EVO X MR ... I want one

Strange: the stock hood on my EVO VIII is CF, not aluminum.

And the VIII's wing is CF, not plastic like the X.

Fosgate stereo? *Cruise control*??!!! Navigation system?!! "MR" used to mean "Mitsu Racing", not "Mostly Redundant".

Okay, so they replaced the venerable iron block 4G63 with an all new all aluminum engine -- but they've added weight everywhere else.

Did you see the comparo with the IX? For all the new stuff, apparently the X isn't any faster (and is slower on some things). The active diffs had me tempted, but I feel better with my VIII now. (And I've got a bigger trunk.)

Now if they'd have lost the hydraulic damper in the clutch and moved the shoulder harness anchor back about a foot, I'd hardly have any quibbles at all with the older one.

 

The funny part is that the proven hardware of the well tested 4G63, "old" tried and true five speed box (versus the 6 speed on newer ones) and rally wringing-out is what made me think of the VIII as appropriate as an unmodified daily driver -- reliability and the performance to handle New England winters.

I suspect the '09 X-MR will be better, once (if!) they wring the bugs out of the new hardware.

I wanted to be impressed by the X. I was tempted by some of the drivetrain "goodies" on the MR. But without a rallye program to wring out the hardware, my interest is much reduced. I shied away from the 3000GT VR4 -- leather seats, lots of tech, but no track experience. And many of the VR4s did turn out to be garage queens. (AWD, all wheel steering, twin turbos -- none of it track proven.)

"Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" still resonates with some of us older geezers.

That's always worked out for me: the Alfas, the WRC homologation Celica AllTrac, the WRC (and SCCA) aimed EVO VIII, the Ferrari -- a car that can survive competition tends to have few "fragile" parts. (On the Alfa, the first parts that failed were the ones unique to the US street market -- so I replaced most of them with euro components. (The stock muffler failed after two years. The replacement failed after a couple more. The euro muffler has been on there over 20 years.))

And the EVO "B" pillar is still too far forward to make a good anchor for the shoulder harness. (Which, I suspect, is one reason why EVOs fare poorly in side impacts.)

From a purist view, the X is a "sporty" car, not a sports car.

Oh, and Mitsu's market in the US is the entry level SUV market. But at least those things get wrung out on the Dakar.

 

They do look much better and purposeful. The GSR rims looked a little to "standard' to me.

Mark

 

Have a look at the latest Automobile mag, they comapre the evo,sti and BMW 335xi. The difference according to automobile is huge and the price difference minimal. From the article it seems you get what you pay for with BMW and dont get too much with mitsubishi and subaru, this refers to mechanicles as well as interior bits. Fun hooligan cars not woth what they cost. I am guessing for someone who wants to boost these cars to 500hp the ricers make cheap high grade performance.

One other thing, mitsubishi will cancel warranties just for having trackday fun, BMW encourages trackdays. If you sell a car as a performance car dont cancel the warranty when used as intended, yes abuse is a different story.

 

I haven't seen any comparison of the US market Evo X MR with the Evo IX MR yet. Motor Trend track tested the Evo X GSR against the Evo IX and Evo IX MR. Both Evo IX cars were quicker. Best Motoring tested the Japanese market Evo X (both manual transmission and SST) against the Japanese Evo IX. The Evo IX easily beat the Evo X manual and Evo X SST around Tsukuba.

 

Strange my evo V/// stock hood is aluminum and aftermarket is carbon fiber...

Before:


After:


and the carbon fiber was heavier..........Anyways.......anybody in so cal that gets a evo i recommend that you take your evo to Tuning Technologies in Colton, CA.....They know evo's better than the back of there hand.....The GSR is a more mod friendly car...and the MR if for the more luxury car.....if that exists with mitsu...anyways cant wait for me evo x just gotta keep saving.