| First Drive | Dublin Mountains, Ireland | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X |
The wait to get behind the wheel of 2008's most anticipated car has been agonising. The
new Lancer was previewed in 2005 as the
Concept Sportback. The first glimpse of the Evo X came later that year at the
Tokyo Motor Show. The suitably named
Concept-X showed huge promise. It also revealed Mitsubishi's plans to offer an automated manual gearbox for the first time.
UK buyers still have to wait until March 1st to actually drive the Evo X, but that's now mercifully close. The European specification is still being finalised, but thanks to Mitsubishi's distributor in Ireland, we managed to get our hands on a pre-production shakedown car. And we had long enough with the car to take it deep into the challenging roads of the Dublin Mountains.
First impressions are that the Evo is not all that far removed from the regular Lancer in styling terms. It's not just the fact that the new Lancer is such a good looking car, but the new Evo has purposely been toned down. Relatively of course, as the huge rear wing remains.
Look a little closer and you'll appreciate that many of the body panels are actually significantly different. Surprisingly, even the roof is changed, with full-length aerodynamic vanes to direct air at the large rear spoiler. It's now made of aluminium, as are the wings, front and rear. These are beefed up too, the fronts featuring hot air exit vents for the massive brakes.
The new 'jet fighter' face of Mitsubishi is far more pronounced in the Evo thanks to a black central section that runs right to the bottom of the deep front bumper. A new rear bumper is fitted too, featuring twin exhausts and a diffuser. Despite all these changes, the Evo X manages to be less conspicuous than previous generations, which is no bad thing.
With the old Evos, you paid for the performance with low-rent interiors. Thankfully Mitsubishi has listened to criticism, giving the Lancer an excellent interior. The plastics are still a little too hard, but at least it all looks the part. As ever, the Evo comes with lovely Recaro bucket seats and a well-proportioned three-spoke steering wheel.
The AYC button on the centre console remains, this defining feature of the brand crucial to the Evo's ability. It stands for Active Yaw Control and allows variation of the differential characteristics based around three settings. There's also S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control), which incorporates several electronic systems: ACD (Active Centre Differential), AYC and Sport ABS, but ASC is new and it stands for Active Stability Control. The new system removes a lot of the old car's edginess on entering a corner, making phenomenal cornering speeds easier to access thanks to enhanced stability.
That the Evo X still manages to break the laws of physics is no surprise, what does is the comfort the chassis demonstrated on our test route. It soaks up nasty bumps and undulations in a far more accomplished way than the outgoing car, yet scythes through corners in the same devastating manner as ever before. The Brembo brakes are beautifully weighted too and its five-speed manual 'box was slicker than the Evo IX's six-speed version. The steering has more weight in it than before, though a dearth of accurate communication.
Mitsubishi UK has finally announced the full line-up and specifications of the car British buyers will get their hands on. The car we drove could be considered to be broadly similar to the new entry-level model, badged the FQ-300. All versions use a new 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, which is lighter and cleaner than the old 4G63 unit. In its basic format, peak power is 290bhp and maximum torque is 300lb.ft, but drivers will discover that, thanks to the adoption of variable valve timing on both inlet and exhaust camshafts, this engine is much more flexible than before. It's still obviously a turbocharged unit, but you don't need to keep it on boost to make decent progress.
The range will feature three trim levels: GS (as tested), GSR and GSR SST. The latter features a development of VW's excellent six-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox with selectable modes of operation (Normal, Sport and Super Sport). Additionally, there are tactile magnesium gearshift paddles fitted behind the steering wheel. Notably, all models are generously equipped, with even the entry-level version coming as standard with 18-inch Enkei alloys, HID Bi-Xenon headlamps with Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS), Recaro front seats, Bluetooth connectivity, auto lights and wipers, central locking and a CAT1 alarm and CAT5 tracker. On top of that, there is a host of standard safety equipment. The GSR trim adds a 30Gb hard drive-based satnav and music system, a major upgrade to the speakers and other tweaks.
For the moment, the SST gearbox will only be available with the FQ-300 engine, but buyers will have FQ-330 and FQ-360 options if they are happy with a manual gearbox, each packing power suggested by the name and the FQ-360 will receive a few visual tweaks too, such as the vortex downforce generator on the trailing edge of the roof.
Pricing was always going to be tricky for Mitsubishi, especially as Subaru recently announced that its Impreza WRX STI would start at just £25,000. The full pricing structure for the Evo X is at the bottom of this page. It's worth noting that the FQ-300 has managed to attract an insurance rating of 19A, while its more powerful siblings slot into group 20A.
So, first impressions, even in a not-quite-ready test car, are highly impressive. All the attributes we know and love of the Evo series are intact, yet it has found civility too. It'll be February before we get our hands on the finished UK car, but we suspect it will be worth waiting for.
UK pricing for the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X - as at January 2008
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-300 GS: £27,499
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-300 GSR: £29,999
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-300 GSR SST: £31,999
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-330 GS: £30,499
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-330 GSR: £32,999
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-360 GS: £35,499
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-360 GSR: £37,999
