We'd just finished dinner on Friday night, and my boyfriend turned to me and said, "Let's go for a drive in the MR."
Two of his relatives climbed in the back of our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR. I wanted to impress them, but we were all much too full to go through any tight corners. What a shame. I love the way this car changes direction.
So we found an empty stretch of road and I engaged the launch control -- much easier than it is in most cars with dual-clutch gearboxes. Maybe we've already described it here on the blog, but memory fails me. So, you shut off the stability control, slide the shifter into manual mode, hold the switch behind the shifter until the "Super Sport" shift mode shows on the IP, hold the brake with your left foot and press the gas with your right. The engine revs to 5,200 rpm, and then all you do is release the brake pedal and keep the gas pedal pinned.
I also had to remind myself to yank the shift paddle for second gear, because not much time elapses before you're past the 7,000-rpm redline and into the rev limiter. To be fair, though, my reaction time could/should probably be quicker.
I did this twice and nobody said anything. And after spending time with our modified Evo GSR, not even I was impressed. The MR feels very quick moving through freeway traffic, but in isolation, it feels almost slow. Guess that's the difference between a car that runs a 14.0-second quarter-mile and one that runs a 12.8.
We went home.
Garage shot with Evo VIII, replete with JDM badging and roof rack, is gratuitous. I don't know the owner. But I do know we both like milk tea.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 9,345 miles
dragonzsoul says:
06:58 PM, 01/ 5/09
that looks like yet another fake Evo.. the wing is definitely wrong. i can't imagine an Evo owner would like downgrading to the OZ-Rally spec wing.. i'd have to see more to be sure, but my verdict stands for now.
fake evo..
subytrojan says:
07:19 PM, 01/ 5/09
It definitely isn't fake, dragonzsoul.
How's the gearbox in your Civic Si holding up? Or am I thinking of someone else?
tmanz says:
08:06 PM, 01/ 5/09
how big are his relatives? Maybe they slowed the car down.
MS3lvr92 says:
09:45 PM, 01/ 5/09
Yeah dragonzsoul... looks like just a modded lancer.
Subytrojan,
The Civic Si hasn't been in the fleet for a while now... must be thinking of someone else :]
Also... Erin, you've obviously been too spoiled and driven too many fast cars; because when I drive my Mazdaspeed 3 and stomp the gas from a third gear dig... I get flung back in my seat and go "woah" every time. And that car is considerably slower than the Evo MR.
MS3lvr92 says:
09:46 PM, 01/ 5/09
Yeah just checked the old posts in past vehicles... the last post on the Civic Si was on January 11, 2007. Two whole years ago.
jkavanagh says:
10:08 PM, 01/ 5/09
Real Evo. Note fender flares.
cwmoo740 says:
11:35 PM, 01/ 5/09
Maybe the evo 8 wing was just too ugly for that driver (or his wife/girlfriend). I know every time my girlfriend sees an evo wing she says it's hideous. Taking off that giant wing does make it look a bit more civilized.
carfreak8394 says:
04:48 AM, 01/ 6/09
subytrojan,
if memory serves me right, I think joefrompa is the man with the Civic Si. Hope I'm right, Joe. (:
dougtheeng says:
06:04 AM, 01/ 6/09
The title of this blog should be: "You know you're spoiled when..."
haha I wish I'd driven enough fast cars for an Evo to feel slow.
On a side note, why would an Evo have a roof-rack? Is there some history there, besides the obvious need to carry something on the roof?
stingray454 says:
08:27 AM, 01/ 6/09
The other issue is this car is considerably slower with 4 people riding in it than just one. The 1/4 mile time with 4 people in it is probably in the high 14's, which is indeed slow.
subytrojan says:
09:17 AM, 01/ 6/09
carfreak, there was another person with a Civic Si that was experiencing the occasional grind upshifting into 3rd gear.
I checked one of the old long-term Civic Si's blog entries and it is indeed dragonzsoul.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2006/12/2006-honda-civic-si-popping-out-of-3rd-gear.html
dougtheeng, perhaps the Evo owner enjoys snowboarding or skiing and went up to one of the local places (Big Bear, Mammoth, etc.). Doing so would obviously necessitate a change to M+S-rated all-season or even better snow tires.
EzeE1o says:
09:57 AM, 01/ 6/09
its a real evo, the early evo VIII's had the giant CF wing as an option and the regular small wing standard
the roof rack it there bc the evo rear seats do not fold down
lazyhater says:
10:30 AM, 01/ 6/09
It is A LOT more likely for a real EVO to spend a few $hundreds to swap to a smaller wing then a Lancer swap with EVO flared fenders that cost a few $thousands.
lazyhater says:
10:39 AM, 01/ 6/09
Now I refresh my memories more, that smaller Lancer wing was never offered on the USDM EVO, either stock or optional. I believe the USDM EVO was either big wing or no wing. Only the JDM only EVO GTA came stock with that smaller wing. So that small wing on that white EVO in the pic was a private swap. But who knows, it is So Cal, anything goes with these kind of cars, I won't be slight bit surprise if it is a real JDM EVO GTA that came stock with that wing! I have seen just about all models of real JDM cars driving around in So Cal illegally, either with or without a real plate.
EzeE1o says:
10:46 AM, 01/ 6/09
as i stated, the small wing was standard, the cf optional. here is a pic:
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/awards/0402_lancer/conclusion.html
penboy says:
11:21 AM, 01/ 6/09
I can understand even the MR feeling a bit pedestrian with four people in the car. I normally don't have many people in my car, and every time I move three other people the change in acceleration catches me off guard. It isn't slow, I've still got 275hp, but it's definitely not the same.
As for the white car, that isn't the first Evo VIII that I've seen wearing the smaller wing, but considering how popular that car was in SoCal, lots of people were trying to distinguish themselves. The sad thing was that the last time I saw one like that, my friend tried to tell me it was an Evo, and I didn't believe them until I looked again and saw the fenders, and they normally aren't all that knowledgeable about cars. =/
dragonzsoul says:
12:02 PM, 01/ 6/09
hey subytrojan, my gearbox is still alive? lol not sure how long it'll last though. thanks for asking! =)
joefrompa has a Si as well. but enough about the Si in an Evo thread :P
i've just seen way too many lancer into Evo conversions.. kinda soured me..
roadburner says:
12:33 PM, 01/ 6/09
"Erin, you've obviously been too spoiled and driven too many fast cars; because when I drive my Mazdaspeed 3 and stomp the gas from a third gear dig... I get flung back in my seat and go "woah" every time."
When I do a third gear run in my MS3 I go "yawn".
Every time.
briancam says:
01:13 PM, 01/ 6/09
Those who are crying "spoiled" are missing the point. Erin has driven enough cars to know from fast - she's saying it just doesn't FEEL quick from a dead stop. In traffic and around town - plenty of fun.
Perhaps the family members were struck speechless by the austere interior.