I’ve owned a evo 8 since I was 19 years old, 10 years to be exact and it’s true, you’ll have to drive this car hard to get the true feel out of it. I don’t find it suitable for cruising, but boy does it feel raw and mechanical compared to modern cars. Great review!
They are good cars and very capable, drove my old one from Brisbane to Sydney and back and had zero issues, did a tonne of track days and still drove and boosted fine. But, the downsides if you want to chase performance is that the car won’t be able to safely handle 300hp at the wheels due to the wave springs in the gearboxes failing, there are a lot of cases of GTA owners with failing wave springs under stock power, as for the engine, 350hp is the furthest you could go before strengthening of the bottom end is required, the cam shafts are different from the manual Evos as well as the rods and some internals, obviously the turbo is different compared to the manual but in my personal experience, bolt ons and a good tune should see the car chopping alot of high powered faster cars but you can only go as far as your bank account allows
Great review, most of what you say is true regarding the Evo, it’s certainly meant to be driven….I have owned my GTA for over 15 years and it’s a great weekend car to drive over the mountains to our local wineries for lunch..and I might add I am a young 70 year old.😊
The Evo 6.5 is my absolute favourite. The Evo X arguably has a better engine, but it doesn't have that 90's over-engineering magic. Later iterations of the 4G63 began prioritising economy and budget.
Fun fact, most early evos still have the factory anti lag system installed. It's just switched off in order for them to meet GRP A regs. My 5 still has it, but I've been told to not use it as it will burn the turbo out in no time as it was meant for rallying when they were changing turbos almost every race.
I haven't driven neither but I feel like a Subaru WRX is probably a better all arounder if you keep it stock and for normal casual cruising with a occasional fun, it seems more forgiving. The closest I driven to a EVO or WRX Sti is a Kia Stinger GT AWD, which fits the same description (Turbo powered 4 door car) n that's very balanced, good performance and technology, I think a WRX is closer to a Stinger, have you thought about doing a Kia Stinger review?
Thanks for doing this video! By explaining that it only comes alive when driven hard, you've convinced me that I don't need an evo which is a massive relief. I drive an R26 Megane which is fun even at slower speeds (as well as higher speeds) and to me, that's more desirable. Being in the UK, you would have access to Renault Sport cars. Have you driven any/what are your thoughts on them compared to something like an evo/your r32?
Ah that's good to know, the R26 is the number 1 French car I want to try out, but was expecting it to have the same downside as this or the Civic Type R's, where they have to be pushed to feel anything. The only Renault I've driven so far is a Clio 197, which tbh I found very forgettable
@@HSGAutomotive def worth taking an R26 for a drive. That and the 172/182 would be the most fun at slower speeds in my opinion. Later Renault Sport cars became more capable and the fun became a little less accessible at lower speeds. Enjoy either way! Cheers
Shame you didn’t keep it cos anyone presenting their evo on RUclips isn’t humble like yourself, bad place to own one in the uk for obvious reasons. Remember as a kid going to the Nurburgring with track tyres on . My god it was noisy! Haha. The faults make it different , the faults make you love em
@@HSGAutomotive thanks for letting me know! I really appreciate your response ☺️ .. I’ve been trying to search for some but it’s indeed a rare gem. Sadly none that I’ve seen here in the US and although I see many in Japan, the 25year import rule doesn’t allow me to import it. I wonder how yours was imported
I'd imagine it was imported by a dealer, but here in the UK importing vehicles from anywhere is pretty easy, just need to be re-registered with UK plates basically
Hey mate, you said that petrol tank is small is there any way for me to modify it to put in a bigger one? Or I can’t I will damage the car I have no idea
@andy2906 Ahhh, perhaps... Except, I run STi's! I find mine to be quite focused, indeed! (Of course, I've never driven an Evo, though.) Reliability? You tell me, what other car you know that so reliably spins it's rod bearings at 100k??? Huh? Yeah.... I didn't think so! Haha! Two true objections I do have, though, are... (1) of course, being 6mt's, my transmissions are near-to bulletproof; ...and... (2) I've never had a single head gasket failure.
I’ve owned a evo 8 since I was 19 years old, 10 years to be exact and it’s true, you’ll have to drive this car hard to get the true feel out of it. I don’t find it suitable for cruising, but boy does it feel raw and mechanical compared to modern cars. Great review!
Damn that's a very cool car to own at that age
19 yrs old? Wer did u get ur money? To buy that
@@matperez1168 I worked and took a loan out and paid it off in 3 years. I earned my way into owning it 👌🏾
@@thisguy092 nice how much you bought it? Yeah most of us need to work
Unless our parents is millionaire
@@matperez1168 at that time, $23,000
Love these car reviews! Very informative and helpful! Always loved the EVO! 😊👍
They are good cars and very capable, drove my old one from Brisbane to Sydney and back and had zero issues, did a tonne of track days and still drove and boosted fine. But, the downsides if you want to chase performance is that the car won’t be able to safely handle 300hp at the wheels due to the wave springs in the gearboxes failing, there are a lot of cases of GTA owners with failing wave springs under stock power, as for the engine, 350hp is the furthest you could go before strengthening of the bottom end is required, the cam shafts are different from the manual Evos as well as the rods and some internals, obviously the turbo is different compared to the manual but in my personal experience, bolt ons and a good tune should see the car chopping alot of high powered faster cars but you can only go as far as your bank account allows
Yeah I heard similar advice on the wave spring in particular, nice one! Glad it serves you well
Great review, most of what you say is true regarding the Evo, it’s certainly meant to be driven….I have owned my GTA for over 15 years and it’s a great weekend car to drive over the mountains to our local wineries for lunch..and I might add I am a young 70 year old.😊
The Evo 6.5 is my absolute favourite.
The Evo X arguably has a better engine, but it doesn't have that 90's over-engineering magic. Later iterations of the 4G63 began prioritising economy and budget.
Fun fact, most early evos still have the factory anti lag system installed. It's just switched off in order for them to meet GRP A regs. My 5 still has it, but I've been told to not use it as it will burn the turbo out in no time as it was meant for rallying when they were changing turbos almost every race.
Ah that’s cool
gotta love that gran turismo music😎
I had this car for almost 20 yrs. Best car I ever had. This car is hard if you are not used to it. But its def not uncomfortable.
I haven't driven neither but I feel like a Subaru WRX is probably a better all arounder if you keep it stock and for normal casual cruising with a occasional fun, it seems more forgiving. The closest I driven to a EVO or WRX Sti is a Kia Stinger GT AWD, which fits the same description (Turbo powered 4 door car) n that's very balanced, good performance and technology, I think a WRX is closer to a Stinger, have you thought about doing a Kia Stinger review?
I’d love to, just getting around to finding one 😄
I subbed to this channel for the gt7 builds and such. But this is such good content too! Could you do them for other normal cars?
Cheers, glad you're enjoying it. And yeah there's tons of real world car stuff here on the channel too, mostly in the Beards 'n Cars playlist
@@HSGAutomotive I checked that after. Feel silly now🤣
Thanks for doing this video! By explaining that it only comes alive when driven hard, you've convinced me that I don't need an evo which is a massive relief. I drive an R26 Megane which is fun even at slower speeds (as well as higher speeds) and to me, that's more desirable. Being in the UK, you would have access to Renault Sport cars. Have you driven any/what are your thoughts on them compared to something like an evo/your r32?
Ah that's good to know, the R26 is the number 1 French car I want to try out, but was expecting it to have the same downside as this or the Civic Type R's, where they have to be pushed to feel anything. The only Renault I've driven so far is a Clio 197, which tbh I found very forgettable
@@HSGAutomotive def worth taking an R26 for a drive. That and the 172/182 would be the most fun at slower speeds in my opinion. Later Renault Sport cars became more capable and the fun became a little less accessible at lower speeds. Enjoy either way! Cheers
the attention part is true
i had a romanian in a merc tail me constantly who tried to race me on the highway lol
Ikr 😆
Lol, same thing happens every single time I drive mine ....😂😂😂😂
Shame you didn’t keep it cos anyone presenting their evo on RUclips isn’t humble like yourself, bad place to own one in the uk for obvious reasons. Remember as a kid going to the Nurburgring with track tyres on . My god it was noisy! Haha. The faults make it different , the faults make you love em
Haha cheers, it is for sale still on AutoTrader I believe, at least last time I checked
How much power can you get out of that GTA small turbo with a stage 1 tune?
Not sure tbh, probably worth checking Evo forums for details on tuning them
Which is the best Evo for everyday driver, don't want to modify it
Probably either this on a 10k budget, or for a higher budget the Evo 9 Wagon, which also has a tiptronic gearbox like this
Is the Evo 7 p plate legal
Very unique and beautiful car. Was this imported? How did you get your hands on this car?
I bought it from a private owner who had a couple of Evo’s, and yeah it was imported at some point in 2020 or so iirc
@@HSGAutomotive thanks for letting me know! I really appreciate your response ☺️ .. I’ve been trying to search for some but it’s indeed a rare gem. Sadly none that I’ve seen here in the US and although I see many in Japan, the 25year import rule doesn’t allow me to import it.
I wonder how yours was imported
I'd imagine it was imported by a dealer, but here in the UK importing vehicles from anywhere is pretty easy, just need to be re-registered with UK plates basically
Hey mate, you said that petrol tank is small is there any way for me to modify it to put in a bigger one? Or I can’t I will damage the car I have no idea
I guess you could fit an endurance style tank in the boot, but that's about it I think
Ayyyyyyye GT5 menu music!
Yeah lol, had to get some nostalgia in there
My X drinks gas as well.
I wonder if he knows the license plate is visible in the thumbnail. 😅
Yeah I sold it so changed the thumb, who cares at that point
OMG assetto corsa modders were right... the dash is that cheap looking plastic
That's JDM for ya, lol
It's still a 2000s econobox Mitsubishi Lancer at it's core.
It has the same interior as Mitsubishi Cedia (economy car). Just different colour. (Cedia:Grey/Evo:Black) 😂
_Worst:_
1) It's not a Subaru
...and...
10-flippin'-gallons...???
That's just... ridiculous.
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Wrx are not a focused car and engine reliability is a big issue head gasket and gearbox
@andy2906
Ahhh, perhaps...
Except, I run STi's!
I find mine to be quite focused, indeed!
(Of course, I've never driven an Evo, though.)
Reliability?
You tell me, what other car you know that so reliably spins it's rod bearings at 100k??? Huh?
Yeah.... I didn't think so!
Haha!
Two true objections I do have, though, are... (1) of course, being 6mt's, my transmissions are near-to bulletproof;
...and...
(2) I've never had a single head gasket failure.