Rivalry, in order to have one you need evenly matched opponents. To have a great one you need evenly matched opponents at the top of their game, and who have battled for years. When you take the Subaru Impreza STI and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution you have that rivalry. Whether on the road, track, or even off road these two cars have gone at it hard for rally car supremacy. It would be hard to find two more evenly matched cars than these two as both check in at around $34,000 (Evo $95 more and STI $5 less). Both have around 300hp (Evo 291hp and STI 305hp) and 300ft-lb of torque (Evo 300ft-lb and STI 290ft-lb). Both have similar mpg at around 23mpg highway and have ABS, Traction Control, Vehicle Stability Control Systems, and AWD. So while you have two almost identical cars by the number which do you choose? Well two of our writers will fiercely debate this issue and you can pick who makes the better car.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo:

At best the STI is that kid at school who could be popular, except for the fact that his mother dresses him funny. The STI’s huge front air intake does what the car in general does, suck. The traction control system is less polished than the Evo and it looks like Gary Busey’s face, especially when it’s sold with its hatchback trim.

Top Gear when testing these cars agreed with us that the Mitsubishi Evo was a superior car to the STI in every category. In their tests the Evo flat out beat the STI’s sluggish handling. While the numbers look similar, the STI’s traction control and stability control systems just lag behind the Evo. This doesn’t provide a competitive advantage against a car that is much more appealing in almost every facet. If a hamburger and filet mignon were the same price would you get a hamburger given a choice? Answer is no, not a chance. Same thing when comparing the Evo vs. STI, choose the Evo because well it just makes sense.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI:

If the Subaru STI is the funnily dressed kid at school that makes the Evo the backup quarterback who is under the delusion he’s the starter. While he’s full of talk pregame, come game time he’s riding the pine. That in essence is the Evo, it brands itself as a rally car, but it hasn’t raced the World Rally Championships except by private ownership since 2005. In a world where the phrase “what have you done for me lately” defines the market Subaru has stepped up while Mitsubishi has flat out disappeared. The STI has been a contender in nearly every rally car competition without the Mitsubishi team bothering to show up. Travis Pastrana, who is renowned worldwide for his extreme feats, chose to sign and drive for team Subaru and drives a STI, living proof that you need a real car to do real extreme events.

In fact, if you need one reason to choose a STI over an Evo just watch this video of the longest jump in a rally car ever. Go figure it’s a STI not an Evo.

The next time an Evo driver shuts up about how great and cool his car is and actually does something, we’ll listen but until then we are sticking with the STI. 

Now that our writers have had their say, what do you think? Leave a comment below.