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| Road Test Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-300 GSR SST |
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Suddenly Subtle
The most important thing about any Evo is that it has to provide an out-of-the-ordinary driving experience, and the all-new Evo X certainly does that. It is, as all Evos should be, a magnificently competent car, interestingly quick in a straight line and with as much grip as you could conceivably require round corners. Despite all that, it in not my favourite Evo. My favourite was the now-discontinued Evo IX MR FQ-360, which was just astonishing, not least because it was brutally fast (0-60mph in 3.9 seconds for heaven's sake). But it wasn't simply a matter of straightline speed; my second favourite car in the list was the much less powerful Evo VIII 260 which, like the 360, made an outstandingly good job of dealing with the power it had. The Evo X FQ-300 is different. What it does on the road is remarkable, but it seems to do it all by itself. You tell it to round a particular corner very quickly, and that's what happens, but compared with the earlier Evos you don't feel as if you have an active, in-the-moment participation in the process. You feel distant from the real action, and while you can be deeply impressed by what's going on you may not be excited by it.
However, this is quite good in a way, because it means that the new FQ-300 feels a lot more civilised on the road than most of its predecessors did. In particular, it's very quiet for an Evo, and although this is disappointing in a way (the engine note is dull and muffled even at 7000rpm) it does mean that you can drive the car a long way without your eardrums leaping out of your skull. Previous Evos have been painfully noisy by comparison.
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