Performance Car Of The Year 2008 – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

Now we’re talking, the performance section of this year’s awards.  Granted, perhaps I should have stuck the boring eco-motors between the posh Jag and this astonishing car – but hey, it’s not a celebration of being a snotty Prius owner.  So, without further ado, let’s look at the Car Articles Performance Car of the Year 2008 – the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

The Mitsubishi Evolution has long been a well known performance car – pretty much in fact a rally car for the road.  More aggressive than the similarly specced Subaru Impreza WRX, the Evo however always looked like it had been designed (at least externally) by a pubescent teenager.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X is a culmination of years of work and development.  This tenth iteration manages to keep all of the breathtaking performance of previous editions, but now brings some refinement to the mix. 

The Evo X continues the tradition of using a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, available in a few different states of tune.  To be honest, they’ll all provide manic, terrifying performance that’ll tear to 60 in less than 5 seconds (whichever incarnation you spend your money on). 

It doesn’t matter the kind of road that you’ll be driving on, thanks to the huge number of electronics on board (such as the clever S-AWC system) you’ll rarely be out of control.  Perhaps more of a challenge will be in keeping your driving license clean; such is the insane acceleration and urgency of this car.

Naturally, as with most high performance cars, you’ll find that the turning circle can cause you some problems, but given how you can chuck the car around quite happily then you’ll learn to live with it.  Interestingly, the car will behave quite well in and around too, providing good space in the back (and the boot, though it’s a saloon not a hatch) and riding quite well.

Granted, the 24mpg might make you cry – but that’s unlikely if you actually have any verve for driving (it’s always a pay-off – performance vs fuel economy).  The reason of course is that this car just has bags and bags of performance that you can unleash with a fairly easy prod of the ‘fast’ pedal.  Sounds like your thing?  Well, whether you’re a track day legend or a ‘B’ road warrior, trust me, you’ll love this car.