In Vancouver Canada, saw one of the new Evo’s at a car dealership this afternoon. It’s the only Evo-8 in Canada, I’m told. It was imported from the USA, where it’s legal to sell, but Canadian approval will take “a year” according to the dealer. He said that could mean “Dec ’03 to January ‘05”, depending on how long the Transport Canada (or whoever looks after that) takes…

Anyway, this grey market import cost the buyer $65,000 Canadian, thanks to hassles of importation/red tape. The salesman said that the approved ones, once on the dealer floors, will be somewhere between 40-50K Canadian. He was sure it was going to be inside that bracket, but said it could be anywhere in there. $43K of loonies would probably sound about right to me. He said it would likely come in blue and black, definitely red, and the example was a factory yellow (police bait ?).

The interior was decent, if a little plain. It was better than the 350Z interior, but not even close to the IS300 or G35 Infinity interiors. The headlights/tailights had the reflective backs to them with clear covers, just like the IS300 or Altezza I200, this seems to be a popular styling option today.

Performance wise, it’s got a HUGE intercooler up front and an automatic water spray for it, truly frightening Brembos on all fours. It has twin turbos with little turbolag. Apparently the company offers engine upgrade kits to over 300hp that are covered by Mitsu warranty (yay!). It’s an AWD with 270 hp, for those who don’t know about it, and it’s been VERY popular among the performance Rally crowd.

On a similar note, I saw a Viper GTS street race against a speedbike the other day, over the Burrard Street bridge…they were side to side the whole way! I saw the Viper guy had the back end break loose after a shift in the corner/sweeper (probably going from 2nd to 3rd gear?), he had to apply opposite lock…looked like tons of fun! Not smart to do at 8pm on a Saturday night, with 400,000 people out to see the fireworks though…dumb, plain dumb. But the car…!

You just know I'm gonna be the first one to reply to a thread like that huh? :p

BTW not to be an ass but it only has one snail. It has a twin scroll housing design, I guess the salesman thought it meant twin turbo...

My friend just bought one yesterday. I have yet to ride in it, I told him to give me a ride after the motor is broken-in and he can put the hammer down.

LOL!

Yep, that's the actual car I saw this afternoon! It's just at the west end of the Langley bypass. It actually showed up about a month ago or so at the dealer, but I hadn't had the chance to see it close 'till today. I think it's generating a lot of interest, 'cause two other guys were looking at it just as I was leaving, and the salesman was enthusiastic about it, said there's been lots of people come to see it.

11's ?!?! I never realised it was the same engine as the Eclipse, that explains a few things! That's a VERY tough engine, isn't it? It's the first 4 cylinder street car I know of that got into the low 10's, from amateur class drag racing.

Generally I see that as a good thing...except that I've driven a Talon (1992) and Laser Turbo (a '94 I think), and I was very surprised at significant turbolag in it. That lag actually prevented me from buying a Talon in '94, because during the lag, it has WAY less torque/power than even an ordinary grocery getter that your aunt putters about in. Once it spools up it's great, but I found that it could take as much as two full seconds to get, under some circumstances...

...so I wonder if the lag issues are much improved since then?

Yea, the salesman said two hairdryers, but I guess he was wrong (I haven't been totally up on the specs of this baby).

BTW: what do you mean by "twin scroll" though?

Basically a twin scroll housing design allows for two streams of exhaust gas to be divided up and spool the turbo faster. Kind of like if you had two manifolds connected to it. This minimizes interference between the exhaust pulses coming from the cylinders. End result = less lag...if you look at boost maps for the EVO compared to a WRX the EVO spools a bit faster, even if it has a larger turbo.

It's 2:30 AM, I'll try to give a better answer tomorrow...lol

If Mitsubishi don't bring the evo8 over, we in canada can always get the STI, I haven't saw it on the street yet, but my brother saw it. Well, those are still small compact cars. If only Subaru bring the Legacy B4 over.

Anything with a Merlin 66 or Griffon 73 and I'm game, chaps!

Here ya go Goodwood

an evo is one of the few cars I would consider purchasing. However, I like the older evo styling (5?) better than the new styling.

I have to disagree with PV and say I like the new Evo8 styling - it's a lot less aggressive and angular than previous versions, which always put me off the car. Then again, I also like the older Skyline and Impreza shapes, just to be awkward