SUBARU WRX AND MITSUBISHI EVOLUTION
Faster but Not So Furious, Boy-Racer Cars Grow Up
I WAS flipping through the channels recently when I was sucked in by the cinematic tour de force that is "The Fast and the Furious." The original in a four-film franchise, the 2001 movie presents a world in which self-worth is measured in quarter-mile times and comely women are deeply impressed by the nitrous tanks in the back of one's Jetta. It also depicts an area of automotive culture that, eight years later, already seems comically outdated: the lurid import-tuner-car aesthetic.
There were simple rules for modifying cars of this genre. First you'd fit a muffler the size of a sewer main onto your Honda Civic, then a rear wing sourced from Airbus. Then you'd paint the car lime green and put a mural of a samurai on the side. If you had any money left, then you might modify the engine, probably by installing a new air filter.
Certainly, there are still outrageously accessorized cars out there, but the import-tuner gestalt has swung in the other direction - cars that are faster than they look, rather than the other way around. The last time I was at the dragstrip, a Civic was running 12-second quarter miles. It had no wing or oversize wheels. The money was spent under the hood.
Which brings me to the Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, two icons of the tuner-car world. Both are turbocharged and both have all-wheel drive, with 4-cylinder engines and four doors. Both are capable of performance that belies their economy-car roots. In keeping with the broader import speed-demon trend, both are faster but more conservatively styled than their predecessors.
The last generation of the WRX sedan flaunted flared-out fenders and a hood scoop that recalled the Sydney Opera House. The Impreza's 2008 redesign slimmed down the hood scoop, tucked in the fenders and restricted the top-of-the-line STI variant to the hatchback body style. While the WRX's styling edged toward anonymity, its power remained unchanged. This state of affairs - a step backward aesthetically with no increase in performance - didn't go over well. Subaru, to its credit, got back on the job right away and significantly revised the WRX for 2009. Notably, power jumped from 224 horsepower up to 265, a number more in line with pocket rockets like the Mazdaspeed 3 (263) and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS (260). The WRX STI remains at 305 horsepower.
The WRX got more power for 2009.
The latest Evo is more comprehensively redesigned than the Subaru. A new motor with an aluminum engine block replaces the old iron-block 4-cylinder; the all-wheel-drive system gains an "active yaw control" rear differential; and a dual-clutch sequential-manual transmission is available. Prices start at $33,710 for the GSR with a 5-speed manual and can climb beyond $40,000 for the MR, which uses an automated sequential manual transmission shifted by magnesium paddles on the steering column.
Those prices, by the way, are for the 2008 Evo. Because the new Evo arrived late in the 2008 model year, Mitsubishi is skipping directly from 2008 to the 2010 model year. Which means that if you see a 2009 Evo for sale, you should snap it up and park it next to your 1983 Corvette and 1996 Jeep Wrangler. My problem with the old Evo MR was that I loved driving it, but I was sort of embarrassed to be seen in it. There comes an age when you're too old to drive a car featuring "vortex generators" resembling a row of sharks' teeth above the rear window. And that age is 17.
The new Evo looks cleaner - still aggressive, but less gimmicky. Of course, the Evo's optional accessories list includes a front air dam, side skirts and even a "rear spoiler extension." So you can make it gimmicky if you like.
NEW MUSCLE Big changes for the Evo include a new aluminum engine.
The new motor, like the new bodywork, is more polished than the old one. The main difference is not in ultimate output (though power is up to 291 horsepower, from 286) but in the way the power is delivered. The last Evo's turbocharger functioned like an aircraft carrier's launch catapult - it was either dormant or crushing you back in the seat with maximum thrust. The new twin-scroll turbo - designed to minimize the pause in response known as turbo lag - is more progressive, which has the curious consequence of making the engine feel less powerful than before.
Some of the drama has been exorcised, and in this particular car, I'm not sure that was a great move. People don't buy pavement-shredding pseudo-rally cars because they're looking for the last word in refinement. Car and Driver magazine clocked the Evo MR at 5.3 seconds from a standstill to 60 miles an hour; the Evo GSR with a conventional 5-speed manual did the feat in 4.6 seconds. With the sequential manual, the MR cannot move off the line as quickly as the 5-speed car because the computerized transmission's launch-control mode doesn't allow a very aggressive start. This limitation is intended to preserve the transmission's complex innards.
The WRX sedan, despite a significant power deficit, is right on the bumper of the Evo GSR, with a 0-to-60 run of 4.7 seconds. That number seems about right, as the WRX almost feels as if it wants to pull a wheelie in first gear.
In terms of handling, Mitsubishi actually improved the Evo's already keen reflexes. Pitch the car into a corner as clumsily as you like, and the all-wheel-drive system will sort out how to clean up your mess and make you look like a hero. The WRX (even the more sophisticated STI, with its active center differential) begs a sort of brutal driving style, because getting on the throttle too early on your way out of a corner will cause the front end to push wide. The Evo's new "active yaw control" overdrives the outside rear tire, which has the effect of tucking the nose of the car onto your intended line even if you're clumsy with the gas pedal. A label on the Evo's driver's side door warns, "The original equipment tires will wear more rapidly than tires used on ordinary vehicles." That about sums it up: when it comes to handling, this is not an ordinary vehicle.
These two cars are decidedly mundane, however, when it comes to accommodations. That's fine when you're paying $30,000, but add another 10 grand for an STI or Evo MR and you might look around the inside of your car and wonder why you're paying BMW money for the same basic interior you get in a $15,000 Lancer or an $18,000 Impreza.
Fuel economy is also unremarkable, with the Evo promising 17 miles a gallon in town and 22 on the highway, and the WRX managing a slightly better 18/25. The turbocharger giveth power, and the turbocharger taketh away fuel.
While the Evo and WRX both rate high for usefulness, given their sports-car performance levels, the Evo does suffer one sling of impracticality: the trunk contains the battery, the windshield fluid reservoir and a large optional subwoofer. In addition, the all-wheel-drive system's rear components crowd in from below. The net effect is that the trunk shrinks to 6.9 cubic feet, from 12.3 cubic feet in the base Lancer. That's less cargo room than you get in a Porsche Boxster or a Chevrolet Corvette. I imagine this quirk won't bother Evo owners too much, as long as there's still enough room for a nitrous bottle or two.
With the performance side of the Impreza and Lancer lines now extending from the 237-horsepower Lancer Ralliart and 224-horse Impreza 2.5 GT on up to the Evo MR and WRX STI, the $25,690 WRX and $33,710 Evo GSR are the middle children. In a lot of ways, they're the sweet spots of their respective lineups.
The WRX now offers most of the STI's thrills for two-thirds of the money, and the 5-speed Evo GSR is quicker than the more expensive MR. With its noncomputerized transmission, the GSR will be easier to modify, an important consideration for the legions of Evo owners who bump up their horsepower.
Even if the size of the rear spoilers has declined since "The Fast and the Furious," some people still live life a quarter-mile at a time.
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