NEW Member needs some advice

[Mark_Burr]

Hi there.

I am not an EVO driver yet and have just signed up to this site today. I have owned an Escort Cosworth, Subaru WRX and Nissan Skyline R33 in the last few years and at the moment I am in a Merc CLK 230K. I am due to get rid of this soon and am looking at the Evo 5 or 6.

Some advice would be appreciated. What to look for, what to stay away from ? what sort of MPG should I expect. Is it Unleaded or SU ?
Prices to pay ?

I am in Southampton, who should I look to purchase from?

Many thanks,

Mark.

[Bagpuss]

Hi Mark,

I'm just about to join the Evo clan myself, having ordered my Evo 6 RSX today.

I guess the first thing to decide is whether you are going to get a grey import, or an 'official' Ralliart/Mitsubishi UK car.

Frankly, I don't believe that there is much between the two. All it really comes down to is the 3yr warranty that you will get from Mitsubishi UK versus a third party warranty. In this area, take plenty of time to do your homework. If you do decide to go grey, then the warranty you choose needs to be a good one.

When it comes down to the choice of car, you can't really go wrong with either an Evo 5 or 6. My personal preference would be for an Evo 6 GSR, as this is the model that comes with all the toys e.g. Climate Control, ABS, Central Locking, Electric Windows, Active Yaw Control (AYC), as well as a decent colour choice. The same also applies for the GSR model of the Evo 5. If you do go for the GSR, then stay away from white, unless you get a really good price. It appears that white cars are more difficult to sell on.

If you are confident in you driving skills, then you could try the RS Sprint model, but this really is a road legal rally car, designed for Group N competition use. It also lacks anything in the way of creature comforts, but does have 330bhp as standard. It also only comes in white. Great as a track day car, but might be a bit harsh for everyday use.

Fuel economy is one thing the Evo is not good on. If you get 20mpg average, then you are probably doing pretty well. I have heard of people getting 27/28mpg on the motorway, but I've also seen reports of 11mpg on the german Autobahns. When you consider that the car only has a 50 litre (11 gallon) fuel tank, you are looking at filling up every 200-220 miles. Not forgetting that you must use Super Unleaded, which can be difficult to find.

If you just want to take a look at some cars, then I would suggest <!--http--><a href|EQU| http://www.parklaneuk.net target|EQU| _blank >Park Lane</a><!--url--> in Alton. They have a lot of experience with the Evo, and still handle all of the importation for the 'official' Mitsubishi UK cars.

Personally, I've decided to go for the Evo 6 RSX. This is similar to the RS Sprint, but has some of the creature comforts put back. It still does without ABS and AYC, though. It is also only available through Mitsubishi UK/Ralliart. Ideally, I would have gone for a new Evo 6 GSR, but I have to buy new (as it's a company car), and the GSR was beyond my budget.

I am sure that there are many others on this board with more experience in buying second hand or through the grey channels, so maybe they would like to add to my limited experiences.

Hope this helps,

Andy.

[Hornet]

I have not had the previous history of performance cars like yourself as my last car was a Mk1 MR2 but I have had my Evo 6 for the past 6 weeks and it is truely unbeliveable. I went for the Evo over the Skyline (R33) mainly due to the slight performance advantage and practicality of 4 doors. I completely ruled out an Impreza of any kind simply because they are too common now. Anyway to answer some of your questions:-

<u>What car to get?</u>
I went for a Grey Import Evo 6 GSR which I think has the best combination of price, performance and practicality.
Of course it depends whether outright performance or creature comforts is your priority. For outright performance then you should go for one of the RS versions (RS, RS2 or RSX). With the RS versions you get a light weight stripped out racer but no toys or not many toys to play with.

I went for a Grey Import rather than a Ralliart car because:
a) Grey Imports are a lot cheaper than official Ralliart
b) There is virtually no difference to a proper SVA Grey Import than a Ralliart car
c) I had heard of many horror stories of bad treatment by Ralliart Customer Care

I also went for an E6 over an E5 simply because they look better! There is not much difference between a 5 and 6 mechanically, however, the 5 maybe subject to the current Active Yaw Control Recall.

<u>Prices?</u>
Grey Import EVO 6 GSR - from £18k for second hand (I did see one for this!) to anywhere up to £28k for a brand new E6
Grey Import Tommi Makinen Edition - £28k to £30k brand new
Ralliart EVO 6 GSR - 10% to 20% more expensive than an equivalent Grey Import
Ralliart Tommi Makinen Edition - £32k brand new

<u>MPG?</u>
This is probably the worst point of the Evo. You can average 24mpg on 97 octane Super Unleaded. The Evo was meant for the Japanese home market only (apart from rallying) and was designed to run on 100 RON fuel which is readily available over there. You will have no trouble running an Evo on 97 Super as the ECU is self adaptable (within reason) to run on lower octane fuels. One question to ask when buying a second hand Evo is whether the car was brand new in the UK or was it run in Japan? The ECU adapts to the fuel first used so if it was on 100 RON in Japan before it was brought over to the UK then the ECU may become confused when you start putting 97 octane in. Evo's can be modified to run on 95 octane Unleaded by completely remapping the ECU but that is a whole new kettle of fish and is subject to a heated debate on another forum at the moment (see the 'Power Engineering' thread). The mpg combined with the small tank means a range of approximately 200 miles which is probably more of a 'gripe' than the mpg. The smile the performance will put on your face offsets this though [img]http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/happy1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e1-->

<u>Where to buy?</u>
Not from Ralliart! [img]http://www.ltregister.f9.co.uk/graphics/biggrin1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e13-->
I expect there will be replies to say that a Ralliart car is the only way to fly as I had this last time I posted about Ralliart cars (see the thread 'Differences between Ralliart and Grey Imports') but the 'Ralliart are great' comments were far outweighed by people who had bought Grey Imports and were extremely happy with them, just like me now!

I bought mine privately for a VERY reasonable price after getting a bit dissillusioned by my local import specialist. Where ever you buy just make sure it has a FULL service history as it is extremely important on such a high performance car. The Evo has to be serviced every 4.5k miles which is another downside to it although the servicing is no where near supercar money. Also for peace of mind a warranty would also be a bonus. These can be bought separately for a reasonable amount if you do not get one with your car.

I hope this helps. Read through the other threads on this forum to find out more about the Evo. I did and I found out a lot of stuff that you would simply not find out anywhere else!
If you would like to come and see my Evo some time I am in the North Hampshire area so not too far away from Southampton.

Drop me a mail at <a href|EQU| mailto:[email protected] >[email protected]</a><!--url-->

Cheers

Hornet

[Stuart]

Bagpuss
I see you are buying an RSX.Did you get the 3 year warranty with that?When I test drove one in the summer Ralliart told me it did not come with any warranty and I would have to spend another £1000 for the 3 year one.Have they had a change of heart and realise a car costing £26000 should have some cover!!!!!

[M I P]

Re grey or Official

I bought my EVO VI TME (based on GSR so all the toys) from SGT (official Mitsi Dealer)in Maidenhead.

I didn't pay list

I got lots of freebies thrown in (wheels refinished in silver,mud flaps, speaker upgrade, floor mats)

I have been VERY happy with the service I have recieved so far. They have been very accomodating/flexible

You get what you pay for:----

Everybody has different needs, both routes (grey/official) have their benefits

Happy new year

MIP

[Bagpuss]

Hi Stuart,

As far as I'm aware, the warranty situation on the RSX remains the same. It still costs an extra £1000 for three years.

As mine is a company car, I believe that the leasing company have done one of two things:

a) Decided against getting the warranty, and budgeted for failures within their maintenance quote.

b) Done some kind of deal with Ralliart to get the warranty included FOC.

When push comes to shove, I don't appear to be paying for it.

Once you sign on the dotted line, then the maintenance of the car becomes the responsibility of the lease company. If it breaks, they fix it, so I'm not too worried.

I do agree with you that at £26,000 some kind of warranty should be provided, even if it's only one year.

Andy.

[Hornet]

M I P

A Ralliart car maybe fine and their service maybe fine but just wait until something major goes wrong under waranty. I could tell you some horror stories that the previous owner of my Grey Import E6 had when he originally bought a Ralliart car, lets just say after 2 Ralliart cars he bought a Grey. You pay all that extra for peace of mind of an 'official' car and it amounts to nothing.

Obviously this is just my opinion and I expect there are many people out there, like yourself, who are perfectly happy with the service from Ralliart. I just suggest before anyone considers purchasing a Ralliart car to read the Thread 'Differences between Ralliart and Grey Import E6?' and 'Long Story....' then make your own mind up.

Cheers

Hornet

[Mark_Burr]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I have spent the last 4 days getting insurance quotes for Evo 5 and 6's. Starting at Decline, then £2100, then £1900 I now have quotes down to £1200 (not bad for 3 yrs NCB including 1 recent crash).

Next problem is who I look to buy one from. I have no objections with an import but want to buy from a reputable dealer preferably local to me (Southampton) or within reasonable distance.

Any tips anyone?