Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII

The story

On paper the Evo VII looked outgunned by the big-engined sports cars of its era: a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder rated at 280 PS (276 hp), 5 manual gears and a body shared with humble family Lancers. On the road the paper lost. The VII introduced an Active Center Differential to work alongside the Active Yaw Control rear differential, which shuffles torque between the rear wheels mid-corner, and together they let the car find traction on wet, broken or twisting surfaces where rear-drive rivals were busy spinning their tires.

It drives with a patient, rally-bred logic. Turn in and the nose may push a fraction wide; wait, feed in throttle and the electronics haul it around from behind, firing it out of the corner harder than its power figure suggests. Braking is stable and drama-free, and it repeats the same tidy performance lap after lap. For American enthusiasts it was a legend known mostly from magazine pages, sold in Japan but absent from US showrooms. The Evolution VIII crossed the Pacific for 2003 and made the reputation official.