ScoobyJawa

From Autocar:

The Evo 8 in UK spec will be 233bhp and £22k But an upgrade sold to make it 276bhp again like the JDM version pricing it back near 30k as the Evo 7.

Then after the 8 Mitsubishi are to discontinue the Evo and proceed to sell hot hatches instead.

Are they mad? Couldn't believe it - thoughts?

Neil Smalley

Also, alledegly the EVO 8 is toned down, no wings a single bonnent vent.

Would be suicide for the EVO myth. Mitsubishi are doing what Subaru have done. Water down a legend as standard and seek to rely on aftermarket add ons to bring the car to where it should be.

cryptwalk

The fact is Mitsubishi have not been doing to well for a while now.

Hence the EVO 8 being the end of an Era.

The Evo will become a Icon. If the evo 7 is the last make of evo to come into the country with full on power then expect the evo 5-6and7 reach super cult staus. There values will hold and they will become super difficult to get hold of!!!


[Edited by cryptwalk - 8/17/2002 6:47:49 PM]

Claudius

Makes me feel like puking, reading that

[Edited by Claudius - 8/17/2002 6:57:39 PM]

cryptwalk

These are the sneaked out pics...





Don't know how close they are to the real thing but neither look anything special.

End of an Era.

sKunk

Christ, that's criminal!

The Crushinator

That is disugsting! It stinks of The new MG!

cryptwalk

I think the bottom pic is someone messing about, the above yellow one is prolly closer to the truth.

These were taken from the motor show in Las Vegas...





[Edited by cryptwalk - 8/17/2002 7:24:39 PM]

[Edited by cryptwalk - 8/17/2002 7:25:05 PM]

chrisp

That would be a really shame. No matter how much banter goes on between the evo folks and scoob folks we all agree we need both models for the competition to move the game on .

On the plus side I wonder what this £27K 350Z Nissan coupe going to be like 3.5L 290bhp should be worth a look .

cryptwalk

Other news concerning for the US market..

Now, as some of you already know, in the JDM market the Airtrek turbo has been released. It's basically a direct competitor to the Forester Turbo, both power-enabled vehicles in the CRV/RAV-5 range. Now it appears that MMC is going to fill out the Lancer/Cedia range with the Evolution version.

Wait, confusion runs rampant through your minds right now, I know. There already is a Lancer Evolution (ver. 7.5) right now.

This is a separate deal. It will be using the Airtrek Turbo drivetrain and systems instead. It should have the front end from the Lancer evolution 7.5 (GT-A), but they refuse to talk about the ACD and AYC - which essentially means they aren't available. They are not present in the Airtrek - it instead has a standard viscous centre differential with a default 50:50 torque split front to rear. It's also automatic only, though it's the 5-speed tiptronic-style unit from the GT-A. Output will be the same as the Airtrek turbo also - 250ps and 35.0kg/m of torque (alright, alright, that's 248ft/lb).

The interesting thing is that the Airtrek Turbo is currently about 1 million yen less than the Lancer Evolution GT-A. If the Lancer Cedia Evolution is using the Airtrek as the base, then chances are the Lancer Cedia Evolution will be significantly cheaper than an Evo.

The not-so-interesting thought - MMC may use this as their "worldwide" Lancer Evolution model. They would have conformed to the spirit of their promise to sell a Lancer Evolution in the U.S. - this is indeed a Lancer Evolution in name - without going the full mile and selling the full-on Lancer Evolution 8 in the states.

On one hand, good news, on the other, possibly bad news. We will have to wait and see.

Mitsubishi has released this model to fill out their lineup, in their own words. It especially makes sense in Japan, where it would like a model to directly compete with the Legacy B4 sedan, which is about 2.57million yen for a 2.0-litre twin-turbo with 260ps and AWD. So MMC is going to release this "lesser" Lancer/Cedia Evolution as a more mainstream, non-ralliart vehicle. The Lancer Evolution is not an MMC vehicle, officially, but instead a Ralliart vehicle. This model is most probably an actual MMC model.

And if you think about it, while everybody lusts after a Lancer Evolution 8 or Subaru STI, the main aim of both vehicles is to sell the base models. In Subaru's case, it's the WRX turbo. In MMC's case, well, it's the somewhat power-challenged Lancer fwd. Now MMC looks to make a vehicle similar to the Legacy or WRX - a well-powered turbo awd for a good price. It wouldn't surprise me if there appeared in the states this particular model as a direct competitor in price and features to the WRX turbo.

So what the U.S. may actually get is TWO turbo Lancers. A "base" Lancer Evolution, and the Lancer Evolution 8 full version.

<pessimism>or they may just send over this version and claim it's the Lancer Evolution they promised to send</pessimism>

I'm going to hope for the two car scenario, meself.

As posted on US EVO BBS

[Edited by cryptwalk - 8/17/2002 7:30:54 PM]

Reffro

deleted.

[Edited by Reffro - 8/17/2002 7:51:51 PM]

Scooby-Doo

The new Mitsubishi Tarmac is a Focus sized hatch with the same engine and running gear from the Evo VII. Now that is what I'm waiting for.

beefola

I agree, the CZ3 Tarmac looks fantastic.
And you too can drive it in GT:Concept!
Beef

chrisp

Perhaps Subaru shuld release a TOMMAC edition in reply .

clarence

Cryptwalk,
I agree what u said, but isn't the drivetrain of the Airtrek based on the Evo sans AYC & ACD? In actual fact, the forthcoming Evo estate has the very same 240ps 4G63 engine that the Airtrek uses (I don't remember in exact details whether that car will have AYC & ACD), so in that case the export spec Evo 8 will be very much similar to that car.
Indeed the Airtrek Turbo is much cheaper than the GT-A, but don't forget the GT-A has 272ps plus Brembos, 'normal' suspension & AYC+ACD, so the price difference is there due to the difference in equipment. The Airtrek Turbo is sure to be a stiff competitor to the Forester turbo, it also has a more powerful engine & a 5-speed auto. Unfortunately, reports from HK says that the brakes & steering leaves a lot to desire.....
I think MMC will produce a saloon version of the Evo estate (i.e. with 240ps engine), but it is competing with the WRX & not the Legacy B4 RSK, as the B4 is one segment up from the Lancer Cedia. The B4 will be 'taken care' of by the Galant VR-4, whose replacement is due soon.
As of now, the estate side of the Cedia range is quite full already - it is already offered with a 1.5, 1.8, 1.8 turbo (165ps) & soon the Evo, it's only a matter for MMC to fit the stuff into their saloons.
To a lot of ppl, anything with less than 280ps is not the real Evo.

polarbearit

I think something that mitsubishi from a financial point of view have realised that they don't make big bucks out of selling Evo's, and there isn't enough of a link between the Evo and lesser cars in the range. In the same way that subaru launched the sport/GX models to look like the Turbo/WRX, no similar lancer is available in Europe/USA and the gap between regular lancer and evo is big in financial terms to be easily aspired to...

Still I hope mitsubishi sort a proper Evo out, and maybe a nice WRX rival too

Claudius

Why dont they sell higher powered versions in Europe? We have no stupid gentlemen's agreement on max hp output. Toyota sell a 330 bhp Supra in France. Therefore: all you damn manufacturers shut your stupid faces and go get me a car with POWER and make them LIGHTER instead of heavier.

Maybe check ebay for a GrB or sthg ...

[Edited by Claudius - 8/17/2002 10:16:31 PM]

nisr227

All good news for the Focus Cosworth in 2005 then.

clarence

MMC doesn't make big bucks selling cars, full stop. They were the last of the Japanese manufacturers to really restructure its operations & cut down on the number of overlapping model lineups. Just compare them with Nissan, Renault made wholesale changes to both Nissan's management style & product lineups, whereas Daimler-Benz doesn't seem to be doing much with MMC at the moment (all they're talking abt is small cars with MMC). U can see that MMC is strapped for cash as they don't have the resources to revamp key models (such as Galant), & even the Lancer isn't selling as strongly as it used to be. Really, apart from a few models, the rest of the MMC range is rather dull.
MMC used to be known as an innovator in Japan as they frequently tried new technologies in mainstream cars - they were one of the 1st Japanese makers to fit pneumatic suspension into their cars, one of the 1st to fit traction control, the 1st to use GDi back in 1997, etc etc. Seems that their list of innovations stopped back in 1997.
The Euro spec Supra always had 326bhp, whereas the JDM spec has 280ps. They always quote 280ps but sometimes it is much higher in reality, so as a consequence, this 280ps ceiling will be removed soon.
For some reason since the 70's, Japanese manufacturers limit their cars to 180km/h top speed, I think that will be the next thing to be removed.

Little Miss WRX

Indeed, the real EVO will be a legend difficult to live upto.

EIL132

It still looks better than the current Scoob.

uxg

I think it's just another manufacturer going soft. The Evo 6 in my opinion is still the pinnacle of the Lancer's. At least Subaru still produce an STi model although we don't know how long that will last. The new Nissan 350Z looks horrible IMHO and have you seen the replacement they are planning for the skyline GT-R. Eaauurrggh. I think Japanese manufacturers made great strides in the 90's but now like a lot of European manufacturers have started to lose there way with their performance models. The only rally orientated turbo charged car I am now excited about seeing is the new Focus Cosworth. Let's hope that Ford don't stuff this up like a lot of other manufactuer's seem to have done lately.

stanmo

iTrader: (1)

As a final attempt to shift more Evo 7s (I've only seen a couple on the roads, as opposed to quite a few STI UKs), perhaps they should drop it in price for the last production run (a la RX7) to compete directly in line with the new Focus.

Sod the Ford and the STI UK, for that price, I'll have an Evo.

Little Miss WRX

Mmmm a price drop would be veeeeeeeeeeeery nice

Mmmm Evo

Marco Polo

I think the 4,5 6 Evo's are the best looking, they look hard as foook !!

uxg

I would agree. It all went downhill after the 6 IMHO.

Spanpody.

I'd have to agree the V & VI are the dogs danglies, then again I am a bit biased as I have a V

uxg

I think what manufacturers fail to realise is that these cars are usually bought by enthusiasts who actually buy these things to drive them. By trying to make them softer and more appealing to Mondeo drivers I think they are somewhat missing the point. They are never going to attract people who just want rep mobiles in sufficient numbers so why even try and alienate the actual people who really want to buy these cars buy making them softer\more comfortable etc. If i wanted a car for comfort and cruisng on motorways I wouldn't buy a Subaru\Evo.

However if I want to have the most fun with my clothes on down my favourtie stretch of B road, sell me what I want not what you your marketing people tell you people need. Sometimes it seems the car manufacturers are very detached from their market and don't actually know what people want. How else do you explain the bugeyes mistake (and yes I know a lot of people quite like them but can you honestly say the looks are an improvement over the older model) or cars like the Evo 7, the new megane!!? I could go on.

clarence

I think the problem is confined to export markets, cos there are a lot of raw versions offered in Japan sometime after launch.
I'm sure nobody will buy ANY Evo at all in Japan if it's toned down, & Japan is still their #1 market.
For example, Subaru knows that the New Age is too soft, so they made a Spec C for JDM.

MurrayZA

There will always be a need for that dream performance machine,
once thats affordable and offers raw grunt and handling. If Subaru and Mitsubishi fail to keep delivering - you can be damn sure someone else is going to snap up the niche. I might be pushing close to 30, but in terms of cars, I'm right down there (age wise) with the Playstation generation. Just please dont give me sh!te cars and tell me "But listen to that exhaust - doesnt that sound great" .... I have a plan B though - it entails keeping my WRX and adding a 2.4 stroker kit and 6 speed box (instead of replacing the car in 2 years) and thrashing any trendy/yuppy car that even looks at me sideways.