Mitsubishi Evo X

When the Mitsubishi Evo X arrived in 2007, there was a great fanfare made about the twin-clutch gearbox. The trouble was, you could only get it on the relatively-warm-for-an-Evo FQ300, not a more powerful variant. Mitsubishi has now dropped it into the FQ330, for a £3,500 premium over the manual.
Not a cheap upgrade (a dual clutch gearbox on a VW Golf GTI costs £1,305) but it suits this Evo more than the manual. It flatters you but it's more than that - it's the way the technological feel of the paddles matches the techiness of the whole car with all its trick diffs.
The three modes you can select are Normal, Sport and Super Sport. The harder you drive, the further up the sport ladder you'll want it, but for average road use you'd leave it in normal where shifts are seamless and plenty quick. You're never in limbo while the system hunts for a gear.
You use the manual shift and the paddles more than the auto mode (this is an Evo), but automatic is still decent to slowly trundle in traffic.
The waiting has been worth it. But don't wait for the SST to graduate to the loony FQ400 - it's too powerful. 329bhp will have to do.

This bid to mature the Mitsubishi Evo into something a tad more high end hasn’t really worked. But what we care about is bags of grip and grunt, which is still definitely in situ.

Comfort
If you're looking for comfort you're looking in the wrong place, although this new generation of Evo is more supple and refined than the car it replaced in 2007. The seats are a bin-end bucket affair, designed to be replaced by yourself at a moment's notice.12 out of 20

Performance
It goes without saying that the Evo X is quick, but it'll take the tweaking we got used to in the last gen ‘FQ' range before anyone is sufficiently sated. There's 291bhp here, against 400bhp in its previous guise.10 out of 20

Cool
There's little that's cool about the sort of car that educationally sub-normal dole scum onanise over during those rare idle moments that pepper their days, but if you own one you'll be going too fast, or being too arrested, to care.13 out of 20

Quality
The Mitsubishi Evo X isn't going to break, but it feels quite seriously crappy in terms of basic tactile quality. Saying it's an improvement over the old car is like telling your mates to favour KFC over Chicken Cottage.10 out of 20

Handling
Er, yes. Rather more than most in fact. The Evo X handles like nothing else on sale, courtesy of a low kerbweight, four-wheel drive and hi-tech chassis. Steering is also superbly accurate.16 out of 20

Practicality
It's a saloon for starters, a car that is inherently impractical in these days of crossover hatchbackery, and it's also not a particularly spacious one. But if you're buying one, for £30k mind, you already know this and don't care.14 out of 20

Running costs
Er yes, there will be a few of these. It'll hit you hard to insure, it'll chow through the fuel like Peter Docherty does/did the crack pipe, and when you come to sell it no-one'll want it for half what you paid. Caveat emptor.10 out of 20
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