The end of an era has arrived with the final Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer now on sale in Australia.

The Lancer Evolution has, along with the Subaru WRX and WRX STi, been a budget performance mainstay since 1992 and now the final, 10th edition, is on sale.  There’s only 150 cars for sale, and Mitsubishi tell us there have been over a thousand expressions of interest.  The vehicle is for sale via Ralliart outlets only. 

There’s only one trim level, engine and transmission.   Interestingly, the bore and stroke is 86mm…same as the Toyota 86.  Coincidence or cooperation?   The transmission is a 5-speed manual, a sign that the Evo is dated when everything else is six-speed manual.  There’s no automatic option, which isn’t a problem for this writer nor many buyers. Power is 226kW, torque is 414Nm (up from 217/366).  Weight is 1570kg, and Mitsubishi won’t tell us how quick it’ll go from 0-100km/h.

Brakes are Brembo front and rear, suspension is Eibach coils and Bilstein shocks. The front control arms are aluminum.

Like all Evos of late, the 10th edition has the S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) 4WD system. There are three settings – tarmac, gravel and snow – which modify the front/rear torque split, transmission characteristics and throttle mapping.  Part of S-AWC is Active Yaw Control (AYC) to stop you spinning off,  Active Stability Control (ASC) to combat under and oversteer, and a sophisticated Sport Anti-lock Braking (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution to distribute braking force front/rear.  There’s also a Limited Slip Differential to deliver a remarkable level of traction and agility.

Safety is sorted with seven airbags: a driver’s side knee airbag, two front airbags, two front seat-mounted side-impact airbags and two side curtain airbags.  There’s also a rear view camera so you can see WRXes getting smaller (actually, it’s a reversing camera so you won’t, so look in the side mirrors). 

Can you track your Evo and still get warranty?  We asked, and the answer was:

“The warranty does not cover using the vehicle to participate in formal or informal competitive events such as racing, rallying, track days, hill climbing, speed trials and similar events. As per the Mitsubishi new car warranty:
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/uploads/pdf/MIT_0824_Diamond_Advantage_Warranty_PDF.pdf”

But at least the warranty is five years, if only 100,000km (on the road).

Rims are 18-inch BBS satin platinum alloy wheels with gold centre wheel ornaments.  Other bling includes gloss black bonnet air outlets and front bumper centre, radiator grille with dark chrome surround and unique two tone colour range with black painted exterior roof. Colours in two-tone are Starlight White, Tungsten Grey or Red with a contrasting black roof and Phantom Black with a contrasting gloss black roof.

There is a special ‘Final Edition’ badge on the boot lid. The colour multi-information display also features a ‘Final Edition’ greeting on start up. The front seats are Recaro partial leather buckets with contrasting red stitching.

Every Evolution will feature its own unique serial number plate – AU0001 to AU0150. Pricing is $53,700 plus onroads… and we suggest there won’t be a much room for haggling. As a comparison, a WRX STi is $49,490 for the base model and $55,390 for the Premium for 221kW and 407Nm, with a six-speed manual.  The manual WRXes are $38,990 and $40,990.  But you’ll still be able to buy both Subarus for years to come.  Subaru sell around 300 WRX/WRX STi a month, so the 150 Evos are unlikely to have a hard time finding homes.

This will be the last Evo, but at the recent Toyko Motor Show Mitsubishi told us that they foresee a sports SUV in the future and that Evo sports technology will be used in other models… read more here.

2016 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition: Brief Specifications

Mechanical

• Turbo-charged and inter-cooled 2.0-litre MIVEC DOHC 16-valve inline 4-cylinder
• Increase in engine power and torque
  • Power – 217kW increased to 226kW
  • Torque – 366Nm increased to 414Nm
• Bilstein shock absorbers and Eibach springs
• Brembo 2-piece front rotors
• Weight 1570kg (tare)

Exterior

• ‘Final Edition’ badge
• Unique two tone colour range with black painted exterior roof
• Gloss black centre bumper and bonnet air outlets
• Dark chrome front grille surround
• 18-inch BBS satin platinum alloy wheels with gold centre wheel ornament

Interior

• Unique serial number plate – AU0001 – AU0150
• Recaro partial leather performance seats with contrast red stitching
• Leather steering wheel with contrasting red stitching, leather park brake and shift knob with red stitching
• Leather look floor console with red stitching
• Black pillars and headlining
• ‘Final Edition’ carpet mats
• Colour multi-information display with ‘Final Edition’ animation on start up

Safety

• Rear view camera
• Seven airbag SRS system including driver’s side knee airbag, dual-stage front airbags with occupant seat position sensors, front seat mounted side-impact airbags and front and rear curtain side airbags
• Sport anti-lock braking system (ABS) with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD)
• Active Stability Control (ASC) and Traction Control Logic (TCL)
• Engine immobiliser anti-theft security alarm system
• Mitsubishi Motors’ patented Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) safety cell body construction

Pricing

Lancer Evolution Final Edition:  $53,700 recommended retail exclusive of on-road costs.