I've spent a fair bit of time in all 3. As MSM said, I was lucky enough to leach off of his S2000 for the duration of owning it (what like spring of 02?) and through its incredible... uh... changes.

In '04 I got my own Evo as a race car so we could stop beating the crap out of the S2000 by dual driving it.

I've instructed 2 different people with STi's on the track, both of whom let me drive their car the first few laps to show them the lines.

What everyone has said thus far is entirely true: the Evo is insanely fast, very easy to mod and work on, and incredibly forgiving on the track. The STi is not far behind other than the fact that the boxer engine is a little harder to work on (clutch installs, I've heard, are double what they cost in the Evo, for example. The S2000 has everything the other two don't: it is gorgeous, you can drop the top, it is a drivers car for sure (i had more fun driving the S any day of the week, and on track, than the Evo, even with the Evo almost always being faster). And granted, though not a major factor, a lot less girls will make fun of you for having the S over the other rice-boxes. How often do you find yourself needing rear seats and a load more trunk space? Obviously you either have something else to drive in the winter, or you manage the S just fine, so awd isn't much factor.

I shall continue later. And I'll write you an essay.

 

ive heard that all evos have tranny problems im not looking to foreward to tons of down time people i know with wrxs or stis have not had much problems with them but thats only them if you had to choose which would you pick between the STI or EVO

 

I have an Evo 8 and an S2000. Choosing between the two is physically impossible. I can easily say, whole heartedly, there are many days when I want to drive the Evo over the S. It is a phenomenal car. Stock boost is tons of fun, handling is great, AWD is god. In the rain, it can't be touched. But the type of handling, while great, is COMPLETELY different from the S. I still love my RWD. I will never get over how much fun V-tec is and how much fun turbo lag isn't. I know I'm probably not being any help here, but you honestly need to just get in one to ever decide. It's all about the type of driving you do.

 

well im pretty much set on trading the s2k but i want to know which in your opinionis better an sti or evo?

 

I have driven both and honestly prefer the Evo. I like the rarity not to mention the modding possibilities. The STI comes, in my opinion, a little too "done-up". I like that we get to start with something more base that has more customizing ability. Not to mention the STI doesn't come with ACD. ACD is Mitsu's differential techno device that makes this car incredible. You can set it for tarmac, gravel (rain), or snow. The tarmac setting makes the balance of force delivered to the wheels 40% rear 60% front. Gravel is 60% rear, 40% front and snow is 50-50 for best traction. It's an incredible little gizmo that I love getting to take advantage of.

 

The one time I got to drive an EVO I was impressed. I wouldn't mind having one, but I am not going to replace the S with one.

 

hmmm seems like there is a bunch of STI haters in here lol jk ok im going to look into getting an evo there are alot more rare and when you see one its like damn! nice hahahah

 

I've driven an 06 sti and own an 05 s2000. I don't like the seating position of the sti.... I feel like I'm in a fast corrolla. It is fast though.... very fast.

 

You've got those messed up. Tarmac is a 40/60 split, gravel is a 60/40 split. Front/rear.

PS, Last I talked to someone about it the STi does it automatically from 40/60 to up to 60/40 just the same. But the difference is hardly noticable from driving an Evo on track with the different settings. The only cars I've driven that I've felt significant difference that have variable power split is the Porsche, a new G35x and an Audi TT w/ quattro. But the split on those 3 cars has much greater variablity than the Evo or STi. Regardless, the ACD/Non-ACD should not be a factor, even coming from driving my '03 (no ACD) to driving a few with ACD, I noticed barely any "wheel" difference. Only the S-AWC is worth any mention, and I'd rather an '08 STi than an Evo X. The ACD, IMO is the stupidest pos they could put on the car, course the intercooler sprayer that it took place of was definitely the stupidest thing to put on a car.

What ofire said is totally true. Both cars are like driving a very fast Corolla, at least from a driving position/interior feel.

Anyway, back on topic of my review, and I promise it'll be nice and long (I'm gonna start by going through and commenting on things people have said).

As far as N/A turbolag response time crap. Throw a tbe, a tune, and some cams in an Evo, and you'll wonder what the hell turbolag is. Its awful, and even that doesn't fully remedy it. The worst time for turbolag is on the freeway. Nothing is worse than trying to pass a semi and realizing you only have 20 hp but, on the bright side, just downshift.

Though its a better note to end on, since MSM mentioned it, I thought I'd put it here. I sold the Evo because I was tired of driving a rattle death box. The Evo is about 1/8 as luxurious as the S, and like others have said, about 1/10 as sporty feeling. Sure, its faster, but if that were the only thing that mattered we'd all be driving some interesting cars. The reason I got into the Porsche goes off of exactly what everyone has been saying. It has almost all the practicality of the Evo (I never used the back seats much, and didn't need a whole lot of trunk space), all the speed and power and AWD of the Evo, and all the comfort, styling, and sportiness of the S. Needless to say its a dream come true, but this isnt' a review of the Porsche.

Styling is 100% better on the S, that shouldn't even be a question, the S is one of the most gorgeous cars in production (or... not).

Moving on to ace123's post: The Evo IS the car to choose if you want to spend little on a lot of mods to customize your car. Many MANY of them have had the shit kicked out of them. Best is to buy from someone we know has taken care of the car, easiest way to do that is to head over evolutionm.net and go to the Evo's in Utah thread and see if anyone has one for sell or knows of one. I've found the owners that really trash the car aren't ones posting. Sure, I raced mine for 3 years pretty hard, but that thing was still kickin strong after 52k miles, even the stock clutch (which goes pretty common on them due to idiot drivers... launching an AWD car is never a good idea, when the tires hook up, something else has to take the blow of power and "burn-out") was still in tact on my car.

Definitely consider modding the S2000 before jumping to the Evo. Our's was insane both with the supercharger and the turbo. But keep in mind pricing before you go crazy. It will be more per hp to mod the S2000 than the Evo (as is true for many N/A cars). Also, if you're concerned about a warranty, stick to Honda. The Evo's have warranty voided worse than ace123 suggested... Its more like "well, your 1 week old car has been driven off the lot, so we aren't going to replace a catistrophic engine failure under warranty, have a great freaking life, thanks for buying Mitsubishi" If you're worried about that sort of stuff, the STi is the way to go between the two, though getting used probably means its about out of warranty anyway.

Onto thedaveut's post: the yaw control only exists on the 10 (and non-usdm models), which IMO other than the interior improvements and the S-AWC (which includes the yaw control, it stands for super active wheel control), is a pos. The Evo, no matter the model, does practically drive itself, and even when you're driving at 10/10ths so you actually have to drive a little, it still doesn't feel like "you're" driving. Drive the S at 1/10 and you definitly know you're driving, and behind a wonderful machine.

Transmission: Only sucks in the MR, which you definitely don't want anyway, unless you enjoy spending extra money to buy the "grandma" version of the Evo.

Choosing between the two is not physically impossible, it really just depends on what you want in a car. As far as I recall, the S2000 wasn't half bad in the rain either (hell, I spun out in the rain in the Evo once on track). I dunno what she's talking about with the STi being too done up and the Evo being more base, they both start with practically the same things. If anything the Evo is too done up from the factory... The damn Advans last like 5k miles, just so Mitsu can win all the "stock vs stock" comparos in magazines. Coming from both an Evo and Porsche fan, its the same damn reason the GT3 and GT2 are so f-ing fast from the factory, Michelen Pilot Sport Cup 2s are, well, basically Porsche versions of the Advans on the Evo. Anyway, with COBB here, the modability of the STi is as good as the Evo, the cost of doing different mods change in price, mainly because of the boxer engine. They're turbocharged just the same as the Evo, so respond to tuning and other mods is about the same.

The Evos are a lot more rare, and typically do look a lot better (till you get to the current models...) I saw a very nice looking white one at the movie theater today, just beautiful... But still not eye-poppin as the S.

Anything else you wanna know, you know who to ask

PS. I noticed you've got the Isuzu for real bad weather driving. I'd keep the S, unless you're really starved for power, and even then, look into modding the S. Depending on your price range there's a lot of other good options to look at too, since you can manage owning a RWD car. Save up a bit at buy a 135i or a used C6

 

hahaha yeah the rodeo took a crap on me so and im trying to get down to one car instead of 3 haha i want something i can use year round and not have to worry about a rwd car anymore i like my S but i want more power and wanting to spen less money for the power the S is pretty expensive to get into when talking FI whereas the Sti and Evo are already FI so im still looking