Andy B's Family car

[MasterAuron]

Bit off topic I know but in most tests I've seen (inc. Fifth gear and Top Gear) the Mk1 FRS was (just) quicker than the UK EP3 (JDM would pan a standard FRS no doubt) but requires a really good driver to get the most out of it. Megane Trophy has also proven quicker time and time again. Good car but never mind coming close, it's hands down been beaten. Both are quicker in a straight line too, and the FRS is more suited to daily driving. Probably more reliable than its competition with it but doesn't look as good as those mentioned either imo. Voted best hot hatch because a lot of people can't see past anything Jap!

Of course but FD2 is a lot newer and as you say times move on. I still know which one I'd rather have. To say that nothing else this side of £100k is madness is worth a look is madness, there are lots of cars that are more than a match for any Evo.

[Debo]

I saw the FRS around Top Gear circuit, and iirc was .2 faster than the UK EP3, but as you say requires a lot of driver skill to get the optimum performance from it. Clarkson went on to say the diff on the UK roads made the car too twitchy on anything other than a smooth circuit, making it more suited to the track.

The Megane Trophy came later down the line, towards the end of the EP3's dominance, but granted it was also a quicker car around the track. The EP3 won the awards for being the most versatile, ironic really that it was born on the track but was so good on the roads. In recent years the French have been producing some really good hatches, and of course Ford dip their toe in the water every 6 or 7 years with the RS. Hopefully Honda can deliver another fantastic hatch with their 9th gen CTR sporting a 2.0 turbo, which will certainly have a lot of tuning potential I'm sure.

Anyway, we're drifting off topic slightly

I don't think there's that many competitors for less than £100k which can compete with the last 2 or 3 Evo's £-4-£. RX7's are fast, but do they handle? I don't know, never been in one. I do know they are horribly unreliable though! Pulsar GTi-R? R34 GTR? They are all very old. What cars from '05 onwards, other than Autobahn blasters, can cover the A and B roads as quickly and effortlessly as an Evo 8 or 9? I'm not sure there's as many as you think. The natural rival is the Impreza and has been for nearly 20yrs, but it has forever lived in the shadows. The Evo's punch well above their weight.

[W8MAN]

The toyota supra aint a bad car but again getting on Abit now

[MasterAuron]

I don't see the EP3 as iconic personally (neither do I the Focus RS or RS Meg fwiw) as most hot hatches have been good on road and good on track, that's what they're built for. FRS twitchiness was over-exagerrated not helped by the standard PS1 tyres and different geometry settings of pre-production models. That said, it's a proper handful on rough roads with the ATB and over 300hp, on normal roads it's great.

Evo's do punch above their weight and that's part of the appeal, I love them as much as the next lad and would have one in a heartbeat if I could insure one for half of my current qoutes. However, I always like to look at both sides of the fence.

How about RS4's, E90 M3's, Porsche 911 Turbos, Exige SC, newer WRX STi (there's an article somewhere where it's hailed as better than the Evo X)? Not only (imo) as fast if not faster in the real world but much nicer places to be and much more "desirable" to most people. I think again though, driver skill would play a large part.

God it sounds like I'm bashing Evo's so I'm going to stop there I think lol. We will have to agree to disagree maybe but I can't agree that (GTR aside) an Evo is a be all and end all of performance cars under £100k!

[WilkyWay]

Not forgetting the Lotus Exige? Never come across one but I reckon they could more than hold their own against any Evo along b-roads and straight lines.
You'd have to completely forget about practicality though!

[Debo]

Of course mate, you are right, there's a lot of cars, as you have mentioned there, 911 Turbo is a shoe in for one of the cars you could buy with equal or greater performance than an Evo. RS4's and 6's along with M3's fall under the German metal / Autobahn buster bracket I mentioned earlier. They are more luxury cars with huge performance, much like C63 AMG's and the like - not built for out and out performance like the Evo. I was thinking more of when Top Gear got an FQ400 to keep up with a Murcielago around the test track, in the same episode where they later showed it being outrun on the runway due to the lag...

[MasterAuron]

Got Exige in "the list" buddy lol. I can think of loads of cars and I bet half of the MLR would give their right arm for an RS4

Debo, if it can match the performance whilst being better built, equipped, quieter and more comfortable then I see it as a worthy contender indeed regardless. Of course then you have the running costs of a £60k car, and modding stuff like that costs a bomb. As I said, I'm just trying to weigh things up not argue for arguments sake or slag Evo's!

[Vern]

lol Evo's are not slow standard or in any guise, i drive both my 310bhp Evo 6 and my 200 odd bhp GT and they are light years apart tbh.
The Evo with a correct launch will f*ck most road cars that is fact, yeah they run out of puff over a ton but so what the fun is getting there, take both cars on the twistys and its see u later old hatch back lol

Best car ive ever owned is the Evo and will deff get an 8/9 at some point just so expensive to run.

Yours is very nice Andy just needs some Rota's

[Superman]

That test with the FQ400 was just stupid though, as was the stigs lap on film where hes going dogshit slow out of the hammer head. You would just drop it down a gear as you would in any car. FWIW the FQ400 is notoriously laggy, us lads with the 340s have it best. 400hp without the lag, 1.7bar at 3500rpm

RS4, would consider one but Audi are over rated by a mile. Running costs will be more than an Evo and residual value probably less so.

RS6, apparently not that fast day to day, take it to the M1 great... But how many people live on the M1?

M5, raced a couple, always held station well.

911 Carrera, panned 2 in a straight dogfight, what I would call dogshit slow.

911 Turbo, the origional supercar killer! 500hp in that will be FAF, wouldnt like an owner to show me up tbh!

GTR, tailed one in France to over 170mph and it never pulled a gap, then had a quick bit of side by side and he let off... who knows. definately not slow and I think the only thing id swap the Evo for at the moment, a genuine threat to modern supercars the same way the R34 GTR was donkeys years ago.

E90 M3, they're usually going past at some lick with the owner too busy sucking himself off to bother with anyone else. Or keeping left on the road...

E46 M3 / CSL. Regular M3s are fine, CSLs are a handful even in a straight line, serious racecar engine under the bonnet!

Exige, never had the opoutunity. Also something else I would consider owning but they're alot of money still. I bet they're fast on a dry B road. Take it out in bad weather or on a rough road then I bet it would be a **** to keep on the road, same as a caterham.


Only things Ive bwaarped with and come off worst with was an EsCos that must of been 600hp because it shat all over me on the motorway. Screamed past.

And an Austin Healey kit car that had a 5litre V8 in it. It was so wayward I didnt bother trying to over take


There are many cars under £100k that would pan or succumb to a later Evo. Not really bothered myself because its all about being out on the lanes when no one else is around and you can really ring its neck, still not touching ultimate street pace.

[Superman]

lol Evo's are not slow standard or in any guise, i drive both my 310bhp Evo 6 and my 200 odd bhp GT and they are light years apart tbh.
The Evo with a correct launch will f*ck most road cars that is fact, yeah they run out of puff over a ton but so what the fun is getting there, take both cars on the twistys and its see u later old hatch back lol

Best car ive ever owned is the Evo and will deff get an 8/9 at some point just so expensive to run.

Yours is very nice Andy just needs some Rota's

PLease dont get Rota GTRs Andy!