The latest iteration of the Evo line has been well received - especially in comparison to its arch rival, the Subaru Impreza, which has gone all hatchback on those legions of fans who like their Japanese would-be rally cars as saloons. Seen here in concept guise, this new car is covered in new cooling ducts which we are assured are very much necessary - and not just for show-off purposes. There is also a very nifty little hole just to the right of the bonnet opener, while the air scoops on the bonnet itself are significantly more pronounced on the more down to earth - yet still fairly extreme - Evos. Moving to the side, check out those twin ducts just forward of the front wheels, which this time are to keep the brakes cool and functioning - and just for good measure, yet another blow-hole a bit further down the bodykit. Road RocketMoving around to the back, feast your eyes on that giant carbon-fibre diffuser, and the enhanced 'vortex generator' which is the jaggedy thing on the top of the roof - all of which are designed to keep this 405hp, 400NM of torque rocketship on the road. The exhaust gets the special treatment too - a twin in normal Evos, these are scrapped in favour of one single fat central exhaust, Lamborghini Murcielago-style. The car gets a rather old-school sounding five-speed manual gearbox, which sounds good for power but may ensure fuel economy figures that are... not quite as good as they might be.A 0 to 60 time of 3.5 seconds is mooted, making this car as fast as a Porsche 911 Turbo. Like all Evos it will be limited to 155mph.Pricing will see a hike from £38,000 for the current top-of-the-range FQ-360 to around £50,000 for this version. A UK-only special edition - us Brits just love these cars it seems - expect a formal unveiling early in 2009, with cars on the road shortly thereafter. Those taken with the idea of having this licence-losing rally car on their drive should drop a line to their nearest Mitsubishi dealer sharpish; since this car will be available as a strictly a limited edition run - credit crunch or not - it may be sold out before it even goes on sale.
No comments:
Post a Comment