Mitsubishi Evo X review, test drive

The Evo X, the latest in the evolution of rally-bred Lancers, is finally here. Does it give you the ultimate bang for your buck?

Published on Jul 19, 2010 07:00:00 AM

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The version that Mitsubishi imports comes equipped with a six-speed, DSG-type, double-clutch gearbox, and there’s a pair of nice magnesium paddles attached to the steering column too. The 2.0-litre motor fires with a soft blast from the twin rear exhausts, the dual silencers probably the only purely cosmetic bit on the car. Those of you steeped in Evo lore will know that the aluminium motor (codename 4B11) under the aluminium hood is all-new and not an evolution of the famous 4G63 motor that has pages and pages of mods available if you execute a Google search. For all its visual drama, initial take-off, however, is not very strong or rapid. This is understandable as Mitsubishi is wringing 291bhp out from a mere 1.9-litre motor, with a real mother of a turbo. So a bit of lag is understandable.

Nevertheless, the ‘auto’ ’box takes care of much of this lag and just downshifts when you put your foot down, the Evo exploding forward after only a bit of a wait. But this car is not about low-end pulling power. It’s all about the performance delivered with the turbo on song, shovelling masses of boosted air into the engine. Drive it hard, in the manic part of the powerband, and the Evo immediately lives up to all the hype. Above 3000rpm the lag evaporates, and power delivery is linear and very strong. The tug from the four-wheel-drive system now pins you to your seat, and the motor just loves to spin and spin. There’s no let-up in power either at the top of the powerband, as the twin-clutch gearbox has already pre-selected the next gear for you, the tachometer flicking back only momentarily, before you are slammed in the back again.

The best part of the powerband is 4000 to 6500rpm, and it’s here that the Evo feels fast enough to hang onto the tail of a supercar. Sixty to 120kph, for instance, takes only 5.4 seconds flat out and the X accelerates just as hard up to 180kph and beyond. What this new, more-rounded motor lacks, however, is the crazy spike in turbo boost present on the earlier car, and some of the earlier Evo’s tuned feel as well. And you don’t hear too many whooshes and pops of the turbo’s wastegate either. But that’s refinement and progress for you.