C&D first to drive the slower but faster Mitsubishi Evo GSR
by Dan Roth on Sep 24th 2007 at 8:28AM 
Our pulpy friends over at 2002 Hogback Road have gotten their hands on the latest version of Mitsubishi's Evo, the Evo X. Car and Driver's November 2007 issue has a preview of the Evo X, and they found that while the new car gives up speed to the outgoing model in a drag race, it kicks it in the teeth if curves are on the menu. Any car that can run a 13.8-second quarter mile is not slow, anyway. Consider that you get that kind of speed for a base price of $30,000, and 295 horsepower from two-liters is impressive. C&D's numbers are from the Evo GSR, and a JDM one at that, but changes for US-bound Evos are down to details. Putting the 295 horsepower and 300 lb/feet of torque to the ground in a seamless manner is a bucketful of acronyms. There's a new dual-clutch sequential gearbox called Twin-Clutch SST that is bolted to four coordinated systems that get the overall descriptor of Super All Wheel Control. S-AWC combines a center differential with yaw control, stability control, and a rear differential with separate clutches for the left and right wheels. The structure is stiffer and lighter, and in the boy-racer arena, the Evo's always been a sweet driver, which hasn't changed. In fact, the character of the car has become a little less uncouth, which purists may cry about, but the rest of us will just giggle like schoolgirls as the Evo X replicates the video game experience IRL.
[Source: VWVortex]
Thanks for the tip, Chris!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Josh 9:14AM (9/24/2007)
I'm willing to bet that the increase in 1/4mi E/T is more due to the driver of the car than the capability of the car itself. AWD cars are really tricky to drive right in a drag race. But get it right and watch out.
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Pete 9:39AM (9/24/2007)
It has a twin clutch how hard can it be?
DKB_SATX 9:53AM (9/24/2007)
It's likely to be a function of the difference between the computer-controlled dual-clutch robomanual transmission and an old-fashioned 6-speed in the previous car. The computer may not be as willing to sacrifice clutches for an all-out launch as an automotive writer who doesn't own the car is.
importjap 9:47AM (9/24/2007)
This will be the best EVO yet
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Tom Design 9:49AM (9/24/2007)
You know, when it comes down to it, the car is cheap, plasticky and tinny. I drove the last model, and the WRX Sti, and as much power, handling and fun, you just feel like you're in a shit can surrounded by tinny veneer of plastick and plastick.
These cars just aren't for me anymore. I am 6' and cannot find a good driving position, and they're so narrow on the inside I rub elbows with the passenger.
Sold my Asian noise box for a Volvo S60R, and it's like driving a real car. Something solid and comfortable and elegant, with leather and real brushed metal and hand stitching and SILENCE along with awesome kickass 300hp/300lbs torque. Just my preference now, over 40 I guess. But I hate hearing that much wind, road, and mechanical noise in a sedan. The Volvo makes these power rice burners seem like cheap pieces of crap.
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spdracerut 10:29AM (9/24/2007)
Maybe cheap, but it's fast and light (relatively). As opposed to expensive, slow and heavy (there's only one way to make it quieter...).
Johnny 10:40AM (9/24/2007)
So you admit that the car's basic nature is "tinny" and a "noise box" and inherently has "wind, road, and mechanical noise". Now you switched to a car with SILENCE and like it much better. Then you opt to call the car you previously owned "cheap pieces of crap".
That's like buying a pair of uncomfortable shoes that didn't fit you, and when you finally find a pair of shoes that's more your style (after some years of owning said pair of uncomfortable shoes) you THEN decide to complain about your previous pair of shoes that YOU made the choice to buy.
Why are you even commenting?
stefan 10:40AM (9/24/2007)
On a track the EVO X makes volvo's look like the boring slow and ugly things they are.
srivendel 10:57AM (9/24/2007)
BMW's new 135i will likely give you the best of both worlds, albeit for a likely $5k premium on the Evo.
fireblade 11:05AM (9/24/2007)
Tom Design.
...over 40 I guess." That says it all. I guess your swedish meatball is good for you old farts.
Leave the rally cars to people who appreciate them. I guess you can't handle a car that is a basic rally replicas.
But you are old after all and driving a volvo says it all.
Brian W 4:37PM (9/24/2007)
Like you said last model. Duh Your Volvo is also $40-45K and doesn't handle as well as an Evo X.
Khanh 7:22PM (9/24/2007)
Hasn't anyone ever told you, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."? Because that was TOTALLY unnecessary. There are the ups and downs to different cars, and no two cars are ever the same. You can't compare a rally rocket with a "safe car" you know.
ryan 3:21PM (9/24/2007)
$35k-cheap? hardly
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Tom Design 11:05AM (9/24/2007)
Johnny, no, why are YOU commenting?
You should be on a shoe blog it seems.
Evo's and Sti's and Si's are cheap, noisy, tinny and fast. I bought a 2007, and sold it in 10 mos.
And Stefan, the Evo has defined UGLY for almost 12 years! the Volvo S60 has won design awards even from the Italians. And slow? I don't think so...haha...you don't know cars. The S60R spanks the M3, the S4 on the track...these are slow cars? They might not match the crude force of the Evo, but that's WHAT I WAS WRITING ABOUT. how crude these asian pocket rockets really are to drive.
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Dan Roth 11:48AM (9/24/2007)
As much as I love my S60 (and it is handsome) - an M3 will eat an R's lunch. Can I have some of whatever you're smoking?
Johnny 12:31PM (9/24/2007)
Wow...sorry Tom Design, but that was just a lame attempt to match my wit.
Once again, you have complaints, but you OWNED the car and upgraded to a car you liked. You're basically criticizing your choice to have OWNED the "Asian noise box" in the first place. What exactly are you trying to defend?
Cornholio 2:36PM (9/24/2007)
There's no way in hell an S60R would "spank" an M3 on the track. Not a chance. Nice try. They're decent cars, but c'mon, be realistic.
Besides, you old f*rts don't track your cars, either, right? So why do you care?
Richard 11:34AM (9/24/2007)
When you get to your future....
...will you blame your past?
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rv 3:29PM (9/24/2007)
"Evo's and Sti's and Si's are cheap, noisy, tinny and fast. I bought a 2007, and sold it in 10 mos."
How do you lump a little McCivic with the Evo and STI? NO comparison in any way, shape or form. I believe the McCivic is one of the most efficient FWD non-hybrids on the road, not a rally racer... I don't care if you slap an SI on it or add sportier seats...
Fast and great handling = crude? Me wonders if you actually owned or even drove one. Sorry...
And as a day-to-day driver, I'll take an WRX/STI over any Volvo.
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dz 4:25PM (9/24/2007)
Tom Design...
Wow, how foolish can a person be to go out and buy a car that for 12 years has been Inspired, designed, and marketed after a rally car, and expect to get M3 fit and finish. These cars weren't built for the pansey ass, midlife crisis, wanna-be racers who just can't stand to not have a place for their morning Starbucks...
Nobody feels sorry for you and your stupidity, go away and get a life... moron.