It's rarely a grey day in an Evo X
The good thing about having a car like an Evo X is you get supercar-baiting performance in a practical saloon car body, right? Well no, not exactly, as I found out when I decided to move flat this month.
When Mitsubishi shifted the battery and the washer bottle into the back of the rear seats it may have been great for things like weight distribution but it doesn’t do much for the car’s ability to shift the junk I’ve accumulated over three years.
Oh, and don’t forget the sub woofer that has been built into what’s left of the boot space which may be good for speed garage, but less effective for the stuff that was heading for my parent’s garage. The rear seats don’t fold now obviously rendering the whole thing rather pointless for operations like this, which is a little bit of a shame considering at least part of the target audience must be drivers with families who want practicality and performance.
Ford Transit - a different kind of fun
With this in mind I managed to borrow a rather nice Transit Sportvan from the fine people at Ford at the last minute. If you’ve never driven one I can wholly recommend spending a few days driving a Transit. A million cup holders, a tray for your McDonalds supersize meal, a comfortable, high driving position, and pure novelty value make this Blue Oval load lugger an absolute hoot.
In Sportvan guise it’s even better thanks to leather seats and steering wheel, chunky 18” alloy wheels and a bodykit and stripes that are so ridiculous you can’t help but love them.
It has a 128bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine, with 228lb ft of torque, that gives it more shove than a van has any right to, and an unexpectedly excellent gearchange and good steering that make you feel involved in driving even when you are moving a sofa. I’m serious when I say that if I had enough money for a fleet of cars I’d definitely have one of these tucked away.
The only empty boot that's full
After spending a few days away from the Evo though I thought it would be rude not to take it for a cross-country blast. Despite what you may have read elsewhere the X is fairly easy to drive day-to-day despite its 360bhp and epic performance figures.
The ride is only an issue if you hit a particularly nasty pothole, the car occasionally not reacting quickly enough, but in general it is firm but not uncomfortable. But point the Mitsibushi down a suitable B road and it changes.
It’s almost like you can feel the entire car tightening around you, Transformer-like, changing its character completely. The speed that it carries is frankly ridiculous, and more than a little scary, as if the Evo is playing chicken with you until you back off way before it needs to.
Grip is phenomenal and at speed it feels utterly focused - sharper, tauter, stiffer than normal, and with ability to spare. Press the accelerator and the Evo pauses for a second before launching you down the road at warp speed.
I love the smell of rust in the morning
It’s impressive stuff, and with good brakes, direct steering and a chassis that seems to have worked out the answers before you reach the corner it is difficult to imagine many cars that would be quicker in these conditions. Perhaps there are times when you don’t seem to be able to keep up with the car’s dazzling array of electronics and an Impreza is a bit more straightforward, but then you don’t buy an Evo for simplicity I guess.
The only niggle with the way the Evo goes is its seemingly thin power delivery. The impressive peak torque of 363lb ft happens at 3,500rpm but it never really feels that torquey, and you feel like you are constantly revving the hell out of it.
The problem with this is that the Evo really doesn’t sound very nice at all. Bar a bit of turbo whistle it is just a flat four-cylinder noise, and while a Focus RS has less torque (324lb ft) it is on a plateau between 2,500rpm and 4,500rpm giving more accessible grunt, while the five cylinder is probably one of the best sounds around for the price.
Seats need more adjustment
Noise aside the Evo is ruthless in its pace and proving to be a popular addition to the PH fleet. The banzai looks may be an acquired taste but I rather like them and think the Evo manages to stand out and look stealthy at the same time.
On a car nearing £40K I could do without the wheel hubs going rusty though and the seats need more adjustment. But then you don’t tend to notice these things when you are playing rally driver.
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