Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X: Loony tunes at play or BMW-basher, or both?
mitsubishi lancer evo x|mitsubishi|bmw
It has to be the unlikeliest performance car in the world while on the other hand it does provide really fast motoring for four with an unbelievable ability to marry comfort, ride and handling and everyday practicality which is something you wouldn't expect from your temperamental Italian exotic sports car would you? Indian motoring enthusiasts prepare to say hello and get dazzled by the might Mitsubishi coming our way from the next month on. And it is no Lancer with a lipstick and mascara job but the real honest to goodness shebang geared to put the fear of coming second best into the supercar set.
I am referring to the latest Evolution X MR FQ300 and while this Mitsubishi's model designation is quite a mouthful, just see what comes along: 294PS and 366Nm of gut wrenching torque from a 1998cc fourcylinder turbocharged engine, a six-speed sequential shift transmission delivering drive to all four wheels, zero to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and an electronically limited 250km/h top whack.
The performance is truly mindnumbing and supercar humbling not just in sheer numbers specifically but when one revisits the stats and understands that it is a 2.0-litre engine dishing this out in a body-style in which you can take the motherin-law to the market. Evolution is not just for the species but with the tenth edition in the series, it surely changes the rules of the motoring game.
The Evolution series of four-door , four-seater , four-wheel drive cars from Mitsubishi have always been something of a modern day motoring maverick. Thanks to its spectacular success in the World Rally Championships (four World Championship titles for Tommi Makinen from 1996 to 1999) plus umpteen rally successes the world over including our very own Team MRF winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, its place in the Japanese performance car pantheon was always right there at the top.
However, the Mitsubishi boffins weren't satisfied with just the rallyists dancing on the dirt and making merry. They wanted to deliver the same raw untamed power for those brave enough to use it on the streets as their everyday mode of motoring and thus was born the Evo cult - cutting across geographical, social and performance barriers.
The Evo X is probably the best in the Evolution series for it is undoubtedly a very quick and terrifyingly fast car but the Mitsubishi boffins have now smoothened the rough edges and endowed the car with manners, feel and behaviour which veer towards sensibility but without in any way dumbing its performance.
In fact, many do state quite emphatically that it is the best ever in the Evo series and it shows. In its impeccable behaviour as well as in its refined approach to all aspects of the game, this is a car which can give a bloody nose not just to the highpowered M-spec BMWs but also scare myriad Ferraris and such!
The first thing which Mitsubishi did was to give the new car a completely new visual appeal and in so doing they changed the entire car. It is not just about the jet-fighter look up front but the manner in which the four-door saloon form has been crafted, the sheet metal almost shrinkwrapped tightly so as not to be bulbous but to present a lithe form in keeping with the performance potential on call.
I am referring to the latest Evolution X MR FQ300 and while this Mitsubishi's model designation is quite a mouthful, just see what comes along: 294PS and 366Nm of gut wrenching torque from a 1998cc fourcylinder turbocharged engine, a six-speed sequential shift transmission delivering drive to all four wheels, zero to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and an electronically limited 250km/h top whack.
The performance is truly mindnumbing and supercar humbling not just in sheer numbers specifically but when one revisits the stats and understands that it is a 2.0-litre engine dishing this out in a body-style in which you can take the motherin-law to the market. Evolution is not just for the species but with the tenth edition in the series, it surely changes the rules of the motoring game.
The Evolution series of four-door , four-seater , four-wheel drive cars from Mitsubishi have always been something of a modern day motoring maverick. Thanks to its spectacular success in the World Rally Championships (four World Championship titles for Tommi Makinen from 1996 to 1999) plus umpteen rally successes the world over including our very own Team MRF winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, its place in the Japanese performance car pantheon was always right there at the top.
However, the Mitsubishi boffins weren't satisfied with just the rallyists dancing on the dirt and making merry. They wanted to deliver the same raw untamed power for those brave enough to use it on the streets as their everyday mode of motoring and thus was born the Evo cult - cutting across geographical, social and performance barriers.
The Evo X is probably the best in the Evolution series for it is undoubtedly a very quick and terrifyingly fast car but the Mitsubishi boffins have now smoothened the rough edges and endowed the car with manners, feel and behaviour which veer towards sensibility but without in any way dumbing its performance.
In fact, many do state quite emphatically that it is the best ever in the Evo series and it shows. In its impeccable behaviour as well as in its refined approach to all aspects of the game, this is a car which can give a bloody nose not just to the highpowered M-spec BMWs but also scare myriad Ferraris and such!
The first thing which Mitsubishi did was to give the new car a completely new visual appeal and in so doing they changed the entire car. It is not just about the jet-fighter look up front but the manner in which the four-door saloon form has been crafted, the sheet metal almost shrinkwrapped tightly so as not to be bulbous but to present a lithe form in keeping with the performance potential on call.
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