The Evo vs EJ20 and EJ25 STi discussions are a dime a dozen... search anywhere on the internet to find valid points regarding which of the two emphasize what.

Seeing that you did say "new" and those are your only three options... the obvious choice would be a 2006 Evolution IX MR. Afterall, if your receiving a $35k piece of machinery for free as a graduation present, might as well go all out with the MR instead of the GSR. Hell, if you really wanna take advantage of your parents' offer (which I'm sure they won't mind if they got the money to give you the car anyways), order a BR330 or BR350 Evo IX MR from Medina Mitsubishi.

The mivec head, newer 16g, and other subtle adjustments made on the IX make it have clear and distinct advantages over a '06 STi. Oh, and the IX can run high 12's stock with a decent driver and make over 300whp on an AWD dynojet w/ just a simple ECU flash on pump gas.

Besides, you don't wanna drive around in something that looks like a damn Alfa-Romeo, do you? Unless you actually like the way that looks... ew.

I didn't even regard the Audi as a valid choice, only assuming performance was the main deciding factor.



As far as reliability goes... if you plan to keep the car 100% stock (good luck with that), reliability shouldn't be an issue with any of those cars, brand new. Just good luck getting Mitsubishi to give a shit about you if anything *does* break on your Evo. =]