shirokuma

ah..

The Evo 8 reportedly rides a bit harsher than a 7. My experience with a 7 points towards a suspension setup that makes the M3 feel soft in comparison. The recent M3 I drove was well damped with no-bobbling, but had a bit of roll and compliance. The Evo 7 was solid - for better and worse.

Harsh means that you will feel every single bump in the road. And the paint. Pebbles. Ants wandering in your path. Speed bumps will make you learn how to drive realllly slow up a small incline (or reallly fast).

However, that's the JDM Evo's. The American Evo may have a little more compliance.

I'll admit, after driving an Evo VII, my first thoughts were that it would be the first car I'd replace the standards suspension with something softer. You mileage may vary, though.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen

Longfury

when paul speaks u know that he knows what he is talking about

gtr

iTrader: (6)

I'd rather have a stiff suspention than something that rolls. Besides i get car sick I've driven a Ferrai 348 and a Dodge Viper. If it's about that stiff it feels like a normal sports car. Not a sports coupe like a mustang.

shirokuma

Well, keep in mind that many owners replace the stock suspension of the Evo with something even firmer! Evo's are on the short list of cars ready for track domination in mostly stock form - thus a large amount of owners are looking for that suspension setup.

IMO, a set of variable-rate springs that give up a little bit of instant-turn-in feel in exchange for some small-bump absorption would make this car quite liveable on a daily basis. But always keep in mind that 100 car owners equals 100 different ideal suspension setups. A test drive is usually the only way to really find an answer to these sort of questions - all the magazine reviews in the world won't help that.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen

Longfury

so paul...u r saying a progressive spring would be a good idea if the car is a daily driver and sees limited track/autocross action?

thats the type of info i was looking for when i started reading this thread

IMO if the Evo rides like a gokart i will be okay i could take it for the drive to work and back

shirokuma

I'm in total agreement there - I can't stand too soft of a ride, because I do get carsick quite easily. But there are differences in soft rides. For instance, a Forester could easily be deemed a soft ride, but actually it's quite good - no excess body movements, which is really what gets the stomach churning. Suspension setup is black magic, and there are very few "sports car" suspension setups that I personally like. The NSX type R has a very good setup. So does a Miata with some arb's to cure roll. I personally feel that MMC could learn from the latest (and last) GT-R's with the ripple-control suspensions. They were firm, but were able to at least absorb the small stuff, which is what really gets to people in ultra-firm suspension setups.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen

Yojimbo

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Mark F has not driven the car based on the posts I've read. That's not saying he doesn't know what he's talking about but I don't think what he is saying is based on his driving experience.

As for my 2 cents...I don't think this car will be any worse than any other car in America geared towards the sporty crowd. Why everyone thinks this car is going to be soooo much different than other cars released with a "race" crowd in mind....well, quite frankly it boggles my mind.

shirokuma

Personally, yes. I wouldn't discard the notion of owning a Evo simply because the ride is harsh - the fix is simple, not that expensive, and there is so many other qualities about the car that make ownership worth the modification.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen

M3lachsilber

I kind of thought the same thing....hence my posts..

rollo

As a clarification, I don't think British drivers prefer softer suspension as a rule. I think it's more that the twisty backroads (where you'd take a car like an Evo or an M3) tend to be pretty bumpy and rough, not to mention very narrow. So you don't want a car that's very stiffly sprung in those conditions.

I honestly don't think the US Evo VIII will be so harsh. Even the training booklet says "Riding comfort is slightly harder than ordinary passenger cars due to performance nature of the vehicle". If that's a concern on the same level as the "louder power steering pump" then I think we'll all be fine.

As for whether it's a car for someone who knows nothing about cars.. well, I'm not sure why you'd want to spend the dough on an Evo, but you definitely want a test drive first, and you'd be a prime suspect for the "Pit Pass" package, I'd say.

And for the record:
Fuel economy: City 18mpg / Hwy 26mpg
Maintenance: higher and more expensive than the average new car
Reliability: like any car, largely depends on how you maintain (and drive) it

MrAWD

I don't believe that the springs are the reason for the harshness that is mentioned above. The good set of shocks/struts will cure this way better then any spring replacement. Basically, you would use something that is a bit softer on the fast compression settings and you would be more then fine. I have yet to see the springs too stiff!


Fedja

4wdrift

Thanks for your input rollo. I thought no one would ever put in their 2cents on other considerations like maintenance, reliability, or fuel economy. I'd like to know peoples opinion on this, especially from the Evo owners out there. After all, haven't we determined that the ride quality is subjective, and the only way to determine if it is too harsh is to get your a$$ in one and drive it?!?
The gas milage is about the same as my Pathfinder which isn't too bad, considering the weight and horsepower. Higher maintenance cost are to be expected from a force induction awd car. I don't agree that the only factors or reliability are maintenance and the way you drive it. I personally drive every vehicle I own hard but always maintain it very well. This has given me various results. The NX2000 that I had before I drove the **** out of and never had a problem, other cars I've had I'd be nervous to take on a long road trip. I'm probably one of the only people that are glad to see go with the bulletproof 5-speed as opposed to the 6-speed for reliability purposes. Any other known weak points on the Evo?

rollo

Well, I did say "largely depends" For example, if you do a lot of high rpm launches, you're gonna fry the clutch quicker than if you don't do so many. If you don't let the turbo cool down, it's gonna coke up quicker than if you let it cool. And if you hammer the engine when it's cold, you'll wear it much sooner than if you let it warm up first. And if you leave the oil in for 5k (miles) at a time then replace it with whatever you can pick up at Wal-Mart.. well, you deserve whatever you get

That's the kind of thing I was getting at. But yeah I'd be interested in general "Evo reliability" stories too. VIIs especially.

A well-tested 5-spd is fine with me (and for that matter I'll do without the ACD and AYC although there are other reasons there as well). As a matter of interest, I wonder what is the RPM @ 75mph in 5th. I'll have to figure it out. I've found if you know the weak points in advance, it's a lot less scary when they turn up Plus you can perform preventative maintenance...

erikgj

iTrader: (2)

80mph is about 3500 in 5th

Max Rebo

I'm sure Mitsubishi will offer wheel/tire options for winter. They'd be crazy not to. I'd bet a 225/width snow tire would work... not sure what exact tire size would work, but there will have to be something.

For the Philly area, even the 225/45-17 snow tires on our S4 work well. Optimal? Probably not. But they work well. AWD cars can get away with stuff like that. A 225-width snow tire on a FWD or RWD car is not the best, however.