Hi gents,

Thought this might be an interesting topic to discuss...

Have you experienced an evo (if so, which one) and how does it compare to your experiences with the fabled Impreza (again, which one)?

I'll handle this delicately as I'm aware this is like walking into the blue half of Manchester wearing a red jersey .

 

Never been in one, but always liked them. But couldn't live without my burble.

 

I've had a scooby since 2003 (currently broken), and I used to daily drive an evo 7rs (mainly for school run). The evo was in fantastic condition (direct import from japan).

the evo felt more competent than the subaru. It had less understeer on track, better steering response, far better torque etc etc.

I got rid of the evo as although it was technically a brilliant car, it just felt a bit lifeless and boring to me.

I was not sad to see it go, to be honest.

 

Owned an Evo 8 for 4 years, car was running 400/400 and was simple to tune.
Handling was absolutely fantastic , power delivery was not as aggressive as the Subaru but it did pull 2 bar of boost right to the red line.

Fuel consumption was shocking and they don't seem to fair well against rot and rust.
Sold it for more that I paid for it which was a bit crazy so they seem to hold money well.

 

I had Subaru's for 10 years and have owned an Evo 6 for the last 2.5 years.

The Evo is the better car out the box, but with a few simple mods the Impreza can be just as good on road.

On track a few small mods makes the Evo very very impressive, the Subaru would need a lot more mods to be as good.

However, i agree with Henrik, the Evo lacks that special 'something' that you get with the Impreza.

If i had the choice of any i'd be a STI Type R.

 

I had a 2 and a 3 good friends of mine have had 4 7 and 8
The only Subaru I would own over the above is my jdm hatch

 

evo 6,7, 8 and a 10 out of the box and basic mods they are a fantastic car, sound like any other 4 pot inline turbo car and a better weekend car than an impreza.

 

What simple mods would you be referring to buddy?

 

Whiteline rear ARB, drop links and anti-lift kit. Makes the handling much sharper and dials out the understeer.

 

Had my fair share Imprezas including 2 RA's, Blob STI and a Bug STI running over 400bhp but my Evo 5 is head and shoulders above all of the above in terms of power delivery and handling and I tracked them all.

I've never felt that the Evo feels lifeless, far from it, it's just slightly different.

 

Drove the Evo 4 rally art version, great car but found it a bit 'I want to bite your face off' aggressive

Scooby is much better to live with on a day to day basis

 

Extremely interesting reading - I've always got the impression the general consensus is Evo's are "better/quicker" but people love the Subaru's more... I do love the flat four burble

 

I think as an overall package the evo was always the superior car in every dept pound for pound

 

Problem when these comparisons is historically the EVO has always cost more than the Impreza or at least the UK variants... few years back there was almost a £10k price difference, so realistically you need to be comparing Evo's against Spec C RA's or S 202/3/4's etc.... not really against your standard UK STI's.

For the price difference you'd expect the Evo to be better.

 

This is very true, and I think if we're looking at the two cars objectively and honestly, the Evo is 'better', but at least for me it just didn't float my boat in the same way the impreza does

 

I will have an evo 8 one day. I love my subie but I love evos too. They are both iconic IMO.

 

When I was looking at new cars last year, the X was on my potential list but was considerably more than even a Premium spec STi which I ended up buying. Much prefered the 'raw' driving experience plus the bonus of a 6 speed box (and a better quality interior).

 

I read that last night. An interesting read.

 

I went from a hatch sti to evo 9 gt.. 2 tottally different cars. The hatch was alot better as a daily drive and with the forged 2.5 running 440bhp the torque was something else. But in my opinion you cannot beat the 9 gt for rawness, just feels like a go kart! Would be interesting with a few mods and a remap. Running costs are pretty much the same depending how you drive it.

If you havent tried an evo i certainly would, in an ideal world i would have one of each.

 

Hello mate how's it going?all good i hope.any pictures of this evo then?

 

Hello mate, yes good thanks yourself? Still on the scooby scene then haha.

Yes mate ill pop some up this evening!

 

Interesting reading, I presume he meant to put "BUGEYE" and not "BLOBEYE".....?

It's always going to be horses for courses and TBH the differences when on track are negligible dependant on modifications of course.

 

I've had both for the past few years. Evo 9 MR FQ360 vs a Blobeye Sti PPP.

Obviously the Evo is a higher spec so unfair to directly compare them but ultimately the Evo is more capable, having said that it does not justify the extra cost over the Scooby.

I'd be just as happy in either on a good road to be honest.

 

would you say the evo is more better in traffic as doesn't have the burble sound.

 

Not really, that'd only benefit other people who take offence to noisy exhausts, I couldn't care less about them and rather enjoy the burble.

If you drive them back to back today with a completely unbiased approach the most noticeable difference between the two is spool time.
The Scooby has terrible lag and spool speeds but comes on hard above 3k. The Evo is much smoother with its twin scroll, I'd go as far to say it almost has no lag or noticeable power surge as it spools. Better yes, but arguably less exciting.

Other than that Evo is a little more twitchy when pressing on, whereas the the Scooby is less agile but more confidence inspiring.

 

The quote that says it all.
An Evo can make a poor driver look good due to electronics but the Impreza will made a good driver great due to the lack of them.
An EVO relies more on technology than an Impreza.

 

The turn in and change of direction is much better on the evo out of the box, it is so much sharper and more responsive to steering inputs. However the turning circle is pathetic lol

 

Hmm if your talking about the Active Centre Diff then I'd have to disagree. In fact many Evo track goers remove this system and fit 'normal' limited slip diffs for a purer driving experience.

The ACD can make for a twitchy experience, and mostly only works when your foots planted, it's certainly not any form of ESP.

Never driven the Evo on track but have had the Scooby around a very slippery Brands Hatch and I'd have to say it doesn't take much skill to go fast, the car really looks after you. Certainly wouldn't trust the Evo going that hard.

 

Still a little sharper I would say and my comparison is based on my type r that had a newage quick rack and chevron increased castor newage arms

 

That is my point, people want the "purer" driving experience hence swapping out the ACD. They are also expensive when the do go!