Evolution

It is an interesting idea trying to reconcile creationism with evolution.


I am just kidding. The only evolution I care about is of the Mitsubishi Lancer variety.

We moved recently (I'm sure we will make a post about the move and all it entailed soon) and one of my favorite things in the world to do in Houston is look at new cars. Earlier in the year I had decided to try to replace the Wrx with a newer ricer mobile. Today Ramsey gave in to my badgering and went with me to the local Mitsubishi/Subaru/Acura dealership. (The same place where we bought the wrx 3 years ago)

Ramsey is usually a pretty good sport about making these car hunting trips. The only problem is that I usually get pretty excited and she ends up having to hide the car keys so that I don't knee jerk trade the car in.

In the past I had mentioned that I was hoping to purchase a Sti. We have had 2 previous opportunities to sit in and evaluate the car in person. The thing about subarus though is that I have already owned 3 or 4 or 12 of them. I do about 99% of my own wrenching, and there is only so much new ground that you can cover.

Today we decided to look at the Lancer Evolution GSR X (ten). I am always apprehensive about buying a Mitsubishi product, but I was interested in seeing what they look like in person.



(I know what you are thinking. That looks at an awful lot like the car you already have. Trust me when I say that mechanically there is enough difference that this is an entirely different kind of car. Well, maybe not entirely different. 2.0 liter turbo engine-both. All-wheel drive train-both. Scoops, Wings, giant wheels and buckboard ride-both)

I was hugely surprised by the Evo X in person. The design that didn't do much for me in photos and at a distance was absolutely stunning in person. The STi is a nice car, but it has LESS of a presence in person than even our '05. The Evo looks larger than life up close. Huge wheels, giant Brembo brakes, incredible naca duct work in the hood and front fascia. Even the interior had some very neat details to it.

The car was not without its faults though. From the outside it looks much bigger than the impreza, but the trunk has less than half the space of the wrx.
The real deal breaker is the seats.

Aggressive bolstering is great for track day. You can't heel toe if you are sliding into the passenger seat. Aggressive bolstering will also really start to hurt your real-endski after about 10 minutes. Alot of Japanese performance enthusiasts are critical of the American version of Japanese performance vehicles because they are usually toned down in the U.S. In the case of the Evo, the Japanese domestic market (jdm) seats are the same as the U.S. domestic market seats (usdm). It would seem that the jdm diet of white rice and seaweed creates a slimmer posterior than the usdm diet of burgers and pizza. Ramsey and I both fit in the seat, but not comfortably.

(I swiped these pictures from a google image search. I can only imagine what the salespeople would have said had I walked into the stealership with the DSLR in hand.)

As a daily driven vehicle we can barely survive the wrx. It is loud, buzzy, and the clutch could sub quite convincingly for a leg press machine. On the hard core scale the wrx in its current state would be a 4. The bone-stock Evo would rank as an eleven.

There is a certain allure to being able to drive a track ready car every day. Simple merging and lane changes take on a life of their own. The point of this type of car is to try and strike the right balance between ultimate performance and comfort. As the family grows the Evo will become progressively less user friendly. Pulling the baby out of his race seat in any of the wrx-sti-evo cars is a pain. As he grows bigger it will get worse.

Ramsey made an interesting point about all of this today. We have had moms saturn aura for the last few days, and during those past few days the Impreza has been sitting in the garage. More hard core is not necessarily what we need right now.

I think that we may take another tact when it comes time to purchase a new vehicle.
If I had a tow vehicle, I could take my tuning approach more in depth than before. Modifications that affect the driveability wouldn't be a big deal. Big laggy turbos, fuel puddling at idle, all sorts of aggressive tuning that I couldn't do to a vehicle that is needed as a daily driver.

Our poor 1996 Explorer is about 5 years past its lifespan anyway, so I think that a F-150 might meet our families needs a little better. Granted, we won't be buying anything until we recuperate financially from this move, but ya'll know me. I don't measure life in time. I measure it in the next car purchase.





Hey, any excuse to make a perfectly good car less user friendly. It definitely needs more grip, better brakes, and more power.