not evo8.. but maybe some have forgotton about this.. why no STi nor 22B impress me..

Riding the EVO of Destruction
Autocar - May 17, 2000

NO POINT IN beating about the bush. I'll just tell you straight. What you're looking at here is quite probably the quickest form of transport in the country.

I'm sure crazier members of the two-wheeled fraternity will just think it another half-baked claim from a motoring journalist who's never experienced a super-fast bike Fair enough, but on Britain's mouldy tarmac this one-off uber-Evo feels outrageously fast.

We've tested every conceivable incarnation of Mitsubishi's homologation special over the years, but none of them comes enar the RS450's levels of lunacy.

Before delving into the spec, it's worth nothing that the car we drove was actually an EVO V. Exactly the same modifications are available on the current EVO VI, it's just that no customer has been barking enough to order them yet. So we had to drive a slightly older one.

To call the RS450 a thinly disguised tarmac rally car would be selling it short. It just has too much power: 450bhp to be precise. Squeezing so many horses from a 2.0L ha taken more than just cosmetic surgery. I'll start from the bottom up: RalliArt begins with a strengthened block and then bins just about all of the standard internals. The crank, conrods, pistons and cams all become competition-spec and they're topped with lightened valves and a special head. Lighter timing gear also helps the quest for even sillier power outputs.

The turbocharger has also been modified to cope with ridiculously high pressures. We didn't see more than 1.6 bar during our time with the car, but RalliArt reckons it'll run safely up to 2.3 bar.

The true potential of this engine is unleashed by the stratospheric boost pressures and the lack of the air restrictor that pegs back power outputs on rally cars. It idles just like any other EVO, slightly lumpy but not even hinting at what it's capable of.

Sat low, wedged into the high-sided OMP buckets inches from the full roll cage and firmly harnessed in, it feels nothing like a road car. The main problem is the competition clutch. It's fantastic for maximum-effort changes but a terrifc pain int he backside around town.

Any doubyts dissapear the first time the revcounter sweeps past 3000rpm in second gear. The RS450 hammers forward at a brutal rate, and I'mm speechless. rom here on to the8000rpm limit it piles on the umbers like few other cars. RalliARt's talk of sub-nine second 0-100mph times is not hard to believe.

Keep the thing spinning about 3000rpm and you can switch the anti-lag system on and scare all lifeforms senseless. The system does have a serious side, though the throttle response is even beter with it on.

Part of the reason the RS450 feels so quick is the ultra-short gearing. This car is based on an EVO RS, the pared-to-the-bones rally special without clever differentials and air conditioning but with said special gearbox. Charging up and down through the ratios is joy but at 4000rpm in fifth it hasn't even reached 80mph. So it's not a motorway cruiser, then.

But it destroys anything else. The RS450 has no more grip than the standrd car, but it does have enough power to extract every last once of ability from the chassis. Take , for example, the corner in the main photograph. Last year I drove a new Nissan Skyline R34 around this corner and it couldn't get within 10mph of the speed the EVO carried all the way through. There's something deeply satisfying about seeing not two but four thick black lines laid down on the exit of a corner.

Just as impressive are the brakes. The standard rear Brembos remain, but a four-piston AP set-up at the front ups the braking performance substantially.

At 44,000 (UK money) the RS450 isn't cheap, but there's simply nothing else like it. It has more performance, grip and sheer dynamic ability than just about any car ever made.

-Chris Harris

Mitsubishi RS450

How much?
---------------
Price - 44,000 (UK)
On sale in UK - Now

How Fast?
---------------
0-60mph - 3.8 sec
0-100 - 8.8 sec
Top speed - 155mph

How Big?
---------------
Length - 4350mm
Width - 1875mm
Height - 1400mm
Wheelbase - 2510mm
Weight - 2767lbs
Fuel tank - 50 litres

Engine
---------------
Engine Code - 4G63
Layout - 2.0L 4 cylinder
Max power - 450bhp at 6500rpm
Max torque - 380lb ft at 2800rpm
Specific output - 225bhp per litre
Power to weight - 359bhp per tonne
Installation - front, transverse, four-wheel drive
Bore/stroke - 85.0/88.0mm
Made of - Alloy head and block
Valve gear - 4 valves per cyl, dohc
Ignition and fuel - Mitsubishi ECi ignition, twin-scroll turbo with intercooler

Gearbox
---------------
Type - 5 Speed manual by Mitsubishi
Ratios/mph per 1000rpm:
1st - 2.78/5.9
2nd - 1.95/8.4
3rd - 1.44/11/4
4th - 2.00/15.0
5th - 0.83/19.9
Final Drive - 4.53

Suspension
---------------
Front - MacPherson struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear - Multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar

Steering
---------------
Type - Rack and pinion, power assisted
Lock to lock - 2.2

Brakes
---------------
Front - 332mm ventilated discs
Rear - 306mm ventilated discs

Wheels and Tires
---------------
Size - 7.5x17in
Made of - Cast alloy
Tires - 225/45 ZR17 Bridgestone S-01



:thumbsup:

 

for all you that think that car with the AYC / ACD will be coming here...?

hahahahahahahahahahahaha... wake up...!

that car would be close to $40K, and Mitsu is not going to try and sell it here...

 

This is a jap based car and they are only now debating wheather to bring it to the uk, so just like the FQ series don't expect to see this car here either.

 

No offense but this MR is old news and I can't believe this thread got to 6 pages about OLD NEWS ..

See here..MR topic BEAT TO DEATH!

Appreciate rubbing in the fact that this car ain't coming to the US shores..

Dammit.

 

Maybe I should have just imported an evo instead =P

 

i believe i just came... lol... :: checks pants ::... yeah... i just came alright...

THAT'S A HOT *** CAR!!

...thing is... this is pretty much what i was gonna do to my car... lol, well in looks n e ways, but with an evo7 look...

- blacked out headlights
- evo7 body kit for the oz
- blacked out tail lights

and so on... lol

so this is what my **** would've looked like if i was to build it... (disreguarding the fact that it's an 8...)