**The Evolution of Mitsubishi's Iconic Evo Series**

In 2001, the Evo 7 moved into a new slightly heavier chassis and introduced a host of suspension and engine tweaks. However, the true game-changer was the Active Center Differential, which combined with Active Yaw Controls allowed for better four-wheel traction.

Meanwhile, in North America, we guys were getting sidelined while the world watched the Evo dominate on rally tracks. Americans fell in love with it after Gran Turismo introduced the Evo III and IV in 1997. The show was an introduction to not only drifting but also the entire Japanese automotive lifestyle. Initial D further solidified its place in our hearts.

The first time a kid from Louisville, Kentucky, like me saw that street racing was more than just fat rednecks drag-racing their Stangs and Camaros across the bridge. We wanted them. The newly tweaked Evo VIII made its way to North America in 2003, thank God! Lightened again and with new Bilstein suspension, it adapted well to its new environment.

The US finally got what we were begging for - a more powerful, lightened, and suspension-upgraded car that changed the game despite lacking Active Yaw Controls. It sold well, and numerous special editions of the VIII emerged, including the devastatingly fast FQ series. The Evo IX debuted in 2005 and was now fully available throughout North America, Japan, and Europe.

The Evo X saw the final incarnation of the series in 2007, despite lingering issues with Mitsubishi's financial footing. It had a European-designed exterior but didn't have the heart of its predecessors - the iconic 4G63 engine that powered every one of them. The Evo X was produced for almost ten years with few updates.

In 2016, the Evo series finally retired, and much to many people's dismay, the Lancer name (and with it the Evo's legacy) will most likely be reincarnated as a crossover. Despite this, for many, the enduring legacy of the Evo series is one of pure fun - It's a race car; it's hard to drive! The clutch is too stiff, but it has four doors and enough trunk space to fit a decent amount of groceries.

**The Future: Will We See Another Evo?**

That's everything you need to know to get up to speed on the Mitsubishi Evo. Let us know what you would want us to give away in our future giveaways! What's your favorite generation of Evo? When was the first time you saw an Evo? Would you rather have an Evo or an STI? Who can blow the biggest clouds? Evo owners? Or STI owners? Should I get my teeth fixed?!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWe heard what you wantedand we made you an Evo video.Picture this.It's 1993. We're in Japan.You pull up to a stoplight in your brand newFerrari.You’re probably listening to Woomp There It Is.And what pulls up next to you on the linebut a four-door sedan with fog lights anda big ass spoiler.The little sedan next to you, apparently notunderstanding that you're in a Ferrari, revs it’s engine.So cute.You laugh,.The light turns green.And suddenly…What just happened?You my friend just met yourself a LancerEvolutionand your life will never be the same again.This is everything you need to know to getup to speed on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.The Mitsubishi Lancer was introduced in 1973. It was a good little car.Small, fuel efficient, kinda boring.In the 70s and 80s, Mitsubishi decided thatthey wanted to improve their global imagewith motorsport, and their sport of choicewas Rally.They gave the little Lancer a bigger motorand took it racing.It did well.This was the dawn of Mitsubishi becoming oneof the most iconic names in Rally.By the late 80s Mitsubishi was developinga Group B program with an AWD version of their Starion.Yeah, that Group B.The Starion prototype performed well but before the car was fully developed,Group B was outlawed following a number of fatalcrashes in 1985 and 86.So Mitsubishi was left with an almost fullydeveloped racecar, but nowhere to race it.So if you’re Mitsubishi, what do you do?Well, you make lemonade!You take the drivetrain from the Starion,you toss it under a Galant and you enter itin Group A.The Galant performed well from 1988 until1992, but European rally stages suddenly gottoo tight for big fat sedans and a numberof manufacturers switched tosmaller, more agile platforms.Ford replaced the Sierra with the Escort,Subaru the Legacy with the Impreza, Toyotathe Celica with the Corolla, and Mitsubishithe Galant with the LANCER BABY!Guess who’s back in town dad, and I havean earing now!In true Mitsubishi fashion, they took theguts of the Galant, and put it in the smaller,lighter Lancer.But they couldn’t just call it a “Lancer”.The Lancer is boring economy car.You're driving a project car baby!Mitsubishi's project car.This thing had AWD, a big turbo, racingsuspension, aero..It’s like an evolution of the lancer…That's a good name!Let's call it that.THIS...is the LANCER EVOLUTION.To conform with Class A regulations, 2500road cars had to be produced.So in October of 1992, the first Lancer EvolutionOne’s showed up in Japanese showrooms.The initial run sold out in less than threedays!The RS version came with NO power windows,NO power seats, NO anti-lock brakes, NO rear wiperand steel wheels.Basically no frills.But what it did come with was AWD and a 244horsepower version of the legendary 4G63 engine. There is no Evo without the 4g63.This motor is so good that upgraded versionsof it powered every single generation of EVOexcept for the final one.In 1993, Mitsubishi tweakedthe Evo I into the Evo II.There weren’t a lot of big upgrades on thisone--lighter sway bar, bigger spoiler, andabout 10 more horsepower.Pretty standard upgrades for the second yearof a build.Our wallet’s still kinda hurtin from theengine swap.My wife’s gonna friggin kill me.I should also note that meanwhile on the rallycircuit, Mitsubishi’s arch rival, Subaru,is friggin killing it right now.Colin McRae could do no wrong.Mitsubishi, undeterred, kept working.And in 1995, they introduced the kind of new,but pretty improved Evo 3.New look, bigger holes in the front for bettercooling, bigger intercooler for better cooler,bigger spoiler, new sideskirts, differentbumpers, higher compression in the engine,and a bigger turbo.--please do not tell my wife I spent money on a bigger turbo,She's gonna kill meThe first big redesign though, came in 96with the Evo 4.The 4 RS came a new turbo andwhich is basically a robot that tells the car whento send torque to each individual wheel.*Go that way*Most importantly though, it also got two hugefog lights built into the front bumper.How are people gonna know it’s a rally car?You can’t see my Active Yaw Control.It was it this point that Mitsubishi’s hardwork started to really pay off on the rally stage.Finnish racing legend Tommi Makinen won theWRC driver’s championship four times behindthe wheel of an Evo.Uh, Subaru I would politely ask you to suck it.The Evo 5 and 6 were more or less the sameas the 4.After all, this is a build.In 2001, the Evo 7 moved into a new slightlyheavier chassis and introduced a host of suspensionand engine tweaks.More importantly, however, the Evo VII broughtwith it the Active Center Differential, whichin combination with Active Yaw Controls, allowed… and I’m not sure if this is the properengineering term, I’m gonna try and pronouncethis right ummm...Better four wheel skids.While the world watched the Evo race throughthe woods, we guys in the US were f*ckin sidelined.Americans were chompin at the collective bit for the nimble little 4 door sedanwith the big wing and the fog lights and the turboWhen Gran Turismo was introduced in 1997,both the Evo III and IV were included in the game.Americans fell in LOVE with it.When GT2 was released in 1999, it broughtwith it rally tracks--and of course,the newly-redesigned Evo VI.Now, North America could see what made theEvo series so devastating on the circuit,and we wanted them.If that wasn’t enough, Initial D f*ckinghappened!The show was an introduction to not only drifting,but to the entire japanese automotive lifestyle.It was the first time a kid like me from LouisvilleKentucky saw that street racingwas more than just a bunch of fat rednecks dragracing their Stangs and Camaros across the bridge.And if Takumi had such a hard time defeatingthe Emperor Team which was made entirely ofEvos, then this car must be pretty serious.I mean I want one. Top 5 for sure.In 2003, the year I graduated from high school,the US finally got what we were begging for.The newly tweaked Evo VIII made it’s wayto North America, thank God.*Thank you Jesus*Lightened again, and with new Bilstein suspension,the Evo VIII adapted well to it’s new environment.It changed the game, and despite the Americanversion lacking the Active Yaw Controls, itsold well.There were numerous special editions of theVIII, including the devastatingly fast FQseries.FQ, of course stands for:Top Gear showed the FQ400could keep up with the Lamborghini Murcielago.F*ck you Kanye,*Lamborghini Mercy..*I have an Evo!Debuting in 2005, the Evo IX continued theEvo’s legacy of tight, corner-hugging speed,and it was now fully available throughoutNorth America, Japan, and Europe.Using the Evo IX platform, Mitsubishi continuedto experiment.They produced not only a 6-speed Rally edition,but also a limited-run Evo IX station wagon2007 saw the final incarnation of the Evo- the Evo X.Despite lingering issues with Mitsubishi’sfinancial footing, they pushed ahead withthe car, and it was a fitting final model.The exterior, for the first time, was designedin Europe, and the majority of the productioncars now topped out at 280hp but it was fatand didn’t have the 4G63 engine that poweredevery one of it’s predecessors.The Evo X literally didn’t have the heartof the EVO.The Evo X was produced for almost ten years.Throughout that time, few if any major updateswere made, and Mitsubishi struggled to sellIn 2016, the Evo was finally retired.and much to many people’s dismay, the Lancername (and with it the Evo’s legacy) willmost likely be reincarnated as a crossover.I feel like I'm gonna pukebut I also feel like I'm gonna sh*t too..?So I don't know if you guys wanna....Should I take my mic off?Despite this, for many, the enduring legacyof the Evo series is one of pure fun:It's a race car; it's hard to drive!The clutch is too stiff.But it has four doors and enough trunk spaceto fit a decent amount of groceries.Let me buy one JESSICA!It’s as if Mitsubishi bought a boring fourdoor lancer in 1992,and then improved on it a little bit every year.But eventually they ran out of money and had to sell their project.Here’s hoping that one day, they can figuretheir finances out and build a new one.That's everything you need to know to get up to speed on the Mitsubishi Evo.We're gonna start doing give-aways, so let us know what you would want us to give you.What's your favorite generation of Evo? When was the first time you saw an Evo?Would you rather have an Evo or an STI?Who can blow the biggest clouds?Evo owners? Or STI owners?Should I get my teeth fixed?