The MR (Mitsubishi Racing) version of the EVO VIII is a Japanese-model only and is not offered for sale in the United States. The MR package includes:
* Quicker Response Bilstein Dampers
* Forged Aluminum Wheels
* Aluminum Roof Panel
* Improved 4WD system, ADC, & Super AYC Traction Control
* Sport ABS
* Improved Engine Torque Curve
* Improved Control at High Speed Limits
* Lowered Center of Gravity
* Refined Neutral Roll Characteristics
Lancer Evolution VIII MR uses slick-response Bilstein shocks for improved handling. The aluminum roof panel and other reductions in body weight have lowered the center of gravity to realize more natural roll characteristics. Detail improvements have also been made to Mitsubishi’s own electronic all-wheel drive, to the ACD 5 + Super AYC 6 traction control and to the Sports ABS systems. The Lancer Evolution VIII displayed at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show took the MR designation traditionally reserved for Mitsubishi Motors high-performance models and used first on the Galant GTO.
What's Special About It?
The car that we know as the Lancer Evolution is currently in its eighth generation in the Japanese and European markets, taking the name Evolution VIII. By all accounts, including our own, the Evo is a superb car in stock form — the closest you'll come to a street-legal race car in the $30,000 price range. But now Mitsubishi has found a way to extract even more performance from the Evo, yielding the Evolution VIII MR ("MR" stands for Mitsubishi Racing).
The biggest change in the MR version is the installation of an all-wheel control system, which continually adapts the level of suspension damping applied to each wheel using specially designed Bilstein shocks. The result, of course, is an even higher handling threshold. In addition, Mitsubishi has cut curb weight and lowered the car's center of gravity through the use of aluminum for the roof panel and various other weight-saving measures in the upper half of the body.
Improvements were also made to the electronic all-wheel-drive system (and its driver-adjustable active center differential) and the competition-oriented stability control system (Super AYC, or Active Yaw Control) — both of which are standard fare on Evos sold in Japan — as well as the antilock brake system. Tweaks to the turbocharger and cams increase peak torque output, and the engine has been tuned for competition use with an emphasis on maximizing the available power at mid-to-high rpm.
Why Should You Care?
Given that the American-spec Evo has a mechanical all-wheel-drive system controlled by a viscous coupling and can't be equipped with stability control, we won't hold our breath on the MR version coming here. Still, with a key competitor, the Subaru WRX STi, offering an active center differential, it's within the realm of imagination that Mitsubishi could make some of this technology available to U.S. Evo buyers down the road.
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