THe EVO is ugly as sin; it has a face that a mother couldn't even warm up to. . .The basic Lancer box that it's constructed around is pure crap, w/ one of the worst safety ratings (and resale values) in the industry - like most everything that has rolled MisubishiTi's assembly line for many, many years. Sure it's fast - so what ! (that means the parts fall off, or fail that much sooner) There's lots of other cars out there that are fast, or potentially fast.

As someone else wrote, why not build up a car that meets your individual tastes, rather than just write a big check and sign up for 60 or more payments on something like an EVO that'll depreciate faster than a speeding bullet, and most likely self-destruct long before it's paid for. Good luck at trade-in time, too.

As for the STi - not quite as homely, and comes from a decent enough, if somewhat goofy manufacturer. At least they seem to be well-screwed together, but they're also built around a basic 4 door subcompact (not quite) econo-box shell. No matter how fast they are, they still look cheap to me, especially in Subie's electric blue and tacky graphics. And, I'm still awaiting Subaru to redesign it's logo and dump the dumb looking Buck Rogers stars ! haha

For my money, I'd either build up a seriously capable Honda/Acura product, or find a low mileage Audi Quattro A4, or esp. an S4 (w/ either the twin-turbo 2.7 V6, or the new S4 - 4.2 V8. Best damn car on the road as far as I'm concerned - just not inexpensive. As an alternative, there's the VW Passat w/ the "Quattro-clone' AWD system - identical to Audi's, and at a lot less money.

But-then again, I'm an old fart - sorta - and no longer into 'boy-racer' type of street cars. Doesn't mean I don't like to drive fast - real fast, in fact - just that I want to be safe & comfortable, too, and not look like I'm driving a well-decked out promo car for JC Whitney. . .

But that's my 2 cents . . .