Mitsubishi Lancer showcar “previews” next Evo

Newswheel staff :: 29 September 2005 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, Saloon, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, Europe & UK

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Production car expected to be dead ringer for Tokyo concep

Mitsubishi will show a concept of the next Lancer at the Tokyo show in October. And the smart money says the show car is a thinly-disguised version of the next-gen Evo.

Hardware-wise, the surprises are few and far between. Just like the existing Mitsubishi Evo, the Concept-X is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo four driving all four wheels. That said, the six-speed, paddle-shift automated manual gearbox will be novel it makes it to production.

As ever with a new version of an existing model, Mitsubishi are claims all manner of torsional and lateral stiffness improvements. Probably more interesting is the use of aluminium for nearly all the external body panels, reducing overall weight and lowering  both the car’s centre of gravity and moment of inertia for better all-round handling. Again, it’s not known if this feature will appear on the production variant. The chassis is suspended on struts up front and a multi-link all independent axle at the rear. The next generation of Mitsubishi’s all-wheel drivetrain, known as Super All Wheel Control, is also previewed on the concept.

As for the cartoonish styling, it will be interesting to see how much makes the transistion to full production. It’s not exactly subtle. But since when did Evo fans want subtle?