The Mitsubishi Evo is a car defined by competition success, cult-status and its eternal and mortal rival, the Subaru Impreza. In the Evo vs Impreza debate, it has long been held that the Subaru was the more charismatic and rounded proposition, compared to the edgier, sharper Evo.
Whilst these two cars have waged war against one another, on thousands of miles of rally stages across the world, the Evo has always had a bit of a side hustle which, as it matured, transformed it more and more into a tarmac shredding monster than gravel god.
There has always been a sneaking suspicion that all Evos after the Evo VI, have been hamstrung by their rally heritage. These Evos were road cars that merely paid fealty to the Evo’s rallying heritage and mythos, despite the last Evo to compete in the World Rally Championship was the Evo VI; all subsequent generations that followed the Evo VI never competed at the top tier of rallying. Even the Mitsubishi factory team efforts used a car based on the standard Lancer instead of an Evo.
As the Evo proceeded to its seventh generation the car underwent a maturation period, as it was now based on the ‘CT9A’ bodyshell of the larger Lancer Cedia. As its competition prowess waned, the war for road car dominance against Subaru began to increase in ferocity.
Both manufacturers sought to outdo each another in the marketplace, as each new special edition was launched to one-up one another during a period of Cold War-esque brinkmanship. Eventually, Mitsubishi killed the game dead with the maddest Evo ever sold to the public – but first some context.
The year is 2005, and Mitsubishi has been teetering towards more, and more powerful Evos with the creation of the FQ series. Power rose from 320BHP, to 340BHP, and gradually to 360BHP; these Evos were some seriously quick cars; they were real giant-killers, that matched sharp handling and aggressive agility with all-weather ability, and serious firepower. This eventually reached a point were Mitsubishi psyched itself into producing one of the most insane performance cars, of all time.
Enter the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR FQ400. The FQ400 was a £48,000 mega-Evo designed take on all comers.
Sold through Ralliart UK, an arm of Mitsubishi’s racing division, the FQ400 used a seriously tuned version of the standard 4G63 2 Litre turbo motor. The engine underwent extensive modification from engine specialists Rampage Tuning, Owen Developments and Flow Race Engines, and boasted a reinforced cylinder head and head gasket amongst others, which were necessary to handle the car’s monster boost. The headline figure was 405bhp, but more astoundingly, 202.5bhp per litre – one of the highest power figures relative to displacement in any car, ever.
Mitsubishi have always been coy – coy to the extent of to lying to the Japanese management board – with what ‘FQ’ stands for but be under no illusions, the first two words that come to mind are entirely appropriate. The FQ400 could hit 60mph in 3.5 seconds, 100mph in 9.1 and went on to a top speed of 175mph. Trick new front and rear differentials helped keep the manic power pointed vaguely in the right direction, and Bilstein coilovers helped keep the body under control.
Bespoke to the FQ400 was the addition of an aluminium roof, to reduce the centre of gravity, and uprated Alcon brakes. The BBS Wheels, Bilstein suspension and carbon fibre wing and chin spoiler all contributed to give the FQ400 more of a road-racer image than rally replica.
The Evo’s black-magic Super Active Yaw Control meant the FQ400 was agile too, and laid claim to the title as one of the fastest point-to-point cars in the UK. In 2005, no place would have been safe from this monster, 911 Turbos could try and outrun it on Motorways, M3s could try and escape down sweeping A-roads and Lotuses could try and run for cover down unkept B-roads, but the FQ400 would appear in their mirrors, hounding them endlessly.
The FQ400’s power figure is so remarkable because it is today’s performance 15 years ago.
Now, in 2020, the Mercedes AMG A45S is seen as an epochal shift in terms of small car performance, and has approximately the same horsepower.
The FQ400’s 405bhp in 2005 must’ve seemed like the end of days in comparison.
The Evolution VIII MR FQ400 was the maddest Evo of them all and we will never see it’s like again.
Kerbsider’s note: Yes, we know the Evo X FQ440 is technically more powerful, but it is an Evo X – and we don’t talk about the Evo X.
Kerbside 