EVO IX>>new STI>EVO X
Sunday, May 25th, 2008If you read the mainstream U.S. magazines, you’re probably of the opinion that the new EVO is better than/faster than the STI. But there’s something troubling about the weight gain and the packaging and something even more disconcerting about the new platform that places you much higher off the ground, not to mention shares its roots with a Caliber.
Problem is, most U.S. magazines get so hellbent on numbers and trick technology that they don’t remember to steward the essentials: subjective accomplishment, involvement.
Thank goodness the British magazines aren’t similarly afflicted… Here’s a quote from evo
You always feel like you’re sitting slightly higher and more upright in an Evo… Somewhere inside the Evo X is the brilliantly pointy, adjustable chassis that has been improving for nine generations. But Mitsubishi has tried to civilize the tenth gen and it’s missed the mark. The steering is more direct than the Impreza’s and therefore initially nicer, but you very soon realise that it has no real feel. For a car that you want to drive on its nose this is not good, because you just don’t have the confidence to throw it into corners. It feels up on tiptoes and it’s more instantly sensitive and adjustable than the STI but you can’t enjoy it because you feel like you’re controlling what’s going on underneath you by remote. It really is like playing a computer game. The engine is disappointing too, feeling very thin in its delivery and lacking in grunt compared with the STI. It is also possibly the dullest sounding engine ever to drone from a performance car – it’s like listening to someone Hoovering a couple of rooms away. The gearing is very short, which is fine when you can flick up and down the box so easily, but as Roger Green says, there’s a permanent flurry of activity going on yet somehow you’re never quite in the right gear. The best solution is to leave it in Drive and let the spookily intuitive computer program shuffle cogs for you. Not something I ever thought I’d say about an Evo. The Evo X SST is still a very quick car across the ground, its ability to carry speed is phenomenal and there are moments when you catch glimpses of why we love Evos, but they’re fleeting thanks to the layer of desensitising civility Mitsubishi has added in. A car like the Evo is not, should not, be a mainstream car. Jumping back into the Impreza as the sun sinks, it’s clear the STI wins this battle. It’s more engaging to drive, the engine feels much stronger and there’s simply more of what you want, what you expect, from a thrilling rally-stage refugee. When you add in the price difference too, it’s a clear winner.
Another thing you’ve probably heard about is likely to be the new STI’s incessant, stubborn understeer. Like I’ve said before, this is a red flag that the reviewer is employing a textbook driving technique rather than learning the nuances of a car. Just as the new EVO/BMW X6, Acura TL, BMW M3 want you to squeeze down on the throttle at the moment understeer wants to rear its head, the Impreza favors a different driving style which is, not surprisingly, the way rally cars are driven. As Henry Catchpole describes in the same article:
The steering is nicely weighted, but it’s curiously indistinct around the dead ahead. There’s a certain amount of roll as you turn into a corner too, so there’s a moment before you really feel the chassis start to bite and the steering start to feed back. If you’re timid or just ambling along, then the Subaru can seem slightly reluctant. What you need to do is be bold; turn in hard and, once into the meat of the steering, you’ll feel the front Dunlops grip and possibly scrub a little into understeer if you’re carrying good speed. As soon as you’re into the corner you should be thinking about getting back on the power. With 300lb ft you’re not short of urge whichever gear you’re in, so it’s just a case of how you deploy it. The slightly slow-acting viscous coupling of the central diff works best if you progressively squeeze the throttle to the carpet rather than just jumping on it. This way you’ll feel the tail move round before the front pulls you out of the corner in one smooth flow. There is of course another way to approach a corner, which is to trail-brake as you turn in. The brakes make a slightly odd sound (like a huge computer powering down) but with the weight over the front axle the steering weights up instantly and the rear swings round nicely as you turn in…
Of course, you’ll never experience this on a test drive and probably won’t have the guts (or permission) to experience it on the road or track, but it’s nice to know that there’s something we know that most others don’t and that the STI holds something to experience as your familiarity with the car deepens. Sounds like the kind of stuff that makes Porsche 911 drivers snicker when people say 911’s are fundamentally flawed, the depth of character that let’s some cars dig deep beneath your skin while others just tickle you which is no surprise when you consider Subaru has always fancied itself as the Japanese equivalent to Porsche (whereas Toyota’s like Mercedes and Honda like BMW).