Test drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII 2003 - 2005 sedan

Wild thing

Dialogue in the restaurant: Tell me, do you have a wild duck on the menu? No, sir, but for you we can angry your home. It seems that it is according to this recipe that Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII is prepared.
Try to buy at the Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6 Mitsubishi Auto Show. Most likely, you will not succeed. Queue. Too many people who want to purchase a real Japanese car for a moderate amount of American money. Note: such a stir was not observed about Lancer until the new model appeared on sale last year under this name.
2004 can change the fate of another Lancer - Lancer Evolution. Buyers will be offered the eighth generation of this legendary sports car. The eighth from the beginning of the release, and the first one from which the decisive offensive by Evolution begins on the European market. The car is first certified for Europe and will give a full -fledged factory warranty on it. Previous versions of Evolution were previously sold in Russia, only in the absence of a certificate they imported them to individuals, and the issue with a guarantee was resolved in a private order with a car dealership. At the same time, there is something to break in the car: he simply provokes to test it at the limit - and it is not known whose forces: his own or a person behind the wheel.
HONESTLY. Lancer Evolution VIII, as Mitsubishi representatives say, this is the essence of the brand. The car is not the most expensive in the model range, but the most honest is the sensations that it gives the driver.
And the first sensation is this: how all the Evolution looks whole and harmonious compared to the simple Lancer! Even the anti -wing on the trunk looks an unambiguously necessary detail, and not as a diagnosis of a driver’s mental illness. Anti -winged is presented in two versions: small (for those who are embarrassed by the big) and large (who are alien to false modesty). However, as experts say, the difference in the controllability of cars with wings of different sizes can be caught only by accelerating to 200 km/h. I did not have a chance to feel it. The presentation took place in England - here is the largest European market for Evolution. But the maximum permitted speed on highways is 112 km/h. The most desperate rushes under 140.
FOR REAL. Acquaintance with the Lancer interior began with the study of the trunk-somewhere it was necessary to put a suitcase and coffee with equipment. Alas, there was no luggage grids there, and the fate of the suitcase seemed unenviable. It was surprised that from the inside the trunk lid has neither a handle nor a sheathing - apparently, to reduce the mass of the structure. The hood aluminum was made for this purpose. Cofr with equipment found his place in the cabin, in the legs of the rear passengers - there is enough space there, despite the fact that the backs of the front seats are closed by a massive plastic casing.
The driver's seat is convenient: hugs, but does not press on the sides. It is a pity that in height is not regulated. For nothing that Recaro. The steering wheel is also difficult - MOMO. And again, a misunderstanding: in height it can be configured, but by departure-no, which, in general, is characteristic of Mitsubishi, but does not add convenience to the user. Sports scales of devices are noteworthy. Red numbers on a black background. It sounds beautiful, but it looks terrible. Sometimes nothing is visible at all, the rest of the time has to peer tensely - at maximum speed, when the car overcomes 68 meters in a second, curiosity can cost the driver expensive.
In the High-Tech style, a lining framing the gearbox framing is decorated. In appearance - titanium. You knock your finger - plastic. But this is perhaps the only joke: everything else in the car is truly.
Quickly. If you never got behind the wheel of a car, where instead of standard 80 --130 horsepower for such a mass and size under the hood-265, it may seem that you need to move somehow especially carefully. Try to do everything delicately, adjusted for excess power - and you will probably stall. Because if you get off normal, how you do it, for example, in traffic, nothing special happens. The car behaves quite calmly. The fighting disposition is given out only a very sharp steering wheel, a hard suspension and a piece of anti -wing, looming in the rear view mirror.
At engine speeds up to 3000 Evolution, it behaves as an ordinary machine and is torn in the same way when it is offered an increased gear ahead of time. It all starts when the arrow goes abroad 3000. This is a magic figure for the motor. If you bring the speed to this line, and then release the accelerator pedal, the car will respond with unpleasant nervous shocks. So in the winter, uninterrupted Zhigul without leaks is twitched. If the gas is pushed to the floor, then at first a slight whistle will be heard, and then, when the arrow reaches 4000, you will understand: the engine did not work to that - he lacked air or gasoline - but now it begins for what for which It is worth owning Evolution - rapid acceleration.
The motor is spinning to 7500, but you will want to switch a little earlier when you feel that the power begins to fall. In the second program, Evolution, if you twist it all the way, reaches 100 km/h. It takes, according to the characteristics, 6.1 seconds. Measurements were probably held with a specially trained driver, so I can at best count on the results comparable to the score of BMW 745i or Audi A8 4.2. They make a hundred in 6.3 seconds. But you cannot compare! Acceleration on Lancer is much more impressive: such kicks when switching gears - and, among other things, give a feeling of prohibitive acceleration - you will not receive in any limousine. True, if an assault rifle with its smoothness to some extent protects the car from the driver, then in the case of mechanics, the impact takes its clutch.
The evolution that I got with a colleague on the first day of the test, the clutch was already killed. This turned out on the way, as they say, out of the blue. At first, a characteristic smell of burnt friction pads was felt, and then it turned out that the clutch also did not turn off until the end.
However, before the finish line, another 150 km, we, to the surprise of the mechanics accepting the cars, reached our own strokes. I note that the mileage of the car by that time was less than 4000 km, and while driving before us were journalists with high driver’s qualifications - in any case, the European office Mitsubishi asked to send exactly the same to the Evolution test.
In general, the clutch at Evolution can be sentenced even faster-in a couple of three-tires. The recipe is simple: turn on the first gear, bring the speed to 5000-6000 and throw the clutch pedal.
By the way, test drives for potential Evolution buyers in Russia, in all likelihood, will be paid-from $ 100. As they say, in the best case, money will be enough for gasoline and consumables, which undoubtedly include clutch: they burn much faster than the bulbs in the feet, especially with a frequent change in drivers. With one owner who is not fascinated by drag racing, the average disk service life is about 20 thousand kilometers.
In its own way. It was possible to understand what the Evolution was actually on the second day of the test. The route was laid along North Wales, along deserted narrow two -lane roads with very insidious, or rather absent, curb. Two English KAMAZ will be able to part there at a speed.
On winding roads with height drops, it becomes clear that the ability of Evolution is rapidly accelerated - nonsense compared to how it holds the road. And if you do not allow you to fall back down below 3500, then the sensations are simply fantastic. The manufacturer claims that the Evolution VIII applies a new system for the distribution of torque, which in the bend runs the right wheel, which allows you to go faster and cleaner. The way it is. But during movement, the thought is different: if on this road and at this speed he will carry the car, then there is not enough time to catch it, no place, nor skill. I was scared before Lancer.
But, as you know, most buyers sooner or later become a little standard Evolution. For example, in the company of a sports car-and it was it until recently that was the main supplier of Evolution VI and VII to the Russian market-the procedure for increasing engine power to 380-400 hp has already become standard, which costs about $ 12.5 thousand .
In April, official Russian sales of Evolution VIII begin in Russia. By the end of the year, it is planned to sell about 100 cars. Hundreds of our fellow citizens will have a new expense item.
Text and photo Sergey Sherestnikov

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII
4-cylinder gasoline engine with a turbine and intermediate cooler
Working volume (cubic meter) 1997
Power (L.S. at rpm) 265 at 6500
Moment (nm at rpm) 355 at 3500
The permanent drive is complete
Gearbox 5-speed mechanical
Length/width/height (mm) 4490/1770/1450
Wheel base (mm) 2625
Mass weight (kg) 1470
Maximum speed (km/h) 245
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 6.1
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) no data
The price in Moscow is $ 44-45 thousand.

 

 

Source: "Autopilot"