Test Drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII 2000 - 2003 Sedan
Adrenalin
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII.This car is absolutely not similar to its two-liter brethren - neither appearance nor internal content. It is sold in Moscow for about a year, but on the test drive in the motor only now. Better late than ever - on the approach of EVO VIII ...
Confold Lancer EVO with any other car even from afar is quite difficult. Huge sports aerodynamic kites, a hefty anti-boiled antiquity and an intercooler abandoned from under the front bumper. The car's salon is also performed in the spirit of the best sports traditions: comfortable anatomical chairs, metal linings on pedals, short-door, with a metal ball-embodied, lever 5-speed gearbox, Spartan type of instrument shield ... Judging by the technical description, EVO VII is ideologically very similar to the predecessor (Motor # 10, 2000). One of the obvious differences is that the car has become more. The previous model was built on the Lancer base, the newly uses the Lancer Cedia sedan platform - as a result, the EVO VII wheelbase is about 90 mm more (length - by 150 mm), and the ravine on the axes is better. Pitch increased, the car has grown in height and added about 50 kg in weight.
Suspension and brakes - no change. Rubber - 10 mm wider. The engine is former (4G63), but with lightweight camshafts. The power is the same - 280 hp (More in Japanese laws can not), torque grew slightly. The box has changed lower and higher gear ratios. The inter-axis differential (ACD) in EVO VII became active - the degree of its blocking varies depending on the testimony of accelerometers and a number of other sensors.
The car provided to us was subjected to a small tuning forces of the company Sportmobil. Three additional instruments appeared on the heater console: pressure indicators, oil pressure in the engine, oil temperature. StereoMagnitol now put nowhere. But who needs music in a rally car? The sounds that he publishes can deliver much more pleasure to the driver than the works of Beethoven or Rammstein Group. I got the impression that the sports mobil workers most attention paid to sound tuning. Sports exhaust system and direct-flow air filter together create a unique acoustic atmosphere in the cabin. The driver is guaranteed from an unexpected falling asleep behind the wheel, moreover, at a speed above 80 km / hour, it is almost impossible to talk in the car. The terrible driving engine even at idle forces the neighbors in turn on the traffic lights frightened to look around, and when I drove into the courtyard, the windows flew in the windows ... More about refinement. According to tunovychikov, the engine power is increased from standard 280 hp. Approximately 320 hp - It is more than even at EVO VII WRC. In addition, the car has installed sports metal-ceramic clutch of the company HKS, as a result, the Comfort in the Office has seriously decreased. The grip works only at the very end of the pedal move - on the principle of yes, there is practically no slipping. Not so, it's not easy to keep up with such Moscow traffic jams ...
But handling - above all praise. The rotation is absolutely neutral, in any case on dry asphalt. On a small platform, under the viaduct of the Third Ring, I strongly tried to disrupt the car into a skid, but attempts were not crowned with success. It is necessary to mention that there are three modes in the new electronic system of controlling the differentials: asphalt, gravel, snow. As the manufacturer declares, when adjusting the adjustment from the asphalt to the snow, the car turning should become more and more redundant. But I did not have the opportunity to check it in practice, because only the melting Moscow asphalt was under the wheels.
To say about the steering, that it is sharp, it means not to say anything. From the stop until the stop - 2.2 turns. The car is so sensitive to the slightest turn of the steering wheel, that the driver can not afford to relax in the city stream, nor on the country highway ... I had to hear that, compared with the EVO VI, the car became more civilized and more suitable for everyday use. It is possible that it is - as applied to the car in the standard version. The same thing was on the test, remind, somewhat different from the standard.
After the test drive, I was absolutely broken, as if I traveled around the crowded Mustang all day. Although it delivered some perverse satisfaction. For the first time in my life, and on fast cars I traveled a lot, my neck muscles spent greatly - they were too tightened with sharp accelerations on this rally.
I remove the hat in front of the owners of hot lancer, which use them as a means of movement for every day. I could not so. An employee of the company Sportmobil, who issued a car for the test, stressed that their customers are mainly realized businessmen at the age of about 40, which requires a fair-made portion of adrenaline after a busy business day in the office. Is it appropriate to relax in a similar way in the city? Not sure. However, this is not a car anymore. By the way, the prices for Lancer EVO VII begin with $ 49,000. Text: Boris Schulmeyster
A source: Motor magazine [№9 / 2002]
