guys,

i am a car lover first. i visit all the forums (subaru, mitsu, nissan, mazda, supra, etc). if i were to buy right now i would probably lean towards the sti. but do the research. the ralliart evo 7's have consistently beat the top sti's on the track. im not talking drag strip im talking japanese circuits. the fact is it outhandles the sti. the margin is slim, but it is still a margin. now the US evo doesnt have the electronic differentials, and it is heavier, but it still will be right up there with the sti. it is true that the majority of the weaknesses of the past sti have been revamped and the car has received nothing but great reviews, but in all likeliness, dont think that it automatically crowns it as the victor in the subaru/mitsu war. unless it can pull a g on the skidpad, it wont beat the jdm evo8.

 

"unless it can pull a g on the skidpad"...once again, raw numbers dont define a car...an M3 doesn't pull anywhere near a G on a skidpad, infact most roundels dont pull high Gs--yet they handle very, very well..sure the Evo jdm is faster around most circuits than a Sti 2.0 but the matchup stateside is different--we get 25% more capacity and all the other Sti goodness..in short the US Evo will be a good car but no match for the US Sti

of course we will have to wait until the rags etc start doing some comparos to rest this case

 

man..

you need to get updated on this..

try this fyi
http://www.apexjapan.com/news/hyperm...yper_2002.html

then read this
http://www.apexjapan.com/news/sti8/sti8.html

tell us what you think after this..

Evo used to top STi before..
not anymore..

and w/ the new age GDB. it's a new era.

btw.. you do know why mitsu is not in WRC anymore right?

 

That's a little misleading. The standard brakes and the brembos perform the same EXCEPT that on track days the brembos show less fade. For anyone other than those out AT the track then the other models are quite capable. They are better than the old 300ZX brakes which were equipped to a heavy car and weren't up to snuff for the job they were presented. Also, the 350Z is between 3100 and 3300lbs depending on the config. That's plenty less than the Z32 @ 3500+

I agree that they should have offered a different type of LSD but the vLSD is supposed to perform quite well until stickier rubber and more power is added to the mix. I wouldn't say they cut a corner here b/c it's great on the stock car... and they have the Base Model for those who want to add a different type of LSD(the base model is the perfect builders car)

 

Nissan hit the performance-to-price ratio on the head with the lower models. I'm not so sure on the track model(35k is steep). It's a sports car from the get-go... very little frills. I haven't seen that many mods out yet, but it takes some time on such a new platform.

CAI - 2-5hp
Exhaust(Y-pipe and back) - 10-21hp
ECU - ???

Turbocharging or Supercharging are going to be the way to eek out a good amount of power, and there are already a few companies doing so. GReddy is in the 350hp range, $tealin is around that with their S/C setup, and Power Enterprises is going for 400hp. $5000 and up. Looks like more will require some bottom end work.

 

The magazines. =)

 

rich, fyi, i read that article months ago.....back when it came out. as i stated previously, they've seemed to fix most of the problems that were associated with the sti. while the review is favorable, at no point is an evolution or any type of comparison mentioned once in the article.

you are taking one example of an aftermarket tuner car which clearly had more invested in it than the others. that is a moot point. what matters is the in-house companies who develop the cars (i.e. ralliart). a standard evo 7 holds the edge over its sti competitor. there should be no argument there. the sti is just too tame and suffers from its understeer and more "comfortable" suspension. it looks as if subaru has listened and solved most of these problems with the new version. still, it has not been held up against the new evo 8, which has made very significant improvements. it would be illogical to think anything until the cars are pitted next to each other at the track. but the advances mitsu has made to an already practically flawless car make it hard to believe that subaru has already won the war when you haven't even seen a review yet for the evo.

also, in case you missed it, mitsu did not drop out of wrc. they were forced to consider it, due to $$$ issues. however, they were able to remain in it and are even working on a new platform for the evolution (i.e. colt) which no doubt will be one scary machine.

as for stististi, and anyone else who feels subaru has come out on top already, dont kid yourselves. mitsu of america released a bare bones evo for two reasons: one, to establish the market, and two, to keep it under $29,000. you can bet your buckle that mitsu is already working on bringing the full-fledged jdm spec ralliart evo once the market is there. in fact, dont be surprised to see it within a year's release of the US sti here.

 

not just monetary issues

one factor is due to the characterics of the Evo in the race

Evo 7 WRC 1 had major suspension problems.

WRC 2 tried to eliminate most of them

but the unstable handling behavior nature of the car is hard to adapt for most drivers..

major swing between oversteer to understeer in a matter of seconds.

plus mitsu had been trouble w/ it's fraud activity w/ the jpn goverment.
i am a huge fan of Evo..
and always will be.

it's just i am buying the USDM Evo cuz it's not it represent the Evo image i have in my heart.

i truelly believe Mitsu will be great since their coop w/ Daimlyer Chrysler.
and its GDI technology will mos def get them a spot at any-- ANY racing events in the world.. for years to come..

GDI is the future....

Evo8 JDM is impressive doubtless to say..
but we dont' live in Jpn, do we?

how you gonna solve the emmision issue when you bring it to the state? we are getting a engine is more detuned than the JDM version. doens't that **** you off?
ACD AYC are maybe for the "incapable" drivers out there. i ll give you that.. i admit i dont' possess any major motor sports talent.
but i have passion.. i wanna enjoy that technology that makes the Evo so successful.. thats what matters to me..
for my money i just wanna get whatever car that make me happy the most.. for now.. it's the STi.

 

i agree completely........right now that would be my choice as well......there are still a few things i need to see though (i.e. weight, performance reviews) etc.

there could not be a better time for japanese car lovers then the next 5-10 years. and we have subaru and mitsu, among others, to thank for that.


p.s. the detuned engine is the least of my concerns in the evo. this is not a case of completely different engines here. the drop is from a more restrictive exhaust, cat, and different ecu. those are all things i plan on changing anyway .

 

thx for clarifying that.


so what exactly went wrong??

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by samurai
[B]Mine in terms of hi perf Japanese cars?



4.) My dad's 240Z. Why this one? Its a classic, smog exempt, and very cool. The bargain sports car of it's day. ~$5000 in 1971, but with the inflation and import taxes setting in, it would probably be ~30,000 now a days new.. They were selling refurbished 240Zs in Cali for $35,000 at the nearby Nissan Dealer in Walnut Creek!!! You get used to the gas fumes sucked in to the rear by the swirling winds at the rear end of the car after a while. One more thing.. SU CARBS SUCK!!!


I really like 240z's. That is going to be my first car. Of course I won't be getting a refurbished one or even a 240 at that. Maybe a zx?

 

maybe we should find out.

let me call up some buds from JPn..