Keep an eye out!

Yes, this is a car in which you are constantly scanning for the black and whites. In fact, the EVO MR is so potent and so tempting that at the beginning of the week, I did consider simply walking into the local OPP station and handing over the keys together with my license, thus saving the boys in blue the trouble later on!

At first, it’s hard to get your head around the fact that this car is powered by simply a 2.0L Turbocharged 4 cylinder ( 291Hp, 300lb-ft of torque), and once you’ve managed that, you then have a rude awakening to the knowledge that an automatic transmission can actually be more fun than a stick shift! Mind you, it is a six-speed sequential gearbox with twin automatic clutches.

Honestly, to understand that, you really need to drive an EVO MR. In fact, at TestFest, I had a well-known racing colleague riding with me on the track in this car. He seemed quite puzzled by the fact that I ran the entire course in automatic mode without paddle-shifting at all. I explained, and demonstrated, that when dialed into the super-sport mode, the auto-box shifts just as fast, if not faster, than I could.

Basically, the shifts become so rapid that if you take the brain thinking time to work the paddle shifts out, then it becomes as close as to make no difference whatsoever. The best part of all is that this not only works on the up-shifts, but also on down-shifts. In super-sport mode, if you didn’t have your seatbelt on, it could actually put you through the front windscreen as it automatically gears down. It is absolutely amazing and I’ve never driven an automatic transmission as quick, or as much fun as this.

Mind you, having said that, on the road even in normal mode, you have to be a little light-footed on the gas pedal when pulling away from traffic lights or stop signs. It would be oh so easy to get pulled for street-racing in this car (Dumb Ontario law). Try to pull away like you would in a normal car and after a split second hesitation, the power kicks in and you’ve literally launched 4-5 car lengths ahead of everyone else!

Verdict

Oh yes, this car was designed for the true enthusiast, and you need to be one to fully appreciate the vehicle. The EVO is a car that people in the know understand. The vehicle doesn’t so much demand respect, it slaps you around the face a couple of times, then kicks you in the shins until you bow down to worship it.

This is my kind of car, and I could easily live with one in my garage. I believe that if you’re the type of person who yearns for excitement in your life, then you need an EVO in your driveway. In fact, if you could travel back in time, your grandmother could take on the world champion rally crews of 10 years back with this car in stock form, and win!

Of course, we can’t do that and most of us can only dream of ever becoming WRC champions, but in the EVO MR, you’re one step closer to that dream than everyone else!