Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: No data available
Terrific performance, telepathic steering, outstanding grip and handling, strong brakes.
The usual Evo stuff: ride's a bit hard, engine noise uncharismatic, interior's nothing to write home about.
The last Lancer Evolution saloon is one of the very best - a superb driver's car, albeit with some compromises.
The Evolution IX is the latest in a long line of Lancer Evolution models that stretches back to 1992, developed to homologate Mitsubishi's rally cars. Since then, new Lancer models and Evolutions have come and gone, culminating in this Evolution IX, which will be on sale until 2007, when an all-new Lancer will make its debut. This, we're told, will be a radically different car from the four-door saloon that has spawned all of the Evo models to date, making the Evo IX the last of the Lancers as we know them.
To date, some Evolutions have been minor updates of their immediate predecessors, while some have been based on new generations of the Lancer saloon. The IX is one of the former; mechanically it's extremely similar to the Evo VIII, of which we're big fans here at 4Car. Changes to cooling, bumpers, small suspension adjustments and the introduction of MIVEC variable cam timing are the most significant changes over the Evo VIII. Most of the rest is retained. The IX also keeps the Evo VIII's prices, and will uphold its deserved reputation as a staggeringly capable performance car.
