Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: £29,499 to £49,999
Performance, balanced handling, sharp looks, fine gearchange.
Punishing ride, fuel consumption, running costs.
More at home now on the road than rally stage, the Evolution X has finally grown up.
For 16 years and nine generations Lancer Evolutions have been a perpetual thorn in a supercar manufacturer's side because they offer out-of-the-ordinary performance at ordinary-man prices.
On paper any Evolution is almost Ferrari-quick, while on the road, in real-world conditions, it will take some beating. A ballistic turbocharged engine and computer-controlled four-wheel drive puts performance in supercar territory - all from a car that underneath the wings, spoilers and gaping air vents is a sensible four-door family saloon.
For the tenth generation there's little change in the ethos, but there are substantial changes to the car. Instead of refining and honing the existing car and rebadging it 'X', the Lancer Evolution is a completely new model. This is not just, er, an evolution.
Built on the co-developed DaimlerChrysler 'Project Global' platform that underpins the Outlander 4x4, the Evolution X boasts increased torsional rigidity by more than 50% compared with the old Evo IX - and that bodes well for crash safety and handling.
The Evo X comes with three power outputs - 291bhp, 325bhp and the range-topping 354bhp - named FQ-300, 330 and 360 respectively.
For the new car the firm talks of its Evolution X having a broader appeal than the sharply focused IX. With higher levels of refinement and even better ride comfort, will the 'ten' prove its worth on the road and up against an equally all-new Impreza STi?
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
wrote on 02 10 2008