No car is more synonymous with sport compact performance than Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution. From humble beginnings, the Evolution has grown into a pure technophile, complete with a computer-controlled all-wheel drive system, sublime steering, suspension and brakes that would force Newton to reconsider his theories, and a turbocharged engine that ingests boost with ease. If you step back and think about it, it's a four-door, five-passenger, grocery-getter that eviscerates V8s with ease. But the most interesting part of the story is that Mitsubishi itself turned out to be the greatest Evo tuner ever.
Built originally to enter Group A rally competition, the Lancer Evolution debuted in Japan in 1992, sporting a reinforced body and a modified Galant VR-4 powertrain. Numerous models have followed, but they've all kept alive the tradition of turbo, all-wheel-drive, balls-out, sideways-in-the-dirt performance. Upgrades and tweaks are sold by the container-load from aftermarket companies. Coilovers, brake pads, exhausts and tires are great ways to accent an Evo, but the biggest changes in speed always come from the OEM level.
Since its inception, Mitsubishi has thrown more power, a six-speed transmission with an Active Center Differential (ACD), wider near-race compound tires, monster Brembo binders, Active Yaw Control (AYC) and numerous turbocharger updates at the ber-Lancer. If you've ever had the chance to roll onto the throttle through your favorite on-ramp-all four tires singing, nose in the air-then you know the capability of these machines. But drive an Evo III, then jump straight into an Evo IX MR and try to tell us with a straight face that they feel exactly the same.
We caught wind of a rumor that one of Mitsubishi's thinly disguised test-mule Evo Xs would be undergoing top-secret testing through the urban sprawl of Southern California. We knew we had to give chase.
Here, on the cusp of the launch of the finalized Lancer Evolution X, would be the moment when the heavens align and all our Evo dreams come true. We managed to source a European-market, left-hand drive Lancer Evolution VI, partially converted to Tommi Makinen Edition status, whose owners were all too willing to let us stretch its legs when they found out we would be hunting down a near-production Evo X. Once secured, it was immediately staked out and claimed by Engineering Editor Chen.
Not that I had any reason to complain. I would be behind the wheel of our newest project car, a five-speed Lancer Evolution IX equipped with a set of Evo VII taillights and an M1 harness bar, but no harness. Go figure. The plan was to let Chen have his bulbous wheel arches and Tommi seats, while I would blast away with an ACD and a MIVEC-backed powerband.
The two cars are so similar, so true to the signature Evo recipe, that they are immediately recognizable as brothers in arms. Both are considered ugly by conventional Pininfarina standards, sporting sedan bodies accented with aggressive front bumpers, bulging fender flares, and boy-racer rear wings which scream: "Police, look over here!"
Brembo brakes and lightweight 17-inch wheels have been fitted to both; OZ Racing for the Evo VI and Enkei for the Evo IX. With our Subaru Forester Sports chase car in tow (driven by assistant Billy Jang), our caravan looked every bit like an internet messageboard fun cruise.