The Final Evolution
We’re all waiting for next year’s Evo X, but before that arrives there’s just time for another version of the Evo IX, the MR. Andrew Noakes drives it, and wonders if this is the best Evo yet.
More accelerative machinery is thin on the ground. BMWs, Audis, Jaguars, Bentleys and Maseratis are not nearly quick enough. Only the fastest Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis can keep up. Short of a mega-money supercar or a lightweight roadster like Caterham’s CSR, the only other competitors are a 7.0-litre Corvette and a Dodge SRT-10. Factor in four-door convenience and a price well short of £36,000 and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR FQ360 – to use its full, cumbersome moniker – has a niche pretty much to itself.
The shattering off-the-line urge – and the ability to go on to a top speed of 157mph – is generated by a familiar-looking engine, the final version of the 4G63 in-line four which dates back to 1987, and has powered every Evo since 1992. New for the MR is a revised turbo with titanium/aluminium alloy fins and a smaller compressor inlet diameter, which is said to improve engine response throughout the rev range. On UK-bound cars an HKS tuning kit adds freer-flowing induction pipes and a ‘Super Dragger’ exhaust system with a sports cat, which together with a remapped engine-management ECU boost power from the Japanese-market 276bhp to no less than 360bhp, at 6887rpm. But Paul Brigden of Ralliart, Mitsubishi’s in-house tuning division, is keen to point out that maximum power wasn’t the end of the tuning brief. “We wanted to deliver the best possible driving experience, rather than concentrating on a headline-grabbing power output,” Brigden says. “We’ve worked hard to optimise the FQ-360’s drivability.”
As a result the 363lbft torque peak (8lbft more than the special-edition FQ-400 of 2004) is delivered at a surprisingly low 3200rpm. Just don’t let that fool you into thinking this is an easy-going, flexible motor. In town you’ll need to do plenty of work with the gearlever.
Less than 2000rpm the Evo drops off-boost and off-cam, and you’ll often be left frustrated with your foot to the floor while black cabs zoom past and fully-laden artics maintain an impatient vigil four inches behind the unsubtle carbon wing on the boot lid. Keep the revs up using shorter gears and you have the opposite problem. With anything over 3000rpm on the clock a tickle of throttle sees the Mitsubishi bound forward like a terrier after a rabbit, and that can be an embarrassment in busy streets. In town the useful rev range is little more than 1000rpm. None of that matters once you get the Evo away from the broken blacktop of the city and out onto open roads. Closely-stacked gear ratios and hair-trigger throttle response make it easy to keep the engine in the top half of the rev range, where acceleration is never less than explosive. Squeeze on more throttle through a tight bend and you can feel the active rear diff feed more power to the outer rear wheel to kill understeer, and the Evo simply rockets out of every corner. When you do find the limit - and such is the chassis’ capability that you rarely can on a public road – the high-geared steering helps you collect it all together. On a twisty road the Evo is as quick and entertaining a way to travel as you could imagine.
But not every road suits it. The MR gets Eibach springs which are stiffer than before, and a fraction lower front and rear. Recent Evos have been slightly softer and better able to cope with typically badly-maintained British roads: show the MR potholes, cambers and joints in the tarmac and you’ll have trouble guessing which way it’ll jump next.
Other drawbacks? Well, the trade-off for the monster power output is epic fuel consumption: the official combined figure is a smidge under 20mpg, and our test suggests that few enthusiastic drivers will manage even that. You’ll be lucky to get much more than 200 miles from a tank of fuel, and there’s a second blow to long-distance potential in the form of oppressive cabin noise. Both threaten to reduce the Evo’s status from ultimate all-weather, all-use bargain supercar to simply an irrelevant trackday tearaway.
If neither the fuel consumption nor the cabin noise bothers you, there’s plenty to celebrate. Performance and handling are not in question. There’s plenty of space, and the basically low-rent cabin is lifted with a Momo steering wheel and supportive Recaro seats trimmed in leather and Alcantara. Outside you get a new carbon fibre lip at the front and a ‘shark tooth’ vortex generator over the rear window (said to kill drag and boost rear downforce) together with 17-inch Speedline wheels, though only a dedicated Evo-spotter will notice the differences.
The best news is that none of the extras cost you anything because each one of the 200 Evo IX MRs will carry the same price tag as the previous special-edition FQ-360, at £35,539 (and you can delete the leather trim to shave the price down by £1k). There are plenty of more sensible, more mature ways to spend the money and plenty of cars which offer a more even spread of abilities. But if you want to go very, very fast in a straight line and around (smooth) corners, this Evo is in a class of its own.
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But every now and then I'll get a piece of road that reminds me why I tolerate the crappy economy and bone jarring ride. This morning was just such a day, with switchback curves and wet roads.
Just need to remap it to 350 horses......
Edited to add, I'm really struggling with what to replace it with. The only car that appeals is the Audi RS4 but that is beyond what I'd like to spend by some margin.
Still it is great too see a car like the Evo is out there on the roads. And I must admit, I would love to drive the car one day and see just what they are all about, mad machine springs to mind.
If you can afford the car full stop the fuel isn't an issue.
Best Evo yet in my view. The 6 was good enough, the 7 made it a bit less brash, the 8 refined the looks, and the 9 has perfected it. The interior is lovely, the engine seems well balanced vs the 400's on delivery.
Evo X will be a revolution. For now the 9 seems to be 'the' evolutionary end of the evo's!
Dave
If you can afford the car full stop the fuel isn't an issue.
Best Evo yet in my view. The 6 was good enough, the 7 made it a bit less brash, the 8 refined the looks, and the 9 has perfected it. The interior is lovely, the engine seems well balanced vs the 400's on delivery.
Evo X will be a revolution. For now the 9 seems to be 'the' evolutionary end of the evo's!
Dave
I think I would have a Ferrari 355 then the evo, cost the same second hand but you get all the noise and history with the 355, and all for 35K, bargain. Still 350-Bhp, and a true performance car, no compromise at all.
I'd probably take the 355 if I had the money too, would probably run it on the depreciation difference vs the Evo!
But in three or four years this Evo will be a performance bargain
Bloody hell mate you are getting robbed. My Golf GTI Mk4 1.8T with 220-Bhp, gets on the motorway at least 34Mpg and avreage 28 - 29 around town.
You must drive like Miss Daisy
Dave
Except for practicality, and running costs etc. The 355 would also be significantly slower in acceleration though perhaps not top speed. Funny how a 4-door sedan is quicker than what was a supercar 10 years ago. The 355 is still far more special though for sure.
Don't get me wrong, the F355 is a great car, but if I were going to jump in a car to drive 200 miles down the motorway, I'd choose the Evo everytime.
I always look at the Evo as a modern-day cosworth, and I think the only other competitor is the Impreza.
Don't get me wrong, the F355 is a great car, but if I were going to jump in a car to drive 200 miles down the motorway, I'd choose the Evo everytime.
Just saying the 355 is a beautiful - car but I have no tolerance for unreliabile vehicles, so I doubt I'll ever run one.
How much of a competitor the Impreza is depends what you're looking for.
I think I'd find the noise and ruinous fuel consumption of the Evo just too much to put up with as an everyday car. The Subaru is better in both departments, but step from an Evo to an Impreza and you realise the Subaru isn't nearly as fast, nor does it steer and stop like the Evo. It just isn't as much fun to drive.
But the Subaru costs £10k less, so there's plenty to spend on a quicker steering rack and a few engine mods...
Buy it a year old and the run the car on the saved depreciation for two years for free!
20mpg isn't so bad, it's only putting maybe £150 fuel bill on a decent 30mpg car upto £225, so £75 more than an average quick ish petrol car... vs the 1st year depreciation of £600 PCM.
Or, get it on 2nd year depreciation, £480 PCM, and add the £75 for fuel, £565, with £35 spare for some more mileage
Mpg is quite irrelevant on a brand new car of this type, anything worth driving that will come close in performance terms will only be averaging 25mpg anyway at best... it's nothing really.
Exhaust though, fair point if it's a bit loud
Dave
It isn't irrelevant. The trouble with the Evo's fuel consumption is that you only get 200 miles or so between fuel stops. Which is irritating. Doesn't matter how fast your 0-60 time is when your car's stationary in a petrol station.
The old BMW I run (and which cost less to buy than the first year's depreciation on almost any new car, by the way) doesn't return much better economy than the Evo but it has a big tank so it manages 350 miles between refills.
A similar offering from Subaru would be the latest JDM Spec C Impreza that is lightweight, nimble and powerful @ 320bhp or the RB320 UK car in similar format. They are both much cheaper than the EVO, better suited to UK roads and the extra money you're saving can get you a decent upgrade so you'll be pushing more horses than the EVO and braking equally as well if not better. You service every 10K miles and 250 - 270 miles per tank is more sensible. To me thats a no brainer and as much as i like the EVO i'd take one of these two instead.
Or pay an extra 10K over the EVO, get a Litchfield Type25 and blow them all away in every respect.
It isn't irrelevant. The trouble with the Evo's fuel consumption is that you only get 200 miles or so between fuel stops. Which is irritating. Doesn't matter how fast your 0-60 time is when your car's stationary in a petrol station.
Come on, it's an Evo. Who even buys such a car and then worries about that? It's just more fuel to weigh you down afterall
Dave
On the other hand, this never annoyed me because I knew what I was buying and it was well worth it. If I was doing a long and tedious journey I would borrow a rep-mobile or get the train.
The Evo is the only car i have owned that I would definately buy another one!
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