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The article below is from the october 2004
issue of CAR Magazine, and compares an Owen
Developments Tuned Mitsubishi Evo VIII FQ400,
with a Pagani Zonda.
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| Seriously. Ralliart
is building a new Mitsubishi Evo
VIII that can accelerate faster
than any supercar. As the finishing
touches are put to the FQ400,
we find out what It feels like
to drive a family saloon that's
quicker than a Pagani Zonda. |
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Story: Angus
Fitton
Photography: Stuart Collins |
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No need to
go looking for the asterisk, the cop
out or the cunning twist. You won’t
find one. This story is about exactly
what you think it’s about: that
grey saloon car and that blue supercar.
The grey car accelerates faster than
the blue one, simple as that.
Not a result achieved by chance - it
was a deliberate effort, which required
tremendous determination and perseverance.
Mitsubishi set out six months ago to
tweak the nose of the supercar establishment. |
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This is the story so
far.
The FQ400 born out of Mitsubishi’s
desire to celebrate 30 years since the
first Lancer was sold in the UK - the
Lancer being the model of which the
Evo is an evolution. In the initial
meeting in early March that general
manager Paul Brigden held with his team
at Ralliart, he talked of building ‘a
monster’ the ultimate one-off
Evo with more than 500bhp and every
conceivable bell and whistle.
Fantastic! But hold on. Several tuners
have already built such beasts, one
of which produces a startling 1000bhp.
This, remember, from a 2.0-litre engine.
So Brigden and his team thought again
and drew up fresh plans for a hardcore
flagship. This time the aim was around
400bhp. That's the relatively easy bit.
The hard bit was that it had to be a
car that could be serviced at any Ralliart
dealer, that |
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would carry a three-year,
36,000-mile warranty and could be used
every day.
That's a very tricky combination - a
far more challenging job for Ralliart.
The family saloon pictured before you
is their work in progress. A £45,000
saloon that can hold its head high next
to the £303,000 Pagani Zonda.
This family saloon packs a unique Garrett
turbocharger, HKS steel conrods, strengthened
head bolts (to stop head separating
from block, such are the |
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forces at play here),
new injectors, datalogging, an Alcon
lightweight flywheel and clutch, rhodium
spark plugs... you get the idea. You'd
have to really hate your kids to buy
one; the lateral G alone would cause
travel sickness of epic proportions.
We're the only magazine to witness the
development of the ultimate Evo and
the first to get behind the wheel. The
car you see here is number one, thus
far the only FQ400 in existence. As
you read this, WX04 MFZ is hammering
around the Millbrook test facility's
two-mile banked bowl at 140mph 24/7
to accumulate test miles. Around 2200
miles a day are being piled on in this
unforgiving test of every component.
Bear in mind that this car develops
200bhp per litre - so it is very highly
stressed for a road car - and you can
understand why Ralliart needs to be
so thorough.
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The jump from the 260bhp
of the standard Evo VIII to the 340bhp
of the hottest version currently on
sale is a relatively simple one. But
the move up to 400bhp requires a much
more substantial overhaul, done with
the, collaboration of specialist companies.
Ralliart’s partners in the project
include Motec, provider of the secondary
ECU, which gives more precise control
of the fuelling. It also allows the
owner to specify anti-lag (which closes
the turbo wastegate and makes the Evo
sound like a Gatling gun) and launch
control. It also provides datalogging
to be accessed by technicians come service
time. HKS supplies the bulk of the new
engine componentry. Owen Developments oversees the complicated mapping of
the engine and work on the Garrett turbo.
Finally, Flow Race Engines in Warwick
brings it all together and builds the
engines. A complicated parentage, but
then this is a very special progeny. |
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As Performance
cars go, the antithesis of all things
Evo lies in the slinky blue form of
the Pagani Zonda. Modena Design’s
finest, the C12 S is 7.0 litres, 547bhp
and £303,000 worth of carbon-tubbed
supercar in all its over-the-top glory.
Mercedes-Benz supplies the V12, which
channels its fury through 345/35 R18
Michelin Pilot Sport rear tyres while
the quad exhausts deliver a bassy howl.
Its intricate carbon tub means it’s
lighter than the Evo and the V12 develops
I47bhp more oomph. |
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Practical it isn't, but then it is capable
of over 200mph. And just look at it. Nothing
comes close to rivalling the drama of a Zonda,
especially when parked beside everyday cars.
Until now the Zonda was simply the fastest
way to get from point to point, with huge
power, good traction and damping well suited
to the UK's moonscape roads. Strangely for
a car of its value and width the Zonda is
very easy to drive. Its performance is accessible
in a way unimaginable in supercars of a decade
ago. Yet despite all the drama, the noise,
show and glamour, it's not the quickest car
here. |
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| TIME FOR
SOME NUMBERS. THIS Evo will crack 62mph
from rest in 3.6 seconds. To witness
this feat is awesome: the front tyres
light up as the active diffs struggle,
the rears leave a trail of rubber behind
them. The tailpipe sounds like a jet
exhaust. It's an odd experience to watch
a family saloon in an act of utter violence;
only when it's close do you grasp how
fast it's moving. The ton comes up in
just over nine seconds; keep your foot
down and you’ll reach the far
side of 175rnph. And it's all wrapped
in such a normal body. There's a new
carbonfibre splitter, swept-back wing
mirrors and a shark-tooth spoiler at
the top of the rear window. Gloss black
Team Dynamics wheels house new 343mm-diameter
Alcon discs and six-pot calipers, and
there's discreet cloth trim inside. |
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The final specification hasn't been decided
but for now the idea is that it will look
like this.
The FQ400’s production run starts in
late September. When they come off the boat
from Japan the Evos are standard 280bhp items,
devoid of badging, stereos and even speakers.
First the car is registered by Ralliart UK
and taken to Flow Race Engines (builder of
Mitsubishi's WRC lumps) to have the engine
taken out, stripped down and rebuilt in its
new, 400bhp form. Motec then adds the new
ECU and the car is tested to check it's achieving
the full 400bhp. A stereo and foglights are
added before the car is delivered to its owner,
who will be instructed to observe a careful
I500-mile running-in period.
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The Zonda's
creation is similarly complex, if a
little more exotic. Each car is hand-built
at Pagani’s parent company, Modena
Designs, within rock-throwing distance
of Ferrari. The carbonfibre tub alone
takes three weeks to lay up. Owners
keen to have, say, ostrich on their
seats are able to specify any alteration
to the car’s interior trim they
choose, and the range of exterior colours
on offer is almost limitless. Whatever
owners want, they get. Unlike Ralliart’s
network, there is only one Zonda outlet
in the UK: Eurosportscars, located on
the outskirts of London, whose technicians
are the only people allowed to service
the Mercedes V 12. Not ideal if you
live in Scotland, but then the mileage
racked up by Zondas is relatively low,
making trips to the dealer rare. |
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A TENSE MOMENT. After all Ralliart's hard
work it's my chance to find out if extracting
400bhp from a 2.0-litre engine was a good
idea. Initially the FQ400 feels little different
from an FQ340: same incredible grip, same
ultra-sharp, communicative steering, same
wonderfully balanced chassis and firm damping.
Find a straight, brace yourself against the
Recaro seats, floor the throttle and this
car will make you laugh a silly, childish
belly laugh. I have never gone point to point
so quickly in any machine without a Boeing
sticker on the side.
The same experience in the Zonda is no less
dramatic: there's enormous traction then a
violent explosion as the tyres hook up and
you fly. Get to 62mph in less than four seconds
in any car and you know you're in very serious
territory indeed. Yet, remarkably, the Zonda
can't quite match the Evo, returning a time
of 3.7 seconds.
The FQ400 is hugely rapid, not only in a straight
line but also around comers, along poorly
surfaced roads, over awkward cambers, everywhere.
If you want quicker acceleration than that,
you need something from the more powerful
end of the two-wheeled spectrum, and even
then it would be too close to call. |
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This is a
supercar slayer without the need for
any explanation or excuse. No ifs, no
buts. Point to point it's much, much
faster than any supercar. In the real
world, where the roads are narrow, where
it rains and where you've spent your
£300k on a house, nothing comes
close.
The gearchange is snick-snick smooth.
The clutch feels a little heavier but
no less progressive than any other Evo's.
Yet it's completely benign around town.
Then you hit the brakes and just about
headbutt the windscreen. They are almost
more impressive than the acceleration.
There's no play, no sponginess; just
progressive. reassuring power with enormous
bite available.
Before the FQ400 goes on sale on I October
there's furious development work to
be done. A week of engine mapping, then
further testing on the brakes and clutch
before the endurance runs at Millbrook.
Production is limited to 100 units with
an estimated price of around £45,000,
each built to order.
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| It's unlikely that a single FQ400 will be
bought by a Zonda owner. Both are beautifully
crafted, built with a very specific purpose
in mind. But the fact remains that on one
key measure of performance, the supercar as
we know it has been outpaced by a road-legal
saloon. It may seem strange to those of us
who grew up with a poster of a Miura on the
wall, but the new 0-62mph benchmark now comes
with four doors and shopping in the boot. |
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