The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a pumped up version of the new Lancer. Born out of the original 1981 Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo rally, 10 generations of high-performance Lancer Evolution models have been sold in Japan, Australia and other Asian markets. It was thrust into limited production out of necessity in order to fulfill the WRCs group A 1992 homologation rules. Since then, poor crash test results and safety concerns kept several generations of the Evo out of North America and off our roads. An insufficient front crumple zone had been a major barrier to getting it over here. Mitsubishi worked on the problem for several years and the first U.S.-spec Evo VIIIs started being sold here five years ago.
These problems are no longer around and, since the new Lancer is built on a new global architecture based on the Outlander SUV, all restrictions have been lifted. Now in its 10th edition, the revered Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is here to stay. Evolution models share the same basic DNA as the current Mitsubishi Lancer models (DE, ES and GTS) released last year. The Evo is just a lot more powerful and fun to drive, which I had several opportunities to do this summer.
More:
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 on AutoGuide.com
