheel bearing needs replacing, and ball joints or something up front make a little noise over slow bumps, driveshaft or something rattles on high speed decel (which I have never been able to solve) and those are my only complaints. This car has over 2 dozen autocross events on it (well over 100 runs) and it keeps taking it like a champ.

You are welcome to take it for a spin any time you want.

[santa]

This is my plan for the coming spring if all works out right. :) but I'm keeping the 1g.

[C3L1CA]

I've always wanted to come to the Weds night meets, but I volunteer every Weds till 8 and I don't know if everybody would still be there when I got done. Maybe I'll skip out early one night and head down there.

Thanks again for all your advice guys! Its really making me lean towards an evo. Although anybody that really knows me doesn't believe me when I say I'll be happy with 400hp. Time to make some hard decisions pretty quick here.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

The car will be slow. It won't be a 600awhp light ass 2G like you have. The Evos are really good at running 11s and 10s in the 1/4 easy, but when you are trying to run 9s or 8s, there isn't much advantage over a DSM.

[mlomker]

The Evos are really good at running 11s and 10s in the 1/4 easy, but when you are trying to run 9s or 8s, there isn't much advantage over a DSM.

Holy shit! He might have to try a motorsport that involves turning.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Brad doesn't turn, too dangerous to have the wheel turned when he hits the 100 shot of nitrous. Brad can't have a car without NOStrous on it!

[C3L1CA]

The car will be slow. It won't be a 600awhp light ass 2G like you have. The Evos are really good at running 11s and 10s in the 1/4 easy, but when you are trying to run 9s or 8s, there isn't much advantage over a DSM.

I think low 11s in a daily would be pretty fun/cool/maybe fast enough. I guess my bike runs 11.0 and although it feels kinda slow sometimes, it can feel fast sometimes as well. I guess it depends on the day. I do think it'll feel slow though, I've become a little spoiled on whats "normal" over the past couple years.

Brad doesn't turn, too dangerous to have the wheel turned when he hits the 100 shot of nitrous. Brad can't have a car without NOStrous on it!
haha the bike and the audi don't have nitrous on them ;)

mlomker - I would love to road race, but I'm far too poor for upkeep and the parts to be competitive. I also hate losing so I try not to do things where I don't think I'll have a chance. I'll stick to 1/4 or having fun on some back roads I take my bike on.

[Goat Blower]

You own an Audi and are asking if an EVO is reliable? :D

[BriK]

You own an Audi and are asking if an EVO is reliable? :D

This. My Audi B5 S4 blew goats, to be clever. Loads of maintenance and more on the horizon before I sold it. I spent $1500/ month on maintenance and repair. for three months in a row.

My biggest thing is to be honest about what the car is. I wanted a fun, relatively more reliable DD, so I got a IX. If I was going to mod it to the hilt and drive it competitively, I would've gone for the slightly cheaper VIII.

Without stirring the pot or starting another VIII vs IX vs X debate, here's why I chose a IX after 8+ months of (casual) researching and driving at least 7 Evos:

- word is the IX has a slightly better interior quality-- supposedly a couple more staples and whatnot to help with rattles. Not sure if I believe this, but still.
- MIVEC
- better stock turbo than the VIII's
- ACD was a big one for me, what with winters here
- I generally like the last model year of a generation as they tend to have more of the bugs worked out
-being newer, most IX's will have lower mileage

Anyway, I know you said IX's might be out of budget but those are at least things to consider. If you do stick with an VIII, I think most would agree to look for 05's. They have the 10.5 hotside, ACD, and the available SSL package.

Sorry for the novel. :)