Review of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, 2007

In recent years, Mitsubishi has touted its sports cars with a series of overproduced television commercials. In one spot, several pretty young women are singing and smiling and zipping around under flashing city lights and through tunnels somehow equipped with multicolored lasers.

The women seemingly don't have a care in the world. They're on the town. They're having a grand time. They're driving really fast. And techno-pop tunes are blaring.

Combine that group with young male drivers with the same wont to go fast and a likely desire to catch-up to their female counterparts somewhere at the end of the tunnel and you've got a captive audience ready and willing to buy Mitsubishi's speed demon, the Lancer Evolution.

Now in its ninth edition and commonly called Evo9, the Evolution is the most expensive of four Lancers available. And the MR edition, my weekly driver, is the most expensive of three Evolution editions.

As if its predecessor didn't perform adequately, the 2006 Evolutions were given a 10-horsepower boost to 286 horsepower, a further jolt for the 2.0-liter, turbocharged, DOHC engine. The speedster has a six-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive. (Automatic and five-speed manuals are available in other Lancers.)

The Evolution is simply about speed, and in that capacity, it's impressive. Prestigious car publications have described its as the greatest-performing car buy available. And in every situation I drove the car - open, long, flat roads to sudden acceleration for tight lane changes - the MR is tantamount to driving a street-legal race car.

The car is certainly fast, particularly after it has reached the 3,000 RPM threshold. Its handling is agile and offers road-gripping confidence. Further, the Evolution's weight has been reduced with an overt use of aluminum - forged aluminum suspension, aluminum front fenders, aluminum hood, aluminum roof, aluminum pedals, aluminum carbon fiber brake grip and an aluminum shift knob. All of which, of course, come at a substantial price.

And there are other sports car niceties: Recaro front bucket seats, a carbon-fiber rear spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels and what one reviewer described perfectly as "shark-tooth-shaped vortex-generator aerodynamic roof add-ons."

Nonetheless, there are issues with Evolution, most notably the spoiler. It annoyingly blocks the rear and side views and more than once it provided me with a split-second thought that another vehicle was very close.

Not many sports cars are known for their smooth rides, but the Lancer Evolution's ride is shockingly rough. And the car is noisy, even during low-performance efforts. Mitsubishi also requires premium fuel for all Evolutions.

There's a community of Evolution-heads around the country who are unabashed in their praise of the car. They boast on the Internet sites about zipping past Porsches and Ferraris.

And that's great. The Evolution is a race car francier's delight and they likely can wait for the redesigned 10th evolution of the Evolution scheduled for 2007. Maybe Mitsubishi will even put those buyers in a commercial.

The Weekly Driver: 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer

Safety Features - Dual front front side airbags.

Fuel Mileage (estimates) - 18 mpg (city), 24 mpg (highway).

Warranty - Bumper to bumper, 5 years/60,000 miles; Powertrain, 10 years/100,00 miles; Corrosion, 7 years/100,000 miles; Roadside (24-hour) assistance program, 5 years/unlimited miles.

Base Price - $35,189.00