Mitsubishi Memories

At one point recently in my life, I came so very close to buying a Mitsubishi Lancer (there was this black Evo X at a local dealer that kept me up late at night for many days....). However, I passed on that opportunity and purchased my RVR Limited Edition instead.

There have been a few times over the last nearly two years of ownership I believe I almost regretted that decision.

First, I will talk about power.

My RVR is equipped with the 2.0 4B11 Inline 4-cylinder DOHC 16v pushing out 148 horsepower and 145 ft/lbs of torque. For a vehicle that weights just over 3,200 lbs (over 1450 for you other folks), the powerplant can get the RVR moving along quite nicely. Passing at highway speeds or climbing a steep graded hill is where I notice the lacklusterness starting to kick in (however, this is mitigated with the paddleshifters for the CVT to a degree).

On the flip-side, the Evo X left the stage with a 2.0 4B11T Inline 4-cylinder DOHC 16v exploding with 291 horsepower and 300 ft/lbs of torque (North America market specs). Matted with either a five speed manual or six-speed twin-clutch "automated manual," I think the fun factor was waiting for me there.

The main reason the RVR won out over the Evo X is shown in the above picture.

The written explanation is this; I am still spooked about what that boulder did to my old Dodge Dart and my nerves, trading performance for ground clearance (that 8.5 inches pops it's ugly head when I go into a corner to fast and the "heavy leaning" starts).

I could go on and on, but will sum it up as a real life missed opportunity.

Thanks to the power of video games, I can play out that ignored dream (and a few others), in a virtual way....

....especially in Forza Horizon 4.