GT7 W40: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV '96

You know, I initially didn't think that I'd have much to say about the Evo IV, because about 90% of it could be copied and pasted from my Evo V review. And, you know what? Despite writing this, I still don't have much to add onto what's already been written.

I also didn't think I'd have much fun with the Evo IV this week. I just don't like how it drives. Grip is at a premium, and when the front tyres let go, the whole car feels paralysed until it finds grip again. There's therefore a lot of cautious tip–toeing when driving the car to "protect" the front tyres, not helped by the soft suspension always wanting to bust the car out into a slide on the brakes, despite the brakes themselves being typical GT7 road car garbage: so horrendously weak they barely even activate default ABS even with the brake pedal fully depressed.

But when Vic showed up in a GT1 RM livery and had Grand Valley East South for the first race, an idea just clicked. The six races we did on Tuesday was representative of each of the mainline game the Evo IV graced: GV for GT1, Laguna Seca for GT2, Deep Forest for GT3 (the war crimes I wouldn't commit to have Seattle or R246 in GT7...), Nürburgring for GT4, Tsukuba for GT5, and finally, Bathurst for GT6, and the races themselves were often bangers!

I don't even think the Evo IV looks particularly attractive, but when some old Gran Turismo music came on shuffle play during the replays, I just went into an oddly nostalgic zone. The mood, the atmosphere, all clicked. The weather conditions were perfect and stunning for the shots. The on–track action was hot and close knit. The stars and diamonds just aligned. I just kept shooting and shooting, despite not intending to write a review. I just wanted to shoot.

I know this is in bad taste for me to say, but if this week's Special Challenge were to take an artistic snap, I think I'd have taken first, second, third, and fourth place :)

So yeah, in case you couldn't figure it out, I'm just writing almost filler text here to break up the pictures :)