So tonight I went shopping. Trying to stay neutral, I decided that I would drive both the STI and Evo in one sitting, back to back, with dealers that would let me take each out for a real test drive.

Here are my reflections:
Evo:
- Wicked handling. It just reacts to the drivers inputs in a way that the STI can't. I am not saying that it is better. In fact, this is the biggest turnoff to me as a daily driver car that I will also use for trips. This does NOT mean that the STI has inferior balance, in fact, I believe that all facets of handling combined, the STI is superior for me in this regard.
- Interior quality. The reality of this is that the evo is far more solid and respectable in the interior than I had anticipated. In some ways, the Evo feels more solid than the STI. The doors have a solid thunk and the interior feels tight. Many of the interior switches are of equal quality. Tactile feel matters to me, so I was pleased to see this.
STI:
- Braking. I don't care what the magazines say, the Evo I drove did not brake as well as the STI I drove. The initial bite wasnt there, and my confidence when hauling it down from real speed wasn't as high. I believe the steering response of the Evo may have contributed to this
- Suspension. It really doesnt handly anything like the Evo. I, for one, am glad. The STI feels more poised under hard acceleration than the Evo to me, and there is a familiarity with the chassis that appeals to me. My WRX may have blinded me to some paper truths, but it still bonds with me more than the Evo.
- Power. Wow, the Evo feels more powerful, although I know the STI is. I suspect this is really just a matter of boost transitions...I'll happily take care of that.
- Transmission. So smooth. I love it. The Evo 8 is clearly inferior, or at least the one I drove is. Gearing aside, the STI 6-speed simply feels more sorted and solid. The Evo was notchy and clunky to me. Who knows what the first 109 miles of test drive have done.

These opinions are mine, I just felt compelled to share them. Ultimately, I am choosing the STI, but I'm sure glad I kept my mind open. All those yummy cusco susp pieces and aqua internals will move over so, so nicely ;)
Rob

good comparison. I haven't driven either.

i've done the same.. i actually went and drove the Evo 3 different times (once even at night) before going with the sti.

I agree with you everywhere, except the power.
I drove a silver broken in Evo, and a red new evo..
Compared then a broken in test STi. The sti pulled harder than anything i've ever driven. even my buddy (whom owns a camed WS6) said it pulled WAY harder than the evo (he’s driven an evo too). My modded WRX even felt stronger than either evo I drove.

The big turn off to me about the evo was the interior, I just didn’t like it at all. And when you spend so much time looking at it, I like it to be somewhat pleasing (and I’m not talking about luxury woods and that crap).

Can’t wait till I can take delivery on my sti.. should be > 2 weeks now.

how can u just goto a dealer and get to test drive 2 japanese supercars? did they actually think u were gona buy it?

Originally posted by BANG4BOOST
how can u just goto a dealer and get to test drive 2 japanese supercars? did they actually think u were gona buy it?

By walking in and asking to drive them.:D Dealers are desperate to sell cars during the winter.

p.s. Neither of these cars are even close to being super cars.

It helps to drive in in something worth about double ;) or in my case, about 1/10th. In all seriousness, I made appointments. Pretty much as simple as that.

Understand too, I am actually looking to purchase one, not just screw around. If I want one, I'll buy one, but I'm not going to that without driving it first, and I made that quite clear.

The Evo brakes didn't feel strong until 500 miles or so.

Originally posted by BANG4BOOST
how can u just goto a dealer and get to test drive 2 japanese supercars? did they actually think u were gona buy it?

?

A 4 door Impreza and Lancer are not supercars lol

I dunno where u live, but you can go test drive an Evo or Sti around here with a drivers license

Originally posted by Nick M
?

A 4 door Impreza and Lancer are not supercars lol

I dunno where u live, but you can go test drive an Evo or Sti around here with a drivers license

They would not let me test drive either the sti or evo when my friend was going to buy his sti(which he later did) He had the cash to just buy the car outright and still no driving of it.. And it isnt likewe pulled up in a piece of crap car we pulled up to both dealers in my wrx with over 15k of mods.. Oh and i live in the same town as you;)

Interior:
I prefer the Evo's interior as the layout and design is much cleaner than the STi. The Evo's steering wheel rocks and doesnt have a plastic "metallic" piece on it. The STi has a nicer dashboard though.

STi definitely has more power but has a numb steering feel compared to the Evo. STi doesnt feel as "alive" as the Evo.

Dont like that hoodscoop blocking the view either.
But I prefer the overall exterior look of the STi.

The Evo's notchy shifter is actually really nice and personally, I prefer it to the STi's shifter. Love the sound of the notchy shift. :)
The STi's shifter can feel a bit vague but it is much better than the WRX 5 spd shifter which totally sucks.

on the contrary i drove an evo and sti.. overall the hadnling on the evo is better.. hands down but stiff as a bastard.. not a daily driver and the evo feels "darty" not smooth.... and the car felt "tinny and loud" .. definitly didn't like the interior. i had 3 poeple in it when i drove it and it was still faster than my rex (stock) but i like the ride of the wrx better. even though its slower

the sti is a more comfy ride and i like the feel of the car better.. feels more solid but evo i think is still a better handler.. STI is considerably faster..over all for the whole package sti even thought its a bit more