Mitsubishi Evo X vs. Volkswagen R32 Road Test Review

A MINUTE WITH MIKE ON THE R32

When I stopped by Klosey's place to grab the R32 after he’d picked it up for me earlier in the day, he'd already ducked out down the road for a pint.  He left the keys for me though, so I headed downstairs to meet the monster.

Bloody hell, that'd be right; four doors.  Still a good looking unit, of course, but who wouldn't prefer it minus a pair?

Being something of a traditionalist, I was also looking forward to the six-speed manual transmission.  No such luck here; the wave of the future had reared its head again and dumped me in a DSG-fitted model.  If Steano was aiming to get one up on TMR's notorious Captain Fussy, he was off to a ripper of a start.

Well, not quite.

Once I'd reminded myself that an R32 is an R32, I slid into the firm but comfortable sports seats and turned the key over in the ignition.  Did I say bloody hell already?  Well, bleedin' heck.  At that moment, you couldn't have dragged me out of this car if Beyoncé were draped over the bonnet and lamenting the lack of a tubby white guy in her life.  I tell you folks, the R32's got some serious pipes on it.

If Klosey's goal was to upset me, he really shouldn't have left such a bellowing brute in a big enclosed concrete room.  Nice try old boy.

After I'd completed a couple of hoon laps of the car park and set off a few alarms (deny deny deny), the monster and I rumbled out into the crisp Melbourne night air and off to the surrounding hills for the real trial.

There's nothing Insiderama has said that I can't get right behind.  While the Evo X is ultimately the king of the hills out of these two, the R32's got nothing to sulk about.  Quick off the mark, a delicious programmed blip of the accelerator on downshifts, and a real go-getter through the turns.

I have to confess I don't have the Insider's Infinite Skill, handed down to him when he became the fourth Monkey King twelve centuries ago, and so I initially found the front-heavy hatch to be a real trial in the tighter corners.  I quickly gathered myself though and discovered the same trick of tumbling in hard, feathering the brakes, and powering through. And lo, the fun was on.

This car is a massive thrill packed neatly under the seats of a genuinely livable daily driver.  As Klosey confided in me later - after looking around to make sure no real men were listening in - the R32's secretly been his favourite car for a while.  I reckon I'd just about agree, if it had a proper transmission.

Don't get me wrong, the DSG's a good unit.  In point of fact, it is great. It's exceptionally responsive - more so once you learn how best to treat it - and a solid partner when you're hard into a series of tight corners where you really want both hands on the wheel.  But damn it all, I'm the captain of this ship and I won't have some fancy pants computer telling me when I can and can't shift down to second.  I'll blow up the engine if I drop down right now?  Well bugger ya, that's the Captain's prerogative innit.

Would I take the R32 over the Evo X?  In a heartbeat.  I'm no track junkie, and I don't divide my time 40/60 between the missus and the mountain.  What this writer wants is a smokin' hot daily with the ability to out-corner a good whack of the heroes out there, and an exhaust that would make any SS driver look around - straight past the glorified Golf next to him - and ask "Jeez, where'd that unreal sounding car go?"  The R32's got that nailed.

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