It wasn’t until we took an on-ramp and were slid across the seat by lateral forces that we noticed the missing bolsters. LOWS: No more Recaros, no more Evo MR at our door, Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."īut we didn’t notice the missing Recaros right away. HIGHS: Neutral chassis, still one of the best-handling cars on the market, no wing means less attention. (In 2014, the Recaro seats came as part of a $1900 package in the MR.) Sure, the X’s Recaros were wider and more accommodating, but they were still very good at keeping a butt planted in the seat. The snug-fitting buckets in the Evo VIII and IX were benchmarks, not only in their small segment, but across the entire industry. To top it all off, for the final year, Mitsubishi isn’t offering the Recaro seats as an option. We’re all for spartan interiors with just the right amount of function, but when the plastics and trim in a $40,000 car are so cheap you hesitate to put a date in the passenger seat, sometimes the car doesn’t make all that much sense. While the Evo was always the sharpest of the pseudo-rally trio (Evo, Subaru WRX STI, and Volkswagen Golf R), giving no quarter to daily life, all Evos suffered from painfully drab interiors. Unfortunately, being based on the pedestrian Lancer compact didn’t do the car any favors. For the record: The Evo was undefeated in its three comparison tests, which took place in 2003, 2005, and 2008 and covered the three American Evo generations. With sharp reflexes, a strong turbocharged four, four-wheel drive, and a manual transmission, it won our hearts. Americans had to wait until the eighth version of the Evo, which finally was legally imported just over a decade ago. VW R32Īnd like that ice-age feline, the tenth-generation Evo is a killer capable of dispatching much larger prey. Comparison Test: Seven Cheap Speeders of 2009.Performance Compact Comparos, Present and Past It’s like the last saber-toothed tiger, sadly wandering alone to its final resting place. With “evolution” in its name, one expects it to continually improve, to adapt to its surroundings, and, well, evolve the breed. Which brings us to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. 510 cc injectors were replaced with 560 cc injectors for better engine reliability due to more electrical “headroom” and the ECU was changed to include a flash ROM, allowing more boost pressure to the same TD05-HR as the Mitsubishi Evolution III and IV.Rarely is a car’s model name ironic while it is still in production, although there are some exceptions: The Ford Aspire was pretty ironic from the get-go, and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo was rarely seen on the streets of that principality. The pistons were lighter with a smaller skirt area. The engine was strengthened in a few areas and the cam duration was increased. Power officially stayed the same, at 280 PS (206 kW 276 hp), though some claim horsepower was actually somewhat higher.
Torque was increased to 373 Nm (275 lb-ft) at 3,000 rpm.
In addition the brake master cylinder bore increased by 0.3 millimetres (0.01 in).įurthermore, the turbocharger was again improved.
The track was widened by 10 mm (0.4 in), the wheel offset changed from ET45 to ET38 along with the wheel diameter which rose from 16″ to 17″ to accommodate Brembo brakes which were added to enhance braking. The body kit had flared arches at the front and rear and a new aluminium rear spoiler replaced the IV FRP version and gave an adjustable angle of attack to alter rear down force. Many aspects of the car were changed such as: The interior was upgraded in the GSR version with a better class of Recaro seat. The Evolution however has now been replaced by the Lancer/Carisma GT and the new Lancer WRC04, but the Evo still competes in the Group A and Group N classes. They were successful in the WRC Rallies from 1996-1999, thanks to the Finn Tommi Makinen, for clinching the driver’s titles from 1996-1999, and the help of teammate Richard Burns for clinching the manufacturer’s championship for the first time in 1998. The Lancer Evolution was unique among its competitors in the World Rally Championship in that it is a homologated Group A car slightly modified to be able to race competitively against WRC class cars.