my mate let me have a spin in his evo X 300 today, albeit not a fast test drive one but heres the thoughts.

First the power. i wasnt massively impressed. although way quicker than mine, i found it didnt pull very well in the higher gears at low speed, especially as it only had 5 gears. in 5th at 30mph there was nothing at all, just pure turbo lag my vRS would have left him for dead no issues. but god when reved it goes.

second the steering. I was mega impressed. the was so much feedback it ws unreal, it made my octy feel limp and loose. no play at all just turn the wheel and it moved so precisely was seriously impressed.

thirdly. the interior was pants. everything felt hollow and cheap. id go to as far as to say it was only just better than the meganne 225 interior which is diabolical(cool lap timer built into the computer though)

would i buy one. i think not. great to drive but the whole package just wasnt there especially for the cost. but i shall be buying poly bushes for mine to try and get closer to the feedback of the evo

One came with us to the 'ring a couple of weeks back and to be honest it was rather dull. Simon (the owner) said he was going to get shot of it when he got back. Totally rubbish on fuel, brakes not that good, interior pants and not as quick as a Mk2 Golf GTi with a 1.8T conversion around Spa or the 'ring

That was a FQ300 SST by the way.

wow thats strange to hear, i always thought evos would have been worth the money, then again ive never been in one, i really need a decent interior for some reason nowadays

Totally rubbish on fuel, brakes not that good, interior pants and not as quick as a Mk2 Golf GTi with a 1.8T conversion around Spa or the 'ring

That was a FQ300 SST by the way.

A well driven Evo would destroy a well driven GTI, regardless of mods, around the Ring, without any trouble whatsoever. I'd suggest ability was the winner here, not the car.

I've beat 360's/GT3's and the like around the Ring in my vRS, however I've also been beat by much much less capable cars than mine, but driven by people with more ability.

wow thats strange to hear, i always thought evos would have been worth the money, then again ive never been in one, i really need a decent interior for some reason nowadays

Evo's are a quality performance car.......however they're not too comfy, expensive to run and a bit crude.

Not the sort of car you buy for economy and extreme comfort though really.

Hey LANCE, abit off topic but whereabouts in Northants you from?

Nice to see some more local people on here.

A well driven Evo would destroy a well driven GTI, regardless of mods, around the Ring, without any trouble whatsoever. I'd suggest ability was the winner here, not the car.

Nope, the GTi was clearly faster, particularly in a straight line. Not as good in the corners naturally. The same guy driving a 996 911T and a BoxsterS did pretty well for himself the last two trips

Hey LANCE, abit off topic but whereabouts in Northants you from?

Nice to see some more local people on here.

Hiya

Just off J15 M1, Hardingstone.

If you buy an EVO you got to get the 340 or above to generally feel the car come into it's own. I've driven an FQ-360 and although had the same problem in 5th as Simon said once you hit the turbo zone fook me it shifts any ground you'd make in a vRS would be quickly eaten up and overtaken. Once you then got to the corners forget it. No matter what you did to a vRS you would park your car in a hedge long before the EVO even started to make it's Tyres squeal.

Carl:thumbup:

second the steering. I was mega impressed. the was so much feedback it ws unreal, it made my octy feel limp and loose. no play at all just turn the wheel and it moved so precisely was seriously impressed.

/QUOTE]

Is this a Mitsubishi thing? I drove a 8 year old Colt and i liked the steering, very precise and responsive:thumbup:

Okay my thoughts seen as I own one, the 300 SST for reference.

Power is poor off turbo, really only good between 3500 and the rev limiter at about 7500-8000. The sst gets around this in sports mode or super sports mode which dosent drop revs below eitther 3500 or 5500 accordingly. On power it is failry quick but not lighting fast, reason is that it weighs around 1.6 ton so a lot of mass to shift.

Cornering is amazing with 3 active diffs moving the power between the wheel as needed and the speed you can go through corners at is scary with any over exuberence being met with very mild understeer, down side is you soon scrub the tyres off.

Interior is all hard plastic, however, the seats are very good and build qulaity is very good, no rattles and all neatly fitted together. Compared to cars with a lot of soft plastic it looks basic but serves its purpose. Music server sat nav is good but a stupidly expensive option.

Ride quality I find ffine although some may find it hard I find it just the right blend between sporty but supple, never crashes over bumps ect but does give you a sense of how poor the road is. Tyre noise iis excessive on poor surfaces but virtually ssilent at any speed on good tarmac.

Fuel economy I average about 25 generally with around 28-30 going to work and decidely less if playing.

One thing to note is the evo is really a modders car as the drive train chasis is good for 500-600 bhp, the 300 bhp can for a couple of grand be upto 450 bhp (although not the SST as the gearbox blows up, down to tourqe rather than power) with more extensive work pushing 600. Hence most peope but the base car spend a couple of thousand and have a super quick car which handles well.

Okay my thoughts seen as I own one, the 300 SST for reference.

Power is poor off turbo, really only good between 3500 and the rev limiter at about 7500-8000. The sst gets around this in sports mode or super sports mode which dosent drop revs below eitther 3500 or 5500 accordingly. On power it is failry quick but not lighting fast, reason is that it weighs around 1.6 ton so a lot of mass to shift.

Cornering is amazing with 3 active diffs moving the power between the wheel as needed and the speed you can go through corners at is scary with any over exuberence being met with very mild understeer, down side is you soon scrub the tyres off.

Interior is all hard plastic, however, the seats are very good and build qulaity is very good, no rattles and all neatly fitted together. Compared to cars with a lot of soft plastic it looks basic but serves its purpose. Music server sat nav is good but a stupidly expensive option.

Ride quality I find ffine although some may find it hard I find it just the right blend between sporty but supple, never crashes over bumps ect but does give you a sense of how poor the road is. Tyre noise iis excessive on poor surfaces but virtually ssilent at any speed on good tarmac.

Fuel economy I average about 25 generally with around 28-30 going to work and decidely less if playing.

One thing to note is the evo is really a modders car as the drive train chasis is good for 500-600 bhp, the 300 bhp can for a couple of grand be upto 450 bhp (although not the SST as the gearbox blows up, down to tourqe rather than power) with more extensive work pushing 600. Hence most peope but the base car spend a couple of thousand and have a super quick car which handles well.

I've driven Simon's (thanks again!) and its a cracking car, his has the clever twin-clutch box too, use it right (or stick it in sport where it never drops below about 4.5k) and its very quick, otherwise nice and easy to drive...

I was impressed mostly with the handling, everything it SO alive, makes most hot hatches (and I've driven many) feel loose.. the responses are amazing, conering speeds defy physics, steering feel is the best I've driven, brakes very good, along with good feel, not just on/off. The press have dissed the ride, but I found it fine... I'd certainly consider one if I was in the market for such a car