sanjaya1

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and thought I'd share some info you guys might like. I am actually a huge German car fan and never thought I'd buy a Japanese or American car. But the bang for the buck the Evo offers just can't be ignored. I would like to buy one as soon as they arrive here, as long as I can avoid unreasonable dealer mark ups for the first shipment or two.

Here is the info I have regarding the Evo's US arrival. I am an Aerospace Engineer who just finished taking an extention Automotive Design class for fun through the Pasadena Art Center. My teach works at the Mitsubishi design center in California. According to him, Mitsubishi is planning on importing the Evo 7 starting early next year on a regular basis. They are still working on meeting US standards. They have a few Japanese spec Evo 7s in for the press to use(talk about a lucky job). He showed us one (in red) during our last class. It was gorgeous. It was way cooler looking than the Subaru WRX, or ever the Evo I remember seeing at the LA auto show in January. It had the brembos, the recaros and all the goodies we see on the magazine articles. I tried pushing down on the front to see how much the suspension would travel, and was surprised to feel almost no movement. This worries me as someone who lives in Southern CA, which has a lot of bad roads and freeways. My instructor said that they are planning on selling it for around $35K, which seems a lot higher than the $30K they had mentioned during the auto show. I was always worried that the Evos body kit and wing might make it look too riced out or ugly. No worries there. It looks like an expensive sport sedan and would be the first car someone looks at if it was parked next to an M3.
The only body panels it has in common with the regular Lancer is the roofline and trunk lid. The hood is aluminum to save weight, and you can almost see all the engine components from the front through the mesh grilles.

There is an article in the new Automobile magazine (May issue) comparing the Evo 7 and WRX Sti, and talks about them coming to the US. They estimate the Evo coming here around $37.9K. I really hope that's just a rought convertion from what the Eurpeans pay. I know for a fact that we usually get almost all brand of cars for much cheaper here as compared to Europe. There is a really good British import website for Evos (www.warrender.co.uk), that has a lot of good info including pictures, mag articles (road tests), and aftermarket components.

P.S. Sorry for the longer post but I also wanted to share something I read in a British magazine regarding brake size. The reason they call the brakes 17 inch/16 inch (fr/ba) is a British standard that means its the biggest brake disc to fit in a 17"/16" wheel. If you convert the mm numbers from most articles, the discs come to about 13.5"/13", which is still bigger than what you get in the new M3.

zeroize

no comment on the rumors, but thank you for clearing up the 17/16 rotor size deal. theres been some threads before when the exact measurements and the system had been debated on

anyways... i gotta go hand in my forms to take a course at pasadena... hehe

pjal84

I'll second that. We've seen the inside, outside, upside downside of every Evo rumor as of yet. Nothing that could shock any of us anymore...that is except an honest to goodness press release...

sanjaya1

That's funny. I bet the Art Center would love for people to cough up the $675 per class to just talk about the Evo. Actually since the class is an extention class designed to help students get into the full time program, the class was held at Mitsubish's main office/R&D center in Cypress. Thats how we got to see one of the Evos they had there. Unfortunately you have to take an Intro class(at the Mazda Design Center in Irvine) with another instructor before taking this Intermediate class. The classes are fun if you are into transportation/industrial design. Each class is 14 weeks long, so it might be faster and more economical to keep an eye out for an Evo on the road and flag it down. Someone at my work said he saw a yellow one.

pjal84

Your friend probably ain't lying. (That is, if you thought he was in the beginning) There have been a couple of reports (as well as pics a looong time ago) of the "phantom" yellow Evo.

Hooby

Thanks for the info....we all appreciate it, even though we don't really believe much anymore.

It'd be nice AHEM if Mitsu. AHEM decided to give us a release AHEM!!!

Hooby

zeroize

sanjaya1, dun get us wrong, we appreciate you sharing your info, the people of this forum have just grown to be very sceptical of rumors and socalled "mitsu insider" secrets because theres so many people who just randomly say stuff to get attention, and ofcourse theres real mitsu dealers who want us to buy off the lancers they have now or importers of Evos who want to sell off their Evos before the official ones come... so you have to understand why we're not so excited bout "rumors" anymore... but i'm still glad you shared, dont get discouraged or offended

Turbo442

sanjaya1,

You should have let him take you for a spin in it.

Turbo

sanjaya1

As I said guys, I just got to look at it and touch it. The doors were actually locked since it was at about 10pm. As I said, the instructor I had for the class works in the design department and maybe he will get one to drive around for awhile. He had mentioned that he got a Evo 6 to drive around for a few days a while back. Unfortunately, he didn't have any official information available, probably because Mitsu hasn't straightened it out yet. And as I said, the car I saw was a Japanese spec car, and the US one might be very different from it. Most of the technical info I gave you guys was from British magazine articles found on the www.warrender.co.uk site. You guys are welcome to check them out if you are skeptical.

One thing I hope they change in the US version is the size of the gas tank. I think it's less than 13 gallons. With the high fuel consumption of the Evo, people who commute a lot like myself will end up having to get gas every day or every other day. Also in my opinion, what they might have to do to meet the US 5mph bumper test is to move the intercooler back a little. Right now it's just behind the front grille. They might just have to use a smaller intercooler, which might be why their press info mentions a small loss in power. I know some of you guys must be frustrated, but I do believe they will have the car available by Spring 2003.

pjork-master

I'm with Hooby.

Hey Mitsu, how about an official release on the specs of the incoming Evo? At little light on the subject would be most appreciated.

Plus, it's most likely that a U.S. Evo with the same specs as the E.U. market version would be quite a bit cheaper, since we have substantially lower import taxes on Japanese imports... Unfortunately, there really isn't much of a car industry in the U.S. to protect... But man, can we make trucks and SUVs like nobodies buisness.

Oh yeah, thanks for the brake clear up sanjaya1.

Later.

sanjaya1

Hi everyone, take this tidbit for what it's worth. I just got a reply from the instructor for my class, who works for Mitsubishi, regarding the class. I did ask him for any info he had on the Evo on my e-mail. All he said was that unofficially the Evo for the US was supposed to go into production in December, and will be available early next year. It was strange that he called it the Evo 8 instead of 7. So, I don't know if they are planning on selling the Evo 7 as an 8 here, or if it was a typo on his part. That's all. Just conveying what I heard.

sanjaya1

Actually, I happen to look in the new Motortrend mag. at lunch and it had a one page thing on the Evo. It said that they were going to call it Evo 8 and that it's supposed to be available next spring.

Hooby

I think that's about the 20th time Motortrend has changed their minds on the Evo

eTronicOZ

Just random. That's where I work as a Support Admin. I do plan on taking classes soon. The automotive design classes here are AMAZING. Anyway... hello!

pjork-master

What is up with Motortrend stoking the flames of the EVO rumor fire?

Honestly, those guys are either having a good laugh at the expense of the EVO-gensia (nice, huh?) or they're as clueless as everyone else....

Or perhaps it's Mitsu who's gauging our reaction, or maybe they don't know what's going on... or maybe they do, but don't want to formally retract their previous statements of date, spec, etc. untill we're acclimated to the possibility of change/something different...

HAH! Whatever. Motortrend just doesn't have a clue... I think.

So they should stop writing articles on the EVO and focus on things they have somewhat of a grasp of... like cup-holder number, which is the biggest SUV and which tuner of this huge V8 can make the most power... WOW what a feet!

But they're probably trying to sell more issues to the EVO-gensia by promising EVO info.... Ahhhh, the merciless whims of Capitalism... May the bring the craziest EVO incarnations from Japan to the shores of the U.S.

AMEN.

Gary