Japan is really under-performing when it comes to producing Super/GT cars and really, the only true Super GT’s made in Japan were the Honda NSX/NSX-R and the Nissan R390, both more collectors items than anything else. But Japan has a number of manufacturers that have developed their own little road devils like Mitsubishi for example with their Lancer Evolution. Today, we’ll talk about the latest EVO, the IX MR… and more specifically the ultra-limited edition (2500 units) for Japan only, the EVO IX MR Wagon !
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR Wagon
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR Wagon
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Before we talk about this car from the present, let’s have a look at the past and the history of the EVO. The story started in 1992 with the first generation called Evolution I, designed for the WRC (World Rally Championship). The first EVO got a 2L turbocharged DOHC engine that developed 244bhp and 309Nm and delivered the power to the 4 wheels to offer an exceptional handling.
From 1996 to 1999, the EVO was at its summit of success with Tommi Mäkinen behind the wheel who turned the EVO into the ultimate weapon for the WRC. Subaru was participating too in this championship, but the changes to their car year after year were not as radical as on the Mitsubishi EVO, who stayed ahead of the pack with important improvements every year, making the car faster and improving the handling and grip every time.
Due to financial constraints, Mitsubishi will not be present in the WRC 2008, but the EVO team is still working to offer new EVO’s, and in 2007, we’ll see the tenth version of the EVO hit the roads… and it will be, once again, radically different from everything they made in the past.
Today, we’ll talk about a rather special EVO, the IX MR Wagon. We already drove an EVO IIX Wagon a few months ago under abysmal weather conditions (a typhoon to be more precise) and we really didn’t think it was worth investing our time into a report that would be bad anyway. The clouds have vanished and we can hit the roads now at the wheel of this monster that bears the IX mark instead of the IIX badge slapped onto the Mitsubishi we drove back then.
The Sedan-version is available almost anywhere on this globe, but this MR Wagon is reserved for Japan and that’s why we’re having an in-depth look at it today. And we must admit, we like the more discrete design of the Wagon as opposed to the extravagant design of the Sedan EVO with its gigantic spoiler straight from a rally car.
From an aesthetical point of view, the EVO IX differs from the IIX version by adopting a modified front spoiler and some other minor design changes, but fundamentally this EVO IX MR is almost identical to the IIX version. On the inside, we couldn’t really see any differences between the IX and the other EVO’s we saw in the past.
The engine of this EVO IX MR Wagon is a new MIVEC block with variable intake that delivers power at high revs and torque at low revs. This GH-CT9W block is still a 2L 16 valve unit that has an official output of 280bhp and 400Nm of torque. The Wagon is available with a 6-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic gearbox. The torque of the auto gearbox version is slightly higher at 407Nm.
According to the manufacturer, this new MIVEC engine offers better performance than its predecessors whilst consuming 3% less fuel. And 3% is a lot with this kind of vehicles… to give you an idea, we were never able to drive more than 220km with a full tank during our 5-day test drive at the wheel of this EVO IX MR Wagon! Granted, we were not easy on the accelerator pedal, but don’t expect to do more than 400km with a full tank under normal conditions… and that could weigh on your budget in the long run.
The differences between our Wagon EVO model and the Sedan model are purely related to the design. You just get more trunk space and that’s it, aside from that the 2 models are identical when it comes to performance on the road, gravel and snow. The basis of this EVO is a rally car, simple as that. Once you get behind the wheel, the Recaro seats grip you and you get to see an ultra-minimalist dashboard dominated by a central and very clear rev counter that contains 3 LED’s indicating the mode chosen by the driver: Tarmac, Gravel and Snow.
At first this might seem ridiculous, but when using the car, you really get the point of these modes. We were amazed by the speed and level of grip in Gravel mode when compared to those parameters when we did the same road in Tarmac mode. Unfortunately we were not able to find some snow to check what the difference would be when switching from Tarmac to Snow mode in these slippery conditions.
Mitsubishi installed a tiny speedometer in the left corner of the dashboard, and under certain conditions, it’s very hard to read. It’s quite amusing to see that the speedo and rev needle move in a very synchronized manner thanks to the very short gear ratios… and under these conditions, it’s really not difficult to have your drivers license withdrawn in a matter of a few kilometers.
When it comes to handling and sheer acceleration, there isn’t really any competition on the market when you take the price into consideration. The EVO offers a rather exceptional price/performance ratio, and the official 280bhp output really is just a marketing line. The Japanese manufacturers agreed to limit the power of their vehicles… on paper that is. It’s not easy to measure the real power output of these vehicles, but note that an EVO usually offers about 324bhp and in the UK for example, this EVO develops 405bhp. Every country has its own limitations and performance measurement regulations, but it’s clear that the EVO we drove offers more than 280bhp…
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of an EVO, it’s difficult to imagine how much magic is going on in this car.
Despite the rather low-key Wagon looks, this is one hell of an impressive car, and from the first moment when this car starts accelerating, you realize why this car has been crowned WRC number 1 that many times. An EVO doesn’t push, it ripples the concrete! From the first acceleration, your mouth falls open (well actually it’s pulled open) and you ask yourself “What the hell is this crazy thing?”. Our fist tests were done on drenched Tokyo bay roads that looked more like a lake than a concrete road. Difficult to shoot decent pictures and videos in these conditions, but an excellent setting to test the handling of this car… and honestly, we were simply BLOWN AWAY by the handling under these bad conditions! An EVO is a car that is glued to the road and by driving like a maniac you can get the car a bit sideways, but in a vast majority of situations, the car is stable and perfectly controllable… magic! During the last stages of our test of the EVO IX MR Wagon we did have some good weather, which allowed us to test the car on some gravel roads. The handling of the car on this surface is as outstanding as on wet roads. Note however that you need sufficient driving skills to control this monster, no matter what surface you’re on.
The EVO is a car packed with fun and steroids that are constantly nagging you to be unleashed, but there are a few annoying aspects that have to be taken into consideration. The incredible fuel consumption is one, and the turning circle is just too big for today’s city streets. Despite these downsides, this EVO IX MR Wagon is an exceptional car and it shows up in our “Cars we want to own”-list. We’re fond of the discrete and dark design that tricks 90% of other car owners into thinking that they could outrun this EVO. Its straightline speed on highways isn’t that exceptional for sure, but on B-roads, in the countryside and in the mountains, there are few cars that are able to follow this EVO.
Posted on 06/11/06 By G-A.G
