‘This is a chassis that has something for everyone, and it’s the final ingredient in a very appealing package. It’s not as edgy as the lunatic RS Sprint, but you can tell quite early on that there’s a natural bias to oversteer when you get hard on the throttle, especially out of tighter turns.
‘Even driven at seven or eight tenths you can feel the chassis working and responding, and as you begin to push towards the limits of grip it feels wonderfully alive. What’s more, it just keeps on coming, while the bigger bore exhaust gives that doch turbo unit a wonderfully growly and characterful voice, not unlike a classic Cosworth BDA. ‘With minimal lag and extreme prejudice, the merest flexing of your right foot has you riding a storm of turbocharged torque, fairly slamming you along the tarmac. Mitsubishi Evo VII FQ-300, evo 046 (Aug 02), Peter Tomalin In give-and-take driving on Welsh roads, there’s little between them, though you have to work a bit harder to keep the Impreza on the boil.’ Its turbo starts working sooner, too, boost welling up from about 2500rpm. ‘The Evo’s engine can’t quite match the raw kick of the STi, but counters with better off-boost response. The ride is very firm but not harsh, while the slightest twist of the wheel sends the nose jinking for the kerb or the centre line. Getting into an accident has never been so much fun before we discovered this riveting game It’s stunning how realistically each detail is implemented. Just a couple of hundred yards down the road the whole car feels amazingly taut, almost as if there’s some pre-load in the floorpan. Needless to say that BeamNG Drive is one of the most realistic, exciting and crazy racing simulators out there. ‘Any notion that the seventh Evo has gone soft is blown away very soon after you’ve stepped into it for the first time. Not as extreme as some of the specials, but officially created for the European market, the FQ-300 was graced with an initialled name that was pretty easy to decipher from its performance. There was an automatic model for a while too, but before the Evo VIII arrived, we got the FQ-300 (£31,495). Then came the Evo VI RS Sprint - £25,995, 320bhp and ultra-close gearing, chucking away Active Yaw Control in favour of a conventional front diff and aggressive locking rear differential. UK importer Ralliart soon tweaked the VII to create the Evo VII Extreme (with 339bhp and a 160mph top speed, for £39,995). But a more twist-resistant shell (by 50 per cent) allowed the suspension to work to best effect, and while the cabin looks a bit sparse by modern standards, it was a significant step up from the previous car’s mid-90s plastic. Likewise, the all-wheel drive system still featured Mitsubishi’s torque-vectoring Active Yaw Control. We pondered as much on first driving the car in 2001, but a decade and a half later the shape is quite appealing, still looking relatively modern but maintaining the hint of menace that’s always been present in the Evo line.Ĭhanges were less stark under the skin, and you’ll find the same 4G63T turbocharged four-pot behind the nose. While more modern than the VI, it was hard to ignore that the Evo had lost some visual drama in its latest iteration. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI - review, history and used buying guideĪctually, dramatic is probably the wrong word.Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X - review, history, prices and specs.
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