2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX review: Quick drive

This is a rally car with only the necessary modifications to make it road legal.

Some minor luxuries such as six-CD audio, climate control and a faux-carbon-fibre dash are meant to lift the ambience, but that's all irrelevant once you turn the ignition key.

The Evo IX vibrates, bangs, crashes, screams and howls as it is driven. The harder the better preferably.

Its highly stressed 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine produces 206 kW and 355 Nm. Mivec variable valve timing makes its delivery more accessible than its predecessors.

The brilliance of the Evo IX lies in its sophisticated all-wheel-drive system that transfers drive front-rear and side-to-side to maintain handling, balance and grip.

It makes the Lancer incredible on the black top and even better on dirt. But you'll have to cope with a really firm ride, notchy six-speed manual gearbox, stall-prone clutch and a massive amount of road and engine noise to access all that driving dynamism.