As I write, I am drinking more than a few Red Bulls - the large size. It's not to get the energy, but to steady my frayed nerves. They say that two negatives make a positive. I'm hoping that the double whammy of my 240 bpm heart rate and 'bullish' nature of the energy drink will slow me down. Three thousand pounds of Mitsu Evo X RS, early mornin' hours and open road add up to the most fun one can have sitting down (erhm, alone).
For a day and a night, Automotives had custody of the red beastie you see here. Motor Sales gave us automotive carte blanche - keys and a full tank of gas, plus permission to drive any way we saw fit - and gave us the all-important gate pass. Now, what would you do if you had access to arguably the fastest four-door in the island and nothing but a 'fare thee well' from those responsible for it? Right. We drove it like we stole it.
Just walking up to this car is an experience. While the new model Lancer is quite aggressive, Evo X turns that aggression into bloodlust. Slit headlights for eyes, huge rear wing, bulging fenders and wheel arch gills; functional air vents for the huge Brembo brake system (13.8-inch front discs, and a whopping 13.0-inch discs for the rear). The blacked out grill makes the car look like it has a symmetrical harelip - in a sinister, positively evil way. Fear's new definition: looking in your rear view on Mandela and seeing this Evo fill your mirror under full song. Be afraid! Be very afraid!
For the number crunchers. The 'Ten' has 240-odd wheel hp, 300 lb ft of twist, a close ratio five speed box, much improved Active Yaw Control (AYC), more than a smattering of aluminium body panels, radio delete, no Recaro seats - but it has A/C.
Mitsubishi wants you to think it is civil. Ha! It even has child-restraint tethers for a child seat, so you can legally carry your infant in a car that is ready to do a buck 40 in the time it takes to open a Red Bull can. In aiming for the best front/rear split, Mitsubishi relegated the battery and some fluid reservoirs - like washer and power steering fluids - to a 'closet' behind the back seat.
The New MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control system) equipped 4B11T has the valve control system on both cams, instead of the intake only, circa the old 4G63. In a drive to remove as much friction as possible from the new all-alloy engine, engineers shrouded the water pump impeller to reduce cavitation /drag, resorted to fully floating piston pins and did away with one of the 4G63's weak links - the balance shaft.
highlights
The cams are also direct acting, eliminating the roller rocker fingers that the old engine had. The crankcase main bearings have five four bolt main caps - as opposed to a crankcase supporting girdle with two bolt mains. Electronic throttle and a rear bolted stainless steel exhaust are some of the highlights of the new engine.
Word on the street is the block is a step up from the old standby. The semi-open deck design has pressed in cast iron sleeves, which add longevity to the short block. Local (Jamaican) tuners are already claiming 400 whp from the stock TD05H152G6-12T turbine, a figure that was previously unheard of from even a wickedly street tuned 4G63 without a turbo upgrade.
On the road, this Evo RS belies its specs. The individual systems coagulate into a symbiotic extension of the driver's thought process. The front wheels seem to be hard wired to your neurons; think about turning, and turning is what you get.
A car trundling ahead of our tester shielded, then uncovered a tyre-busting pothole just metres away. The reaction in a lesser automobile would not have been adequate, and we would be probably changing - and paying for - at least one, maybe two chopped 18" 45 series low-profile tyres. But the preciseness of the steering, coupled with almost no weight transfer, allowed us to negotiate the hazard - and was a portent of things to come.
From a standing start, first is good for 40mph, boost begins spooling in earnest from 2500 rpm and builds all the way to redline; the time between boost onset and the 7000 rpm redline is about one second. Extend the clutch leg, grab second and 70 mph is yours at redline - 100 mph comes up, theoretically (heh, heh) at the top of third gear. The car will do zero to a 100 in about nine secs - with the manners of a family sedan! And without theatrics - no waste gate hiss, no blow-off pop. But the g's don't lie. For the newbie, the acceleration is unholy - and the sound of that engine, between five and seven grand, when the cam phasing occurs - will put the fear of God in mere mortals. Tunnel vision becomes a reality at these levels of acceleration.
And then there's the grip and handling. Other-worldly doesn't do it justice - new adjectives will have to be created, new buzz words coined - the RS handling experience begins where normal sedans fall away. The electronics make a star of mediocre talent; its Super - All-Wheel Control System and Advanced Yaw Control - one of S-AWCS subsystems - balances chassis dynamics on a knife edge, allowing a neutral cornering attitude in even hazardous conditions. Different programmes are available that tune the system to differing road conditions, such as tarmac, gravel and snow.
Babe factor and street cred
Looking through the windshield in this red bullet is akin to looking down the barrel of a rifle. Folks in front of you scurry to get out of the way. Babe factor and street cred are off the scale. The telling thing about this platform is that it can be used as a grocery getter. It does have a bit of a trunk, and will even return 12-13 litres per 100 km around town, if you use fifth gear a lot.
The engine is tractable enough to do this (though those having a penchant for banzai-type runs will easily TRIPLE that figure). Heaven help the soccer mom who decides to set the fastest time to Hi-Lo. Soccer dads, I hear PriceSmart's the cheapest place to buy Red Bull.