For once, the word Evolution is completely inappropriate. Mitsubishi has been selling Lancer Evos since 1992, and you could more or less draw a straight line from the IV to the IX - certainly the VII, VIII and IX were effectively the same car, though with an incredible number of tweaks and modifications. According to the Roman numbering system, the Evolution X should be more of the same, but although it follows exactly the same concept it is a world away from anything that has gone before.We'll see why shortly, but first it's worth establishing just what the name of the test car means. With the introduction of the Evo X's engine - a two-litre turbo as before, but a completely new unit developed by Hyundai/Kia - Mitsubishi has departed from recent practice by slightly overstating the power output in the car's title. This one, for example, produces a maximum of 291bhp (which, to be fair, is still rather a lot), while the FQ-330 and FQ-360 pump out 324bhp and 354bhp respectively.GSR refers to the trim level. You can buy GS versions of the Evo X, but for an extra £2500 you can opt for the higher specification which includes satellite navigation, a 30GB music server, a Rockford Fosgate audio system with iPod/MP3 auxiliary port, personalisation of the wiper, folding door mirror and interior light delay systems, among other things, and a more comprehensive set of vehicle data displays such as an advanced trip computer.Actually, if you buy an SST you can only get it in GSR specification, and only with the 291bhp version of the engine. SST stands for Sports Shift Transmission and it refers to the twin-clutch electronically controlled manual gearbox (very much like Volkswagen's DSG) which can be operated automatically in any one of three modes, though when you reach the twisty stuff you're more likely to change gears manually using either the gearlever or the paddles mounted behind the steering wheel.I've rattled quickly through all this background information because to me - and I hope you're of a similar mind - the whole point about a Mitsubishi Evo is what it's like to drive. Well, from the very first second of the experience it's clear that a lot has changed in Evoland.The engines of the previous models all barked into life when you started them up, but this one just starts humming in an unexpectedly subdued manner. If you were expecting an aural treat, you're not going to get one now, and you still won't get one if you take the engine to its limited maximum of around 7000rpm; even up there it sounds very ordinary.And what's this? Evos of the past - even the later ones with their more subtly-tuned suspensions - invariably rode in such a way that touching a cat's eye felt like you'd fallen down a mineshaft. You didn't mind because that's what Evos were like, and you knew that the astonishing handling was going to provide more than enough compensation.In this case, the ride is soft, well-controlled and not remotely like that of a competition car. Long-standing Evo fans may find this hard to credit, but the FQ-300 doesn't even feel much more sporty in normal everyday driving than a standard Lancer.So this is an Evo in which you can hear yourself think, and in which you are not worried that your spine is going to snap if you happen to drive over a discarded crisp packet. It can't be true that, with the tenth-generation Evo, Mitsubishi has gone soft, surely? Can it?Not entirely, no. The basis of the car is Mitsubishi's Project Global platform which was introduced in the Outlander SUV, and although that might not seem like a particularly promising start there is really nothing to worry about. The level of grip is immense, even on damp and slippery roads, and there is no obvious difficulty (or even the faintest sign of it) concerning a heavy application of throttle at the apex of a tight corner. Oh, and although 291bhp might be on the low side for an Evo, it's enough to make the car feel very quick on interesting roads.The smooth ride quality I mentioned earlier is maintained even in hard driving, and in fact the FQ-300 feels about as threatening and difficult to control as a three week-old kitten. Turn-in does not feel as sharp as it did in the earlier cars (though you soon realise that the front end actually does dart into bends - it's just that you don't get that message through the steering wheel), and the change of attitude depending on how much throttle you're using, which was a major feature of previous Evos, has been all but ironed out.The SST transmission is very effective, though in my experience so far not entirely consistent. That may have been down to individual settings in the test car, but for the record the most obvious peculiarity happened every time I accelerated hard out of a second-gear corner and shifted up through the gears manually; the change from second to third was lightning fast, but third to fourth took about twice as long.Fast standing starts also showed that it's possible to ask SST to change gears more quickly than it's prepared to do. On two occasions I flicked the right-hand paddle as rapidly as the acceleration seemed to require to go through the gears from first to fourth; SST didn't respond as quickly as I'd hoped, and the Evo sat on the revlimiter in second for a while before catching up, achieving very little in that time apart from making quite a lot of noise.Despite all that, I did quite like SST, though I think I would prefer a more conventional gearbox, which would save £2000 and provide better fuel economy (though Mitsubishi doesn't claim a straightline performance advantage either way). And I do like the FQ-300 as a whole. It's enormously capable, goes very fast, makes light work of hard corners in less than ideal conditions, and is quite a lot of fun.But I'm not sure how impressed the hardcore fans will be. Previous Evos were given an increasing amount of electronic control, as Mitsubishi attempted - with riotous success - to make an up-to-date high-performance car from ageing basic material. The Evo X is a 21st century car with even more control systems, and all the drama has been taken out of it.Every other Evo I have tested has made me feel that I had been given a fantastic set of tools, and it was up to me to use them as ably as I could. With this new one, it seems that all the work has been taken in-house, and there is nothing left for the driver to do.There is an upside to this: the new FQ-300 is surely the safest Evo there has ever been, and beyond dispute the most user-friendly - you would have to be a special kind of stupid to get into serious trouble with it. On the other hand, I drove the car hard on fantastic roads I know very well, and at no stage did I feel the slightest surge of adrenalin. The FQ-300 is brilliant, but it's not exciting, and for that reason I can't imagine that it will ever be considered as one of the classic Evos. Engine 1998 cc, 4 cylinders Power 290 bhp @6500 rpm Torque 300 ib/ft @3500 rpm Transmission 6 speed semi-auto Fuel/CO2 26.2 mpg / 256 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 4.7sec Top speed mph Price From £29700.00 approx Release date 01/03/2008
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