300 horsepower on tap, gut wrenching torque to thunder through every sort of terrain, manners to make your mom-in-law see you in a new welcome light, ample space for four and yet having the capability to thunder from rest to 100km/h in under 4.5 seconds and on to an electronically limited terminal velocity of 250km/h, this is the new Mitsubishi Evo X. Photography: Kunal Khadse

It has to be the unlikeliest performance car in the world while on the other hand it does provide really fast motoring for four with an unbelievable ability to marry comfort, ride and handling and everyday practicality which is something you wouldn't expect from your temperamental Italian exotic sports car would you? Indian motoring enthusiasts prepare to say hello and get dazzled by the might Mitsubishi coming our way from the next month on. And it is no Lancer with a lipstick and mascara job but the real honest to goodness shebang geared to put the fear of coming second best into the supercar set.
  
I am referring to the latest Evolution X MR FQ300 and while this Mitsubishi's model designation is quite a mouthful, just see what comes along: 294PS and 366Nm of gut wrenching torque from a 1998cc four-cylinder turbocharged engine, a six-speed sequential shift transmission delivering drive to all four wheels, zero to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and an electronically limited 250km/h top whack. The performance is truly mind-numbing and supercar humbling not just in sheer numbers specifically but when one revisits the stats and understands that it is a 2.0-litre engine dishing this out in a body-style in which you can take the mother-in-law to the market. Evolution is not just for the species but with the tenth edition in the series, it surely changes the rules of the motoring game.

The Evolution series of four-door, four-seater, four-wheel drive cars from Mitsubishi have always been something of a modern day motoring maverick. Thanks to its spectacular success in the World Rally Championships (four World Championship titles for Tommi Makinen from 1996 to 1999) plus umpteen rally successes the world over including our very own Team MRF winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, its place in the Japanese performance car pantheon was always right there at the top.