Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ-400 (2009) CAR review

Read the stats alone – 403bhp, 387lb ft, £50k, 0-62mph in 3.8sec – and it’s easy to dismiss the FQ-400 as being as out-of-step as an MP’s expenses claim. In fact, that’s just what I did – before I drove it. One hour of enthusiastic pedalling later, I was converted – this is the best Evo X. It is quantifiably better – not just faster – than every other Evo X, and quite possibly the best Evo ever.

Hold on a minute – isn’t that over 200bhp per litre for this Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-400?

It certainly is. Mitsubishi UK – just like the 330 and 360, this is a UK-only model – has stuck with the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder 16-valve turbo, but the company has hooked up with well-respected Japanese tuner HKS – a kind of Oriental Cosworth – to unleash even more power.

The extra go comes courtesy of high-flow fuel injectors; a new hybrid turbo that’s specially strengthened to deal with the faster turbine speeds and higher temperatures; a more capable intercooler; plus re-mapped engine management. Best of all, you’re still covered by the Mitsubishi three-year/36,000-mile warranty.

Come on, though, who needs an even quicker FQ?

Speed alone isn’t the point of the FQ-400 – it’s the way that power is delivered. You’d expect a small capacity turbo nutter to be laggy down low, yet it’s daily-driver tractable from very low revs, really picks up its heels from 2000rpm, then blitzes to the horizon from 3000rpm onwards.

It’s a more progressive delivery than the FQ-360 serves up, something that makes it feel a little more predictable, if not quite as banzai explosive as you might expect – though this is without doubt a very, very fast car.

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