(Photos by Dave Nutting) – It’s over. The longstanding and natural born rival to the Subaru WRX, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution will cease to exist as a production model after 2015. The two cars have been locked in combat for the hearts and minds of enthusiasts for decades and while it is crummy that Mitsubishi has been the first to blink, we’re not weeping over it because this car is going out with its boots on while its crosstown rival gets fatter and further off the plot than it ever has been in its own history. But that is another story for another day. This is all about the 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and our impressions of said car during the week that we had it.

As a drag car, as a rally style car, as a road course killer, and an autocrosser, the Evo has built a reputation as a very tough little hombre that you best be prepared to deal with. We have seen plenty of all wheel drive examples into the single digits on the strip and as an example of its prowess in areas where the course is not straight the Ultimate Street Car Association events, including the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational are often populated with modified Evos which continue to challenge for podium positions against cars that have way more power and way more money shoveled into them.

In some ways the end of the Evo line may be a mercy killing to keep the car in its rightful place. It would be shameful to see the machine softened and watered down to the point where it appealed to the mass car buying public. Listen, we dove a WRX with a CVT transmission in it this year and when we tell you that it sucked, IT SUCKED. We’d rather a car leave production with its dignity attached than turn into a practical piece that your mom would want. But that’s just us.  (Story continues below drifting Evo)

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Exterior –

Throughout this story it is going to sound like we’re playing the car against itself and while it may seem that way, the thing really is a study in contrast. For starters, there’s the styling. Now our Evo GSR model is likely the one that any interested BangShifter would choose out of the three Evo options. It is the cheapest, the lightest on flashy stuff, and it has virtually all of the same guts that the MR and FE models have which are more expensive. Now, it doesn’t have their visual impact as the GSR eschews some of the body mods that the other cars in the lineup have. Outside of the hood with a small scoop and heat extractors plus the giant wing on the trunk, this thing is pretty quiet in the styling department. We know the wing is a heritage thing and a big part of the car’s identity but if we could not “delete” it on an option sheet, we’d do it in the driveway when we got home. It just isn’t us (Speak for yourself, there, Lohnes. I loved it. – Nutting). Depending on your personality, you may relish the fact that the Evo GSR as we tested it would fall into the sleeper category among the general public because it looks like a smallish sedan with a wing on the trunk. We actually enjoyed this.

We did enjoy the Enkei 18-inch wheels and the Yokohama Advan tires which (as you can see) we put to work in a variety of conditions. The Brembo calipers and 13-inch rotors are the brakes on all three Evo models and they work great. This thing stops right now and that’s a good thing.

The presence of the intercooler being plainly visible in the nose of the Evo is pretty cool and it definitely adds an aggressive edge to the car that it would lack otherwise. The sneaks among us may want to paint that thing black to have it blend in but we think it is cool and without its visibility that front end would look like a large gaping maw.

Interior –

Lots of times we hear guys complain that it is impossible to get a car without all the gadgets and junk that everyone seems to be loading them with these days. Those guys have obviously never sat in an Evo because it is a true “turn back the clock” moment. This is NOT a car you buy for the interior appointments, technology, gadgetry, and pizzaz. In fact, it looks like the interior design guys left the office in 1998 and have been faxing the same engineering blueprints to the factory since then. Yes, there is the now obligatory LED screen on the dash but after that? There’s not a lot happening in there. What you see in the photos below is not necessarily the “stripper” interior. There are very few things that can be optionally added here and none of them enhance the driving experience. Leather wrapped e-brake handle? A number plaque? Red stitching in the seats? That’s about the extent of what you can heap on to the interior.

Before you think we are busting on the car (ok, we kind of are) it is actually to the Evo’s benefit that there’s nothing jumping out at you, buzzing at you, flashing at you, and otherwise getting in the way of the driving experience. This is one of the most unobtrusive interiors we have ever been in.

If there is one thing that is an honest detriment to the experience it is the seats. There’s zero bolstering in these suckers and they feel like something that was pulled from a rental car and jabbed in. In many performance cars these days, the seats are a central point of pride for the manufacturer. In the Evo they contain your backside but after that? Nothing. We were looking at an options sheet for the car and unless we’re missing something the same seats are found in the MR and the FE, which stinks. In aggressive driving situations the steering wheel becomes a grab handle and we could spend days telling you why that is a crummy deal. We’d tell Mitsubishi to fix the seats but since this is the end of the line, we’d be wasting our breath.

So yeah, interior wise the car is both great in the fact that it does not bother you but also it is kind of comical how low buck and dated the inside of the 2015 Evo actually is.

Mechanical –

So if the interior of the car wasn’t that spectacular we’re going follow it up with the stuff that defines this car and has defined it for years, the mechanical guts. Basics are as follows. 291hp from the 2.0L MIVEC dual overhead cam, turbocharged inline four engine and 300 lb-ft at 4,000 RPM. Peak horsepower comes at 6,500 RPM and redline is 7,000. Our GSR model was backed with a five speed, yes a five speed manual transmission. This is the standard transmission in the GSR and FE models and we’ll get to what we liked about it in a minute. As you know the car is all wheel drive and it has a couple of settings.

There’s no monkeying around with finite adjustments. You pick, asphalt, snow, or dirt essentially and then get after it and we did get after it. The final drive ratio for cars equipped with the five speed transmission is a stratospheric 4.687:1. Yes, you can read that again if you want.

That means that the rev happy little engine gets worked out and your shifting skills also get worked out. We loved it although this steep gearing, mileage really suffers. 17 city, 23 highway, 19 combined are the numbers that Mitsubishi published and we didn’t see any of them because our foot was always too deep into the power. That’s not because it had to be but it’s because we wanted it there. The fun factor is off the charts with this car. Think about it. With that steep gearing and the relatively short tire, when you are making about 75 down the highway the engine is turning close to 4,000 and that puts you right back into the fun zone. It’ll sprint to 100 (and beyond) like lightning.

A sixth gear would have been cool and we sure would have used it on the highway. In reality this car is in 5th gear by the time you hit 40mph. You can literally shift it 1-3-5 during normal around town driving if you so desire. Mechanical advantage with the gearing combined with good low end torque from the turbocharged engine make stuff like this possible. The shifter itself is nice and tight with short throws from gear to gear. The racing style pedals are fine and the amount of effort you need to exert on the clutch pedal is about what you would expect from a modern hydraulically actuated clutch equipped car.

The steering is freaking laser guided in the 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. 13.3:1 ratio, just over two turns lock to lock, and nicely weighted it feels like you are actually doing something and having two hands on the tiller is a good practice with this car. Steering is hydraulic so you don’t get the crummy disconnected electric steering feel that many cars give. Again, driver first stuff happening here.

As much as we bagged on the interior, once you start driving this car you forget every other damned thing around you anyway. Seriously, it is that good. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The Driving Experience –

In a word? Awesome. It is the end of an era with the passing of this car because we live in the age of active suspensions, speed calibrated steering, nanny state crap all over the place, buttons, driving modes, doodads, gizmos, and gimmicks. This car has none of that bullshit. Yes, there is one button you can press to select your driving mode. The car stays the hell out of your way when it is time to have fun. We banzai charged more than a few on and off-ramps with the car but the real fun came when we went to an open dirt and gravel pit and let the thing play in the environment from whence it was born. Earning our junior rally driver badge in the soft dirt was more fun than we have had in a long time, no matter what we have driven.

The five speed transmission is stout and because the engine likes to live at the upper end of the tach, there’s always plenty of power. Drifting it like a boss in the dirt was a simple as applying power upon the entry of a corner, flicking the wheel and pouring on the coals from there. The AWD works seamlessly and again it adds to the attraction of the car, not hampers it like in other stuff we have driven.

Outside of the dirt and back on the asphalt, the car runs mid-13s at the drags and because of the AWD you can plant people in the seat and a potential street rival in his place if you leave a light aggressively. We didn’t drive the car like we were competing at the NHRA US Nationals but we had to see what kind of beans it had a couple of times and it is grin inducing for sure when you come off a light and put the all wheel drive to work, leaving some schmo in a more expensive car behind with ease.

The last version of the Evo is great and if you have ever thought about grabbing one, you better do it now because these things are going to go fast.

Final Impressions:

For a car in the mid $30,000 range the Evo is short on nifty comforts and gadgets but very long on driver engagement, enjoyment, and overall fun. The car was everything we hoped it would be from a performance standpoint and potentially even more. Remember, this is not a car that will apologize to you about anything so understand that the mileage, the gearing, and lack of compromise between performance and doohickeys is all part of the package. If you are an enthusiast that truly enjoys getting in your car and operating it, there are few better than this one.

While we are sad to see it leaving, we are glad that it is stepping out of the ring on a high note and not cowering in the corner like a washed up old fighter. Mitsubishi is leaving that to the other guys.