Ok, I had a random thought the other day and I thought I'd share it. Either it will spark some interest, or make a few chuckles..

What if Mitsubishi springs a little surprise at the X's unveiling, and announces it as a Flex-fuel vehicle?


Why I was thinking about this:

When I get my X and eventually start to mod the engine, I figured I would switch to E85 as my primary fuel. Most new cars are hardened against Ethanol now since a lot of states run a 10% mixture year-round. So I don't think the E85 will damage the fuel system. The big problem is tuning for E85 (and it's varying mixes throughout the year) and having big enough injectors. But for a manufacturer, those are miniscule hurdles.

Especially a Manufacturer that just designed a brand new engine. The Evo X will be released early 2008, so likely it will be called a 2009 model. The Announcement of the Evo X as a Flex-fuel vehicle could extend to encompass all of the Lancer models from 2009 and on. The Evo would be the vanguard of a whole line of "green" vehicles from Mitsubishi.

Also, one reason why I'm interested in E85 is its high octane rating. Even in its worst winter mix of only 70% Ethanol, it still has roughly a 95 octane rating. Mitsubishi could use this to have the ECU up the horsepower when there's E85 in the tank. They could announce the Evo X as 300hp on normal gas, but 320 on E85.

Another reason is that companies are going "green" in a big way recently. Mitsu has made some forays into the "green" with their electric evo and eclipse concepts, but nothing really concrete. Announcing the Evo as a "Green Car" would not only make Mitsu look like they are making a serious stab at being eco-friendly, but it would also be the first mainsteam sports car that's "green". The fact the E85 isn't a truly practical fuel yet won't matter.

There's also shockvalue. The Evo X will be released along with the STI, and possibly the GTR depending on which show they appear at. Mitsu will want to do something to grab the media's attention. Regardless of the power of the GTR, or the specs of the STI, announcing the Evo X as a Flex-Fuel sports car will assure that it is mentioned in the headlines and not just as an also-showed.

Not to mention that something like this is exactly what a company being so tight-lipped may do.

Again, this is just wild unsubstantiated speculation based on nothing more than guesses. But if Mitsu were to actually do this I wouldn't be too surprised since it would make a lot of sense.

 

Your speculation is interesting, however, it is very UNLIKELY that the EVO X will carry the Flex-fuel engine. If Mitsubishi wants to go green, they would have announced right when the concept came out.

I like your idea thought, it would be awesome to have a flex-fuel pocket rocket

 

Though I agree that Mitsu probably won't announce the X as Flex-Fuel, I don't think it's that unlikely. They knew the GTR was right around the corner, as well as a new STI. Though not a huge shot across the bows of both cars, it is still something that would make a great surprise, and could be pulled off with very little trouble on Mitsu's part.

 

won't happen, wish it would though. Love the octane ratings on E85 variants.

 

Actually Mitsubishi has already announced that it will begin selling flex-fuel engines later in 2007 in Brazil, with US sales to start somewhere in 2009 ( http://blogs.motortrend.com/1011410/...gon/index.html )

 

It makes sense, but is not logical from a company standpoint...

Each year, the automakers strive to make their currrent vehicle better and put something new into it, especially if its a new generation.

With the EVO X, the introduction of the SST transmission is the new rave/technology they are banking on.

But putting more than one new major component on the car is VERY risky. Mitsu will probably want to focus on the success of the tranny/new styling before getting into any other risky business.

It could be something to look for in the future though...

 

Hmm.. This supports my crazy theory.