2008 Mitsubishi Evo GSR: To Wing or Not To Wing?

Generally speaking all cars looks better with a spoiler on the trunk, the difference is on the SIZE of that spoiler or the style.

I think all Evos (including the Evo X) looks better with a spoiler it's just that the stock size makes it look a bit ricey (tolerable though). It is an Evo after all so no one is going to fault you for it being ricey. If that wing is on a Lexus or BMW then it's a whole different story all together...

small wings are fine, huge ass ones are not.

i agree with the above post, most cars look better without a wing or spoiler, but with the evo, it just looks sorta wimpy without any sort of spoiler at all. The decklid is too short and kinda slopes off. With the last gen WRX (02-07) the sedan looked like crap without the spoiler.

"Wings are ok at best. But almost every car looks better without them."

Wings yes, spoilers, no.

I think generally speaking that most cars looks better with a bit "something" on top of the trunk. A subtle tip spoiler usually work the best.

No wing = stealth bomber, especially with an Evo.

I dont think the picture does it justice. Evo in person with no wing, it looks awesome.

I'd say keep the wing. A big wing is the Evo's trademark. Without it, the tail just doesn't look right. Plus, the tail lights on the 08 are so close to the top of the trunk that a spoiler would make the entire rear end look better.

Seems like most of the comments were in support of you removing the wing.
This is just gratuitous padding to get more kudos...

BTW if an evo isnt lowered and its wingless it looks funny. You have to be lowered to be wingless.

Removing the wing makes this evo a bad ass sleeper. The only problem is the exhaust.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, wings add visual mass to the rear end and that is often a good thing.

On cars with silhouettes that look the same going forwards as backwards, a wing breaks the symmetry and gives the car the impression of forward movement. Makes it look more like an arrow in profile. A wing helps in the same way on sedans with short but downward sloping rear decks, which always look dopey (e.g. the Infinity J). That second photo of the Evo VIII looks particularly dopey. All that bulk - in the fenders but mostly in the tumblehome - and then such a disappointing finish at the back. It's like a bodybuilder with a tiny head. The wing applies equal bulkiness to the rear to balance things out.

The new Lancer has a different problem. It's profile is better, it's just the rear view. The taillights are mounted near the top of the trunk and because they're anthropomorphic (all car lights are, to an extent, but these are especially so) the car's rear "face" looks unbalanced. Eyes near the top of a face look wrong. With a wing, the top of the trunk lid becomes a reasonably-placed brow instead the top of its head, making the taillights look more natural. It isn't a proper angry face without the wing.

The important thing for wing designers is to match the bulk and the detailing on the car. The earlier Evos had pretty angular surfaces and a lot of them were vertical - the wing matched. The Supra and Eclipse from the '90s (most cars from that era, actually) had circular curves to their rear quarters, so the basket handles were appropriate continuations of the theme. The e36 BMW 3-series was angular and low, and its wing was the same. The previous-generation Accord sedan often looked better with a wing too, because the wing matched the car's aesthetics better than the rest of the rear-end detailing. Those were all good wings.

Bad wings include the Cobalt SS coupe's, which was totally incongruous with the car's design language. Big round butt with little angular wing is not a harmonious combination. One generation of the Jetta had a wing that was too narrow for the car and looked very odd. The Civic Si sedan's wing is terrible - the car's short and tapered rear end is calling out for more visual mass yet the wing is plastered flat to the trunk, and it's angular and blocky on a car defined by a smooth, flowing profile. Those look like afterthoughts.

Scott is spot on here. Wings are for those who are trying to overcompensate for some physical shortcoming. Need I digress?

If BMW, Mercedes, etc., with their hyper-performance models can do without these silly wings, surely the EVO can too.

I always found it strange , btw, that the subaru sti spec c type rar had no wing like the regular sti. If the STI wing is functional , then why wouldnt the greatest STI ever have one. On the EVO RS , it's sort of a budget version so I suppose I could see it not having it. At the end of the day these things have function/utility or not. If it has function then I'd say it's not ricey.
However, I have no plans to remove my wing. It adds to the overall incongruity of a late 30's adult/business person driving a ricer.

Function > Form, Chief.

The Spec C STIs probably didn't have large rear spoilers because they were often served as the basis for fully-prepped race/rally cars. Maybe they also didn't want the drag to hurt straight-line speed like at the Nürburgring Nordeschleife.

Note the WRC cars that have always had large spoilers in the previous and current generations. To have the rear end coming up flying over a jump is baaaaddddd (a la Petter Solberg in the 2005 NESTE Rally Finland).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb3coPiC24w

Guess there be many a ricer touring this site..

The evo needs the wing. At speed it can produce up to 120lb of downforce at the rear increasing stability. Oh wait that's not right. Yeah I agree with the no wing, but I think I'm so used to the wing it would take some time to get used to it. Photoshop the MR without the wing

The spoiler/wing on an Evo is like the "Screaming Chicken" decal on a 2nd-gen Trans Am. Yes, it is kind of goofy, but it is also a big part of the car's aesthetic character.

You should put the Evo's spoiler back on.

Its a matter of personal taste, but for the most part the euro examples you cited are very much not extroverted when it comes to styling, while ricer cars are supposed to be. I think just as many would agree that putting a spoiler and body kit on the audi would be just as wrong as taking them off the evo.

+1 slowevo

The evo without a spoiler looks mean, but you have to lower it. I have no idea why an inch or two lower makes such a difference in the profile, but it really sells the look.

The Lancer is a relatively lame looking vehicle to begin with, but that picture makes it look even worse than it actually is.

Kinda makes it look like an 80's econobox.

I have to agree with everything carlisimo said. The visual weighting of the car is just too awkward without the whale tail. It just doesn't look right.

Put the wing back on.

I also think carlisimo summed it up pretty succinctly. I have the SSS package on my X with the bigger wing and I prefer it greatly over the standard kit on the Edmunds car. I had intended on pulling the wing off immediately, but one of my employees did so on his base GSR and the high taillights just looked weird.

On the topic of the RS in this post, the car was intended as a stripper starting point for the construction of a race car, in which case you'd be putting a bigger, even more effective wing on the car if you were road racing it, so why put a more functionally challenged, non-adjustable, OEM unit on in the first place?

I think we are all so used to the big wing on these particular cars that it just looks awkward without it. Put it back on please...

Why not buy an aftermarket wing if there are rear vision issues?

I have never seen a road car with a spoiler of any kind, large or small, that did not look better without it. What's most annoying is that they are standard equipment on many cars I might otherwise like, at least on trim levels required to get equipment I consider essential, in the US--some cars that have spoilers in North American trim don't have them in other markets. Or, dealers order their stock with them and then are unwilling to search for one without.

I think it was one of Saturn's marketing people who said years ago that people who like spoilers like really big ones, and people who don't like them, don't like them at all. They should always be shipped as a dealer-installed accessory and installed a the time of purchase.

It depends on whether all the shopping carts are taken at the local market or not...=)

The car looks strange without the spoiler. It completes the rear end of the vehicle. I think many of the people who were calling for the spoiler to be removed had not seen a Lancer w/o one - the rear end is not a pretty sight.

In general, I prefer a spoiler on the rear of a vehicle. I'm aware that it doesn't do anything aerodynamically at legal speeds, I just like the look.

PS that Evo shown above would look much better with a spoiler, IMO.

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/corporate/about_us/technology/review/e/pdf/2008/20e_08.pdf

the above link was commented in the other Evo post, just in case you didn't see it. thanks jondimellow.

clean IS in. looks better without.

the death of the spoiler started when family cars started using them.

took mine off my mustang and love the clean line!

I like the small one on the Lancer GTS, but not the Evo wing. Low wings or lip spoilers are my preference.

Smooth is in, UGLY is not! The thing is the wing is part of the package when owning an Evo. You should put it back on or give it to someone who loves the car for what it is! Your trying to civilize something that screams ture badass! If i see one on the road i will go out of my way to point and laugh!

FWIW, I agree with you. It looks MUCH better without the silly huge wing.

Scott, I am on your side. Spoilers, unless they are small lip spoilers are pointless and look rediculous. I can't think of a car that looks better with a spoiler than without. Mustangs look better without them, the new 370Z looks WAY better without one. The NISMO version looks obsurd. Anyone remember the Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6? If you do, remember the HUGE spoiler they tacked on it? Retarted.

Thanks for reposting that link Doug. Makes all those claims that spoilers/wings are pointless, well, pointless :)

"Thanks for reposting that link Doug. Makes all those claims that spoilers/wings are pointless, well, pointless :)"

Haha yah but I'm guessing no one read it except you and I.

I am late to the discussion, but being of the same age demographic as Mr. Oldham, I agree the car looks a 1000% better WITHOUT the wing.

I thought the original goal was to beat the GTR around a track, not to make it look clean and sleeper-like. You might need to get a GT wing and a front lip if you want to accomplish that goal.

My opinion on wings is this. It seems that most manufacturers have trouble designing the rear ends of some of their vehicles. The wings help by filling out the back end. Like the Evo X Edmunds has, the taillights are too high in the corners, so the wing gives the illusion that the back end is larger that it is, providing adequate material surrounding the lights, making the car look less silly.

The Evo is the only car that looks like the wing belongs on it. It does not look right without it. The STI -- I'd keep the wing on it too.
Anything else -- remove the wing.

I'm no fan of wings, especially the huge ones like the Evo has. But in this case, I think the wing helps. Without it, the car really reveals its econobox roots. It does make the back of the car somewhat of a sleeper - it certainly doesn't look like it would be fast. Sleepers can be a lot of fun.

Pontiac ruined wings forever for me. Ironic, then, that the G8 GT gets it just about perfect. Just a lil sumthin sumthin; the extra lines go a long way.

...while I generally don;t like huge wings, the Evo looks better w/the stock wing imho. However, since that's too much how about splitting the difference and getting a smaller spoiler from the Ralliart/GTS?

...better than leaving holes in the trunk no?