HSV Coupe4 v Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII 2004 Comparison

They're as different as two high performance all-wheel drive cars can be, and yet on this snaking mountain road there's not an inch between them. Neither car gives ground and neither expects it from the other. On this road, on this day, there is no difference despite their beginnings in two dramatically different car cultures on two different continents.

A QUIET MOUNTAIN ROAD
The V8-powered Coupe4 devours the road with all the subtlety of a steroidal bull elephant, riding monstrous waves of torque up the mountain. Its barrel-chested V8 roar reverberates through the trees as it lunges hungrily out of corners with no slip, no fuss, no tail-wagging and no regard for the supposedly immutable laws of physics.

Nearly two tonnes of blacked-out bad-ass making a mockery of grip and gradient. We're busy at the wheel of Mitsubishi's rally-focused EVO, but the Coupe4 ahead has our undivided attention.

There's no characteristic flightiness under braking, no flirtatious butt-wagging as the nose buries itself in the bitumen, twin piston front calipers biting hard into big 336mm AP Racing discs.

The Coupe4's shark-like profile nails the apex with the merest puff of dust from the verge, and already the rear end squats as the driver stomps the throttle to the firewall. Forget finesse; all four wheels -- not two -- are eager to do the engine's bidding. Then the 270kW HSV is gone. Outta there like Howard chasing a swinging voter.

Which is when our attention returns hastily to the job at hand, the EVO dancing lightly on its feet under full braking. The engine revs fall and rise in time with the gear change, as does that surprisingly deep exhaust note.

Even the EVO's awesome Brembo brakes can't fix our too-deep braking estimate, and we slide into the corner with the brake pedal fused to the firewall. EVO's enhanced sports ABS senses our steering input and reduces the braking force on the inside front wheel while also increasing it on the now heavily-loaded outside front. The EVO carves tightly and cleanly into the corner.

Heart in the mouth, we're slower to react than the car's electronics, and forget to drop an extra cog. Third is wrong, and the revs fall way short of the turbo's sweet spot. But it doesn't take long -- it never takes long -- for the surging wave to arrive, not so much a wall of force but a multi-layered crescendo without peak.

The Lancer skips momentarily as the tyres chirp and the front-end nudges wide. Then the EVO's anti-yaw control modifies torque distribution and all four tyres haul hard and slingshot out of the corner.

THE SAME ONLY DIFFERENT
Two cars could not be so different and yet ultimately so similar. On paper it seemed fair, despite the differences. HSV's brutish all-paw Coupe4 had arrived in the CarPoint.com.au car park, and we needed a back-roads benchmark, a hard-charging yardstick with which to measure its real-world prowess. Mitsubishi was happy to oblige, throwing us the keys to an eighth generation Lancer Evolution. For those unfamiliar with the EVO's heritage, it's the basis of Mitsubishi's world rally championship program. Current WRC rules dictate that all competition cars are based on a production model.

Rally rules also set the engine configuration, which is why Lancer EVO packages a very unassuming 2.0-litre, four cylinder engine beneath its cratered bonnet. Add one highly strung turbocharger on the side and a large intercooler down the front and you'll turn the wick up from a paltry 92kW to a much more dominating 195kW.

Okay, the changes are more substantial than that, but end results are all we care about here. And how's more than double the torque to get things shaking? Kinda grabs your attention, doesn't it... Which is how Mitsubishi gets away with a five speed manual tranny where there's usually six, because this engine's producing slabs of torque before it's even built.

THE COUPE DE GRACE
The Coupe4's an interesting machine; mechanically and philosophically. Think HSV and your brain conjures up nearly two decades' worth of big-engined, rear drive, Commodore-based sedans. Rear tyre life was measured in months, not years, as drivers discovered the primal pleasure of uncorking 5.7 litres of hard charging V8.

In 2002 HSV grabbed a two-door Monaro, a bunch of engine mods from Callaway and cranked up the ponies under the bonnet. The result was the 255kW GTO and even more extreme 300kW GTS. Then HSV's donor company, Holden, made noises about the future of all-wheel drive. Hang on a sec. Hold the bloody phone. All-wheel drive in an HSV product?! Surely not. If Skaife doesn't need it on the track, why put it in road cars?

And yet, strangely enough, it works. It makes the 270kW Coupe is as quick point-to-point as the more powerful GTS in the hands of mere mortals. Why? Largely because there's more grip when you're putting power to the ground. Tonnes more. Forget feathering the GTS's throttle out of a turn as you carefully balance rear wheel grip and grunt; the Coupe4 lets the stomp-footed among us get away with what would, undoubtedly, be bloody murder in a rear driver.

HSV says it has been careful to maintain that rear drive feel in the Coupe4, but buggered if we concur. Superglue grip front and rear means there's little understeer unless you're careless and there's definitely no oversteer to be had, unless you're an idiot -- like we tried to be.

It took numerous donuts in the relatively safe surrounds of an airstrip before we could elicit even the smallest power-on slide out of the rear Pirellis. And don't think we weren't trying; CarPoint would like to formally apologise to HSV for any extraordinary wear on the Coupe4's hoops. All in the name of science.

WHEN THE TALK STOPS
Side-by-side acceleration gives the gong to the rally-bred Lancer, with a blistering 0-100km/h time of just 5.37sec recorded by our MOTOR magazine stablemate. The same blokes managed to hustle the 380kg heavier Coupe4 to triple figures in 6.73 seconds, nearly 1.4 seconds slower but remember it's got one less gear and is an automatic.

Once up and belting, the Coupe4 pegs the margin back, and crosses the quarter mile in 14.74 seconds, now only nine-tenths behind the EVO. From there the Coupe4's superior grunt inevitably reels in the EVO until... we ran out of runway.

On the road -- in the real world -- the Coupe4's relative lethargy off-the-line is never a problem as it makes full and flexible use of its mountainous torque. The Coupe4's Gen III makes more torque from 2000-6000rpm than the Lancer's peak of 355Nm, which translates into strong, surging acceleration at will.

The Lancer relies more heavily on its gearing, but it's all about relativity. Purists may pick a torque trough before the turbo comes on song around 3500rpm, but there's good acceleration to harvest from as low as 2500rpm.

The Coupe4's weight can't be disguised, and its 1830kg bulk means it's not as nimble or as responsive to steering inputs as the EVO. Once on course the Coupe4 cuts cleanly and effectively through quicker corners, and purrs through long sweepers like a kitten on cream.

Mid-corner bumps are more deftly handled by the Coupe4's softer suspension, whereas the EVO is almost too reactive. Good tyre and steering feedback is a fine line to tread on a keenly focused performance car like the EVO, and it's susceptibility to bumpy roads makes you pick your line more carefully than the absorbent Coupe4.

EVO's cruising ride is only marginally short of atrocious. We don't doubt its single-mindedness on the racetrack, but on suburban roads the EVO's almost too stiff to live with. Where the Coupe4 seamlessly makes the transition from back-road blaster to comfortable cruiser, the EVO never lets you forget the race car intentions of its makers.

EVO's sensitive throttle response is another aspect that fails to make the transition to poor quality Australian roads. Middling-to-nasty bumps trigger a Doppler effect as the car jolts, your foot bounces on the gas and the car jolts harder in response... you get the picture.

WHO'S BETTER, WHO'S BEST
So it's really no contest at the end of the day; we'd take both. The Coupe4 is our everyday car capable of tearing your favourite country road to pieces with no fuss. Coupe4's all-wheel drive has simply made nine-tenths driving easier and more accessible to a wider skill range of drivers.

The EVO sits quietly to the side in our garage, waiting patiently for a particular day. It doesn't come around often, but we all get it. Some days -- not every day -- but every now and then, nine-tenths is simply not enough.