I LOVE driving our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo GSR. I had the chance to drive it on the Streets of Willow during our annual driving school and got to see what it could do...well, at least as far as my driving skills could take it. So I was really happy when I scored it for the weekend.
On Friday when I was given the keys, Vehicle Testing Assistant Mike Magrath lamented how Inside Line intends to quiet down the Evo with mods. Boooo! I didn't want that either. That is, until I drove it around for the weekend.
I love the woosh of the intake and the drone of the engine but after awhile I would have loved to just listen to my tunes or hear what my passenger was saying. I had to turn the volume up to 29 to hear music above the engine (which reverberates especially loudly when you lift off the throttle and coast in gear) and at that level you're rocking out. So most of the time I drove around with the radio off and saved conversations with passengers til after we were out of the car.
This Evo is a lot of fun but I can't imagine having it as a daily driver. More for weekend warriors. Hey, it sets off car alarms like Harleys do.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 13,543 miles
dougtheeng says:
01:12 PM, 12/ 8/08
I disliked that radio arrangement in my '08 Lancer. The volume knobs need too much turning, and overall the unit cannot be [easily] replaced for an aftermarket arrangement. Sunlight and polarized glasses also washed out that display on a regular basis. Overall, this is a major weak point for the Lancer imo.
carguy622 says:
01:32 PM, 12/ 8/08
I must say the head unit on the Lancer without the navigation looks rather plain and cheap. All thank blank space on the bottom, you would think they could have made the knobs larger.
ddoouugg says:
02:12 PM, 12/ 8/08
Yeah it doesn't look good, but remember this car is not about the stereo or the interior.
rsholland says:
02:46 PM, 12/ 8/08
"This Evo is a lot of fun but I can't imagine having it as a daily driver. More for weekend warriors."
That's it in a nutshell. It's fantastic for two days out of the week. The rest of the week (and on family trips) it would be a pain in the butt.
coletrickle says:
05:15 AM, 12/ 9/08
HOLY CRAP!!! That's the weakest looking stereo headpiece I've ever seen in car costing more than $3,999.
Why is it that these $35K/$40K rice-rockets have interiors that belong in Chevy Malibu rental car?
stingray454 says:
07:47 AM, 12/ 9/08
"HOLY CRAP!!! That's the weakest looking stereo headpiece I've ever seen in car costing more than $3,999.
Why is it that these $35K/$40K rice-rockets have interiors that belong in Chevy Malibu rental car? "
Did you forget this is based on an economy car?
I guess you've never been in a new Malibu either - it's very nice.
coletrickle says:
10:51 AM, 12/ 9/08
$35,000 economy car?
Maybe in last year's economy $35,000 qualifies as "economy".
stingray454 says:
07:36 AM, 12/10/08
I said BASED on an economy car. You can call it an "Evo", but it is a Lancer Evo. The Lancer being an economy car. I bet the $14k base model Lancer has the same head unit as the $35k Evo.
coletrickle says:
09:01 AM, 12/10/08
I don't care what it's "based" on. For $35,000 you upgrade the stereo unit to something better than the $14,000 model.