hello..friend's..
is here and it's time to remove our Mitsubishi Evo's winter rubber in favor of the original-equipment tires, the very sporty Yokohama Advan A13 (245/40R-18 on all four wheels). Unfortunately, upon retrieving the summer tires from our storage room, we discovered that they are well-worn, and two of them are pretty much shot. The wear is especially pronounced on their inner edges. This car must have seen a lot of aggressive on-ramp action during the four months we had it last year (mid-July to mid-November) before we put on the snow tires. The incredible lateral grip the Yokohama tires provide is certainly appreciated by our staff, but it does come at a price. Calling Tire Rack...

Some other issues are harder to rectify. The dashboard constantly squeaks and rattles, there's a lot of wind noise, and the interior flat-out looks cheap. Oh, and this is as good a time as any to remind you that our Evo MR stickers for $41,515, which is well into BMW 335xi territory. Another frequent complaint is the lack of adjustability in the front seats. Some shorter drivers can't see over the steering wheel because the seats lack any vertical adjustment. Hopefully Mitsubishi adds an up/down movement to the driver's seat so those closer to five-feet tall can enjoy the car as much as the six-footers who speak highly of the Recaro buckets.

The debate over the DSG-style transmission is eternal and comments range from "I could do without it." to "It's plenty livable in normal driving." There is, however, almost universal agreement that the ratio for sixth gear should be a bit higher (numerically lower) to allow the engine to spin at a lower rpm on the highway and hopefully bring fuel economy up to the point where it's possible to travel 300 miles on a tank of gas. Calming the engine down might also quiet the cabin by removing the constant buzzing and booming from the car's exhaust. Still, this is an Evo and some like it raw.