Long story short: Mitsubishi is killing off the Lancer Evolution this year.
Knee-jerk reaction: Nooooooo QQ
Ultimately, this has absolutely zero impact on my life, but it’s simply one of those situations where it’s change, and there is a facet of my personality that tends to become sentimental about inconsequential things and always second guess the concept of change.
For what it’s worth, there was a pretty notable period of my life where I was gung-ho about import cars, and among them was the fanaticism over the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution line of cars. All-wheel drive, turbo-charged, and at the time, completely unavailable in North America, it was one of those fantasy vehicles that we here in America could only dream about ever getting to drive. It was a monster of a performance vehicle that was both sickeningly fast as well as nimbly agile, and in the days before YouTube, there were numerous video clips from other countries where Evos would obliterate all sorts of notable sports cars on both the strip and the track. And then Evos begun showing up in Eastern media, like movies like Jackie Chan’s Thunderbolt, Ekin Cheng’s Legend of Speed, as well as the second season of one of my favorite animes, Initial D.
Needless to say, it was certainly one of those grass is greener situations where the car we couldn’t have was the car most attractive to fantasize about.
Eventually, the Evo did make its way to the United States. I can’t remember if it was the VII or the VIII that debuted in America, but the appeal to me was kind of dying down. Regardless, as someone who appreciated import cars, I was moderately excited about its arrival stateside. Technologically, it was the same Evo that was a beast of performer at the fourth of a cost of a supercar, but I’d have to say that if I had my favorite Evo generation, it would have been the IV and their massive, menacing bug-eyed fog lights.
By the time the Evo made it to the States, I was at a point in my life where I realistically could have considered getting one. However, I tested drove one (modestly), and got to sit in one and feel how it felt to actually be in a real Evo, and something didn’t feel right. The interior felt cheap and everything was loose plastic. Additionally, by being a turbo-charged monster, the Evos got pretty dismal gas mileage, and for optimal performance, demanded premium fuel. At this time, gas prices were escalating to what they are now, and practicality was beginning to beat out the boy racer dreams.
Such a sentiment appears to be case on a much higher scale, where everyone’s more concerned about fuel economy, low-maintenance and less concerned about high performance if the safety and comfort is adequate. To the point where Mitsubishi has decided to drop the axe on the Evo line outright. Which isn’t necessarily a surprise, considering the cost of a gallon of unleaded is $3.50+ much less the 30-40 cent increase to get premium, it’s just not worth being able to pass every car on the road, if you’re just going to have to stop and refuel every 200 miles.
Either way, it is somewhat noteworthy to me to hear that Mitsubishi is really pulling the plug on the Evo. In terms of who’s survived, looks like the victory goes to the Subaru Impreza, their direct rival in the class of affordable compact pocket rockets, but it really is only a matter of time before gas hits five dollars a gallon, and people frankly lose interest in turbos and the fuel economy it reduces, and their sales numbers dip to where Subaru decides to pull the plug on them too. Change is inevitable, regardless of how awkward and sentimental it makes over-thinkers like me feel sometimes, and not even something named as poignantly as the Evolution can withstand the inevitable extinction.
