I currently have a 2001 Honda S2000 with no mods and almost 70,000 Miles on it. I have had the car for four years now and I love the car and it has been good to me. The only thing that is getting to me is the 70,000 miles. I really do not want another S2000 I feel my car is very under powered when compared to todays 30,000 dollar sports cars. I know there are a number of people who have both or have owned both. I am looking for an opinion on the STi. I drove one and I like it a lot. But I have not lived with the car and I do not know if any common problems exist with the Sti that will cost me tons of money. BTW I live in NY and I can only drive my S2000 6 Months out fo the year because of the snow. Thanks.

 

my bro has an STI. it's a great car, but i'd rather get the EVO.

 

i second the evo. my brother has an evo9, and its the best car i have driven, hands down. i had a my99 wrx, altho good, it isnt anything special, the sti is nice, but the evo is better

 

Test drive one and the Evo! Then make you choice.

I have owned an '05 STi, if you do a little search in this forum you can find my thoughts and experinces with driving it. All good, but didn't like the seats, radio, and thin paint. I have spent a month behind the wheel of a '05 Evo MR and really enjoyed the experince (most impressive is the handling characteristics and smooth shifter). Even after that month with the Evo, which included one day on the track, I would still choose the STi for it's overall fit'n finish, interior quality, power delivery, looks, and package.

If it is time for a change, you will enjoy either car!

Mike

 

Both of them have new models for '08. I would drive the new ones also before you make a decision.

 

IF you want a better interior and radio check out the evo SSL model or just get the Sti. The seats and stereo in the SSL are pretty nice. The radio doesn't look great, but sounds good and is standard size so can be changed easily. The sunroof is nice too coming from a S2000...kind of like a compromise. Good luck on your decision.

 

id pick the STi, only because the mod-i-bility of the Evo would get me into trouble. its wayyyy to easy to get power outta Evos and wayyy to easy to get outta hand on mods. at first you may just want to reflash it and then call it good, but the lust for power always shows up, and the next think you know your running 10's@140 with 600AWHP!!

the STi is a great car, but a tad less mod friendly, it also makes a better DD IMHO.

 

Thanks for all your input. I drove an Evo 8 and I must say it is a very nice car but all I keep hearing is horror stories from the people who own them. Everything keeps breaking I had two friends close engines because of head gasket problems and one with tranny problems. The IX might be a better car but that is a risk I am not willing to take. I would take the Subaru over the Mitsu any day on build quality alone. Is there anything that goes wrong with the Sti?

 

Yeah, they get smoked by evos! I kid. I kid. Seriously though I think they are pretty bullet proof. The 6 speed is a lot stronger then the evo MR 6 speed. The 5 speed in the evo is probably the strongest of all the transmission options. Were your friend's evos that blew up modded at all? A lot of snake oil in the evo world. If you want more info on the Sti I would probably check out NAISOC or whatever it's called. Good luck.

 

let me shed a little lite on this:

i worked for mitsu for 2 years and was heavily involved with Evos and with WORKS(evo tuner). the only cars with problem ive seen are due to abuse, and lack of maintaince. the evo, along with the STi require active maintaince. you have to check your oil, change tranny/diff fluids and drive the car a certain way.

ive seen an 9RS with a blown tranny ar 987miles, and ive seen a 03 8 with 165k on it, running strong as ever. the 4G63 is one of, if not the, stongest 4 banger mass produced. it last 18yrs before mitsu pulled the plug on it.

the only repeating problems ive seen on evos:

fan control motor(TSB)
flaking BREMBO calipers(that BREMBOs fault if you ask me)