Mitsubishi Evo X review, test drive

The Evo X, the latest in the evolution of rally-bred Lancers, is finally here. Does it give you the ultimate bang for your buck?

Published on Jul 19, 2010 07:00:00 AM

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What this car also doesn’t like doing is standing starts. The SST ’box seems reluctant to allow the motor to spin hard before you dump the ‘clutch’ and that means you don’t take off like a scalded cat, tyres spinning. Even with all systems switched off, we couldn’t better a zero to 100kph time of 6.6sec. Part of the problem is that we couldn’t test this car on the specified 97 octane and were forced to run on regular 91 octane fuel. This, we feel, would account for a half-second loss in the acceleration time.

A large part of our day with the Evo is spent at the track in Chennai – a great place to sus out its tarmac skills and put all that hardware through its paces. First impressions are of effortless pace and grip.

The Evo X just sticks to the track, like it is being sucked down by a vacuum-producing fan. There is very little body roll and it feels incredibly composed and relaxed. This, despite the serious cornering speeds and occasional howl from the tyres.

It’s all very enjoyable, but the message from the very accurate and well-weighted steering is clear – the Evo X thinks it’s on a Sunday cruise. You need to push harder, brake later, carry more speed into corners and get on the gas earlier to really get stuck into the Evo. And it’s only then that you get access to the best this car has to offer.