Interested in your thoughts on this one:

New STi Spec C - £28K, negative is its an import so extra insurance costs and ? depreciation or

the move to the dark side - Evo VIII FQ340 - £27.5K, 55 plate with delivery miles, full UK model dealer supplied etc, these seem to be holding money better than scoobs but cost more to run

So which is the better car to own and ultimately which one will be more fun, Evo magazine say the Spec C over the new Evo IX (not spending £33K tho the VIII would do fine)....have to say I loved driving the Evo VIII on a test drive a few months ago is the Spec C really better??

What a choice I love scoobs but have never owned an Evo!!!

 

You are never going to get a conclusive/definitive answer on this. All you will do is to stir up the same old arguments.

My simple suggestion to you is to go out and drive tnem both, THEN make up your own mind on what is best for you.

If you have the cash to be in this market then its down to (very) personal choice.

Good luck.

WB

 

After several scoobs, classics and a newage STi, My EVO is the muts nuts, wouldnt go back now Give me the FQ340 please


SL

 

I know what i would do, but i would rather not say on a Subaru Forum

 

I had the same choice and went with the Spec C. The Evo is awesome but I didn't get on with the handling: a bit twitchy and rapid move from understeer to oversteer being my main gripes on roads I know well and had driven many times in my old MY00 PPP. I also wasn't keen on the 4.5k miles service intervals. The final negative was reading a report by an Evo tuner (not totally unbiased) criticising how the 340 is upgraded using a piggy-back chip rather than upgrading the internals.

I love the Spec C. Handling suits my driving more and the grip is phenomenal. When it does go, it is very progressive rather than the sudden let go of the Evo. With a Miltek, power to weight is superior to the Evo and, although Scoobies are much more common than Evos, Spec C's seem much more rare than MR340's.

A guy I used to work with bought a 340 just after I got my Spec C and had lots of problems with it (brakes and gearbox primarily). Obviously that was just one car but I was please with my choice and he certainly wasn't.

Ultimately, drive both and see what suits you. If you do go for a Spec C, though, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Paul

 

Paul,

I agree with you feeling that predicability and the ability to correct a slide when on-limit is key, this rarly gets mentioned here- even by scooby nuts. Have you ever tried an old-school Audi UrQ? Thats the only other 4WD I can think of that also has such abilities you mentioned. JL

 

As an Evo owner I would say go for the EVO, but consider the VIIIMRFQ-320 as an alternative to the 340. As stated earlier the piggyback chip on the 340 is not great, and a 320 with an Ecutek remap will give in excess of 360hp. Also consider what mods you will carry out, it is relatively easy to get an MR up to 400hp whereas to get the spec c there would require alot more spent.

 

All good points, there really is nothing to choose between these 2 cars - noted the point about on the limit handling, I didn't know that. I have an 04 STi 8 ppp at the mo and some say that is edgy in the wet which sometimes it certainly - is an Evo worse?

Hmmm....might consider a IX 320 then because the leather sat navish thing etc are not enough of a draw I just thought a new VIII 340 at that kind of price was too good to be true...maybe not?

 

any reason for a 8 over a 9?

Evo 9gt 23k + £1500 tune = http://www.lancerregister.com/showth...threadid=89610

 

No real reason, as they are both great cars, but (and this is only from pictures), I think the Spec C does look the the dogs danglies. If it were 2006 Sti and any Evo MR, the MR would be my choice, but as soon as you mention it is a Spec C, there is only one answer.

 

Wouldn't say it is worse, it is different but, to my mind, equally flawed. I drove an STi 8 and was shocked at the level of understeer in the dry, never mind the wet. The Evo had much less understeer but it would suddenly 'flip' from understeer to oversteer in the blink of an eye. There is a large roundabout (with a 60 mph limit I might add) near where I live. In my MY00 I could drive it at about 50 in the wet with a nice power slide going on, slightest touch of understeer. Trying to do the same in the 340, I was fighting the wheel all the way round going from oversteer to understeer. The car just didn't want to slide. Maybe, with time, I could have worked out how to slide the Evo, but maybe not. In the spec C, the slide comes at a much higher speed than the MY00 and is even more progressive.

Similar things happened on the B-roads I know well and I really didn't feel confident in the Evo in the wet when going through a series of left-right-lefts at speed.

Since looking at the 340 (because it was the 'headline' model back when I was trying before buying) I've heard a lot of people say the 320 is an all-round better buy. The leather has no place in a rally-derived car IMHO and the sat-nav is a joke.

 

Nope, never had the chance. Would love to if anyone on here has one they'd like to swap a drive in my Spec C for ...

 

Cheers for the advice drove a Spec C today at Litchfields (thank you) with the Type 20 engine upgrade and suspension - Wow I was indeed blown away. I know Evo magazine said the Spec C was in another league and it really is. Everything just felt right about the car - every bit the match or maybe better than the 340. I had been thinking about getting the T20 engine upgrade and AST suspension fitted to my 04 STi but I think this has settled the debate!!

So there will soon be a(nother!) 04 STi apearing on the for sale board!

 

I have had a mr340 and currently have a jdm sti 9,i cant begin to imgine how good the new spec c is,but i know my sti 9 beats the pantys of my mr340 on handling maby not on power but if my car was 340bhp which by the way it will be next week.Then golly golly gosh would i pan the f#k out of a 340.

 

Watch the spec c video - 7.59 at the Ring - that might help you decide.

Interesting to watch as the character of the car is neutral to understeer on a VERY quick lap. The Evo would have been far more oversteery. Not sure what the best time is for a production Evo?

Of course the Spec C is a production line car and the Evo is a an aftermarket tune-up

Rannoch

 

go for the mr 320 ,with the change have the ecu mapped with ecutec.
if you go for the spec c make sure its black ,they look superb

 

Go for the T20... THE car to have..

Read this month's EVO's Tuner GP editorial

 

Go for the Spec C, even the older MY03/04 cars are more than a match for the latest Evo 9 so the MY06 will well and truely show it up
As for getting 400bhp.... they say its easy for the evo, well its just a turbo change on the scoob plus a remap, just as easy, but the good thing is, if you need to tune the evo to 400bhp to compete with the Spec C with 330bhp, which one is better?

Tony

 

It's a bit more than "just" a Turbo change on a Spec C to reach 400bhp.... and then that can not be taken for granted, especially if you still want the all mullering lowdown advantage of the twin scroll setup.

It's not fair to compare a Spec C against a fully trimmed EVO... compare a Spec C RA against the lighter weight EVO version and things are squared up a little. Although by accounts, the Spec C RA is still the better "hard edged" drivers car.

I would take them both out for a spin and see what you think....... but of course there are some Spec C's that are more evenly matched than others.

Regards,
Shaun.