MANILA, Philippines - Yes, it is not a pretty sight.
Yes, as sports sedans go, it is about as sophisticated as a baseball bat to the knees.
Yes, at P3.695 million big ones, it is by no means the best “Bang for the Buck” kind of performance car.
But no, this does not in any way detract from its biggest trait: It is just so much fun to drive.
The tenth iteration of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is not “fun” in the traditional sports car sense of fluid moves, singing valves, and lithe bodywork. It is not fun the way watching Cirque du Soleil might be, or attending a wine tasting session and trying out all sorts of fancy and expensive wines and cheeses. It is fun the way a child might enjoy packing old film canisters with the powder from piles of “5-stars” and “bawang”, lighting the fuse, and whooping with joy at the resounding “KA-BOOM!”.
The Evo is that kind of fun. Crude. Possibly dangerous. Explosive.
As Mitsubishi has been doing to its staple compact for years, the Evolution X gets the most ambitious, err, evolution yet. The 4B11 DOHC engine of the basic Lancer receives a turbocharger, an intercooler, and sophisticated valve wizardry to punch out a conservative 295 horsepower and 40.3 kg-m of torque. To harness that power is an available 6-speed manual in the GSR variant or, with the MR I tested, a 6-speed dual-clutch automated manual.
Power is delivered to all four wheels via a sophisticated Active Center Differential and a limited slip differential. The underpinnings are beefed up as well. The suspension uses forged aluminum control arms instead of the basic Lancer’s cheaper cast iron pieces, then it gets Bilstein monotube dampers for the front and rear, and Eibach springs. For brakes, it has what has to be the de facto system of high performance cars: Brembo disks the size of family sized pizza pies. With ABS, natch, but no pepperoni. Only a .45 pistol has more stopping power. The MR also wears forged aluminum alloy BBS for reduced unsprung weight. They look damn good, too. And, of course, it gets the widebody fenders, the ground effects kit, the louvered hood, and the rear wing from Hell.
So, how does it drive? It’s not really a bull-in-a-china-shop experience, but definitely an animal. The drivetrain feels muscular and raring to get some open road all the time. The motor sports twin cams and breathes out through twin mufflers but sounds more like a blender than a sports car engine until pushed to the redline. At around 5,000 RPM and above the engine lets loose a ripping commotion from under the hood that’s part 16 valves, twin cams, and turbo whine, punctuated by a few tiny explosions from the exhaust and high pitched whistles from the turbo wastegate as you shift gears. I am not sure if there were flames spitting out from the exhaust pipes; I was too busy concentrating on the road ahead. More exotic sports cars may have more refined engines, but the Evo’s engine music is Metallica to the Europeans’ Bach.
Low speed crawling in traffic is doable and quite painless thanks to the transmission’s relatively smooth and transparent operation, but the constant droning of the engine, the sharp reflexes of the steering, and the perpetually firm ride mean that the car only makes sense when you do the following:
Step 1: Point the car on an long stretch of preferably open road. Step 2: Floor the gas. Step 3: Hang on. Actually, step 3 isn’t quite right. As high performance cars go, the Evolution X is a forgiving animal. After you’ve gotten over the initial burst of adrenaline from the onset of turbo boost (that’s around 3,000 RPM), the car is exhilarating to drive to the limits. Yours and the car’s.
On long straights, the car seems to hug the ground lower thanks to the aerodynamic body kit. On tight, curving roads, it gets even better. Set to manual shifting mode and toggling the gear changes with the magnesium paddle shifters, it’s easy to clip apex after apex with the car’s flat cornering responses, nimble feel, and STOP-RIGHT-NOW brakes. You will really appreciate the latter when you are going flat-out and a car ahead of you in the next lane suddenly decides to block your path.
The all-wheel drive system is adjustable for front-rear torque bias. With an experienced driver, the car can be set up to oversteer or drift around corners, at which point some deft opposite lock and fancy left foot braking will endear you to your kids but probably not your wife. Or the other way around, actually. You can drive the Evo using all the tricks you’ll learn in a high performance driving school and look like Tommi Makinen, or you can just throw it into the corners in a hamfisted way and pray that the 4-wheel wizardry will save you from the crushing laws of physics. Unless you wrap the car around a tree, the fun never stops in this car. And for all the power that the Evo engine produces, it may be just the starting point for wealthy enthusiasts who’d like to see how far they can take it. I know one friend who had his car modified and dyno’d to deliver more than 400 HP on pump gas.
Still, the nice thing about the Evolution X is that, as hairy chested as it is, it is still a passable family car. There’s still a real back seat, a semblance of trunk space (the full size spare eats up a lot of the room), and you even get some neat creature comforts like the power moonroof and bitchin’ Rockford Fosgate stereo. The front seats are aggressively bolstered Recaros, and while settling into them takes a bit of contortionism, they do their job of holding you in place whether the car is going straight or sideways. The twin-clutch transmission still won’t beat a real automatic in smoothness, but it seems durable enough for sustained high speed driving and is quicker to shift than the average driver.
Over the course of a week, the Evo X under my watched generated its fair share of longing glances from passersby, but curiously did not generate any stoplight challenges either from European exotics or pimped-out Japanese rice rockets. That’s the concept of Deterrence working right there, folks. On its last day with me, I took it on a 200+ kilometer route that included open highway, provincial two-lane road, and a nice 20+ kilometer hill climb up Laurel to Tagaytay. On the straights the car had more than enough grip and power to whizz past slower traffic as if they were standing still, and on the hill climb it powered up the tight road like a raging bull. I capped the day with a more sedate cruise back on the highway, enjoying the stereo and how relatively composed and supple the car feels at 6/10ths pace. I logged 6.2km/l of high octane in the process.
The Evolution X won’t make sense to performance shoppers on a budget, but those who step up to the plate will have few regrets.
The Good
• Raging hormones aesthetic.
• Raucous, rampaging turbo-4.
• Impressive automated manual.
• Dynamic responsiveness makes you want to drive it hard all day.
The Bad
• No-frills interior appointments.
• Eyebrow raising sticker price.
The Verdict
• A beast that just loves to play.