Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-330 SST : POWER PLAY

Expert Rating:

Keen gamers will get the drift of the Lancer Evo X FQ-330 SST. Steve Walker reports.

Plenty of cars costing massively more try and fail to be as fast and involving as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-330 SST. The tried and tested Evo formula of 2.0-litre turbocharged wngine and advanced four-wheel-drive technology are supplemented by a high-tech twin-clutch SST gearbox. With 329bhp and a 4.4s 0-60mph time, this is a serious performance car big enough for the family. There's nothing else quite like it.

There's a whole generation of car buyers growing up who've already driven the Nurburgring Nordschleife in a Dodge Viper, taken Spa's Eau Rouge with the throttle of their Porsche Carrera GT pinned fully open and screamed around Monte Carlo harbour in an F1 racer. They did it in the confines of their own homes at the wheels of games consoles but since these simulations are amazingly accurate, how hard could the reality actually be? The answer, as anyone who's attempted to repeat their virtual driving feats in real life will begrudgingly testify, is much, much harder. Having said that, there are some cars with the ability to make going quickly seem spookily straightforward. Chief amongst them is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and in FQ-330 SST form, it's almost child's play. The Evo X is a landmark car. Through nine generations, the legendary Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was based on the same rather innocuous compact saloon platform but the Evo X took its underpinnings from an all new Lancer. The thinking behind the car remained unaltered but Mitsubishi took the opportunity to thoroughly update the hardware that made it happen. From the four-wheel-drive and traction control systems to the SST Twin-Clutch Sports Shift Transmission gearbox featured here, the technology was advanced almost across the board. The Lancer moved from being simple but brutally effective to become genuinely cutting-edge.

"For infectious plug and play performance, there's little to touch a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo FQ-330 SST. â€¦"

Tell people you drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution FQ-330 SST and you should raise a few eyebrows, even if very few of those doing the raising will have a clue what you're on about. The car sits in the centre of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo range with the entry-level below and the lunatic fringe above. It uses the same 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that does the frightening in all Lancer Evo models but here, with the benefit of an ECU re-map and a free-breathing sports exhaust, it develops 329bhp at 6,500rpm. Peak torque is measured at 437Nm and delivered at 3,500rpm but the FQ-330 is well into its stride a good deal lower in the rev-range than that. The onset of the intoxicating turbo rush that has defined the Evo since year dot is smoother in the latest car but a 4.4s 0-60mph time will leave nobody in any doubt regarding its potency. With the paddle shifters of the SST twin-clutch gearbox and a surfeit of traction from the S-AWC 4x4 system to marshal the power, progress is composed yet fearsomely quick. The Evo X just goes when other cars trying to put similar amounts of power onto the road would be left fishtailing violently or impotently scrabbling for grip. Why? Well, Mitsubishi has built in a glut of advanced systems to keep everything going in the right direction. The Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC) system features an Active Centre Differential (ACD) and Active Yaw Control (AYC) while Advanced Stability Control (ASC) also makes an appearance. Rather like when playing a games console, then the driver plants their foot, the computers get to work on delivering the desired results. The SST gearbox is no less clever. Using two clutches, it predicts and pre-engages the next gear before the driver selects it so that shifts can be made in a fraction of a second. Normal, Sport and Super Sport modes can be selected to determine the speed and aggression of the shifting. In practice, its operation is beautifully smooth and intuitive and it gives the Evo an extra dimension in everyday usability. The Evo X sets out to let the world at large know exactly what it's capable of. It's not the most handsome sports car but it wouldn't be an Evo if it was pretty. The blunt nose and slit headlamps are trademark features, while the wheelarches flare and the essential oversize rear wing occupies the boot lid. Another key part of the Lancer Evo make-up is the shoddily assembled interior and although the latest car is a significant improvement over the old models, its hard plastics and inelegant design still feel out of place in a £35,000 saloon. What Evo owners do get to go with the car's fiendish ability to cover ground is a remarkably practical cabin. Four adult passengers can be accommodated with ease and there's space for the fifth if they don't mind getting cosy in the back and propping their feet on the transmission tunnel. The boot is a capacious 400 litres, so family holidays shouldn't present a problem. One of the real joys of Evo ownership is that this doesn't have to be a weekend toy like so many other cars with similar capabilities. It can serve as the single vehicle in a one car household without major drawbacks. The lofty pricing of the Lancer Evo FQ-330 SST can be almost completely justified by the car's driving experience but owners get a lot of equipment too. The SST is offered in the plusher GSR trim where it gets a Rockford premium stereo system with a hard disc music server and a sub woofer. There's a hard disc satallits navigation system as well not to mention an alarm and tracker system, Bluetooth hands free technology, adaptive xenon lights and a full complement of airbags. The old Mitsubishi Evo versus Subaru Impreza rivalry has largely been put to bed these days. The Evo's advanced technology and slick driving experience has given it a decisive edge but the prices reflect this. Mitsubishi will tell prospective buyers that only the top echelon of focused performance cars can hope to live with an FQ-330 SST on a typical British B-road and it'd take a brave person to disagree with them. Compared to the likes of Nissan's GT-R, the Porsche Cayman S, the Lotus Exgie and BMW's M3, the Evo's rally-bred image is somewhat crude but if your priorities are pace, price and practicality, there's only one winner. Despite its strong showroom value proposition, you'll still need to budget big in terms of your running costs for this car: they remain challenging to say the least. Very short service intervals, a prodigious appetite for 98 octane fuel and insurance premiums that read like telephone numbers are all part of the Mitsubishi Evo ownership experience. This might come as a surprise to some who expect supercar slaying capability on the cheap, but the truth is that Evos have always been extremely high maintenance cars. Depreciation for this tenth generation version will be a good deal less than for the Evo IX, which was very much seen as a swansong model, little changed from the VIII. It's a decent bet that the Evo will also hold its value better than a directly comparable Subaru Impreza. CO2 emissions are 257g/km, whilst the best that you can hope for at the pumps, even in restrained day to day motoring, is around 25mpg. For infectious plug and play performance, there's little to touch a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo FQ-330 SST. Cars just don't get much easier to drive quickly than this and in the Playstation generation, Mitsubishi has a whole crop of prospective customers who'll understand exactly where it's coming from. With its turbocharged engine married to four-wheel-drive and a twin-clutch automatic gearbox, it's a devastating combination with games console accessibility and fun factor. The Evo still has its faults but so long as you're not expecting a classy cabin environment or very much in the way of understatement, it's hard to criticise. The practical cabin means it could easily double as a family car, running costs permitting, but it's out on the open road where it shines brightest. This Mitsubishi has few equals at any price.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ-330 SST
PRICE: £35,999 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 257g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 4.4s / Max Speed 155mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 25.4mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Super All-Wheel Control, Advanced Stability Control, ABS, twin front and side airbags
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height mm 4505/1810/1480