More Subaru STI versus Mitsubishi Evo

STi and Evo enter their respective ninth evolutions and both have been developed steadily every single year. And both are the last of a breed, for both Lancer and Impreza will be completely reworked in the near future and STi and Evo then will be entirely new cars.

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Evolution IX is as ever powered by Mitsubishi’s turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder DOHC 16-valve enhanced for the first time with MIVEC innovative variable valve technology. This together with superior new ceramic compressor vane turbo technology hikes power to 220kW at 6500rpm, although local units will likely be slightly detuned to compensate for SA’s petrol. Torque is up 390Nm at 3500rpm, but it now also comes in a far fatter curve that starts pumping much earlier in the range.

But hang on a second: Subaru’s cheating! Big news is that STi nine is up from a 2.0-litre quad-cam 16-valve AVCS active valve control turbo and manually water spray-cooled intercooler boxer-four, to an equally endowed 2.5-litre unit. This move away from a long held tradition sees power up to 200kW at 6000rpm in SA (225 everywhere else thanks to local fuel) and 407Nm at 4000 but with a much fatter torque band for a far more driveable solution than in previous STis.

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Evo also feels far more responsive and driveable. It took a lot longer to apply its MIVEC than Subaru did its AVCS, but the effect is as significant as its rival’s latest extra half-litre and it’s just as impressive: perhaps those turbo ceramics do the trick, but I reckon Evo wins this part of the progress race in that it achieved its gains through pure technology rather than that old cubic capacity shortcut.