I bought my car new, and have had it for fifteen months. Lately, although the car still handled well, the sharpness had eroded a little bit. This is because after 10k miles, the stock Advan tires were mostly dead. After installing a set of Star Specs and getting an alignment this weekend, the car handles better than ever and feels great again! Hopefully these will last a bit longer than the stockers, I guess I will pony up for RE-11s if they do not. I had the tire store change me over to stick inside wheel weights, which is what the car should've come with from the factory. The OEM clamp style left small scuff spots and finish damage on three of my rims. Lame.

I recently had the car for sale, but that was due to this crappy economy. Instead, I used some extra money to pay the wife’s car way down, and decided to keep the Evo awhile.

Anyway, here are my impressions:

Good stuff
-Car has been very reliable, no major mechanical issues in spite of a 100whp increase beyond stock for over a year.
-The seats remain the most comfortable, supportive, and best OEM seats I've ever had in a passenger car.
-The factory HIDs are awesome, and the fact they are both low and high beam is just icing on the cake.
-The SAYC makes this my favorite driving/handling Evo I’ve ever owned.
-The overall fun factor is a solid 10/10

Needs improvement
-Glove box and driver door rattles are pretty annoying.
-Minor gripe, but in cold weather < 40 degrees, my second gear synchronizer is fussy until the car has warmed up for a good ten minutes. It is much better than my first X, which had serious second and third gear grinds.
-Fuel economy is a bit disappointing, and car is in need of better gear spacing.
-The interior is very low quality, but you can’t expect everything at this price point.


This car speaks a language only the enthusiast understands. My favorite part about it is the huge amount of control offered to the driver. It has lightning reflexes; I can place it exactly where I want in a corner, stop it precisely when I need to, and accelerate without wheelspin from any speed due to all wheel drive traction. Oversteer from SAYC is a blast. I saw a guy in an early 1G (pop up headlight) Eclipse with a FMIC pulling out from work. He saw me at the same time, and we both smiled and nodded. Man, I love these cars.

 

yeah dash rattles are starting to appear on mine now - 20kkm...

1st -> 2nd is a real pain, hopefully the redline mix will sort that out...

 

Sad to hear about these synchro issues I've been running the Redline cocktail in my IX GSR since first changing out the stock fluid (17k miles) and my transmission still shifts as great as it did the day I got the car (over 50k miles now). Hopefully new fluid will solve the issues for you guys.

 

Mannn I'm at 8k miles in only 3 months 3k was my trip from SD to MA and rest was b/c my last job was wicked far away. Gotta find a beater soon, sick of putting so many miles on my car.

I bet you're glad you got to keep you X

 

Noize, what is this, your 5th X?

 

Second.

 

Get a louder exhaust, i don't hear any rattles in my car (well i didn't )

The Evo is extremely reliable in my opinion, assuming you don't get too mod crazy, even then for the power levels, it still proved to be a great DD. It's an expensive car to own, but typically nothing really goes wrong. I agree with your posting, good review.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself...in all honesty though I think it's a very reliable car just gotta take care of it...the glovebox is the only thing that drives me crazy but im working on a fix for that

 

im glad you see the strong point of the car and you enjoy it.

Dont get fooled one more times with the "driver car" slogan LOL
Keep modding it until you cant hear anymore rattles. .
Rob

 

Great review Seth. I found that pressing
on the glove box a solid time or two keeps the rattles at bay. I agree with you on the fun factor. I can't imagine a vehicle that is more fun to drive given the price point. Even if you're not an enthusiast this vehicle will leave a positive impression on you.

 

Nice review. Good points you made.

 

yup, and my stock MR seats started creaking at 17K KM.

 

I agree on the positives.

On the negatives: Add Seat belt rattle (among others), stereo (amp), thin paint, aero kit misfit.
I won't get into fuel relay and stock tune either. Shifting issue is the biggest problem.

On the other hand I do get 25-29 mpg on my daily 20 mile commute. Pretty good for 400+ HP.

 

Try a different tranny fluid?

When I had the MS3 the shift to third was horrible, and I never missed a shift again once I swapped to MT90..the difference was amazing.

 

I was under the impression all of the mods drove Civics and/or Priuses.

I am disappoint.