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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The strong brakes, fantastic turn-in, incredible poise and great feedback make going harder and
harder a real treat. Through corners, turn-in, apex and exit flow with amazing fluidity. What genuinely sets this car apart, though, is the adjustability it offers. Initial understeer can be driven through easily and should you provoke the chassis more by backing off the throttle suddenly and by turning harder than necessary, the Evo pivots around its centre and settles into a nice neutral drift, planting a big smile on your face. And that’s the essence of the Evo – big, big fun.

What’s more, the Evo feels even more capable on everyday streets. Performance is devastating even at 80 percent, the chassis is incredibly chuckable and confidence-inspiring and you just seem to want to extract more and more performance from this car. It really goads you into putting the hammer down. And it’s pretty practical and usable too. With just a little bit of extra care, we managed to take it over some really bad bits of road, and kuccha roads should present no problem either. It has 140mm of clearance and very stiff springs, so if you are careful you can go over stuff you’d never imagine tackling with your Porsche. And while the ride over broken bits of tarmac is quite revealing and stiff-kneed, you aren’t tossed around either. There’s plenty of space on the rear seats (we should see the world’s first chauffeur-driven Evo in India soon) and there’s even some amount of boot space. That said, the full-sized spare and battery take up a lot of space, while plastic quality is only good enough for a car half the price of the Evo X. Which, of course, gets us to the thorniest bit – the Rs 50-lakh price-tag. This is a lot of money for what is basically the latest Lancer on steroids.

For this sort of money, you could get yourself a 3-series or an A4 bahnstormer. You’d get higher levels of quality and much more refinement and practicality too. But would they be as much fun? Could you take them upto 450bhp as easily? Would they attract as many open-mouthed stares? Can they make you feel like a part of The Fast and the Furious or a rally driver every morning?

And yes, “I drive an Evo” does have an equally nice ring to it.