EVO vs STI

When I woke up this morning I saw and old issue of Car and Driver that had the title "EVO vs. STI: we test 'em!" And them I thought to myself, "what about GT4?, Has this ever been done before?" Well I searched and nothing came up so, I bring you this write up of the Subaru impreza versus the Mitsubishi lance evolution 8 GSR

All testing was done in A-spec and on S2's with no aids and an oil change, nothing else


Here are some numbers to take into account:

Performance-STI-EVO

Weight: 1440kg-1410kg

Skid pad:
1.15G's-1.15G's

0-60
3.991 sec(2nd gear)-4.63 sec(3rd gear)

0-400m
13.0630-12.926

0-1000m
24.043-23.766

Power to weight ratio:
4.350-4.180

Top speed:
170mph-169mph(rev-limeted)

Track times:

The "ultimate" track, trial moutian:
1'41.804-1'40.082

Nurburing:
8'02.577-8'07.501( im sure there is 1-2 seconds improvement!)

Tahiti maze:
2'25.827-2'28.984

Tskuba wet:
1'15.595-1'16.574

And now my thoughts...

Both of these cars are so close togeth, there almost like brothers from another mother. But there are so very diferent. The only thing that the EVO had an edge was in weight and horsepower. With 6 more hp and 30kg lighter, I was assuming that it would be quicker. But I would late be fooled, the od ratios in the trans mission delayed the 0-60 time greatly compared to the STI. Another thing was the track handeling for the EVO. I coul brake a little bit later than the STI, but the understeer going though the corner canceled out the late braking, which made it a little slower than the STI. Now the STI on the other hand was a little bit harder to control at higher speeds. But got though the corners woth not as much understeer as the EVO.

Some of you are wondering why I chose to do dirt tracks and wet tracks. So heres the anwser: As you may know, both Subaru and Mitsubishi are both avid competitors in the WRC. So I just thoguh I throw that in there.

So the winner in my book is the STI

P.S., if you want me to test on any more tracks, let me know

I've driven them a lot myself, and I must really say, you can't really choose between these by head, but by heart. Or can you choose between them? Yes, they are rally cars for the road, tuned in the rally world, 4 door cars with around 270 bhp, etc. But, while the STi has got an extraordinary engine/exhaust note, the Evo is a nicer drive and is easier to mod.

I think it's wrong to choose by stats and times, it's how they drive that's the key. The Evo is the better drive, more grip, more neutral, more fun really.

Also magazines has problem choosing between these two cars, some prefers the wild boxer note and the gold rims of the STi, some prefers the more playable chassis and better throttle response of the Evo.

For me, the Evo every day. But that's probably because I also can find a 1970Toyota Celica good to drive.

Good job! 👍

Whell,i have to say,nice testing there,the Evo or STi is gonna be a lifetime question if your asking to me,i preffer STi better than evo 8,i disliked evo since the 7th one,i like 1st to 6th,5th is my favourite.Anyway as i sayed,nice write up.There was some testing in best motoring,evo 7(or 8,not sure) and impreza spec.c,i can't remember who winned though,need to check it out!

Im kind of getting mixed results here, I dont think there really is a "winner" here, they are both raaly good cars

Under 4 seconds 0-60 in an STI? Gosh.

Anyway, very nice report, gets nearly every point covered (Accelration etc), nice conclusion aswell 👍

A few things that could be added though.

BHP,
Price,
What EVO and Impreza since there are loads of types (EVO 7,8 etc)

Don't take it the wrong way, it's a great report but I'm just trying to help

George

WRX STi and Evo 8 ale close calls indeed, but you can feel the differences. IMO, Subaru is more driver/driving oriented car than Evo. it understeers at one moment, oversteers at another, and from these two, STi feels more powerful because it does burnout and powerslides unlike Evo. Evo is more computer controlled, softer daily driver... and if we want to clearly determine which one is best, compare Evo 8 MR and Subaru WRX STi Spec C.. Spec C plainly kills the competition.

I thinks thats a good idea, ill put the price, but I dont think the bhp is fine where it is at, not here

EDIT: the STI is about 4,000 cheaper

when you give both cars, for me anyway, the Evo becomes faster and the STI doesnt improve. But like you said...i really dont think there is a winner.

This may go along well with the comparison.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedan/112_0512_rally_cars/

MT couldn't decide on one of the cars by performance, though they enjoyed the handling of the STI better (some oversteer, while the Evo was neutral) and the Subaru was also cheaper, so it edged out for a win.

I prefer the Impreza based on GT4. I've always had more fun drivin it than any EVO.

Ok, im going to do another test; Same cars, same tracks, but im going to mildy tune them. Just like any person that owns one of these cars in real life, im going to give it somewhat of a limit. I have decided to equip both car with the same parts and see what the end result is.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the part I have put on:
sports exhaust
sports brakes
racing chip
S3's(for the road only)
heavy duty single plate clutch
sports flywheel
lightweight stage 1
roll cage

The STI came out to 397hp and the EVO is at 405


Any other modifacation you guy/gals might think is important, please feel free to let me know

Good idea opendriver 👍

Hope to see the finished thing soon.

I agree with eiriksmil, choosing between these often comes from the heart, as is the case with me. Evo over Impreza any time for the fact I love the car and I know I'm not missing much from the Impreza because many of the variations drive so similarly. Good testing though.

opendriver19a

When I woke up this morning I saw and old issue of Car and Driver that had the title "EVO vs. STI: we test 'em!" And them I thought to myself, "what about GT4?, Has this ever been done before?" Well I searched and nothing came up so, I bring you this write up of the Subaru impreza versus the Mitsubishi lance evolution 8 GSR

All testing was done in A-spec and on S2's with no aids and an oil change, nothing else

So the winner in my book is the STI

Click to expand...

Interesting test, you dont mention if you fitted the active yaw controller to the Evolution? A "real" Evo would come with this as standard - unfortunatly in gt4 we have to purchase this seperately.

I can tell you that it makes a major difference into how the Evo handles corners, from turn in to exit its a much more agressive machine and lap times will tumble.

I would be very interested to see the test repeated with the addition of the AYC for the Evo.

regards

Dave

George Morley

I did the same comparison, in mine the Impreza also came out better than the Evolution.

Click to expand...

But mine was a more "real world" comparison. You dont see Spec C.'s and MR's on the road, you see the cheaper STI's and EVO's running around. I chose both of the most commonly sighet car/bodystyles and made it more realistic.
I mean, think about it, how often are you going to see a Spec C. and an EVO 8 MR duke it out? The cars are just to rare to be found on the street( ive seen 0 Spec c's and 1 MR)

I have yet to test due to my busy work shecdule. Ill let you know when I get a break.

Nice write up.

I'm a big fan of Subaru and I happen to own one but not to be bias I love both Subaru and Mitsubishi. Those are two great cars, I wouldn't mind owning a Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Evolution.