1stinline

I purchased the latest sport compact car last night. On the cover it shows an EVO VII it confirmed the Evo Vii is coming as a 2003 model and may be out as soon as oct, 2002. It may be detuned to match WRX in performance and price though.

RaX

SCC hasn't confirmed anything yet. Only Mitsubishi themselves can confirm it by putting out a press realease.

All We'll Drive

iTrader: (3)

I read the article and they list reasons why they think that Mitsubishi will bring the car here. I dont think that anyone has heard anything that is a definate, SCC just make some good points, and I certainly hope they are right.


Justin

fridexter

But I can only wonder how much they'll cost when they come over. If they cost too much more than the WRX, then I'd probably just get the WRX instead. Of course, I'm hoping that it'll be cheaper than the WRX when it comes over.

All We'll Drive

iTrader: (3)

I think you will see it at around the same price, with about the same power. They dont want Suby to run away with the market

EvoDream

I think its gonna be a little more expensive than the regular WRX. Afterall, the EVO is a competitor to the WRX STi, not the regular WRX.

DocWyte

I fully expect the Evo to be around the same price as the WRX. It's going to be under $25,000 USD. That's the price point for all the "sports sedans" now. If you're more than that, you lose sales.

They'll probably bring out a 240hp version or something, just a bit more hp than the WRX to try to put it to the WRX.

I hope it comes over this spring, then I can wait a year and let all the 1st model year jitters get worked out...

hakaida

I agree with evodream that the evo is competition for the sti version not the regular wrx so it should be much more powerful and expensive as well. the evo is a more limited production vehicle than the wrx much like the sti so that in itself will make it more expensive.

LanEvo

but the 25000usd is just the RS which i don't really think they will bring over

DocWyte

You guys seem to be missing the point. It doesn't matter what the Evo is in Japan, that's NOT going to be the car we get here! It'll be like the car we get here, but it won't be the same thing.

Mitsubishi is going to HAVE to bring the car to market for under $25,000 or they'll get the asses handed to them. There are too many hot hatch sports sedans and coupes in that market sector as competition. Most people won't care if it's an Evo, or a Type R or a WRX. They'll look at the fact that they can get a WRX at invoice now for $22,000 and if the Evo is $27,000 they'll say, "Nope, I'm not spending another $5000 for it."

And that will be that. I had the same discussions about the WRX. Everyone on the Impreza forum insisted that it would be closer to $30,000. Geuss what happened?

gtr

iTrader: (6)

Well i hope it's not under 25k with 240hp. If they took out all the goodies they just lost a customer! Evo buyer should be a specialized crowd for people whom are hardcore rally fans or potential racers. Evo are driver's cars "that why an non A/c rs is available in asia" If they detune it too much it'll defeat the purpose of buying one because there is no point getting one and spending 6K to make it as good as the japanese version!

Wrx is a seperate issue. The STI is for the racers and wrx is for people who want an awesome everyday car. On the last generation subarus. They raise the regular wrx to 276 hp after the first year. I'm wonding if this is going to happen soon?

hakaida

If the evo comes out with near wrx specs then it will get spanked by the sti and theres no way mitsubishi is gonna let that happen. at least i hope not because i would have waited for nothing.

LanEvo

i m sure mitsu can think of something, coz the market is gonna go soon

1stinline

I think the EVO could sell in the U.S. at Japanese spec for 30k. I would buy one. It is corvette or M3 perpormance at a $10-$18k discount. If Mitsubishi detunes the EVO to compete with a WRX they will need to pull out a close to jap spec version to compete with a STI when it arrives. Even if the Lancer is detuned I am sure it won't take much to extract the power back out of it. I just hope they leave the brembos, Recaros, and sophisticated all wheel drive alone. I can easily get the power up if they detune it.

DocWyte

I think you can draw a direct correlary to the WRX marketing and expect Mitsu to do the exact same thing.

Subaru identified a small cadre of enthusiasts that wanted the WRX. While they had the STI and the WRX 22B and WRX RA in Japan and elsewhere, they knew that the US market wouldn't bear a $30k + Subaru. They just wouldn't be able to sell enough to warrant the amount of time and expense to federalize the cars for emmissions and crash standards. Remember these guys are in it to make money.

It's the same thing for the Evo. No-one is going to spend $30k+ for an Evo here, except for a perhaps a few dedicated enthusiasts. And that's nowhere near enough to defray Mitsu's costs of bringing the car over here. They're looking at the US spec WRX as their *direct* market competition, NOT the STI which isn't even in the US yet! Suby hasn't even confirmed that it's coming! And if it does, it's going to have to be under $30k, or else no-one will buy it. The $30k market is even more competitive than the $25k one and face it, the WRX fit and finish is a far cry from being competitive in the $30k segment.

Mark my words, the EVO will be under $25k and will more than likely be released without many of the do-dads and electronic this that and the others than the EVO VII has.

As much as I want an EVO, there's NO WAY I'm spending $30k for one. I'd rather buy a lightly used M3.