Further to yesterday's review of the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, today we look at what was its arch nemesis for many years, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. I had the opportunity to sample the Lancer right after the Impreza, and, thanks to a quirk of the day's organisation (I was not supplied with a video camera as requested for my first run in the car), I got another go as well. Thank you once again to Drift Limits (https://driftlimits.co.uk/) at Bovingdon Airfield for allowing me to have the time of my life driving these two wonderful cars in typical rallying weather!
The Mitsubishi Lancer nameplate is much older than the Subaru Impreza, and was first introduced in the 1970s on a rear-wheel drive saloon car called the Galant, one of the first Mitsubishi models sold in the United Kingdom under the name Colt Lancer. It was largely unexceptional, something about the size of a Ford Escort, but with rather anodyne, if somewhat handsome, styling, and very similar engineering. Even at this early stage, however, things were getting interesting... In 1974, a rally specification version of the Lancer, known as the 1600 GSR, won the African Safari Rally, and was tuned to produce around 170 bhp, an incredible figure for the time in an ordinary saloon car. Production versions only produced around 100-110 bhp, but were still almost as powerful as the legendary contemporary Ford Escort RS 1600.
In 1991, the then contemporary Lancer (known as the Mirage in Asian markets) was upgraded to produce a mad version known as the Lancer Evolution GSR, which, with a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, produced just under 250 bhp. (There was also a slightly less crazy RS model, but history seems to have forgotten about that!) It also had four-wheel drive, whereas other Lancers/Mirages had been front-wheel drive for many years before that. It, of course, became a very popular rally car, taking on the original Subaru Impreza from around 1992 onwards.
The Lancer Evolution then progressed through many different versions (numbered between I and IX), each based on the basic contemporary Lancer/Mirage, but always with a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine producing upwards of 250 bhp in standard tune and four wheel drive, and with ever more sophisticated engineering. By the time that the final generation of Lancer (for now) was launched in 2007, the Lancer Evolution had become so much a part of the furniture that it was the first version in the Lancer range to be designed, which arguably led to a much better looking basic design too. It was this rather tasty treat which awaited me when I had finished with the Subaru...
The 2008 vintage Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X was sold in the UK with a number of different power outputs, but the basic one was either the GS or the FQ-300, which produced, rather predictably, around 300 bhp. Compared with the Subaru, the design is immediately much more pleasing to the eye, and although the saloon form factor is maybe not as practical as a hatchback for some, the boot was still quite large for a performance car. This generation of Lancer also has a much higher standard of finish than the contemporary Subaru with a soft touch dashboard, doors which feel much more substantial, a nicer gearchange and a lovely central touchscreen. The driving position was also much better, with clear instruments and a pleasant-feeling steering wheel.
The five-speed gearbox may be missing a gear compared with an Impreza, but it shifted much more easily, and if left in third gear, as on the track, this did not seem to matter very much. What did matter was the steering and handling. In comparison with the Impreza WRX STi, it was an absolute revelation. Like the Subaru, it has different driving modes, and I sampled it in both tarmac and gravel modes, for some reason... The bodyroll was much less, the steering much more precise and the car was very, very easy to place through the corners. This, added with the same kind of performance as the Subaru, with 0-60 mph dispatched in under five seconds, meant that laptimes around the circuit would have been appreciably quicker. Indeed, when following my old friend Jim in the Impreza around the circuit, I could easily take the corners much quicker without having to drive beyond my own personal limitations.
Granted, the car does not have brakes that are as good as the Subaru, and on the secondhand market is about a third more expensive as a contemporary Impreza WRX STi, but in every other respect, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X is superior. The car was so good, in fact, that during my second session (where the video camera was switched on), I was having so much fun that I ignored the request from the instructor to come off the track as I had exceeded my allocated number of laps. So I had to go around for another one. What a shame!
When Jeremy Clarkson reviewed these cars on Top Gear in 2008, he came to exactly the same conclusion. He drove both on a track, and was able to place the Mitsubishi very precisely through the corners, whereas the Subaru kept on running wide. In these awful conditions, I would doubt that an average driver with no racing experience could have a much quicker car with which to cover the ground, as something like a Lamborghini would be an absolute handful. I went round so fast that the instructors in the Audi R8 and the Lamborghini Gallardo that I was following advised their drivers to pull over and let me past!
With mind-bending acceleration, precise steering, impressive practicality and a degree of user-friendliness that seems to mark out all Japanese saloon cars, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X has to be one of the best cars available for the money. It was surely a mistake on Mitsubishi's part to discontinue this legendary performance machine and leave the market wide open to Subaru in favour of introducing the distinctly Eclipse Cross crossover, but then I am not part of the marketing department at the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. No wonder values of the final incarnation of this automotive giant are on the rise!
Videos from the track, complete with bumbling commentary, coming soon.
