interesting

 

Good catch. That could be a test mule. It also has rolled fenders for the wider stance and wider tires of the Evo X.

 

Look at how the front headlights fit and how crappy the front bumper fitment is I believe you caught them. Good score. I am almost 100% sure this is exactly what was going on.

 

Those are michigan manufacturer's plates. mitsu testing facility is some where in ann arbor michigan. its definatley a test car. when they are done with these cars, they crush them

 

no rear wiper and look at the lower sideskirt in the rear, it has been cut out if you look close by the tire.

 

Nice catch man.... 100% evo X test car thats the new interior dash. Unless the ricer bought a dash from the new lancer... nah thats a long shot? Im going to bet my money that it's a mule

 

however, the dash doesn't look 100% like the new Lancer. I don't know. It's convincing but hard to confirm.

 

very very interesting...

 

That hand looks like a dummy, stole this from mythbuster?...

 

The 3rd pic that I posted shows the actual driver. Some Asian guy. The guy with glasses on the 2nd pic is the passenger (on the driver side)

 

Great catch, it's for sure a test mule. I think the giveaway are the vents, which look exactly like the new 08 Lancer's.

 

Definately a test mule of some sort, but an X? Not completely.

Look at the greenhouse, it is clearly the unibody of the 8 or 9. The GT-R and the G35 share the same unibody, so they could do that. But you can't just weld Evo 8 sheetmetal onto the X's chassis.

However, it could be the X's drivetrain. They have been using 8 + 9s as mules for the S-AWC. Perhaps fitting the new engine in the old bay is awkward and requires those bulges. At the front of the hood, is that an intake? That is roughly where the intake is for the 08's airbox. Makes me wonder if the scoop in the center of the X's hood is for the airbox maybe.

But if it were just a drivetrain mule, why the interior? Only thing I can think of is that it's more like a pre-view vehicle. From the driver's standpoint, the car will be almost like the X.

Then the next thought is... Why dual exhaust? It has to be cosmetic on the X, so why two on the mule? I can't possibly think of why you would *need* dual exhaust on a turbo 4-cyl. Did it SOUND like an Evo?

It is certainly a Riddle inside a Mystery wrapped in an Enigma.

EDIT: I wonder if those are the Rims the X is getting...

 

Look at the instrumnt cluster. The new cluster for the '80s is *small* they tucked it under the hood of the old cluster. You can see the chrome rings for the two pods. (It also looks like there's something between the pods, but with the old hood there, I can't be sure.)

The center of the dash has the GPS pod, but apparently not much else. It definatley looks like they are trying to stealth the '80 pieces as much as possible.

This might be an electrical mule. They may be testing the electronics of the X. Maybe the center info display and the GPS screen provide information about the S-AWC?

EDIT: Gah, also had last post on the previous page. Hate that.

 

I doubt its getting NTO3's

 

Definately a test mule. You can see the manufactorer call numbers in the upper right hand corner of the rear window (they use these to indentify pre-production cars).

I would have loved to see up close interior shots.

Anyone else wonder where these cars go when they get crushed? Ive wondered that ever since I read "All Corvettes are Red," in which they describe the design cycle for the then new C5 Corvette. The C5 had a relatively long pilot production, and Gm housed many of the "not production grade" Vettes in a storage facility on GM property. Guess they just couldnt bring themselves to crush them, granted pilot cars a whole lot closer to production spec than a test mule.

How cool would it be though to have a test mule though? Kind of like automotive history.