It has a two-litre engine giving more power than a Falcon XR8 or a Commodore SS. And with a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system for extreme cornering grip.
It's the FQ-400, billed as "the most powerful, accelerative Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X".
It's hitting the roads in Britain this month. There, the home of many motorsport constructors, they have a respected network of car tuners who take fast production cars and make them even quicker.
The Mitsubishi Evo and its rival, the Subaru WRX, each get various versions of hot-up kits from a number of hot shops in Britain.
This Lancer Evo FQ-400 is the product of WRC Developments, with a nod from Mitsubishi's British importer. The model gets its name from the 403hp (300kW of power) produced - an incredible output from the two-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine. And in a road car.
The engine gets motorsport-spec high-flow fuel injectors and a new turbocharger with low-friction bearings and reduced turbo lag. It's fed by an upgraded intercooler. Exhaust gases are sent via a 75mm diameter stainless steel pipe.
Five-hundred hours of development went into remapping its ECU.
The regular Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X on sale in Australia is no slouch: 217kW power at 6500rpm and 366Nm torque at 3500rpm.
The FQ-400 offers 300kW at 6500rpm and a big 525Nm torque at 3500rpm. (A six-litre Commodore SS V8 gives 270kW and the Falcon XR8, 290kW). Mitsubishi and WRC Development say the FQ-400 is good for a zero to 100km/h sprint in 3.8 seconds. It's governed to 250km/h.
It has a wider track than standard and is lowered 30mm, wearing Eibach springs and Bilstein shock absorbers, as well as an upgraded brake system using aerospace-grade aluminium.
The FQ-400 is picked over the normal Evo X by a heavily vented bonnet for engine heat to escape, carbon-fibre elements in the grille edging, composite side skirts, restyled rear bumper with carbon-fibre diffuser, rear wing with Gurney strip and a "vortex generator" on the roof trailing edge.
Inside are Recaro seats, seven airbags (it gets a five-star Euro NCAP rating for occupant protection in a crash), sat-nav and 30GB hard-drive on the sound system.
The FQ-400 sells for a tad over $A100,000 in Britain where the regular Evo X costs from around $60,000 (similar to its Australian price).
