noooo, THE Zero fighter is 340 bhp just as a Extreme.
The Extreme RS450 is sooo rare i dont even think you can get one today...
you better off with the RSII and pump it up.
the Zero fighter is a much livable car every day. Also a bling for the VI's, since has 18 inch rims - ohlins- 6 piston brakes - more aggressive spoilers etc. Not to mention AYC. vs limited slip. Also the zero fighter run only 1.1 bar vs the extreme 1.3 bar at a same BHP level. And virtually a same straight line performance. ETC.
The extreme was a great road race ready car for weekends.
The Zero Fighter was a DD of this special editions. including TME. But one of the fastest . Kinda like: faster then TME and also more livable.

also the TME was the first - orig. mitshu build upgraded OEM car with Ralliart"help". Kinda like AMG for Mercedes.
That is why later, they gave out the right to build they own in the UK with factory backed up warranty. And the Ralliart name them FQ. They couldnt call them TME anymore , Since the god left the building. Also that was a special "gift" to TM. For his winning and his fans. SO they will feel they drive Tommi car Its like when you have a Gretzky hockey skate
Regardless the FQ series is just as good from out of box.

Now if i'm right the Ralliart and the Mitsubishi connection is not that great anymore...

 

great read. my friend has a TME and it is just brutal.

 

Here's a larger pic of the car:

 

you guys pulled up...

saw the car....

and immediatley started bowing "We're not worthy, we're not worthy"

cause that is exactly what I would have done. By far my favorite evo ever.

 

good read... that car is just awesome.

 

Thanks for the article!

 

The TME is the greatest evo so far because of its limited number and made to honor tommi makinen, 3 time WRC champion and also brought 1 manufacturer championship to mitsubishi. Unfortunately, nothing good can be said for the namesake person. He retired from mitsubishi because he deemed mitsubishi was moving away from the CP9A body style, to the CT9A which he was not used to. After he retired, he joined the competition, Prodrive Subaru to compete against mitsubishi leaving it empty handed to find fresh talent with the CT9A

I would still buy a TME!

 

So you finally got to drive one!
Thanks for the article. Nice to have factual data on weights.

I believe from the VI onwards the "Evolution" name should be changed to "Involution". Each generation gets heavier, slower, softer. STIs are the same story from GC8 onwards, but at least they got a nice displacement (and torque) bump to partially compensate.

 

Thanks Noize! It was a great read! I have always wanted a 6.5 TOMMI Edition! When I was in Japan (just landed), leaving Narita Airport, the first thing I saw was a tractor trailer that had 6 Red Tommi's brand-new headed to a dealer from the factory! I was able to talk to the 'trucker at a red light in my 'butchered' Japanese! It was an amazing moment for me to see those beautiful (brand-new!) works of art, one that I will NEVER forget!

Do you know any of the history of the 'TOMMI you drove? Where it came from, mileage, etc. Again, MANY THANKS for your article!

 

I enjoyed it very much. Thank you

 

Thanks man. I envy you getting to really wring one out again and again through your ownership. What a car!



I don't know a lot about the origin other than its a LHD GSR. If I recall correctly, it had about 20k kilometers on it.

 

good article!

 

very good read...thanks!

 

pretty cool... i would have liked to see a couple more interior shots of the VI tho.

 

Nice Article - thanks.