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On May 4th, 2003 at the Boeing lot in Ridley Park, I was witness to something amazing. Anyone who has attended an autocross, as a spectator or a driver, has seen many cars lift a wheel or two during a run. But it seemed that any time an EVO lifted a wheel something interesting happened….. A cheer went up for the crowd! Drivers and spectators alike seemed riveted by these cars. My wife and I were certainly no exceptions, as a matter of fact; her camera couldn’t seem to stay off the EVOs.

As a WRC fan, as I’m sure many of us are, seeing the EVO in action is quite a site to see. I’m sure it could be debated, but I believe the EVO as close as the industry has come to releasing a car that is right off our TV screens. For those of you who are feeling withdrawal symptoms because the Mitsubishi team has taken a hiatus from WRC, this is a pretty good substitute.

Mitsubishi boldly fired the first shot by giving us the EVO, even though the car has been extremely popular overseas for almost a decade. We could also debate their motivations, but I believe they knew that Subaru was carefully developing the STI into the brute that it is. With 30 bhp over the EVO, the STI seems to be tough to beat. But power isn’t all there is to this story. Many industry “Nerds” think that Mitsubishi wants to be the first and last to strike on this battlefield. They laid down the gauntlet for Subaru to pickup, but like most knights, they have another hand ready to strike.

Let me go back a second to the subject of Mitsubishi’s hiatus from WRC and the fact that a great deal of the technologies in both the STI and the EVO come right off the WRC cars. Mitsubishi spent a lot of time during the 2002 season “tweaking” their car. They became very frustrated with the changes they were making. It’s that same old common sense engineering principle of “Change ONE thing at a time” that we all seem to want to break at one time or another (Yes, I’m guilty of it too). Now they are stepping back and redeveloping their car, under a pretty thick cloud of secrecy I might add. I think we can pretty safely assume that these developments will be part of the EVO IX and X. The other interesting technical fact about the EVO and the STI is that there are a few technologies that owe as much to their consumer development as their racing development. This constitutes another unique industry change that makes these cars so exciting.

The most recent historical credit goes to Subaru for a lot of this enthusiasm. Did you ever imagine that young people would be tripping over themselves to get into a 4-door sedan?! There was a time when a Subaru was widely regarded as a “Sunday go to Meeting” car that protected the children and got you home no matter what the weather. This is basically the same technology that Subaru has been employing for over 20 years! However, Mitsubishi’s marketing machine deserves the credit for making these cars the “Sunday go to AutoX” car. Subaru is not necessarily complaining because they’re about to reap the benefits themselves.

It’s pretty reliable information at this point that by July of this year, anyone with $31,000 or so will be able to get their grubby mitts on an STI. SCCA officials have also made it fairly clear that the STI will be classified right along side the EVO in AS or ESP. Thanks to the June, 2003 issue of Car and Driver I can provide you with a few stats to prepare for this battle. (Please buy a copy of this magazine! )

You can make your own predictions about who has the biggest sword here, but I’m thinking they’ll be swapping positions quite often. The STI has power to spare, but the EVO comes to a stop faster. They weigh the same and they pull the same “G” rating on the skidpad. I’m far from a Horsepower expert, but the differences in the “Power Band” of these two cars have me really interested, especially the difference in the weight/power ratio. Maybe someone can explain that to me?

This war is just beginning, and I am very excited to watch. I’m not going to pick sides, mostly because my Miata will get jealous, but I am certainly going to watch them run when she’s not looking! Now let’s put another twist into this story. Let’s not forget Hyundai and Ford, I refuse to believe that they are willing to stand by and let Mitsubishi and Subaru have all the fun (and the PR and Profit). It’s very possible that we could see the Tiburon or the Focus on the battlefield.

Ford seems to be reluctant to bring the Focus RS to the states from Europe. This is probably because of the Horsepower disparity, at the moment the RS rates just under 220 bhp, and since the Focus RS is FWD, they don’t fully compare. However, the Focus SVT is already gaining popularity and at only 170 bhp it’s still quite a competitor.

Focus RS (left), Focus SVT (right), Hyundai Tiburon ProRally Car (below)

As far as Hyundai is concerned, how can you ignore 6 ProRally Championships? At the very least Ford and Hyundai could go head to head in their own battle. All of which provides great potential for autocross and our sport in general to expand our membership and audience.

So either break out your Wallets or break out your Opera Glasses, because whether you’re driving or spotting these battles exciting action is just beginning.