We got pretty lucky with our choice of Mitsubishi Evo here in the UK. Most Japanese carmakers love to launch their most engaging models for their devoted home market, and in some cases build cars to a higher standard for the JDM, leaving us Brits to fork out thousands on bringing them over or picking up a spanner and doing the tuning work ourselves. Not so with the Evo. Not only did we get the God-like Tommi Makinen Edition here, rally stickers and all, we even got a barrage of special editions that would make mincemeat of the cars sold in Japan.
Of course the reality is that these UK-only specials didn’t actually come from Mitsubishi. Instead, the company’s importer and WRC squad, Ralliart UK, got to their hands on the ‘normal’ Japanese-grade Lancer Evos the moment they came off the boat and dialled them up to 11. This included all the FQ models from the VII generation onwards, which were considerably more powerful than their Japanese counterparts as they weren’t constrained by the country’s old ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to limit cars to 280hp.
By 2003, Ralliart had managed to extract 408hp from the Evo VIII’s 2.0-litre engine with the bonkers FQ-400. Performance was obviously devastating, hitting 62mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds and 100mph in just over nine. The company wouldn’t release another Evo as powerful as that until the tenth generation car appeared, though it did come up with something mighty special to send off the ninth: the Evolution IX MR FQ-360 by HKS, just like the one we have for sale here.
You can always tell how fast a Japanese performance car is by how long its name is, and the MR FQ-360 by HKS (I’m not typing the whole thing again) is no exception. If we break the name down, the ‘FQ-360’ bit naturally refers to the output. It’s a bit down on the FQ-400 with 371hp, but it would unlock its 363lb ft of torque a whole 2,200rpm earlier than the old car. FQ-360 cars also featured Bilstein dampers and Mitsubishi’s trick Active Yaw Control system. In addition to that, you got lower Eibach springs (10mm at the front, 5mm at the rear) and a new turbocharger with titanium fins as part of the ‘MR’ upgrade, while a sports exhaust from legendary Japanese tuner HKS topped it all off.
Moreover, there were plenty of visual and interior upgrades to sweeten the already mouth-watering deal, namely a carbon splitter, wing, the plush interior from the MR and a set of 17-inch Speedline wheels. Couple that with everything that made the standard model great (Active Centre Differential, sublime steering, close-ratio six-speed manual etc) and you get the perfect send-off to the Evo IX. True, more powerful versions would arrive with the Evo X, but the FQ-360 by HKS was arguably Mitsubishi and Ralliart’s smash hit before the former decided it was done with having fun and canned the rally icon altogether.
On a more positive note, you can relive Mitsubishi’s glory days with this four-owner car that has covered just 38,785 miles since 2007, and surprisingly doesn’t appear to have been modified beyond all the work Ralliart, Mitsubishi Racing and HKS put into it. That in itself is a rarity, given that only 200 were produced for the UK market. The seller’s asking for £56,995, which is certainly on the pricey side though it is a low-mileage example that’ll no doubt garner huge collector interest. And rightly so: this is Mitsubishi and Ralliart at their absolute peak - the likes of which we’ll never see again.
SPECIFICATION | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX MR FQ-360 by HKS
Engine: 1,997cc four-cylinder, turbocharged
Transmission: six-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 371@6,887rpm
Torque (lb ft): 363@3,200rpm
MPG: 19.6
CO2: 334g/km
Year registered: 2007
Recorded mileage: 38,785
Price new: £35,504
Yours for: £56,995
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