i had the same question 5 years ago and i deside for the es (if you cant afford the ralliart), it have the same engine same trans and anyway if you are like us your going to change averything anyway the only things your going tobe missing is cruise control, fatory heathers,bigger brake disk's and a evo want to be cluster that you can get on ebay for $40.00, hope this help

 

I'd say o.z. because if its an 02-03 it looks nice out the box with the wing, lip kit and interior. I threw some rims on it, blacked out the grill and tinted the windows and now lots of people tell me how they like it. Although there are some body kits for the 04+ that look bad ***.

Also, i could be wrong because im not so sure on the 04+ lancers, but i think the 02-03 oz is easier to mod. I put 1,200 into a custom turbo kit and it makes a huge difference. As far as other cars like a honda goes, I like my lancer o.z. better than any honda because I.M.O. it feels much less cheap and things feel better thought up. Check out my car domain to see the turbo setup if you want.

 

It's the same motor, same degree of difficulty in modding.

 

02 03 OZ looks a hell of a lot better imo, but it depends on your taste. Don't let us decide

 

There's a few parts that don't fit the 04-06 very well due to small changes they made.

I know for a fact that the AEM CAI on my 02 didn't fit my buddy's 05 because moved the water pump a little bit. And the exhaust piping was changed for the 04-06 generation.

02-03 has more parts on the market. That's why I'd agree that it's a bit easier to mod. But the N/A mods won't do anything anyways.

 

yeah hey is it true that the OZ doesn't have an abs. and whats so good about the Ralliart I've heard from people that its almost like an evo

 

no its not

 

02-03 lancer same motor in es and o.z. 16G turbo is fairly easy to install and be running for close to 1500 dollars. I also think the 02-03 lancer looks bad with the evo vii front end conversion.

02-03 O.Z. has aero kit w/ rims and nice black interior with cooler gauges and trim.
02-03 E.S. has somewhat ugly blue interior with plastic fake wood trim and blah gauges. Also seems like theres not as big of a selection on springs and suspension parts.

04+ lancer not sure on, but i would imagine with the front end change the evo 8 intercooler wouldnt mount right up to the front without modification, and the IC pipes probably wouldn't run right up so easily.

All lancers = slow unless you boost...Even then kinda slow unless you dump money into them. Just try to stay away from automatic, it causes some problems with fitting a turbo kit.

 

No, sorry to dissapoint, but no it's not. 162HP FWD... It's more like a 99 civic si, Nissan Sentra Se-R or Integra GS-R if anything.

 

my main concern is that if I read correctly the OZ doesnt have a abs which i'm hoping I miss read

 

You didn't misread, O.Z. does not have A.B.S.

 

ES doesn't have ABS either for that matter. Besides, who needs ABS? Braking is for last place.

I personally prefer the 02-03 over the 04, but there are some advantages to getting the 04-06 that can't be overlooked. As far as modding goes, as long as the parts are still available and you are serious about it, you can sink $10k into your car no problem. So I don't think you'll have to worry about running out of things to do.

 

Well wouldn't having an A.B.S. you know help prevent accidents who's idea was that ha ha. To bad i have to wait til like April/May to hopefully get one . What are the first mods I should put on it?

 

Read the FAQ in my sig to figure that out.

 

Ok thanks, I can't wait until I get my car so I start to mod it and finally be able to say I have a car and its cool