EVO-powered X-Works Automotive sports car unveiled
British Midlands based X-Works Automotive is following in the footsteps of so many British cottage industry car-makers and building a car based on an existing production engine, in this case from a Mitsubishi Evo. They've spent the last 2 1/2 years developing the carbon chassis X-1. The 2,600 lb all wheel drive coupe comes equipped with a 350 hp two liter four cylinder, which can be upgraded to 500 hp.
Designers, Andrew Borrowman and Sean Prendergast, previously worked at Rover, Panther Cars and Grand Prix Engineering Services, and they seem to have done an admirable job with their new ride. The first X-1 was shown last weekend at the AutoSports International Show in Birmingham. If you are in the vicinity of Dudley, England this weekend you can see the car at Extreme Automobiles, who have been appointed as the first dealer. The projected price of the new car will be £45,000 if they actually get them into production.
[Source: PistonHeads]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr_Oak 8:57AM (1/17/2007)
Okay, the only 4 cylinder car I would spend more than 20k USD on is the Elise, and that, because of what it is. A very serious toy.
You are telling me that someone is going pay 88,222.4 USD for that there thing? Stupid @#$%@*, Stupid @#$%@*, Stupid @#$%@*.
Come on guys, this would be a dream car for the tuner market crowd. Problem is, they buy mostly cheap cars and make monsters out of them, That asking price is real adult money. Hell, for that kind of coin there are a lot of real cars that could be bought.
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Milos 8:54AM (1/17/2007)
front overhang (it's sides,nest to the front lights) are very Brera looking.
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olddavid 9:06AM (1/17/2007)
I have never been able to get my brain around the idea of a 4cyl. with 500 hp. Hell, even 350, for that matter. I would love to see the internals of one of these , as they would have to be over engineered to the nth degree for daily usage. To say nothing of the fact that it would probably be a candidate for 100 octane, or the knock sensor would retard timing and lose much power. Where can I get Mitsu to send me one to play with? The PR value would be over the top!
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Tiago do Vale 9:11AM (1/17/2007)
The problem is that in the US eveybody is used to underengineered cars.
It's a great price, for a light, carbon fiber, car... In this context, the number of cylinders couldn't matter less.
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Thunder 9:33AM (1/17/2007)
Come on guys, this car at 500 horsepower will seriously waste a Z06 Corvette. The Evo FQ400 (the FQ stands for F____ing Quick by the way) does 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds and tops out at 175 mph. Add another 100 horsepower for an even 500 and then drop the weight 600 pounds and things get serious.
500 horsepower is achievable from a 2 liter, I know someone that gets 487 horsepower from their 1.6, better gas mileage than stock (when they don't get into it of course), runs 11.0's at the track and it's his daily driver.
If you want to whine because it has a 4 cylinder fine, you're also going to whine if you race it in your Lambo for pink slips. Although the FQ has quite a bit of turbo lag it pulls like crazy once it hits its sweet spot, and you never know they may have addressed this at X-works.
The price too may be different, when I was there the pound conversion usually translated to the same number in dollars, although that was for regular production cars.
http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/mitsubishi-evo-8-mr-fq400.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqxOc9HnAms
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Alex 9:34AM (1/17/2007)
@ #3:
The 4G63 block used in the Evo has been around for over a decade now and still going strong (though it will be replaced in the new EvoX). These engines, with stock internals and everything can easily run up to 500 with a properly mated turbo. Of course, the lag wouldn't be pretty on a turbo of that size. But yes, you are right, they are over-engineered but that's what's best about it! I run 400hp on my Evo and it's my daily. Never had a problem with it short of a flat tire!
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Mr_Oak 10:04AM (1/17/2007)
Tiago:
No, the truth is these overstressed engines are fragile and not practical for daily use.
Underengineered as you put it, means durability. this is why most Hi-Po european cars are so damn high maintenance. It is common practice here to operate an engine at 7 or 8 tenths of capability. This translates to low maintenance.
Look and lambos before VW, awesome machines in their own right, but fragile as hell.
You guys build cars that you sit and ogle. We build cars that we can drive and drive and drive......
This is a wonderfully endineered car for lapping a track with a couple of mechanics on standby.
Most hi-strung euro cars would not be able to handle the kind of driving listed below, without having some time on a flatbed
New York, NY to Anchorage, AK --- Miles: 4514/Kilometers: 7267
New York, NY to Los Angeles, CA---Miles: 2911/Kilometers: 4685
New York, NY to Miami, FL --- Miles: 1325/Kilometers: 2132 (a trip my Audi A6 w\40k miles on odo. failed to complete. Last 275 miles on a flatbed).
New York, NY to Seattle, WA --- Miles: 3025/Kilometers: 4666
New York, NY to New Orleans, LA --- Miles: 1406/Kilometers: 2263
Our cars are engineered for our style of driving.
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John P. 10:05AM (1/17/2007)
The 2.0 Pinto Based Cosworth engines from the 80's were making 600+hp reliably, Why couldn't this one? Ford's 2.3ltr Merkurs in the Roush cars of the 80's were making 750+hp using Turbos, no big deal. I think it's more about the strength of the motor than actually being over-engineered. Those Pinto motors were STRONG.
Turbos are a cheap way to make power in a light package. Old Tech style.
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Mr_Oak 10:31AM (1/17/2007)
5. Come on guys, this car at 500 horsepower will seriously waste a Z06 Corvette. The Evo FQ400 (the FQ stands for F____ing Quick by the way) does 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds and tops out at 175 mph. Add another 100 horsepower for an even 500 and then drop the weight 600 pounds and things get serious.
This is idiotic. I wonder how would this car do on a trip from Los Angeles, CA to Miami, FL Miles: 2885\Kilometers: 4643?
I don't give a damn what it's track time is, less than 0.000001% of my car's mileage is spent on a race track. That said, the Z06 is more car than 99.9999% of the idiots who post here can handle.
In 10 or 15 years, when this thing is reduced to an annual circus showing at Goodwood, today's Z06s will still be plying the roads of the world.
P.S. the Z06 comes with a 100,000 mile or 160,934.4km Warranty. Top that.
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The Truth 10:35AM (1/17/2007)
Noe thats moving forward!
350 HP out of a four banger. 2500 lb. curb weight. nice.
v8 what? Frickin dinosaur technology. No wonder Dodge is laying off peeps that make that hemi POS engine.
All the bubba white trash straight liners aint gonna like getting obliverated by a 4 banger "ricer" car.
HAHAHAHAHA die 2.5, die.
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Alex 10:44AM (1/17/2007)
@ Mr_Oak,
Obviously you have no experience with the said 4G63 Evo power plant. I would suggest you do some research, talk to people, maybe even experience said engine before you question its rock solid history.
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John P. 10:54AM (1/17/2007)
The Truth,
The V8 is one of the most efficient ways ever devised to make serious power. Turbos aren't exactly new by the way. I believe a 500hp corvette motor, normally aspirated, gets way better mileage than your over-achieving 2.0 turbo, and lets not even go into reliability and real-world driveability.
I think you've got to get your head out of your ass before your mitsu-fanboi shit starts staining yourself.
Nothing against turbos by the way, a 1500hp twin turbo corvette motor would be fun.
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Napoli 11:44AM (1/17/2007)
The US Evolution IX comes with a 100,000 mile warranty Mr. Oak...
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Rez 12:16PM (1/17/2007)
Hello? Prodrive P1? You're two years too late X-Works.
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Evotec 12:18PM (1/17/2007)
@ Mr_Oak
In Germany the cars are getting much more stressed,because of the unlimited Autobahn.... enough said.
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Mitsubishi videos 2:26PM (1/17/2007)
That is one awesome car, defiantly worth the money even thought its a 4 cylinder.
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Mr_Oak 3:12PM (1/17/2007)
In Germany the cars are getting much more stressed,because of the unlimited Autobahn.... enough said.
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Hello, the true terrors of the Autobahn, all have really big V8s, 10s, 12s. One notable exception is the Porsche turbo, and we all know how high maintenance those are.
Not every german car on the Autobahn is capable of ultra high speed. So don't go saying that if it drives on the Autobahs it must be fast, I've seen some pretty ordinary cars plying that roadway.
The culture of the german motoring public is the main contributor to the Autobahn system's success. Also, if you know the engineering that goes into the Autobahn, you know that as a roadway it contradicts everything europeans believes in when it comes to motoring.
You cats pride yourselves on the handling prowess of your cars, yet the Autobahn is built for hyper-cruising, not spirited technical driving. A Lotus Elise's stellar handling capabilities is practically useless on the autobahn.
No grades that exceds 6 degrees, no off-camber corners, no switch backs, no challenging changes of direction, just gentle sweeping bends.
Here is a piece of roadway that that Europeans in the know, love to drive when in the US. The TAIL OF THE DRAGON AT DEALS GAP. 318 turns in 11 miles, There is even a "Tree of Shame" adorned with pieces of wrecks by souls who had more balls than skills. Word is cars have been shipped here from Europe to run the Dragon. BMW was caught testing the new X5 here almost a year before it was released. Just about every sports car club have had an event "up" there. Yes up, it's in the mountains near the North Carilina\Tennesee border.
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Crossing Deals Gap at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, the Dragon is considered by many as one of the world's best motorcycling and sports car roads. Anyone looking for an exciting highway will enjoy this stretch of US129.
The road is desolate and can be a real adventure in the winter months. We've had to deal with bears, turkeys, deer, and wild boars in the road, trees down, ice/snow, and tractor-trailers taking-up both lanes in the curves. It is not a road for the squeamish, but if you're looking for a little excitement don't miss this one.
We've been driving the Tail of the Dragon since 1975. At first it was in the family car, then in our 1976 Corvette for many years. Now we have graduated to motorcycles. We have always loved the road, finding it a thrill in whatever we happen to be driving. One of the most exciting runs was on icy roads in the Expedition with 4-wheel drive engaged.
In the summers we ride the Dragon at least two days a week and each day includes about 6 runs. It's better than any roller coaster we've ever been on. Our favorite sections are the Hump and the esses just before Cattail Straight. Be ready to scrape your footpegs in some of these wild curves. And we warn you not to sightsee.
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http://www.grahamcountytravel.com/maps/DRAGONmap.gif
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Andy 8:23PM (1/17/2007)
Before ran to the twelve-cylinder engine, Ferrari used four-cylinder motors on race-winning Testa Rossas of the 1950s. I like X-Works car, except for the price. I do agree that stressing 500 hp out of 2.0 L I-4 for street riding is a recipe for disaster. That kind of displacement is not meant for such high output in road running. The good side to this is that few of these X-Works cars will be built, thus they can maintain their resale value better than the regular run of Mitsubishi Evos.
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Ian 8:22PM (1/17/2007)
That's the Prodrive P2, not P1. And since they're actually planning on selling the thing, I'd say they've got Prodrive beat.
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