Opinions please!!!

[dave1]

depends what you want to do i guess i you drive up runways all day stick with evo if not enjoy the csl

csl is quicker round the ring and top gear track which is a better comparison on twisty roads

[DazBlackCSL]

Agree with Andyk, the Evo and CSL are two cars with two very different design principles and characters.

I only ever owned one Evo - a mildly tuned VI TME and it really was a fun car to drive and to drive rather fast scaring any passenger that dared to sit next to me! The 4WD really inspired confidence in the car and it's abilities (especially in the wet) - maybe too much at times! I think that i simply tired of it after a while as there were too many compromises to ownership and my wallet was always rather empty! Without wishing to sound snobby, I think i just 'grew out' of it and wanted something without the 'turbo nutter' image! My only one regret was never tracking the car but i do not for one minute wish to go back :blalalala:

The CSL on the other hand is a different kettle of fish altogether! I wont bore you with everything that is great about it but it really is superb as an everyday car and if used properly on track - a simply awesome car! I would only really consider a 997 GT3 as a replacement, and that would take some serious money to afford - for minimal performance gain on track...

Yes, the Evo may be faster in a straight line and give that 'turbo buzz' but its not a patch on that special feeling of ownership satisfaction and exclusivity that the CSL gives you. Just my opinion... :whistle:

Beautifully put :smt055

and totally agree , my only car on radar is GT3 ... but just too much for me currently ..poss when the CSL is paid off tho :whistle:

[glendog74]

Beautifully put :smt055

and totally agree

:smt052 :smt008 :smt058 :smt047

[Jaw_F430]

Also one thing to consider which a lot of people forget is that you are comparing a modified evo against a stock CSL. You start fitting a S/C to your CSL and the straight line speed will be there (I wouldn't do this though as you lose that lovely carbon intake:smt055).

[englebert]

I know even with the mods the Evo is probably cheaper but i agree, a bit unfair to compare a very modified car to a stock one.

A couple of guys at work have Evos, i respect them greatly but i don't think i could deal with the stigma. Owning a BMW is worse enough!

[rstoughy]

Had both and tracked both.

The Evo was great and To be perfectly honest had it not been written off when it was i might still have had it.

However as the money was there on offer i took it and bought my 22B as a quick money earner which it done and allowed me to purchase my CSL.

What the guys have said is so true. You just cant compare them fairly, they were built for two totally different reasons. The CSL does seem so much more at home on a track and thats the reason i have gone for one. It's what it was designed for.

Hard choice i'm affraid so good luck.

P.S. there's also the noise of the CSL in its favour :drool: :drool:

[shane@mbtech]

I have taken everyones views on board.
But my tuned evo is my car now and im considering a csl, so the comparison for me is fair, and right.

Yes i know it is modified, but put brakes and kws on the csl and that too is modified.

I understand the driving style is totally different, and unique to each car, and i know i would enjoy the csl more to drive. :smt109

But, ive seen very good drivers in csl's against 400bhp evo and they cant keep up, be it straights or corners,

Evo's are not only quick in straight lines, my car has fully adjustable suspension and big brakes as well as 450bhp, so is very fast through the corners, and tbh at the last trackday at donny i attended, the csl which was there, did not impress me with both corner spd or anything else, ill admit i have seen csl's travel faster, (maybe he was a track virgin), but it seemed painfully slow tbh. saying that so did a lot of the so called fast evo's which were also there!!

I am leaning towards a csl and i will buy one, and after driving a few i know its the car for me. i know i will prefer it to an evo as a drivers car... BUT i know i will be gutted if the csl is slower around the track, esp oulton park, which i love.

I dont want to regret buying one,

I really need to go out on track in one see how it does on track, no one on here doing oulton park and fancy giving me a passenger lap in the near future:whistle:

How fast does a csl in average hands lap oulton on full circuit, no guesses, just facts please.

Thank you everyone for your inputs, greatly appreciated.

I WILL OWN THE CSL, IT WILL BE SOON. JUST NEED THAT FINAL PUSH INTO CSL OWNERSHIP......:smt055

[E46ACS]

Getting back to the advert, yes the badge is in the wrong place, and was probably removed (as some are) and put back by a different owner (/idiot!) in the wrong place.

However, the owner has put no effort at all in the advert to selling the car, half dozen lines creating a brief description. Sounds a bit dodgy to me. Anyone actually viewed the car? 'Cos it would appear to b a good buy.....

[shane@mbtech]

Getting back to the advert, yes the badge is in the wrong place, and was probably removed (as some are) and put back by a different owner (/idiot!) in the wrong place.

However, the owner has put no effort at all in the advert to selling the car, half dozen lines creating a brief description. Sounds a bit dodgy to me. Anyone actually viewed the car? 'Cos it would appear to b a good buy.....

It does appear to be a good buy, but as you state, Im a keen enthusiast, and when i sell my car ( usually owned because i am an enthusiast) i make an effort with advert,

He looks like he posted that with a piece of toast in mouth, drinking coffee and late for work.

Im also interested to see if anyone has viewed it,

but tbh, i have no feeling for that car, and i buy on instinct, never failed me so far ( fingers crossed)

[NZ_M3]

I am going to go against the tide and say stick with the EVO.

If you are into modifying the crap out of a car and simply want to go fast around a track then stick with the EVO - it'll be cheaper and more rewarding (as in the gains you'll get per dollar)

CSLs aren't exactly cheap to mod - and by the time you are done with suspension, brakes, exhaust and an ecu tune you've pretty much exhausted all the simple modification options. Short of changing the final drive, cams and another tune - that's about all you can do with it in NA form (bar buying a motorsport S54 and engine swap - or go down the forced induction route - neither of which are cheap options). The only other worth while modification I can see with the CSL is weight loss and a proper sequential box from Drenth ... but that's about it.

It's really no comparison between a stock standard (or near stock standard) CSL and highly modified cars - you simply can't compare as many have said.

Heck I've been in modified Honda civics that are faster than the CSL around the track and I can personally say that a highly modified Honda will give you bigger grins than a stock standard CSL will ever provide - NOISE INCLUDED - Vtec on song is about as addictive as the CSL roar (I've either owned, driven or rode in highly modified Hondas, so don't knock me on this one please!!)- no bull (K24 block bored out to 2.7 liters and a K20A head, a 5.1 final drive in an eg civic body will run laps around a CSL easily - with decent suspension and brakes of course and a very spartan interior).

[Nords]

I am going to go against the tide and say stick with the EVO.

If you are into modifying the crap out of a car and simply want to go fast around a track then stick with the EVO - it'll be cheaper and more rewarding (as in the gains you'll get per dollar)

CSLs aren't exactly cheap to mod - and by the time you are done with suspension, brakes, exhaust and an ecu tune you've pretty much exhausted all the simple modification options. Short of changing the final drive, cams and another tune - that's about all you can do with it in NA form (bar buying a motorsport S54 and engine swap - or go down the forced induction route - neither of which are cheap options). The only other worth while modification I can see with the CSL is weight loss and a proper sequential box from Drenth ... but that's about it.

It's really no comparison between a stock standard (or near stock standard) CSL and highly modified cars - you simply can't compare as many have said.

Heck I've been in modified Honda civics that are faster than the CSL around the track and I can personally say that a highly modified Honda will give you bigger grins than a stock standard CSL will ever provide - NOISE INCLUDED - Vtec on song is about as addictive as the CSL roar (I've either owned, driven or rode in highly modified Hondas, so don't knock me on this one please!!)- no bull (K24 block bored out to 2.7 liters and a K20A head, a 5.1 final drive in an eg civic body will run laps around a CSL easily - with decent suspension and brakes of course and a very spartan interior).

I agree that you can't compare, the above could continue with me saying I have driven radical SR8 that have run rings around your highly modified civic (I haven't but they would do)...

I think you have to look at a price point to even things up, £25-30K for a CSL which if you choose careful will get you an excellent CSL with APs/Alcons and then budget £1500 for a set of track rims with cups and you have a faster than most people's ability everyday (if reqd) and track car. It will be cheaper to maintain and service (no further mods to buy) than any tuned thing especially EVOs. I know someone who had a 550 bhp EVO with slicks, race geo, the lot and it could overtake caterhams around the outside of the old Gerards at Malory....

It did have alot smoke coming into the passenger area, eat a set of slicks in a day and is believed to have cost him some thing like £120-140K to get to that point. He sold it and bought a CSL to get a more 'pure' rwd experience rather than just go faster.

[csl_mba]

My 2p worth

Not owned an EVO (my bro has an FQ300) but have had a scooby and to all intense and purposes are very similar, the EVO did seem a little quicker though.

I choose my cars first and foremost on "are they are drivers car", next i look at "whats rare", i like being different, yes there are 400+ CSL's but you dont see many and thats what i like

I got into the tuning scene with the scoob and tbh its dead money, yes you have a car worthory of breaking land speed records, but its still one of thousands other like it.

I suppose i am a bit of a poser, but the looks i got from the people driving the scoob were different to the folk who look at the CSL - they know the CSL is special :supz:

[Mark CSL]

lawsy
If you want to go fast round a track keep the EVO.
I dont think the CSL will be what you are after, they are quick and i should know! I do a lot of trackdays and the evos are just a bit quicker out the corners, than the csl but on the brakes and in the tight bits i am all over them :thumbs:
The only thing i would say is i can go on track and do lap after lap you wont do this all day in an EVO

Time and Time again and only need tyres :hahaha:

[glendog74]

The only thing i would say is i can go on track and do lap after lap you wont do this all day in an EVO

Time and Time again and only need tyres :hahaha:

...and that's one of the great things about the CSL with minimal mods:

1. Drive to the track day
2. Roast it lap after lap at said track day (with decent brakes ...)
3. Drive home again

It always makes me chuckle at track days when i see Evo owners with their full tool kit, spare tyres, oil, fuel jerry cans, spare turbo, kitcken sink, etc, packed into their car! :hahaha:

I agree with NZ_M3 to some extent as the CSL takes some amount of money to mod for minimal speed gains, but i don't think the Evo would be cheaper in the long run as they are certainly more expensive to run hard and the tuned ones tend to be a tad fragile at the best of times...!

If i wanted to go mega quickly around a track for (relatively) little money i would probably get a modded Caterham of some sort. Of course then i couldn't drive home in comfort... :whistle:

[Jaw_F430]

A little off topic but can you post a couple of pics of your EVO or a link?:thumbs: