So today I decided with a couple of friends to test drive one of the newest Mitsu toys, the Evolution9. (Ended up with what the salesman called the 'GSR' one, new info to me since it didn't list GSR on the page or anywhere. The 'regular' IX.)

My friend drove first with the salesman riding in the back after the salesman warmed it up (Total of four of us), immediately he decided to 'get on it' and experience the thrill of turbo. It really didn't come sadly, I don't mean to bash on EVOs at all, but it really didn't feel all that much faster then the S2000. He shifted real hard and a loud BANG came from the rear which scared the crap out of me since I thought something broke. I asked the salesman and they said it was normal (???) and that it was probably the tires chirping (No).

When it came to my turn, I gladly hopped into the drivers seat and proceeded slowly. The car felt extremely nice and balanced! The shifts were a bit longer then the S2000 but definitely very top notch. I noticed three levels of traction control which I never bothered to play around with and some other neat things like a weak sound system (Never expected it to be good in the first place). I also noticed that even though the salesman said there was no turbo lag, there definitely was until about 2.5krpms, after that it felt like 'VTEC' hit.

I approached a red light with my mind set on launching this brand new 2006 EVO9 as fast as possible, but changed my mind even though the salesman didn't care. I launched slowly at about 2.5krpms and bogged horribly, proceeding all the way to about 7k-7.5krpms.

Shift. Release clutch...

BOOM!

Everyone reacted to that nasty crack sound we heard before, except this time it was extremely loud and 'feel-able'.

Maxed 2nd, shifted again at redline and another crack sound came, I began letting off amazed that the salesman was perfectly fine with my driving.

The car was great and all, but I'm just curious, what the hell was that sound?!?!?!

 

you say it didnt feel that quick.... exactly how many people were in the car with you when you drove it? cuz a couple hundred pounds surely makes no difference in acceleration!

 

Ya I figured, but we aren't exactly all fat asses xD

 

Probably the rear diff bottoming on the mounts...

 

It is the rear diff hitting the mounts/ car it is normal on awd cars which is why your not sup to bang gears in them...... Its better the slip the clutch alittle for boost and for the awd tranny. Way to go beat the crap out of a car with no miles on it.

 

You're not going to be faster than a S2000 if you have 4 people in the car.

Let's call the evo 3300 lbs and 300 hp. add one driver at 150 lbs you're at 11.5 lbs/hp. With a S2000 + driver you're at 12.5 lbs/hp. So you can see how the evo is faster.

Now put driver + 3 passangers at 150 lbs each you're at 3900 lbs (car + people) that puts you at 13 lbs/hp so you're most likely slower than a S2000.

The most a S2000 can hold is 2 people, if they are the same example weight of 150 lbs each you're just under 13 lbs/hp.

Now 150 lbs is a low average for adults, if you're average 175lbs each, the Evo + people will be 4000 lbs.

 

Note to self: do not buy demo car.

 

poor evo

 

Stock evo's really only trap speed at about 102-103mph which is just slightly faster than a S2000 (98-100mph trap speed). With AWD and some clutch abuse they get moving quicker but from a roll the Evo's are really not much faster than an S2000.

modified Evo's make some speed, but still have turbo lag. Just a boost controller, exhaust and ECU reflash gets you about 60-80 more peak wheel hp!

 

tempting, but rwd is more fun fo sho