Picking up Evo X Cross Country Trip
Jan 31, 2008, 08:10 PM
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FINAL REVIEW: (WARNING "LONG READ")
First off, the majority of you all are true Evolution Enthusiasts. This is your forum, and you all really know your cars well. What I am writing is, my review of my experience from the start to finish in acquiring my Graphite Grey 2008 Evolution X GSR after driving it from Huntington Beach, CA to Miami Beach, FL. 2986 Miles. Ocean to Ocean. + 100 miles without a tag as I was waiting for my MSO to arrive
.
Let me start off by saying, I have been very fortunate to own many performance cars through out my life, from 911 twin turbo Porsches to project supra's, STI's, multiple Z06's, Viper trucks, Nitrous fed Trans Ams, etc, Im serious the list goes on and on. Don’t flame for this, I work my *** off for these toys and if I can buy them and sell them without taking a beating or doing anything illegal () why not. Everyone I spoke too, all my close and personal friends, family members, were like EWW don’t buy the new Evolution, buy an EVO 9 or and EVO 8. I am serious everyone was against it. But since my buddy Jason had the 8 and I really didn’t want to spend mid to high 20's on a low mileage EVO 9. I had three options, keep my Z06 which I intended to sell anyway, buy from a local Florida Mitsubishi dealer at MSRP plus dealer fees, and all that crap. Or pick up a FULLY LOADED EVO X at $100 over INVOICE from Huntington Mitsubishi.
Let me say, I was planning on using capital one next day check to pay for the vehicle and when the dealer said they didn’t accept that form of payment I was like okay the EVO is out of the question. Then Adrian called me the next day and said I could finance through the dealer, minutes later I was approved over the phone, I had airfare purchased for 3, and next day by noon we were all landing in LAX, being driven to the dealer by a chauffer who said “WOW EVOLUTION that is a nice caaar” He was Asian, it was the way he said it was cool. Upon arrival and meeting everyone was super cool great staff at the dealer. They walked me to the car, and my wife’s face was like HMMM, and my buddy brads face was like I told you I didn’t like it. I was honestly like “screw you all”, I really like the aggressive front of the vehicle, and I know I can change the rims, and the back will look better with some new exhaust tips. Mind you my opinion, I am not some hardcore EVO lover to be perfectly honest. I tell them hey there ain’t no turning back now. An about ½ hour later we are putting gas and on our way to Las Vegas.
The clutch is easy going, I was used to my Z06 and all I can remember is Brad telling me don’t rev it so much you'll glaze the clutch and me laughing as I honestly didn’t feel I was revving it as the exhaust is whisper quiet. Three hours of traffic getting out of California during rush hour, and all I felt was poor car. But it took it like a champ. Seriously folks the interior yeah its plastic appearance has been reviewed by everyone, but I am sorry its a Mitsubishi, and yes its a 30-40K so yes they should have improved it only because of the pricing structure it deserved a high grade of material usage. These seats for the first few days I was impressed, loving the support bragging about how they were better than my $1500 racing seats in my supra. Until the third day of driving and those seats hurt like hell, I am serious my body felt pain. Because the bolsters dig into your muscle and after 12 hours per day of cross country travel it takes a toll. As of today, for my daily commute its perfect and solid state for the front two drivers and passenger. The aluminum trim package is awesome, the shift knob feels great, is it worth the money. Hey if it’s available on the one you’re thinking of buying and you can afford it, might as well. The trunk space was tight, and still is I just came from Lowes and bought a weed eater from Jason’s townhouse and the dam thing had to go in the backseat as it didn’t fit in the trunk. Mind you it was a $69 dollar one, like the cheapy small ones. We had 3 little bags fit back there for the whole trip. Navigation, a crazy 2,000 option, why did I buy it. Well it was the only graphite grey vehicle they had at the time, and I felt like well when I sell the car for the Nissan GTR, the next owner would probably want a fully loaded GSR, so I was happy to have it driving back across country, especially with the Sirius radio since we didn’t bring and ipods or cds. Short notice Navi is awesome in the GSR, yeah go get your pioneer or whatever you can find for less. But it’s a nice unit, once someone finds NAV TV let me know Im interested. The gas, clutch and brake pedals are nice with the aluminum accent trims they have. I honestly am not sure if that is there because of the added package or on all GSR’s but my foot has not once slipped.
Okay Back from dinner with the family, and explaining my self to them about why I bought the Evolution. I am telling you this entire experience is one that shows you that regardless of what people think, if you want something enough, just do it.
Last notes on the interior of the car, the road noise is much lower than Jason’s evo 8, his car sounds like a tank, it’s loud from the moment the door closes till the time you get out. This car is much quieter, however my GSR has something special, and it’s a noisy glove compartment which is annoying as hell. I hate interior noises they drive me nuts, so that things is going to get fixed very soon.
Sorry this review is going so long, I just have been catching up with work and haven’t had the spare time, so I wanted to explain everything as you can see so far. Now to the fun part. I wrote in someone else’s thread about how the best thing in the z06 was going from 0-62 mph in first gear, but then you hit 100mph and you still have all of third left. Its nuts its not enjoyable.
The GSR EVO X, FAST or SLOW however you feel it is, is FUN it’s a BLAST, you can run the car pedal to the metal and it goes. QUIETLY but it goes, if a turn is coming, just hold on tight. The Z06 you need to plan, decelerate, brake, and then gun it out of the turn. The GSR correct approach, proper gear and hold on. So much fun, I know you EVO 8 and 9 guys have that extra rawness in your Evo’s but this big fat heavy Evo X, is fun even with its slight revised refinements. Maybe not as fun as yours, but FUN FACTOR of 10 is my rating. My Z06, a low 4 on a fun scale. It was that fun factor that my entire dinner discussion revolved around, because the general public doesn’t understand the following of this type of vehicle. It was the same when I owned my STI, people thought I was nuts to own a BLUE car with GOLD RIMS. I loved how it looked, they just don’t understand.
Power the car needs more, I am ready to buy BOV, Intake, Exhaust, Intercooler Piping, Evec, tune, small list of items that will increase the HP 50+, to give me a more aggressive sounding and faster feeling vehicle. Yeah it sucks to have to spend more money on a car you just bought to go faster, but that’s part of the enjoyment of this car. As long as the mods I choose don’t blow the thing up, I will be happy. Okay all wheel drive is great, the 3 options tarmac, gravel, and snow are great when we went through snow storm in Arizona it was very handy. Rain storm in New Mexico, again very comfortable feel to be in this Evo versus my Z06. Transmission, it honestly feels fragile as hell, 1st to 2nd is great no problems, but every once and a while going into third it sounds different then going into all the other gears, nothing horrible just different. Hey I haven’t abused it or done anything that would deserve damage, so it must be something normal. I just hope the tranny can handle the additional HP I want the car to have within the next few months. Lastly exterior appearance, the GSR rims I personally don’t like them. I will keep them in my warehouse till the car is sold and they will go to the second owner with the car. I will buy some gunmetal rims in the next week to give it a more sinister grayish look. Why sinister you may ask, no I am not some high school kid, but I feel the front of this car looks serious, almost like the R34 skyline, it attracts me. Since day one when I saw the car. Now the back and the side, it’s a simple whatever to me. The paint, well it’s real thin, seen by the chips I received in a few little spots driving 3,000 miles. Touch up is on order already A39 Graphite Grey, if anyone needs the part number let me know. Under the hood, it seems like there is more room, and yes more plastic. But you know I like that look better then the rusting bolts on the EVO 8, hey my bolts may be rusting in 5 years but at least there is some plastic covering that. The plastic portion on the bumber, I have had some people suggest painting this, the color of the car. I may try it, once I know the part number to go back to stock if it doesn’t come out okay.
Gas Mileage, important when driving cross country, 3000 miles brand new car, well coming from a Viper Quad cab Pick up that did 9 mpg city, and 10/11 highway mpg. To this car, you know honestly feel very similar, I only got like 200 miles per tank in the Viper truck and this car is about the same. Obviously the viper truck had a bigger tank But still the EV0 X is horrible for a 4 cylinder car, even with its turbo and hp, it should have had that 6th gear, especially since its been in circulation with the evo 9 Mr.’s. But oh well 22 mph highway was all we got all the way home. After going through 8 states, 3000 miles, and no tickets all with NO tag, only a Huntington Mitsubishi license plate frame. It was a great vacation and new car buying experience. It took 4 nights and 5 days, with 2 main drivers and my wife driving twice, that was scarey. But all in all I would do it again, hey maybe in six months when the GTR is out. Well….
I am finally going to end this thing for all of our sake, this post, this review has gone way to long. Bottom line is regardless of what everyone says and thinks the EVO X is a great car if you like it. Plain and simple you may like it for the turbo and all wheel drive, you may like the new body style, you may like the interior changes. If you like something, that makes you want to try the car. GO FOR IT. Don’t wait, call up Adrian @ Huntington Beach and get an EVO X. Now if you have an Evo 8 or Evo 9, and don’t want to spend mid 30’s because its against your religion to spend that much on an EVO then you already know what to do. Keep your car and enjoy that. My only point is that just as everyone questioned my judgment to buy this car, I am very happy that I did what I wanted and not what everyone else thought I should do. I truly respect the hardcore EVO enthusiasts, and appreciate you all letting me post my personal review, Thank you all and drive safe! Remember I warned you at the begining about the long review.
ALLEN’S EVO X RATINGS: 0-10 (10 BEST)
EXTERIOR 7
HANDLING 10
POWER 6
INTERIOR 7
FUN FACTOR 10
OVERALL 8
Allen C.
2008 Graphite Evo X www.acewolf.com
2006 Red Z06 www.acewolf.com/z06/
Future Vehicle 2009 Nissan GTR
First off, the majority of you all are true Evolution Enthusiasts. This is your forum, and you all really know your cars well. What I am writing is, my review of my experience from the start to finish in acquiring my Graphite Grey 2008 Evolution X GSR after driving it from Huntington Beach, CA to Miami Beach, FL. 2986 Miles. Ocean to Ocean. + 100 miles without a tag as I was waiting for my MSO to arrive
. Let me start off by saying, I have been very fortunate to own many performance cars through out my life, from 911 twin turbo Porsches to project supra's, STI's, multiple Z06's, Viper trucks, Nitrous fed Trans Ams, etc, Im serious the list goes on and on. Don’t flame for this, I work my *** off for these toys and if I can buy them and sell them without taking a beating or doing anything illegal () why not. Everyone I spoke too, all my close and personal friends, family members, were like EWW don’t buy the new Evolution, buy an EVO 9 or and EVO 8. I am serious everyone was against it. But since my buddy Jason had the 8 and I really didn’t want to spend mid to high 20's on a low mileage EVO 9. I had three options, keep my Z06 which I intended to sell anyway, buy from a local Florida Mitsubishi dealer at MSRP plus dealer fees, and all that crap. Or pick up a FULLY LOADED EVO X at $100 over INVOICE from Huntington Mitsubishi.
Let me say, I was planning on using capital one next day check to pay for the vehicle and when the dealer said they didn’t accept that form of payment I was like okay the EVO is out of the question. Then Adrian called me the next day and said I could finance through the dealer, minutes later I was approved over the phone, I had airfare purchased for 3, and next day by noon we were all landing in LAX, being driven to the dealer by a chauffer who said “WOW EVOLUTION that is a nice caaar” He was Asian, it was the way he said it was cool. Upon arrival and meeting everyone was super cool great staff at the dealer. They walked me to the car, and my wife’s face was like HMMM, and my buddy brads face was like I told you I didn’t like it. I was honestly like “screw you all”, I really like the aggressive front of the vehicle, and I know I can change the rims, and the back will look better with some new exhaust tips. Mind you my opinion, I am not some hardcore EVO lover to be perfectly honest. I tell them hey there ain’t no turning back now. An about ½ hour later we are putting gas and on our way to Las Vegas.
The clutch is easy going, I was used to my Z06 and all I can remember is Brad telling me don’t rev it so much you'll glaze the clutch and me laughing as I honestly didn’t feel I was revving it as the exhaust is whisper quiet. Three hours of traffic getting out of California during rush hour, and all I felt was poor car. But it took it like a champ. Seriously folks the interior yeah its plastic appearance has been reviewed by everyone, but I am sorry its a Mitsubishi, and yes its a 30-40K so yes they should have improved it only because of the pricing structure it deserved a high grade of material usage. These seats for the first few days I was impressed, loving the support bragging about how they were better than my $1500 racing seats in my supra. Until the third day of driving and those seats hurt like hell, I am serious my body felt pain. Because the bolsters dig into your muscle and after 12 hours per day of cross country travel it takes a toll. As of today, for my daily commute its perfect and solid state for the front two drivers and passenger. The aluminum trim package is awesome, the shift knob feels great, is it worth the money. Hey if it’s available on the one you’re thinking of buying and you can afford it, might as well. The trunk space was tight, and still is I just came from Lowes and bought a weed eater from Jason’s townhouse and the dam thing had to go in the backseat as it didn’t fit in the trunk. Mind you it was a $69 dollar one, like the cheapy small ones. We had 3 little bags fit back there for the whole trip. Navigation, a crazy 2,000 option, why did I buy it. Well it was the only graphite grey vehicle they had at the time, and I felt like well when I sell the car for the Nissan GTR, the next owner would probably want a fully loaded GSR, so I was happy to have it driving back across country, especially with the Sirius radio since we didn’t bring and ipods or cds. Short notice Navi is awesome in the GSR, yeah go get your pioneer or whatever you can find for less. But it’s a nice unit, once someone finds NAV TV let me know Im interested. The gas, clutch and brake pedals are nice with the aluminum accent trims they have. I honestly am not sure if that is there because of the added package or on all GSR’s but my foot has not once slipped.
Okay Back from dinner with the family, and explaining my self to them about why I bought the Evolution. I am telling you this entire experience is one that shows you that regardless of what people think, if you want something enough, just do it.
Last notes on the interior of the car, the road noise is much lower than Jason’s evo 8, his car sounds like a tank, it’s loud from the moment the door closes till the time you get out. This car is much quieter, however my GSR has something special, and it’s a noisy glove compartment which is annoying as hell. I hate interior noises they drive me nuts, so that things is going to get fixed very soon.
Sorry this review is going so long, I just have been catching up with work and haven’t had the spare time, so I wanted to explain everything as you can see so far. Now to the fun part. I wrote in someone else’s thread about how the best thing in the z06 was going from 0-62 mph in first gear, but then you hit 100mph and you still have all of third left. Its nuts its not enjoyable.
The GSR EVO X, FAST or SLOW however you feel it is, is FUN it’s a BLAST, you can run the car pedal to the metal and it goes. QUIETLY but it goes, if a turn is coming, just hold on tight. The Z06 you need to plan, decelerate, brake, and then gun it out of the turn. The GSR correct approach, proper gear and hold on. So much fun, I know you EVO 8 and 9 guys have that extra rawness in your Evo’s but this big fat heavy Evo X, is fun even with its slight revised refinements. Maybe not as fun as yours, but FUN FACTOR of 10 is my rating. My Z06, a low 4 on a fun scale. It was that fun factor that my entire dinner discussion revolved around, because the general public doesn’t understand the following of this type of vehicle. It was the same when I owned my STI, people thought I was nuts to own a BLUE car with GOLD RIMS. I loved how it looked, they just don’t understand.
Power the car needs more, I am ready to buy BOV, Intake, Exhaust, Intercooler Piping, Evec, tune, small list of items that will increase the HP 50+, to give me a more aggressive sounding and faster feeling vehicle. Yeah it sucks to have to spend more money on a car you just bought to go faster, but that’s part of the enjoyment of this car. As long as the mods I choose don’t blow the thing up, I will be happy. Okay all wheel drive is great, the 3 options tarmac, gravel, and snow are great when we went through snow storm in Arizona it was very handy. Rain storm in New Mexico, again very comfortable feel to be in this Evo versus my Z06. Transmission, it honestly feels fragile as hell, 1st to 2nd is great no problems, but every once and a while going into third it sounds different then going into all the other gears, nothing horrible just different. Hey I haven’t abused it or done anything that would deserve damage, so it must be something normal. I just hope the tranny can handle the additional HP I want the car to have within the next few months. Lastly exterior appearance, the GSR rims I personally don’t like them. I will keep them in my warehouse till the car is sold and they will go to the second owner with the car. I will buy some gunmetal rims in the next week to give it a more sinister grayish look. Why sinister you may ask, no I am not some high school kid, but I feel the front of this car looks serious, almost like the R34 skyline, it attracts me. Since day one when I saw the car. Now the back and the side, it’s a simple whatever to me. The paint, well it’s real thin, seen by the chips I received in a few little spots driving 3,000 miles. Touch up is on order already A39 Graphite Grey, if anyone needs the part number let me know. Under the hood, it seems like there is more room, and yes more plastic. But you know I like that look better then the rusting bolts on the EVO 8, hey my bolts may be rusting in 5 years but at least there is some plastic covering that. The plastic portion on the bumber, I have had some people suggest painting this, the color of the car. I may try it, once I know the part number to go back to stock if it doesn’t come out okay.
Gas Mileage, important when driving cross country, 3000 miles brand new car, well coming from a Viper Quad cab Pick up that did 9 mpg city, and 10/11 highway mpg. To this car, you know honestly feel very similar, I only got like 200 miles per tank in the Viper truck and this car is about the same. Obviously the viper truck had a bigger tank But still the EV0 X is horrible for a 4 cylinder car, even with its turbo and hp, it should have had that 6th gear, especially since its been in circulation with the evo 9 Mr.’s. But oh well 22 mph highway was all we got all the way home. After going through 8 states, 3000 miles, and no tickets all with NO tag, only a Huntington Mitsubishi license plate frame. It was a great vacation and new car buying experience. It took 4 nights and 5 days, with 2 main drivers and my wife driving twice, that was scarey. But all in all I would do it again, hey maybe in six months when the GTR is out. Well….
I am finally going to end this thing for all of our sake, this post, this review has gone way to long. Bottom line is regardless of what everyone says and thinks the EVO X is a great car if you like it. Plain and simple you may like it for the turbo and all wheel drive, you may like the new body style, you may like the interior changes. If you like something, that makes you want to try the car. GO FOR IT. Don’t wait, call up Adrian @ Huntington Beach and get an EVO X. Now if you have an Evo 8 or Evo 9, and don’t want to spend mid 30’s because its against your religion to spend that much on an EVO then you already know what to do. Keep your car and enjoy that. My only point is that just as everyone questioned my judgment to buy this car, I am very happy that I did what I wanted and not what everyone else thought I should do. I truly respect the hardcore EVO enthusiasts, and appreciate you all letting me post my personal review, Thank you all and drive safe! Remember I warned you at the begining about the long review.
ALLEN’S EVO X RATINGS: 0-10 (10 BEST)
EXTERIOR 7
HANDLING 10
POWER 6
INTERIOR 7
FUN FACTOR 10
OVERALL 8
Allen C.
2008 Graphite Evo X www.acewolf.com
2006 Red Z06 www.acewolf.com/z06/
Future Vehicle 2009 Nissan GTR
Jan 31, 2008, 10:42 PM
#108
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Feb 1, 2008, 11:15 AM
#109
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The Z06 you need to plan, decelerate, brake, and then gun it out of the turn. The GSR correct approach, proper gear and hold on. So much fun, I know you EVO 8 and 9 guys have that extra rawness in your Evo’s but this big fat heavy Evo X, is fun even with its slight revised refinements. Maybe not as fun as yours, but FUN FACTOR of 10 is my rating. My Z06, a low 4 on a fun scale. It was that fun factor that my entire dinner discussion revolved around, because the general public doesn’t understand the following of this type of vehicle.
Big thanks for starting this thread and following through with a comprehensive report. In reference to the quote above I find it very interesting in regards to the fun factor between the X and the CorvetteZ06. It was in my mind that a high horsepower (505) Corvette Z06 would be the ultimate in fun. Would you care to expand a little more in regards to why the fun factor is higher on a car with 210 HP less and 300 lbs more in weight??. Thanks.
Feb 1, 2008, 03:26 PM
#111
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I have only driven my current Z06 10k miles, and I have been in my Evo X 3k miles. The bottom line daily driving experience, limits the Z06's fun factor ability greatly. However if I could have a free pass and not worry about speeding tickets, and going to jail, or crashing or even worse. Then that may be a different story, the bottom line is the Z06 is insanely fast for a street car. I am not saying the Evo X is slow, simply that on a daily basis I have 10 time more fun, driving the EVO x versus the Z06, yeah its great to romp on the Z06 but its an uncontrolable type of ride. The even crazier part is the new ZR1 with 620 HP supercharged, I dont understand how they are going to get traction with that thing if my current car can barely hold the power to the wheels. The Evo x is nimble and speedy, it lacks raw hardcore power, but thats honestly why its so fun and versitle. Dont get me wrong, I want some rawness to this X, and thats why I am just waiting for these companies to release some parts to the general public already. Or maybe its just fun shifting three gears to get past 65 mph versus 1 gear.
So my limiting the Z06 on a fun scale is only based on daily driving, If I put it on a track the Z06 would spank the hell out of the Evo x, just because of the raw power, even with the X all wheel drive ability it lacks and shouldnt be compared that way.
So my limiting the Z06 on a fun scale is only based on daily driving, If I put it on a track the Z06 would spank the hell out of the Evo x, just because of the raw power, even with the X all wheel drive ability it lacks and shouldnt be compared that way.
Feb 8, 2008, 03:11 AM
#114
Amazing write up, I'm eager to jump into a x as well but financially it wont be as easy for me being that I have an Acura TL also (talk about heavy cars). With as many wonderful vehicles as you've had what is your occupation ? And are you hiring, lol Seriously though just enjoy your x I like what you said about doing what makes you happy even if others don't understand it. And look me up when you want to get rid of it for your gtr 
Feb 8, 2008, 04:02 PM
#116
http://revver.com/video/355310/usdm-...type-s-1-of-4/
http://forums.thecarlounge.net/zerothread?id=3177228
Feb 8, 2008, 04:59 PM
#117
Good write up, I come from a very similar background of cars, and have lots of nice toys in my own garage. Glad to see i'm not the only one who Is thinking/took the plunge. I'm still really on the fence with getting a 9 or a X, so we'll see as time goes.
Glad you like it though!
Glad you like it though!
Feb 9, 2008, 12:12 AM
#118
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I had an 05 once and it was good for what it is. I traded it in and got a tl type s and it handles pretty well. Not an evo but agian for what it is it is awsome. The tl type s managed to beat the new g35 sedan and the Is 350 at a track by 2 seconds (Go figure) and that was the drift king driving all three.
Feb 9, 2008, 09:41 PM
#119
Handling is nice to, I once raced an evo in the rain and didn't do to badly. I lost of coarse but it was noble, bottom line TL's are just to heavy but you can't go wrong with heated adjustable leather seats, blue tooth and navi. here she is 
and I'm getting a white on white evo x like this one to match her.
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