2008 Mitsubishi Lancer
All the comfort of a rally car
A coating of snow on our roads (which showed up in full force the day after I gave back the tester) would have provided the perfect opportunity to see how Mitsubishi’s rockin’ rallier held it together with its all-wheel drive system in a serious test of traction and stability.
However, it was not to be. My week in the Lancer Evo GSR was conducted on dry roads, and while it may not have allowed the AWD (or “S-AWC” in Mitsu naming convention, short for Super All-Wheel Control) to show us what it could do for enhanced winter sport driving, it was a pretty adrenalizing time regardless.
Search for a used Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
This is no ordinary Lancer, after all, but the performance flagship of the Japanese automaker’s stable, the Evolution. And, though not the top of the Evo group (my tester was a GSR trim, with five-speed manual transmission), the compact powerhouse brought with it the vigorous 291 ponies Mitsubishi has coaxed from its two-litre engine, and the tarmac tearing torque for which the Evo brand is known.
When it arrived on this side of the Pacific earlier this year, the Evolution was embraced by the performance crowd as perhaps the one contender in the compact class that could mount a serious challenge for supremacy against Subaru’s formidable WRX STI.
Like the Subaru, the Lancer Evo was born of a rally racing heritage; and brings fury in a four-door package (and unlike the STI, the Evo is a sedan rather than a hatchback) and holds onto enough of its competitive roots that it feels ready to hit the circuit right off the showroom floor.
That may be a bit of an overstatement (there would be a bit of custom modding done to one if an owner were to seriously enter into competition, of course), but the basics of a compact supercar are there.
The turbocharged inline-four’s 300 lb.-ft. of torque (peaking at 4,400 rpm) launch the car into fun-to-drive territory immediately, putting the power to all four wheels with Mitsu’s aforementioned AWD system.
The S-AWC’s user-selectable modes are broken into three main choices- tarmac, gravel and snow - that, put simply, adjust the behaviour of the center differential to supply power to the wheels according to road conditions and general slippery-ness of the driving surface for optimal handling.
There’s a lot more to the technology of S-AWC than that, of course, and a lot of acronyms that come with the system (ACD, AYC and ASC being the major components, standing for “active center differential, active yaw control and active stability control), but we’ll keep it brief here; the system works well.
The transmission also works well. My test Evo was equipped with the base five-speed stick, and that’s fine with me; it shifted smoothly and its short throws fell into place without a miss. I’ll tell you what though; I had the opportunity last fall to drive an Evo with the company’s autobox (the multi-mode, twin-clutch TC-SST which Mitsubishi describes as ‘automated manual’) and I would unabashedly recommend anyone shopping this car to compare both gearboxes, as the auto is very well suited for the Evolution’s performance driving style as well.
On top of Evo’s stiffened suspension, the whole experience in the car captures the essence of “fun to drive”.
The outward appearance of the Lancer Evo has a very similar silhouette to the regular base-model Lancer (and to the middle-of-the-line Lancer Ralliart), and differs primarily when looked at from the front. The serious-looking grille, with its air scoop and heat-outlet vents, distinguishes it as a different animal from regular Lancers, making it more ruggedly handsome.
Inside the car, a rather plain dash offers easy and straightforward placement of all major controls with no unnecessary frills. The seats are highly bolstered Recaro buckets that grip a driver tightly and do not offer a high range of adjustment. Make no mistake, the seats are intended to keep you upright and rooted in place during high-speed manoeuvring; not so much for all-day comfort.
I suspect anyone considering an Evo already knows that, though; and the fact is that most of the detractions I can offer about the car after my week in it are pretty much what you would expect, and won’t deter anyone who has been wanting to get into the brand.
The short list would be:
1) Compromised rear visibility, by the rear spoiler bisecting the view; and also a lot of vibration. At times the spoiler would be a fuzzy blur in the rear view mirror.
2) A fair amount of outside noise that makes its way into the cabin, both engine sound and road noise.
3) The rear seats don’t offer a lot of room for full-grown people, so the Evo isn’t really an all-round daily driver for families or multi-passenger lifestyles.
That would be about it, that and the price. Again, that’s a somewhat pedantic complaint, as it compares well to its main enemy, the STI, but the Lancer Evolution comes at about 20K more than a base Lancer, and is of course a premium-drinking monster to boot.
While its fuel economy is about what you would expect for a turbocharged performance machine, it’s no more efficient than many six-cylinder vehicles.
Summary:
Strong Points
Weak Points
- - power
- - agility
- - braking
- - all-wheel drive
- - noisy
- - compromised rear visibility
- - small trunk
Editors Rating:
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