Review: 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

The new 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X is quite a step up from it's predecessor, you can tell just by looking at it when walking up that it had beef for dinner. It's an Evo 9 on steroids, width and height have increased to 71.3 and 58.3, the Evo X also has an inch longer wheel base than the older Evo 9. The Evo X has extremely aggressive styling, it's like the great white shark of the compact tuner car world with its massive grill hiding a huge air to air intercooler with acutely angled headlights that tell other cars that it prefers red meat. The rear of the Evo X is highlighted by a wing that looks like it's needed from the other body styling cues for added down force and on the lower part of the rear bumper is an underbody diffuser which is added flair to its aerodynamics that also accents the twin exhaust pipe tips.

Mitsubishi has ditched the Evo 9 4g63 power plant four a lighter weight all aluminum 4b11 in the Evo X. While still 2.0 liters it is 27 pounds lighter and boasts variable camshaft timing for both the intake and exhaust valves unlike it's older brother the Evo 9 that only had variable cam timing on the intake side of the engine.

The Evo X comes with two transmission options, either its conventional 5 speed or a new twin clutch semi-automatic gear box. The power is up slightly on the new Evo X partially to the fact that the new Evo X is 300 pounds heavier than its predecessor with new safety mechanisms and improved crash test ratings. The Evo X's 4B11 power plant produces 295 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 300 foot pounds of torque at 4400 rpm respectively. The new 300 pound weight increase to the Evo X hinders the powerful 4B11 only slightly while performing straight line acceleration, 0 to 60 mph is achieved in 5.2 seconds and the quarter mile is clipped off in 13.8 seconds; not bad for a four tire chirping 3,345 pound car. Tests on the Evo X were done with the five speed manual gear box, expect times to be slightly slower for the dual clutch semi-automatic.

The upgraded in the Evo X's curb weight was also do in part to an increase in chassis rigidity, there has been a 39% increase in beam stiffness and a 64% increase in torsional stiffness. All of these improvements combined yield an extremely impressive 0.96g skid pad for the four door shark. The Evo X also ran through the slalom briskly at 67.2 mph, which is slightly slower than the Evo 9 due to its heavier body weight and slower steering ratio for added control at higher speeds as a safety precaution. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X gives you three trim levels to choose from; the GSR, MR, and MR Touring, priced from $33,590 to 40,990. You'll definitely get your money's worth with all wheel drive, superior handling, automatic option, and a 295 horsepower turbocharged four cylinder.