Somewhat humbled by Mitsubishi Evo VIII.....

[jbonnett]

...now I know I should know better than to have childish drag races away from lights with other drivers...but when I pulled up at lights next to a brand new Mitsi Evo 8 at 1am...and the lights are the start of a dead straight 3 miles of dual carriageway....I couldn't resist. To add to the temptation the driver of the Mitsi sat there with an inane grin on his face and gently blipped the throttle.

All I can say is that I should've left it.

Turns out it was a 330 FQ - 0-60 in 4.2secs - what an awesome machine. Made me feel that my E46 M3 was a trifle sluggish (admittedly mine is the lardy convertible version). He couldn't lose me at all, but by the same token I couldn't catch him. At 140mph I lost my bottle and let him go.

I consoled myself with the fact that I had the roof down, the TV on, heated seats and a BMW badge on the front of mine! (And the fact that the Evo needs serviceing every 6500 miles or 6 months).

If a turbo and a clever EMS can get that sort of perfomance out of a 2.0 - kinda makes you wonder doesn't it.....?

[rich_b]

You gotta race sometimes, its all good fun

4WD cars are stupidly quick off the line if launched properly. You seemed to have no problems keeping up after that though, and rightly so with your 343bhp.

[jbonnett]

True, true.
But now I can't help the little voice in the back of my head saying I need more ooomph. Boys will be boys I guess - why is too much never enough!

[granville]

One of the frustrating realities of what has been ungraciously referred to as 'monkey metal' magic.

They are the definitive banzai box; so honed I call it the Mitsubishi Honiggsegg.

[gazzab]

And EVO magazine put the M3 in 10th position and the P1 (I got one!) at 7th.
I would prefer an M3 but my P1 only cost me £12k ish.

[dinkel]

The C m3 has the looks . . . nobody can take that away from you. Even when the thingies are at a 0mph . . .

[shadowninja]

4wd helps... as does the lightish weight (1300kg?). Not sure how fast it could go but the Evos do have shorter gearing I thought?




PS P1 for 12k?????

[raceboy]

shadowninja said:

PS P1 for 12k?????

Well theres one on AutoTrader for £10,350

[eliot]

scoobys and evo's are quick and cheap - but that's the problem, they just have no style or class - pulling up in one of them just dosn't carry anything for me.
Ok, the silly 3" twin-upswept-dtm tail-pipe brigade give your rrree'spect - but im the wrong side of 30 now and i would feel a right twat arriving at a posh venue in such a vehicle.

(Ducks for cover..)

[chippy69]

gazzab said:

And EVO magazine put the M3 in 10th position and the P1 (I got one!) at 7th. I would prefer an M3 but my P1 only cost me £12k ish.

they also tested that M3 with the wrong wheels, apparently if you just stick to the 18inch rims it is a different car

[thanuk]

eliot said:

im the wrong side of 30 now and i would feel a right twat arriving at a posh venue in such a vehicle.

One of the nice things about passing 30 is I've stopped caring about what other people think.

[Alex]

thanuk said:

eliot said: im the wrong side of 30 now and i would feel a right twat arriving at a posh venue in such a vehicle. One of the nice things about passing 30 is I've stopped caring about what other people think.

Abso-bloody-lutely!

[gazzab]

raceboy said:

shadowninja said: PS P1 for 12k????? Well theres one on AutoTrader for £10,350

Is there ? I cant see it.
they average 16 - 20K.

[iguana]

gazzab said:

raceboy said: shadowninja said: PS P1 for 12k????? Well theres one on AutoTrader for £10,350 Is there ? I cant see it. they average 16 - 20K.

Cheapest one on there now is this one at £14.5k, lower miles ones (30kmiles)from £16k-

SUBARU IMPREZA P1 PRODRIVE LTD
EDT, 00, X reg. 85k, FSSH, Sonic blue, Prodrive wrap around seats, P1 rear wing with carbon finish, a/c, PAS, ABS, 17 Oz racing alloys, upgrades, CD, f/f alarm, stunning perf, immaculate condition, very rare example, cheapest in the country. £14,495. ovno


The scary thing is how cheap the normal ones are, turbos start at £2.5k & WRX's at £3.8K!! They are pretty nippy wagons.

Ok prob not the nicest examples at that price, but I haddnt realized they were that cheap now.

[tuscansix]

thanuk said:

One of the nice things about passing 30 is I've stopped caring about what other people think.

You'll get nicked for that!

[eliot]

>>someone quoted:
The scary thing is how cheap the normal ones are, turbos start at £2.5k & WRX's at £3.8K!! They are pretty nippy wagons.

I stupidly suggested to the missus the other day, what about a Range Rover to smoke around in? - Not expecting her to say "yes" - Damm! (That would make a total of 14 Litres of power spread over 3 V8 cars)

Perhapps I should consider a Scooby as a cheap run around for her, quick, nice and roomy - And I can borrow it a night-time when no-one will see me driving it!!!


Eliot.

[iguana]

I had an early Subaru legacy Turbo estate for a bit, early ones had the same engine as the Impretzel single turbo, far better image, far better quality interior & quite a bit cheaper, handled great- had bilsteins on it & was pretty rapid esp when chipped- somat like 1300kg & 260bhp & loads of Torque, I can well recomend one.

Only bad point was MPG, prob about the same as my 4.0 V8 bimmer!! @ 20mpg!

[eliot]

Well i only get 15mpg from the 540 and less than 10mpg out of the Dakar (5.7 chev), So 20mpg would be luxury
!
Apparently you can now buy a lightened and balanced right-foot - Would save me a fortune!

Self Justification
I do live in Milton Keynes and never actually take either on a "run", the 540 goes up to 24+ on the motorway
/Self Justification

eliot.

[derin100]

Good stem story!

But hey! "Just turned the wrong side of 30"?!? I just turned the wrong side of 41 !!! Dammit!

Anyway, I had occasion to drive a brand new Nissan 350Z (a colleague's) the other day...Now much as it sticks in my throat to admit it..."What an impressive piece of kit! And it's Japanese too?"

Hmphhhh! Accepting that my E30 M3 isn't even in the same ball-park I thought to myself well I could 'go up' to an E36 EVO...or if needs really be an E46 M3. So I decided to look up the performance figures...(You check them out!)

Surely, both E36 EVO at circa 320 bhp and E46 M3 at circa 340 bhp would see off Nissan 350Z with ease?

Well... E46 M3 does...just! In every department ie. accleration, braking, lateral g's, top speed...but only just! The only thing it beats it by miles on (on paper) is price!!! £26K all-in brand new for the 350Z???!!! ( And in the USA they get it for that in Dollars!!!...like £15K !!!)

I was hoping to pick up a top notch E36 EVO at under £15 and demolish the Nissan....Hmmmm....Back to the drawing board I think?

[Gazzab]

iguana said:

gazzab said: raceboy said: shadowninja said: PS P1 for 12k????? Well theres one on AutoTrader for £10,350 Is there ? I cant see it. they average 16 - 20K. Cheapest one on there now is this one at £14.5k, lower miles ones (30kmiles)from £16k- SUBARU IMPREZA P1 PRODRIVE LTD EDT, 00, X reg. 85k, FSSH, Sonic blue, Prodrive wrap around seats, P1 rear wing with carbon finish, a/c, PAS, ABS, 17 Oz racing alloys, upgrades, CD, f/f alarm, stunning perf, immaculate condition, very rare example, cheapest in the country. £14,495. ovno The scary thing is how cheap the normal ones are, turbos start at £2.5k & WRX's at £3.8K!! They are pretty nippy wagons. Ok prob not the nicest examples at that price, but I haddnt realized they were that cheap now.

So my 12K ish looks a right bargain then. If only I didnt have to just fork out £500 for a service, £110 for a tyre and now need to spend up to £1K to replace front discs. Suddenly it doesnt feel like a bargain?! If my Prodrive contact can help then maybe the hit wont be so bad.