My eyes rolled so far back into my head when I saw that the Evo X was chosen for the Car of the Week. After a sigh, I cracked my knuckles, stretched my back, flexed my neck and gleefully began my torrent of derogatory remarks on the Evo before having driven it. Something along the lines of,
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The Lancer Evolution X takes an iconic, revered name permanently carved into the gravel of rallying and turns it into an oxymoronic joke. Backwards and outdated even when it was first introduced, it was then left to fester and linger without any substantial updates for eight whole years before mercifully having its life support system unplugged. Weighing a whole hundred kilos more than its direct predecessor of the same grade and packing barely any more power, it gets destroyed by the Evo IX and the contemporary Impreza in every measurable aspect, such as in the 0-400m dash, a slalom, sudden lane change, and braking test, and even gets used as a doormat by the older GD Impreza around Tsukuba as well, in addition to being utterly humiliated by the IX. Despite no longer being a homologation model for rallying, the Evo X still stubbornly sticks to a 2 litre, Inline 4 powerplant for some indiscernible reason despite using an all-new engine, consequently requiring a big, peaky turbo to bring its power figures up. A 5 speed manual gearbox in a performance car is just laughably outdated even back in 2007 when the car was first introduced, but by 2015? In a 38,000 USD car? It's just an agonising eyesore. And I'm supposed to believe this thing is an Evolution? Of what? If anything, this is a devolution of the Evolution, a trend which looked to continue until the Evo became an SUV had Mitsubishi not stumbled upon very hard times for cheating in their own emissions tests. As Mitsubishi's flagship model and the only car in its lineup that's even remotely exciting, different, or otherwise noteworthy, the Evo X and Mitsubishi are just a sad sight to behold. It almost physically hurts me with pity to see one of these things on the road, and I would be nothing short of embarrassed to be seen driving one of these things.
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But, because I needed to take about 2 or 3 photos for a really short review so people might actually get through the whole thing, I had to actually drive the Evo X, if only for a short while. Oh and of course, me actually driving it means that the tirade I diarrhea out will at least be somewhat based on my own experiences and opinion instead of just me throwing unsubbed Best Motoring links at you. I drove it mostly just for the photos, of course. Mostly.
Annoyingly for my narrative, the Evo X really impressed me when I drove it. Despite its unfortunate circumstances and confused nature, the Evo X is still a lot of fun to drive. The car is compliant over bad road surfaces, grips for days, and goes like stink with its horrifically short first four gears, and feels nimbler than its 1,530kg kerb mass (3,373lbs) might suggest. Yes, a five speed performance car in 2015 is laughable, but a manual performance car in 2015? Sounds a bit like a treat, especially because I hear that the 5 speed box is the gearbox of choice for the enthusiasts, being a stronger and lighter box than the DCT 6 speed. Yes, engaging fifth gear makes it feel like the turbo has sprang a leak, but for being an overdrive gear, it at least doesn't dip below 5,000rpm where the 4B11T engine needs to be kept above if you upshift near redline in 4th.
The defining takeaway from my driving experience of the Evo X is, of course, Mitsubishi's trick Active Yaw Control system (AYC), pioneered on the Evo IV and subsequently fitted on all JDM Evos since. It's truly criminal how some USDM cars never came with it; it's what makes an Evo and Evo. Even at its default, minimum setting of 30/130, it's mind boggling, cheeky fun. Chuck it into a corner, and you get none of the understeer you'd expect to experience in a front engined, AWD car. It makes rotating the car into an apex intuitively easy, as the gas pedal is as integral and helpful in rotating the car as the steering wheel. It's stupidly fun to chuck this thing into a corner at what should really be reckless speed, and when the tyres start to let go and the car begins to slide, you can "cure" the car with a small dose of gas to use the engine's torque to somehow convert a the momentum of the slide into useful rotation thanks to the AYC. It's a massively clever system, and unlike most of today's cars with insane technology that even a racing driver would be hard pressed to explain or exploit, the AYC, ACD, and EBD of MMC (IKR? How many acronyms can one fit into a sentence?) are not only immensely clever, but they all have very pronounced — and useable — effects on the driving experience, which is shockingly intuitive in spite of the complications, making for an extremely involving drive. It never once felt like I as the driver was disconnected or unneeded from behind the wheel, nor was I ever left to guess what the car was doing.
Despite the swathe of electronic systems in the car, the Evo X nonetheless feels very raw, natural, and tactile to drive at its limits, which is a rare balance between the digital and mechanical not found in cars other than the WRX and Skyline GT-Rs. I would even go as far as to say that other manufacturers should learn from the Evo in making electronic aids that feel natural and intuitive to use. These systems make for not only a fun driving experience, but also an astoundingly easy one as well. It didn't take long at all before immense confidence filled me behind the wheel, and I began to seriously attack the winding mountain passes of Bathurst within just a lap. It is perfect for narrow, winding, far from perfect mountain roads, where it will happily and readily shame many sports cars and even supercars. Forget the rental car interior. Forget even the abysmal 55 litre fuel tank. I could almost even forgive the lack of a 6th forward cog, because THIS is where most of the money goes when you buy an Evo X, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Plus, for this kind of performance, the fact that you can seat four adults in its no-nonsense, no gimmick, actually useable rear seats with actual rear doors? Absolute insanity!
And so I thought that I could save my condescending angle for this review by comparing it to the Evo IX and the WRX. You see, the Evo X is an amazing car if judged on its own merits. The problem, however, is that the Evo X simply cannot be judged on its own. Just like how you can't assess or critique an Apple product without comparing it to a contemporary Windows or Android product, how you can't proclaim your favourite soft drink is Pepsi without explaining why you don't like Coke as much, or how you can't understand Dante without Vergil and vice versa, no discussion about any Evo is complete without comparing and contrasting it to the WRX STI, its direct rival. Furthermore, as a numbered successor to a long lineage of Evos, the fact that it gets walked by its younger siblings is as atrocious a notion as an iPhone 6 outperforming an iPhone 10. I know I always harp on how the point and merit of sports cars aren't in the numbers they generate, but no one can — nor should — overlook being slaughtered so horrendously by its younger siblings. While I recognise that the Evo X is brilliant on its own, why would anyone not opt for an Evo IX, or any of the two generations of WRX STIs that has seen production in the all-too-long lifespan of the Evo X over it? For anything with a direct rival or a predecessor, simply being good on its own just isn't good enough, because it can never stand alone and be assessed solely by its own merits; it needs to be at the very least, on par with the first two immediate, obvious comparisons people will make, or to offer some tangible trade-offs in the comparisons. I personally don't even know where I'd start making a case for the Evo X.
Just to really drive that point home with hard evidence, I decided to do a time attack run of the JDM Spec 2014 WRX STI Type S around Bathurst alongside the Evo Final Edition. While also utilising a 2 litre 4 cylinder turbocharged engine and offering four proper doors, the WRX does everything an Evo X does and does them better. The STI is of a newer platform and design, accelerates faster, has more gears, revs a whole thousand rpm higher, stops better... it's just more of everything. While lacking in AYC, the WRX more than makes up for it with an adjustable centre differential, which you can adjust on the fly. Of course, in the interest of fairness (and not wanting to waste twenty years of my life figuring out the optimal settings for each car), I left the centre differential of the STI at its default of 40:60 F:R, just as I had left the adjustable AYC on its default of 30/130 on the Evo X.
Evo FE:
24.193 / 0:24.193
54.974 / 1:19.167
39.572 / 1:58.739
36.078 / 2:34.817
Fuel Consumed for 5 Flat Out Laps: 20ℓ
Top Speed: 239km/h (148.5mph)
WRX STI
24.463 / 0:24.463
54.665 / 1:19.128
39.465 / 1:58.593
36.001 / 2:34.594
Fuel Consumed for 5 Flat Out Laps: 17ℓ
Top Speed: 239km/h (148.5mph)
It was only after I did timed runs of both cars did I finally think, "oh, um... wow, I was totally wrong about the Evo and I really can't salvage the condescending angle of my review". Yes, the Evo was slower, but only by such a ridiculously small margin, that in my rather inconsistent hands, either car could've come up on top if I had just one run and couldn't cherry pick the fastest time I did over a few runs. To my unbridled aghast, the Evo X was wholly competitive despite all its quantifiable demerits I had pointed out earlier, and the results were so close that I've even had to overlay one video atop the other to really see how this result came to be.
From the video and time deltas, the Evo had a HUGE advantage of almost 0.3 seconds in Sector 1, which consists of just Turn 1 and a lengthy run down the Mountain Straight. While the WRX stops better and can brake later, the Evo carried more speed throughout of the corner thanks to AYC, and acceleration between the two is DEAD matched, despite my previous misconception that the STI accelerated faster, simply based on how it felt. The Evo then hands this advantage back to the WRX at the uphill Sector 2, where I was forced to hold 4th gear near redline through Turns 8, 9 and 10, Reid Park, Sulman Park, and McPhillamy Park, where the engine was way past its peak, and shifting into 5th would bog the car and rob it of engine braking control when I lift for the high speed sweepers. From the peak of the Mountain, the WRX had the edge over the Evo in the treacherous downhill braking sections, while allowing me to hold a lower gear when approaching braking zones such as Brock's Skyline and the right hand kink leading into Forrest's Elbow. Again, on the Conrod Straight, the instantaneous speeds of these two cars are IDENTICAL, almost frame for frame, and both cars even hit the EXACT same top speed of 239km/h before having to brake for The Chase, though the Evo was visibly running out of breath by then, and the STI was still somewhat pulling in 6th. On the big braking zone into The Chase, the stopping advantage the WRX has is exacerbated even more due to the tall 5th gear of the Evo, meaning I had to wait a lot longer at lower revs before I can downshift into 4th to make the most of engine braking, whereas I could hang high in the higher 8,500rpm rev range of the WRX all of the time in the humongous 239 to mid 90s braking zone. By the time the Armor All banner comes into view for both cars, the difference is stark.
For some context, this is the biggest difference between the two cars.
I guess the moral of the story here is that one shouldn't write too much about an experience before, you know, having actually experienced it. I mean, in my defence, I'm quite behind on my reviews, and how was I supposed to know the Evo X would be so competitive? Heck, even after the analysis, I still don't think I fully understand why the two cars are so close in performance, nor have I even any theories of why there's such a rift between real world test results and my own, virtual testing. Maybe Mitsubishi has quietly kept the Evo X up to date, despite me not being able to find a list of updates for it. Maybe the Evo suits my driving style more. Maybe Subaru similarly went soft after their cars no longer needing to meet homologation requirements. Maybe I'm not good enough of a driver to ascertain such minute differences in two cars. Maybe the Evo is has unrealistically good performance in this game. I don't know. I guess you could say that evolution is a mystery, full of change that no one sees.
I would have taken such perverse pleasure in pooping all over the Evo, but now I am forced to face my own ineptitude and put back all the poop previously reserved for the Evo back into my body, the most painless means of which being via my mouth. And that is my newfound, and only reason for hating it: for making me eat my words. Oh, and the rear wing is horrifically modeled in the game, letting light pass through when viewed from the underside. Eww.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition is a fantastic sports car. No ifs, no buts.
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