Driving Sports

So there I was, giddy as a school girl on prom night, listening to the "essential instructions" and "restrictions" for what I can and cannot do with this brand spankin' new 2009 EVO X MR that I'm drooling all over. I'm sure they were important but I'll be honest, my head was full of the sights, sounds and feels this car was about to give me for not just one, but two whole days of "testing".

Finally, the seminar ended and I was handed the... um... "Key"??? My mind was immediately shaken loose of the full G dreams as I began wrestling with the question of where, exactly, had the ignition key gone. I know I snoozed through the "important lecture" but did I miss the part about where they hid the key?

Beyond the obvious outward changes of the new EVO X such as the wider, more angular lines, the Cylon Centurion front muzzle, the squinty eyed tail lights and the shark gill vent behind the front wheels, the interior bristles with new technological upgrades.

Stepping into this car is stepping into a whole new world. Inside, I was greeted by a huge video screen that integrated a stereo, multi-disk CD/DVD player and GPS system, shiny new flappy-paddle shifters and a fluid, exciting dash board with two very prominent, very fast looking gauges with a multi-view LED data pad showing me the variety of drive settings, vehicle data and mileage left in the gas tank.

This definitely is not the EVO of the past. I, too, had read all the reviews about how refined, adult and mature this new car is... and it's all true. But there's more and, unfortunately, it's not all good.

I have and race an Evolution 8 and I have to say that I love the car and I love the marque. Before it, I raced an Eclipse GSX/Talon TSi. For perspective, years back I raced a Lotus Esprit Turbo X180R (look it up) and up until I bought my EVO 8, that was the best handling, most enjoyable car I had ever driven. Oh what joys the X must have in store for me.

It seems the "key" just needs to be "near" the driver's seat and I simply turned the knob where the ignition should be and alive it came. Not in a "pucker up and prepare for the ride of your life" sort-of-way but a "later darling, I'm off to the office" sort-of-way. Not to worry, I was picking the car up from Extreme Turbo Systems where it will soon be getting a new turbo, manifold, exhaust and a LOT more power. Surely, I can live with the stock exhaust and power for the time being. Off I went.

Of course, couldn't wait to get my hands on those beautiful paddle shifters, so I dove right into the new SST transmission, testing the Sport and Normal Transmission settings. Oddly, I was once again questioning what part of the briefing I had missed because the car just wouldn't jump off the line in 1st gear. Turbo Lag maybe?

Scott loves his Evo 8. Can he learn to love the X?

Nope. It's the traction control slowing the acceleration. The real bummer is that as the TC finally lets go and the car gets up, you're over revving 1st. Grab 2nd, 3rd and all the way up to 6th seemed to be quick but really lacked that neck snapping acceleration I was longing for. The car is actually pretty darn quick as the speedo revealed but... where was that "feeling"?

I think maybe it was "refined" right out of the car because... well, maybe "mature" drivers have weak necks? This new car is longer, wider and heavier than its predecessors and that extra mass certainly mellows out the chaos. But I wanted the chaos!

The acceleration and shifting was very well controlled. The car is really under control. So much so that if you tend to left foot brake (as I do), the car will almost literally smack your forehead if you try feathering brake and throttle at the same time. This is particularly true while downshifting and trail braking. It does not like it.

It seems that the SST transmission is built more like an on/off switch than a gear box and it in fact, will disengage throttle or braking (depending on the attitude of the car) if you try and use both at the same time. Why? Because it's listening to all the sensors in the car: active yaw, accelerometers, wheels speed sensors and Lord knows what else. After listening to everything but you, it decides for you, what is best.

It is yet another glaring statement that this car is not built for yesteryear's boy racer, but for the boy racer that is now no longer a "boy," or even a "racer"... but an older, more refined gentleman. I haven't decided if the engineers at Mitsubishi had concluded that the general populous simply cannot drive safely or maybe that full on, rally style drifting is best left to professionals on closed courses... but this car is amazingly stable, amazingly competent and amazing at straightening out the curves.

It is darn near impossible to pitch it sideways and carry any semblance of a power slide. It just bullies you into driving safely. I would almost say that unless you purposely drive straight into an accident, you cannot crash this car.

So there it is. Safe, quick, refined, mature. It is a car you can feel proud to arrive in at your local yacht club or golf course as evidenced by the eyes turning to look at me on the freeway. The people gawking at me weren't driving Subarus, Hondas and other import "racers" but Mercedes, BMWs and sleek new Audis.

Unlike those luxury sedans, this car forgot about the very guy it was designed for, the guy in the driver's seat. While riding on stiff, performance rated Bilstein Shocks at 50 mph, the road noise becomes annoying. At 65 it sounds like most of the best surfing waves on the West Coast are crashing into the back seat. And after sitting in that driver's seat for over an hour, my back was genuinely uncomfortable. On the upside, the air conditioning could literally freeze beef, but only if it were strapped to your chest right at shoulder level.

After 2 days, I returned the car to ETS and sat down into the driver's seat of my old EVO 8. Head hanging down, I expected to be disappointed by the road noise, ride and performance. Because as odd as the X had felt to me, it must have been the "newness" that caused me to notice all those little things about the ride, sights and sounds. It must have been. Whatever they were, they were obviously improvements over the 8/9. Right?

After giving back the key that wasn't really a key to ETS, I inserted my own, actual key into the ignition of my 8 and fired it up. Wow... there was that sound I was missing. Lifting my head a bit more, I dropped the gear shift into 1st. There was that feeling I was missing. I taxied the EVO 8 to the street and began my pre-launch check: No traction settings to mess with, Check! No particular surface selected, check! No tranny setting to select, check!

Rev, dump and co! There it was! The neck snapping acceleration I was longing for. The sound of the gears revving out and the engine swallowing up the space between here and... well, wherever. Grabbed 2nd, 3rd, 4th... road noise was music. Enough feedback to know what was going on directly under the car but not anywhere near the overwhelming droll of the X. I could feel each tire as they individually felt their way through the inconsistencies of the rough highway roads of Southern Washington State.

I was alive and part of the car. I was plugged in, feeling what the car was feeling. Sensing what it was sensing. Knowing what it wanted me to know. I was connected.

That was something I never felt in the X: Connected.

The X is an amazing car. Don't get me wrong. But in Japan, it's not an EVO... it's the new Galant. And that is exactly what it is here, too. When you say "EVO", there is an image... a "feel" that comes with that title. When you say "Galant", you expect something completely different.

Had I been told I was driving a new Galant, it would have all made sense. But this was an EVO.

Or is it?

Being a near 40 year old "Boy Racer", I think I'll stick with my 8.