The Evolution (or "Evo") is based on the Lancer compact sedan. The two cars don't have much in common, however. Whereas the regular Lancer is a perfectly adequate economy car that's easy to lose in a parking lot, the pumped-up Evo is turbocharged, boisterous and ready to lay down rubber on a racetrack.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was originally developed in the early 1990s to compete in the World Rally Championship (WRC) racing series and abide by homologation rules. Packing a powerful turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive, the Lancer Evolution quickly became a successful rally car. Early road-going versions of the Evo were originally just meant for the Japanese home market, but this didn't stop the car from developing a cultlike following around the world. Finally, for the 2003 model year, Mitsubishi started importing official road-going Lancer Evolutions to the North American market.
A second stateside generation recently debuted, and with it the Evo has become considerably more stylish than its taxi-like predecessor while continuing to offer impressive performance for the buck. Despite its humble beginnings as an average economy car, the Evo can accelerate and corner with all but the fastest production cars on the market.
