Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Rumored To Return With 341 HP

Jun 27, 2019 at 3:16am

BY: ADRIAN PADEANU, News Editor

We want to believe...

Pictured here, the Final Edition launched at the end of 2015 was Mitsubishi’s way of saying goodbye to a legend – the Lancer Evolution. Since then, company officials have repeatedly said the Evo is unlikely to come back, and even if it would, a performance SUV would be more likely rather than a rally-inspired sedan like the original. If a new report published by Autocar is to be believed, something must’ve changed in recent times as an all-new Lancer Evo sedan is apparently in the pipeline.

Citing undisclosed “Japanese-based sources,” Autocar alleges the eleventh generation of the Lancer will spawn a hot Evolution version with a powertrain derived from the Renault Megane RS. Bear in mind the report doesn’t refer to the current-gen French hot hatch, but to the next iteration of what is currently the fastest front-wheel-drive production car at the Nürburgring.

In its hottest form, the Megane RS Trophyand its record-breaking Trophy-R sibling pack a turbocharged 1.8-liter gasoline engine with 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters) of torque. Thanks to a rumored implementation of a 48V mild-hybrid setup engineered by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance corroborated with a bump in displacement to 2.0 liters, output will reportedly be pushed to as much as 341 hp and 319 lb-ft (433 Nm).

Even if these output numbers are legit, they’re still far less impressive than the mighty Lancer Evolution X FQ-440 MR, which had 440 hp and 412 lb-ft (559 Nm). By the way, the U.K.-only special edition limited to 40 units is still regarded by some as being the most powerful production four-cylinder car ever made, eclipsing even the upcoming Mercedes-AMG A45 S with its 416 hp and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm).

Getting back to the Lancer Evo XI, the report goes on to specify the car would ride on the CMF-C/D F4 platform developed by the alliance, with standard all-wheel drive. Autocar doesn’t say when the next generation of the sedan is scheduled to come out, but the Evo flavor is unlikely to debut in the next several years. That is if Mitsu does indeed plan to go after the Subaru WRX STIonce again and is not busy repurposing another iconic nameplate for a crossover as it did with the Eclipse.

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 2018

Driving

What is it like on the road?

The turbo petrol engine smears its torque over a wide range, so responds well from low down. It also sings sweetly and quietly at the top end. But annoyingly, at 4,000rpm, which is what you use a lot when pressing on, it drones annoyingly.

Just mooching around towns, or in gentle traffic, the CVT is smooth and sane, choosing a ratio that plays to the engine’s low-rev strengths. And yeah, we know CVTs are efficient and light. But floor it and, as they all do, it causes the engine to moan like a dying cow, abandoning correlation between speed and revs, and the reponse to throttle inputs is fuzzy. That makes it irksome and disconcerting to use.

For driving down twisty roads, where you want predictable response through a corner, it’s entirely critical to fix it in one of the the eight virtual ratios via the paddles.

The steering is oddly weighted around the straightahead, so it’s easy to drift out of your motorway lane. It’s like driving in slush. Then you get to a corner or roundabout, probably too fast if you’ve not taken control of the CVT because there’s then no engine braking. So you yank the wheel and the car rolls onto the outside-front wheel, and then you get back on the throttle and there’s more CVT delay before you finally lurch your way out.

On the inside

Layout, finish and space

The Eclipse Cross carves a lot of people space from its compact footprint. You sit in the usual throne-like crossover attitude up front. Out back, there’s top-class leg room, and foot space under the front seats. Enough headroom too (just), but then you couldn’t expect more when you see the roof-line.

Open up the tailgate and the reason becomes clear. The boot isn’t very big. Not fore-to-aft because the rear seats are set well back, nor indeed top-to-bottom because the luggage blind is set low down so you can see out of the spilt rear window.

There’s an answer. You can slide the back seat bench forward, either one-third, two-thirds or all of it. This adds boot space, although this leaves endless possibilities for small clutter to disappear into the seat sliding mechanism, never to be seen again. The rolled up blind stores under the floor, handily.

The strongly three-dimensional dashboard emerges at you in a series of tiers, like the architecture of a sports stadium. It looks good, though does force some compromises, like hiding the climate controls in a deep dark recess. Still, at least they are proper controls, not virtual ones lost behind layers of screen menus.

Some of the other switchgear is scattered around with little apparent clarity or logic. By the time you’ve rooted around and found the lane departure or collision warning system switches, you might have already had the collision.

The dials and screens are clear enough, and top versions have a head-up display. Infotainment is controlled by a touchscreen or well-designed trackpad controller down in the centre console. Mirroring of Apple or Android phones is standard, just to add to the user-friendliness.

from www.topgear.com