subaru guy takes a ride in shivs EVO 8
Mar 16, 2003, 03:02 PM
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subaru guy takes a ride in shivs EVO 8
hey
So Friday I was in the area of Vishnu performance, and thought i'd stop by to see shiv's new toy. I have known shiv for a few years mainly from the I-club (owned a 2.5 rs w/ shiv parts, as well as Vishnu stage 0 on my now sold wrx wagon). I have had the pleasure of being an "alpha" tester over the years for various products, and have always enjoyed watching shiv work.
As I pulled up I started to get a bit disappointed. I didn’t see any evo. As I approached the garage though, I say the evo being strapped on the dyno. *phew*. shiv was just about to do some more dyno pulls and invited me to watch. I can’t go into detail about what he was testing, but you will all be happy when he tells you about it.
The dyno pulls were quite impressive. The hp and torque curves are very smooth, and the car overall is really a nice package.
After the dyno runs (I think he did about 20-30) he had the car pulled off the dyno to do some work on a supra tt that needed some tuning. Shiv turns to me and asks "wanna go for a spin?"!!!!! Umm DUH!!! of course I do. it was a bit of a surprise, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.
so we pull out of the parking lot, and I can already tell how much different the evo is than the wrx. the suspension is much stiffer than I thought it would be. certainly not coilover stiff, but you certainly feel everything on the road. very nice.
as we drive down the road shiv "kinda" hits it, and I get tossed into the lovely recaros pretty hard. "wow" was my first thought. keep in mind the car is not stock, and running on 93 octane gas.
we turn onto the main road, and shiv plasters the gas pedal. OMFG. I can’t help but giggle (out loud like kid), and we are just hitting 70 mph in a VERY short distance. we head into a huge left hand sweeper, and I am thinking "ok shiv s going to show me how well the brakes work". nope. we take the turn and he hits the gas. OMFG OMFG! the car sticks like its on rails, or has glue on the tires, or...you know what I mean. I am now in shock at how well the car handles.
by now we are approaching other traffic, and we go by as though they are standing still. we head into a 20 mph right hand merge lane, and we take it at 50 or so. OMFG. the car slightly rotates, shiv fighting the understeer and correcting by balancing between trail braking and gas. this car handles so damn well it is freaky. I keep having to remind myself I am in a stock car. again we take another ninety degree turn at some sort of insane speed, and merge onto the highway. the merge lane is a long sweeper to the right, and we take it at Ludicrouspeed (yep, like movie :]). awesome.
we get on the highway, and shiv decides to show me how well the brembo's work. they work well. I am totally thrown against the seat belt, and now I am marveling at the entire package this car has to offer. I have always been a huge fan of both the mitshu and suby, and I have to admit the mitsu has the advantage at this point, by a bunch...
the ride ends with a insane speed off ramp run, another brake test as we turn into the street where Vishnu performance is. I am laughing out loud at this point. as I walk into the office, 2 wrx guys ask how the ride was. my face expression alone tells the whole story. they seem a bit excited, but kinda disappointed as well. the reality that the EVO is a better car, as many have seen, is getting to some wrx owners.
in review, the EVO is one kick *** car. I have a deposit on an STi, #1 on my list. but this probably just swayed me to the mitsu side. both cars go fast in a straight line. but when it comes to handling the twisties, the EVO has the advantage, by what seems to be quite a bit. shiv took the words right out of my mouth when he said "to get to the same level of handling in a wrx, you need to ruin the daily ride." I have had a 2.5 RS and a WRX wagon, and unfortunately he is right. there are wrx owners that will try to refute that, but having driven many subys, the difference is huge. now I was ion the passenger seat, so my impression is somewhat biased, but it was still very obvious that the EVO is a very different car. I could see myself getting an EVO, for the first time in a while, not totally upgrading every part on the car. the suspension could use sway bars, and maybe some bushings. minor engine mods should make impressive power. the interior isn’t as nice as the STi, but I still loved the Recaros, and the interior is not that important to me anyways.
I also wanted to thank shiv for the fun drive. driving with someone who knows how to drive is a really fun experience. I am not sure of too many people who could pull that sort of performance out of a car like the EVO, and do it with such ease.
so there you have it, a Subaru loyalist possibly jumping camps. see, us suby guys aren’t all that bad
josh
PS i MEANT 8 not 9 in the title. can a moderator help me out here??? thanks
PSS i really with i could explain more about the tuning and such shiv was testing. but i swore to secrecy, and he did say in a week or so he would have some packages ready for testing. you will all be very happy when you see what he has done. and this is just the beginning....
So Friday I was in the area of Vishnu performance, and thought i'd stop by to see shiv's new toy. I have known shiv for a few years mainly from the I-club (owned a 2.5 rs w/ shiv parts, as well as Vishnu stage 0 on my now sold wrx wagon). I have had the pleasure of being an "alpha" tester over the years for various products, and have always enjoyed watching shiv work.
As I pulled up I started to get a bit disappointed. I didn’t see any evo. As I approached the garage though, I say the evo being strapped on the dyno. *phew*. shiv was just about to do some more dyno pulls and invited me to watch. I can’t go into detail about what he was testing, but you will all be happy when he tells you about it.
The dyno pulls were quite impressive. The hp and torque curves are very smooth, and the car overall is really a nice package.
After the dyno runs (I think he did about 20-30) he had the car pulled off the dyno to do some work on a supra tt that needed some tuning. Shiv turns to me and asks "wanna go for a spin?"!!!!! Umm DUH!!! of course I do. it was a bit of a surprise, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.
so we pull out of the parking lot, and I can already tell how much different the evo is than the wrx. the suspension is much stiffer than I thought it would be. certainly not coilover stiff, but you certainly feel everything on the road. very nice.
as we drive down the road shiv "kinda" hits it, and I get tossed into the lovely recaros pretty hard. "wow" was my first thought. keep in mind the car is not stock, and running on 93 octane gas.
we turn onto the main road, and shiv plasters the gas pedal. OMFG. I can’t help but giggle (out loud like kid), and we are just hitting 70 mph in a VERY short distance. we head into a huge left hand sweeper, and I am thinking "ok shiv s going to show me how well the brakes work". nope. we take the turn and he hits the gas. OMFG OMFG! the car sticks like its on rails, or has glue on the tires, or...you know what I mean. I am now in shock at how well the car handles.
by now we are approaching other traffic, and we go by as though they are standing still. we head into a 20 mph right hand merge lane, and we take it at 50 or so. OMFG. the car slightly rotates, shiv fighting the understeer and correcting by balancing between trail braking and gas. this car handles so damn well it is freaky. I keep having to remind myself I am in a stock car. again we take another ninety degree turn at some sort of insane speed, and merge onto the highway. the merge lane is a long sweeper to the right, and we take it at Ludicrouspeed (yep, like movie :]). awesome.
we get on the highway, and shiv decides to show me how well the brembo's work. they work well. I am totally thrown against the seat belt, and now I am marveling at the entire package this car has to offer. I have always been a huge fan of both the mitshu and suby, and I have to admit the mitsu has the advantage at this point, by a bunch...
the ride ends with a insane speed off ramp run, another brake test as we turn into the street where Vishnu performance is. I am laughing out loud at this point. as I walk into the office, 2 wrx guys ask how the ride was. my face expression alone tells the whole story. they seem a bit excited, but kinda disappointed as well. the reality that the EVO is a better car, as many have seen, is getting to some wrx owners.
in review, the EVO is one kick *** car. I have a deposit on an STi, #1 on my list. but this probably just swayed me to the mitsu side. both cars go fast in a straight line. but when it comes to handling the twisties, the EVO has the advantage, by what seems to be quite a bit. shiv took the words right out of my mouth when he said "to get to the same level of handling in a wrx, you need to ruin the daily ride." I have had a 2.5 RS and a WRX wagon, and unfortunately he is right. there are wrx owners that will try to refute that, but having driven many subys, the difference is huge. now I was ion the passenger seat, so my impression is somewhat biased, but it was still very obvious that the EVO is a very different car. I could see myself getting an EVO, for the first time in a while, not totally upgrading every part on the car. the suspension could use sway bars, and maybe some bushings. minor engine mods should make impressive power. the interior isn’t as nice as the STi, but I still loved the Recaros, and the interior is not that important to me anyways.
I also wanted to thank shiv for the fun drive. driving with someone who knows how to drive is a really fun experience. I am not sure of too many people who could pull that sort of performance out of a car like the EVO, and do it with such ease.
so there you have it, a Subaru loyalist possibly jumping camps. see, us suby guys aren’t all that bad
josh
PS i MEANT 8 not 9 in the title. can a moderator help me out here??? thanks
PSS i really with i could explain more about the tuning and such shiv was testing. but i swore to secrecy, and he did say in a week or so he would have some packages ready for testing. you will all be very happy when you see what he has done. and this is just the beginning....
Last edited by josh; Mar 16, 2003 at 03:58 PM.
Mar 16, 2003, 03:35 PM
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hehe
i know i know.
i am ashamed to admit i am a moderator on the iclub. i want so badly to change the title .... lol.
i emailed the mods, hopefully they will change it soon.
josh
i know i know.
i am ashamed to admit i am a moderator on the iclub. i want so badly to change the title .... lol.
i emailed the mods, hopefully they will change it soon.
josh
Mar 16, 2003, 03:38 PM
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I assume when you say the car WASN"T STOCK you are refering to the engine, and when you said that the car WAS STOCK you were refering to the suspension, or was that a typo?......please correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway that is great, I hope that Shiv posts soon, so we can all hear what he did to his car. Must be one of the things he mentioned in his other post?
Anyway that is great, I hope that Shiv posts soon, so we can all hear what he did to his car. Must be one of the things he mentioned in his other post?
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Mar 16, 2003, 03:42 PM
#8
It's over 60F today and my car feel soft to me for some reason 
The car's response, ridgity, and stiff suspention make it more of a race car rather than for the street. Because of the way the evo drives i'm probably going to get 5000 miles on my tire 
. It's one of the most fun cars to drive 
. I'll let everyone know how it compares to a wrx with STi spec c suspention when my bro in law install those suckers.
The car's response, ridgity, and stiff suspention make it more of a race car rather than for the street. Because of the way the evo drives i'm probably going to get 5000 miles on my tire . It's one of the most fun cars to drive . I'll let everyone know how it compares to a wrx with STi spec c suspention when my bro in law install those suckers.
Mar 16, 2003, 03:43 PM
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SouthernCrane
you are correct. he has done some "stuff" to the motor, and the suspension is bone stock. actually i think he put a larger rear sway bar in the car, cusco to be exact.
from what i read the "stuff" is not what he has mentioned before. this was new testing of some "stuff", and he told me they should be releasing this "stuff" in the next few weeks. shiv is one **** bastard, and never releases his products until they have been beat to death on the street and the dyno. but soon enough, you will all get to see what he has done...
if anyone has questions (no "stuff" questions tho) please let me know.
josh
PS gtr, please do let us know how it compares. about the only suspension i ever liked as a daily drover on any of my subys was a Prodrive WR Sport Bilstein/Eibach Kit. but it still had a ton of body roll, unlike the EVO. and you are right about the tires. they are practically R compound....
you are correct. he has done some "stuff" to the motor, and the suspension is bone stock. actually i think he put a larger rear sway bar in the car, cusco to be exact.
from what i read the "stuff" is not what he has mentioned before. this was new testing of some "stuff", and he told me they should be releasing this "stuff" in the next few weeks. shiv is one **** bastard, and never releases his products until they have been beat to death on the street and the dyno. but soon enough, you will all get to see what he has done...
if anyone has questions (no "stuff" questions tho) please let me know.
josh
PS gtr, please do let us know how it compares. about the only suspension i ever liked as a daily drover on any of my subys was a Prodrive WR Sport Bilstein/Eibach Kit. but it still had a ton of body roll, unlike the EVO. and you are right about the tires. they are practically R compound....
Last edited by josh; Mar 16, 2003 at 03:47 PM.
Mar 16, 2003, 03:50 PM
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Your review really makes me wanna go out and buy a EVO right away but I'm gonna wait and see what the STi brings to the table or maybe even wait till next year to see if Mitsu puts more goodies on the EVO
Best review of the EVO so far imho
Best review of the EVO so far imho
Mar 16, 2003, 03:59 PM
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Hey, nice review Josh 
From the driver's perspective, the EVO is even more impressive. I routinely get into long debates with other magazine journo-types as to why the EVO works as well as it does and so much better than the WRX. It's funny.... on paper, a DSM's suspension is more sophicated than that of the EVOs. But, on the road, they couldn't be more different. It's a real driver's car. I'd put it up there with any other car I've ever driven (FD3S RX-7, NSX, F360, 996tt, Diablo, etc,. included) as one of the most rewarding cars to drive as quickly as possible, from point A to point B. The fact that it already has 370-odd dyno pulls under it's belt after only 1 week of ownership also shows how robust it is
Cheers,
Shiv
From the driver's perspective, the EVO is even more impressive. I routinely get into long debates with other magazine journo-types as to why the EVO works as well as it does and so much better than the WRX. It's funny.... on paper, a DSM's suspension is more sophicated than that of the EVOs. But, on the road, they couldn't be more different. It's a real driver's car. I'd put it up there with any other car I've ever driven (FD3S RX-7, NSX, F360, 996tt, Diablo, etc,. included) as one of the most rewarding cars to drive as quickly as possible, from point A to point B. The fact that it already has 370-odd dyno pulls under it's belt after only 1 week of ownership also shows how robust it is
Cheers,
Shiv
