My son is 18, Hes been working for the passed 2 years and has saved enough to get an evo. I keep telling him that he shouldnt be getting one for his first manual car. I cant really prevent him from getting one since he has saved up enough of his own money to buy one. Is there any advice I could give him on waiting for the evo or buying another car? I honestly do not think he is ready for an evo at such a young age. I trust him driving mine, but I dont trust him driving his own. You folks have any advice I could give to him to make him reconsider?

 

he should wait until he has an extra 3k-4k. then he could upgrade to a twin disk and attend a professional driving school. at that point turn him loose!

 

18+evo = evo in tree. I had my 1st sports car when I was 19 and I paid for it myself and that was a BIG mistake. I think at that age and being his 1st car it's a bad idea. These cars are not cheep to keep up. 900 for tires, over $1200 for a clutch, and if he drops the clutch wrong racing and trashes the trans-case that's $2800. I really cound not think of a worse 1st car then a evo. Get him a car under $2000 and let him learn.

 

even though ur son may have the self control to not speed in ur used camry or civic, he may not have the self control in an evo.... no one is born a driver, u learn it.... stop him from making a mistake

 

I was 18 when I got mine. If he's responsible enough, it's no problem. Update, I'm 19 now, I've got over 322 WHP (that dyno was before cams), *still on stock clutch*, had it over a year, and I'm right about at 40,000 miles on the clock. Not a problem. it all depends who you are and how you drive.

 

I agree, make him get cheap manual car first, then send him to race driving school. There was another person on this forum who did the same thing, he saved up his money, bought and evo blew the clutch racing, he couldn't pay for the clutch so he sold the evo for an automatic RX-8. You don't want that to happen.

 

Every person is different, But if he is arsing around in an Evo, it will get him in trouble faster than a normal or underpowered car. The evo is also an expensive car to drive, expensive oil, tires, warranty if mitsu does not take it away because they think he is racing and the clutch, (especially his first manual) A WRX might be a better start, but i really can't say, if he has a good job and can afford the evo, I could not tell anyone not to buy one they are awesome!!!

 

Hmm lets see, I owned a 89mx6 Turbo, 88strarionturbo, Galant Vr4 turbo, Then 89 toyota supra turbo. I am now 29 and married not that it makes a difference. What i am trying to say is that i have had sports cars growning up all 5speed and all fast. The Evo is by far the fastest car Ive had. If you love your son (which I know you Do) buy him in STI. No just joking Dont let him get it. He is too young ,I have seena lot of young kids in Evo's do some insane things. Dont get me wrong I do insane things 5am on an empty road. Its too much car for him now. Trust me when I tell you this.

 

If he is big on the turbo and awd, then I would look at a used 03 evo or an 02-03 wrx. Hopefully one with nice dings. It doesn't matter if it's his first stick, what matters is how much he knows about driving. I mean, it's not like it's an Elise...the learning curve for 9/10ths and below is relatively low on these cars. The real question is: How much of a horse's *** is he?

 

First check the insurance rates and see if he can still afford it.

There is nothing inherently unsafe about the evo, but he's going to have a lot of people pushing him to race and a lot of passengers wanting him to go fast.
The same mistakes that cause minor damage at 40 can be deadly at 140, which I'm sure is your fear.
Talk to him, make sure he understands the risks and insist he goes to a driving school where they take you out in your car and teach techniques (not where you sit and watch videos). Explain to him that they will actually teach him various maneuvers and proper driving techniques that most experienced drivers haven't a clue about. I'd be surprised if he wasn't willing to go.

Good luck

 

If he's as hard headed as I was when I was 18, you won't stop him from buying an EVO. All you can do is damage control. Driving school, Driving school, Driving school! Driver's ED days at a local track before the season is over. If he's not a responsible person, he's going to die in that car point blank, or at least have a serious accident. If he is a responsible person, he'll get years of enjoyment from it. Hopefully since he earned the $$ himself, he'll have a little more respect for the car rather than daddy buying it for his 16th birthday.

Make sure you point out you can't be driving on the freeway talking on your cell phone, eating, or not paying attention to driving without both hands on the wheel in general. A rut in the road will make the car tramline into another lane, or off the road entirely. I've even been caught off guard when simply reaching for the shifter for a second. This car is a handful to say the least, and that's coming from an experienced driver who even spent a couple years doing high speed unrestricted driving on the German autobahns.

Good Luck!

EDIT: Summary: This really is a race car that just happens to be street legal, it's not just hype. It rewards good drivers, and puts bad drivers in ditches and trees.

 

I'm going to recommend that most drivers stay away from the Evo. It's really not a beginner's car. Yes, it's extremely easy to drive, but you can get yourself into a heap of trouble if you don't have exquisitely fine-tuned vehicle control skills.

I have had about 15 cars before the Evo, and most of them were sport cars. I've been driving for 10 years, putting well over 350,000 miles on the street on all my cars. I've had a handful of track days. I've worked as a service technician.

So you can see that I've been around cars all of my life, and I'm saying that buying an Evo as a first car is a bad idea. Tell him that you'll help him buy it as his 3rd or 4th car. For now go buy a cheap, low power, lightweight car that's easy to drive and cheap to fix.

I recommend a Honda Civic, an Acura Integra, a Toyota Celica late 90s and newer, or a late model Nissan 240SX. They're good choices for a new driver, and they're still considered sporty enough to satisfy young drivers who like sporty cars.

And for people who already own Evo, I don't think some of them should be owning Evos because they're definitely not educated enough to handle and maintain the car the way it needs. These are the same people you will hear complain about things breaking on the car. Look at the thread of wrecked Evos and see for yourself.

Think of the Evo as being the last performance car you will ever own. That's because you will find few cars that can match its performance potential, granted you have the skills to wield it.

 

I must agree with first statement. NOT A BEGINNERS car. Its a professional rally car that needs a good driver.

oh and BTW..... yu forgot GTI as beginners car. GTI was my first car and Its a great, sporty, SAFER car than all those mentioned above.

 

Hey GTI's can get really fast with a few mods too!!!

 

Oh yea, it doesnt take a lot to get a 1.8T as quick as an evo