Ice Storm: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X vs. 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Turned Loose on Fields of Snow Two Rivals Get a Real Rally-Car Workout
By Todd Lassa
Photography by Wesley Allison

Temperature is -13 Fahrenheit. The Dallas Cowboys lead the Green Bay Packers, 17-14 and the Packers have the ball two feet from the Cowboys' goal line. There's 16 seconds on the clock here at Lambeau Field, the Frozen Tundra. A Packers field goal would be the sure save for this NFL championship game, December 31, 1967, but who wants to go into overtime when it's 13 below? So on third down, Bart Starr completes a quarterback sneak and the Packers come out of the cold with a 21-17 victory.

The connection? We've compared Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Subaru WRX STIs every whichway for what seems decades. (Did Evo I coincide with Super Bowl I, or does it just seem that long?) Evo versus STI stories were once so common in this magazine that tech director Frank Markus proposed a cover blurb, "Absolutely No Evos or STIs in This Issue!"

Now he's scorekeeper for Motor Trend's first Ice Bowl, a matchup of the Mitsubishi Evolution X and Subaru WRX STI at Continental Corporation's own frozen tundra, its winter proving grounds near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Evo X and WRX STI fight for grip first on their stock summer tires, and then on identical ContiWinterContact TS810 Ss.

Which car is better, faster on snow and ice? And can we fling homologated rally cars sideways with impunity? Continental gave us free rein to this excellent cold weather testing facility. A groomed 600x2000-foot snow field afforded plenty of space to allow multiple acceleration and braking runs on virgin snow, with space left over for each car to get its own Motor Trend figure-eight course, ensuring identical surface conditions for each car, because snow conditions change quickly with traffic.

Then there's the half-mile snow-handling course, outlined with beltline-high snow banks, providing lap times and a more subjective, seat-of-the-snowpants comparison of rally-condition handling dynamics. There's only one course, so Continental regroomed it for us between runs.

It's 8:30 a.m., Friday, when we begin testing. The Scoobie's dash readout reads -4 degrees F. Nine degrees warmer than the original Ice Bowl.

Markus begins on the two cars' original-equipment summer tires. Continental says 45 degrees F (7 degrees Celsius) is the switchover point between winter (not "snow") and summer tires. Below 45, summer tire compounds get too hard, degrading the grip quality on dry and wet/snowy surfaces. Above 45, winter tires' softer compounds get too gummy. If nothing else, this comparison should get you in the habit of changing tires: If you live in a cold climate, you need two sets for year-'round driving.

Mitsubishi sent us a 2008 Evo GSR, with a five-speed manual and nearly 13,000 miles on its well-worn Bridgestone summer tires. Outside grooves showed little more than 2mm tread depth, with 6mm tread depth on the deeper inside grooves. Subaru sent us a 2009 STI with about 50 miles on the clock and on its summer Dunlops. Its break-in is the 340-mile drive between Detroit and the Upper Peninsula.

With summer tires on Continental's groomed surfaces, the Evo X and STI slide around in comic slow motion, like props in a Buster Keaton movie (look it up, youngsters). The extra wear on the Evo's Bridgestones show up in the numbers: 0-to-40 mph in 30.1 seconds versus 16.1 seconds for the STI. Neither can reach 60 mph before running out of test surface. The Evo brakes 40-0 mph in 428 feet, the STI takes 391. The Mitsu's summer-tire figure eight takes 76.5 seconds at 0.10 g average, and the Subie needs 71.4 seconds at 0.21 g. That's no misprint. It shows how much more time and space it takes to drive on snow and ice with the wrong tires.

On summer tires, the Evo's quickest acceleration is with the center differential in "gravel" mode and the automatic stability control off, and the fastest figure eight is in "snow" with ASC off. With the STI on summer tires, the quickest acceleration is in the "intelligent mode," slip control off and full-lock manual differential. Fastest figure eight is in "sport," diff manual in full lock. "The traction is so terrible," Markus notes, "I doubt these modes make any difference." (Not to worry, Evo partisans. Things even up considerably with factory-fresh Continental winters.)

On the handling course, still shod in the summers, the STI certainly has more grip-or less-poor grip-which means it takes a bit longer to auger into the snowbanks while flailing it along at sub-20-mph speeds. The handbrake helps bring the tail around, although you can easily stall it if you handbrake without disengaging the clutch.

Stock-tire testing complete, we drive back to the garage to change into the winters. This is pure liberation. The Subie's dash still shows -4 when we get back.

Markus gets sub-10-second 0-to-60-mph times for each. The cars are even up to 30 mph, then the STI pulls ahead and beats the Evo by 0.3 second to 60, but then the Evo regains a 0.3-second lead by 80 mph. Braking from 60 mph takes 292 feet in the Evo, 274 in the STI-more than two and a half times typical dry-pavement distance, but it's about a third the distance required on worn-out summer tires, and better than half the distance needed on fresh ones.

On the figure-eight, the Evo works best in the "snow" mode, Markus says, with ASC fully off (there's a partial-off mode with reduced intervention). The STI's best times comes with the "intelligent" mode on, stability off and the differential in manual lock. The Mitsubishi wins this one, clocking a 37.7-second figure eight at 0.42 g, versus 38.5 seconds at 0.40 g for the Subaru.

"The more driftable Evo is set up particularly well for the figure eight," notes Markus. "The merest lift off the brake pedal as I turned the wheel into each end of the course prompted a very smooth, gentle tail-out attitude that let it take a perfect set."

So the Mitsubishi Evo is the Drift King-Rhys Millen, eat your opp lock out. On the road course, it works best with the nannies fully off and in "gravel" mode, which allows more pointing than "snow." As the tail slides precariously toward the snowbanks, dial in opposite lock, apply more throttle in second gear (all you need to get either car around this course), and power away from the banks. The Evo takes the Most Fun Player award.

So Evo wins, right? Not so fast-the fun way isn't necessarily quickest. Handling course turns are tighter and closer together than on the figure eight, and the Mitsu's 214 extra pounds become a serious liability. With the Subie in intelligent mode, stability control off, center diff set to manual, in lock minus one click, the STI feels slower as it's being slid with armfuls of opposite lock around the road course. What's really happening is that the STI is using up less of the track, wasting less inertia. Auto mode allows a bit more tail flicking than manual full lock, but manual on lock minus one is most efficient here. And so the final score is Mitsubishi Evo, 1:06.8 around the handling course, Subaru STI, 1:05.4. The STI takes the Ice Bowl by a quarterback sneak.

1ST PLACE
SUBARU WRX STI
With better balance and lighter weight, the STI beats the Evo on snow in every measure except the figure eight. And in this color, the radical styling isn't so bad.

2ND PLACE
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION X
The Ice Drift King! Evo is more fun on ice than its rival, and its heavily bolstered Recaros really hold you in place. It's just not the best bet for a Finnish pro-am rally.

GETTING A GRIP
No matter which wheels are driven, a car's performance is always tire limited, and those limits really drop in the snow, which is why you need winter tires. Their rubber chemistry allows them to remain pliable and grippy at temperatures that harden summer and all-season tires. Their tread pattern is designed to shed packed snow and includes loads of tiny jagged cut lines, or "sipes," that provide extra gripping edges and help wick water away from the contact patch (snow and ice melt briefly under pressure, even at sub-freezing temperatures). Our ContiWinterContact TS810 S tires (one of two brands TireRack offers in the Evo/STI tire size) will be replaced with a new ExtremeWinterContact model next season, featuring a better compound and a new tread pattern. A handling block on the outer shoulder improves dry grip while the center section's more sharply angled grooves shed snow better and provide more gripping edges. Expect to pay $200-$225 each plus $120 each for wheels if you want bolt-on-off convenience. Go easy in the dry, and they should last at least four winters.

The Evo brakes 40-0 mph in 428 feet, the STI takes 391.