WORKS has just returned from extensive testing in and around Death Valley, California. With two days of seat time both on and off-road, we evaluated the handling and overall drivability on diverse surface conditions. Our testing indicates that the EVO VIII provides a very solid foundation for further chassis development.




-EM

 

Nice picture, but some zooming in would make the second picture better.

 

need more pics!

 

what kind of off road driving did you do and how did the suspension handle the bumps. did you have problems with bottoming out? sounds like you had mad fun.

 

With less than 50 miles on the odometer, we had the car doing grueling 20-30 mile long shakedown testing sessions at speed on unpaved roads and trails in Death Valley.

The consensus is that Mitsubishi did its homework in designing the suspension on the Evo, so they deserve kudos for that. The steering ratio is quick, the suspension is both stiff and yet maintains plenty of travel, and the overall balance of the car is pretty good.

Of course, even in a car that is as good as the Evo right off the showroom has some room for improvement.

Without saying too specifically which areas WORKS is looking to address, it is a safe bet to say that different drivers with different needs will expect different things from this car. While Mitsubishi hit a nice overall balance, no one suspension configuration can ever hope to be all things to all people.

WORKS has identified ways to take what is an already competent and thoroughly engineered suspension and take it several notches higher. Some of these changes will be fairly transparent and will make people wonder "why didn't Mitsubishi set it up like this to begin with?" while others will involve some compromise which will expand the performance envelope for certain types of drivers in certain types of conditions/events, but will not be without trade-offs.

Like a tailor-made suit, the WORKS product line will be designed around a certain type of owner looking for certain types of attributes in his/her Evo.

One thing is certain, before WORKS releases anything to the public, the car will have been tested to its absolute limits to assure that the modifications really represent "upgrades" in every sense of the word. Even today, WORKS is autocrossing one of its development Evo's to ensure that all of the planning, testing and tweaking on paper translates into real gains on both gravel and tarmac.



-- DavidV