Subaru impreza or Mitsubishi EVo

When looking for a performance car, I found I got a lot of advice from people who read car magazines and watched Top Gear, but hadn't actually owned the cars. Their rehash of reviewers' opinions was worse than useless, and a 20 minute test drive isn't much better.

You need to track down owners', not dreamers', opinions, and I'd suggest trawling the owners' web forums.

If I was doing the Scoobie/Evo madness again, I'd buy the fastest of the Scoobie boxer estates! 90% of the driving experience, but 0% of the attention.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
You need to track down owners', not dreamers', opinions, and I'd suggest trawling the owners' web forums.

OOOooooo....I'll get my handbag and go then..

Thanks Mark
I have never ridden motorbikes before.
Along learning curve to get me to a thrilling ride without the ability to occasionally fit the family in rules out the 2 wheeled options.
Rasher
The idea of wrx with a poss. trade in after its out of the system appeals, as I said before looking a prat/chav not going to worry me unduly, I’m not on the pull, it’s the thrill and to share this with my son w
Who will still think his dreams have come true. I know he is not the most objective reviewer of cars, but he does know a thing or 2 about performance per buck.

David - You should have said. Reminds me of that track Dragline by Paw:
Small child, front seat
Mouth in dad's ear
As they drive that truck
In the night, in the night
Looking up at the night
Through dark windshields
Buster Browns won't reach
I ask to drive
And he says, "Okay"
Well, Papa bought a pick up truck
With bottle tops and that's enough
A beat up piece of Chevrolet
Blue and white rustin' away
Aw, still we ride
Yeah, just father and son
Papa says, "Let's go for a ride"
"Oh, We'll grab a bite to eat"
"Hell boy, might even let you drive"
I said, "Hey pop, oh, turn up the radio"
"Aw, 'cause that's my favorite song"


It always comes back to music doesn't it, eh?!

I can picture us now

Quote of Eric's

quote:

Women love the black leathers

Eeeew Eric the thought of you in leathers is just gross...

Do you have to

This is what you REALLY want.....

and no i havent driven one, or will..

When it loads just keep going forward hehe.

http://www.sinisterbeauty.co.uk/

Owned an Evo VI for 5 years and now have an VIII MR 320. Both are fantastic cars but for me the MR is better than the VI. Comes in a higher state of tune out of the box (both in performance and handling) than the VI. Very reliable (one gearbox issue with the VI which was a factory assembly problem rather than a component failure and none with the MR). I covered 64000 miles in the VI and 12000 so far in the MR. Not exactly a refined motorway cruiser but the MR has Bilstein suspension which is (a bit) more compliant so you get to hang onto your fillings. Fuel economy is not exactly an Evo strong point but the MR is better (6 speed) so maybe low/mid 20's on the motorway - can be got down to single figures on the track! Running costs are pretty hefty - service every 4500 miles, fuel, insurance, tyres, brake pads, clutches and other consumables but obviously overall costs depend on mileage, how hard the car is driven and how well you resist the urge to modify the thing! MR's and (even more so) the new IX respond well to tuning and minor mods will see 400 bhp (and similar torque)- mine's approx 360 bhp with just an ECU re-map and de-cat pipe. In lots of ways the limits of the car are beyond busy British roads but if you live in the right area, as I do (East/North Yorkshire roads), you can still exercise the beast safely! Also plenty of track days available.

I've never driven/been in a Subaru so can't make a comparison. Best advice is to drive both and see what you think, just as you would home demo a Naim system. I would recommend steering well clear of main dealers for servicing/repairs (unless you have to for warranty purposes) and use a specialist garage - normally cheaper and they actually know what they are doing.

A £19k budget will get you an MR 320/340 with a fair slice of the 3 year warranty left. Can't say which is better for you but I do know a blast along some quiet B-roads in the Evo is the automotive equivalent of an extended listen to my Naim system (CDS3/XPS2, 52/Supercap, 135's and NBL's) - they both make me feel good

Agreed vabout the RS2, forgot about that one!

Mind you, trying to find one thats in a resonable condition might be a bit of an issue.

WRXs and Evos are dreadful.

You can't judge a book buy its cover but you can judge the content by the reader!

If it helps there's a review of the Scooby, Evo and some hot VW Golf in this months Top Gear magazine.

A mid life crisis can be great fun.

I’ve been looking to replace my existing car for some time now and had a test drive in an Audi A4 2.0T SE Quattro yesterday. 220 bhp with all the trimmings. When we got back, my wife had no hesitation in agreeing to place an order.

I found the brakes extremely sharp and hope I can get used to that, but everything else was very, very nice. It’s quite understated, which I like, and the insurance quotes I have had so far are ok.

Steve, out of interest did you buy new? If so can I ask what sort of discount you got?

This week I'm likely going to order an A4 Avant, probably a 2.0T S line. They are offering me a very competitive trade-in on my A3 2.0TDI but we've not talked discount on the new car price yet.

Be interested to know how you got on.

My A3 has always had sharp brakes but you get used to them very quickly.

Bruce

Bruce,

Not quite as straight forward as that. What I’ve done is paid a deposit on the actual demonstrator that I drove. It was registered on 16th March, has 500 miles on it, and will be available on 17th June.

I have some misgivings about the fact that it will be in use between times and have an agreement about the condition and mileage when I collect it. It has a full spec. – heated seats, BOSE, zenon headlights, phone prep. etc, etc which puts the list at almost £29k. I will pay just over £25k.

Add in a decent p/x, plus the dealer is local with a good reputation and it seemed a good idea at the time!

I still have the option of recovering the deposit and I will be periodically checking on it, but I feel this arrangement will suit me.

Be interested to hear if you find a dealer offering a significant reduction. To be honest, I had asked during a previous visit but didn’t push too hard.

Steve

Cheers Steve.

Sounds you did alright to me. I'll not pop down to Somerset and thrash it to death on a test drive! Out of interest what happens if somebody does bend it?

Drivethedeal quote about £2k off the spec I am interested in on a main dealer UK car. We shall see.

Just did another visit.

The sun was shining and it looked good. There's a red mist forming. I want it now...

Good luck with your negotiations.

Steve

If you're looking at an Impreza, I am told that the STi is very different from the WRX. I borrowed an STi from a colleague for a weekend and I absolutely hated it - just didn't flow, the gearchange was really notchy and it was noisy and didn't feel particularly fast (even with the prodrive pack) - oh, and it's embarassing to be seen in! I understand the WRX is a better daily car from a friend who's had an STi. Obviously it was fast, but my caterham is pretty fast too!

I'd suggest you need to decide what you want from a mid-life crisis car. Personally, I want to drive a car that feels "right", without having to thrash it all the time to enjoy it. In my experience, that only comes with rear wheel drive (although the new Golf GTi is supposed to be fantastic), which narrows it down horribly. If you need four seats, and want something that feels "right" (although only you can decide what feels right to you) you're probably restricted to a BMW. Mercs don't handle and have horrid manual gearboxes/silly parking brakes. The Lexus IS200 is nice to drive but a bit underpowered (and suffers from a lot of tyre noise).

OK, so suggested solutions:

1) Subaru Forester turbo - no chav image
2) personal import Subaru Legacy turbo (there are a few available - eg if I remember correctly David Hendry, a main dealer) - I had a J-reg legacy turbo for 2.5 years about 10 years ago - the only car that my wife and I have both liked
3) Subaru Legacy spec B 3.0 - should be quite a few available second hand for under 20k, saloon or estate - v subtle
4) boring daily car plus a fun car - a Caterham (available from well under 10K, insurance 200 quid a year fully comp, low depreciation and way more fun than anything else mentioned above) or even a Mazda MX5. I had an MX5 15 years ago and it was ace. I'm on my second Caterham, and the first (with 60bhp less) was very nearly as much fun
5) BMW 330i - lovely smooth engine, nice feel

Probably lots of other possibilities too...

6) Mazda RX8?

A Caterham has to be a real consideration as an additional car but as I am a “small animal” veterinary surgeon I would occasionally have to put an animal in the back, rare but the idea of racing back to the surgery with a dog as passenger makes me tempted but I am just not that eccentric. There is a new Subaru dealership opening at Vospers Truro with an open evening tomorrow so I shall go along and view the wares before test-drives.

Paul, cant seem to find the Top Gear Mag you described, Nissan Skyline on the front of the current one, interesting but out of my league and the local Nissan garage is not that reliable.

Thanks for the advices so far.

David, it's the April edition with the yellow lambo on the front cover.

Page 152 if you're using Smiths as a library

Paul

Have had my WRX now for 5 years and love it. Great fun, very reliable,comfortable (just soaks up bumps/potholes with complete control) and quite a fast car for real world use. Never tire of driving it. The EVO would be very high strung compared to the WRX and much less usable in the real world, although I certainly enjoyed driving one owned by a friend (steering is fantastic). The newer Legacy is just too softly sprung to be much fun, though the motor is wonderful. I think the basic turbo Impreza (WRX) is just a great all around car and a bargain at that.

As an off the wall suggestion, what about a Volvo S60R? It has 300bhp (a 400bhp upgrade is available from specialist tuners) and has 4 wheel drive. It won't be as sharp as the EvoScooby brigade, but neither will it attract the type of attention that the bewinged rice rockets get.