EVOLUTIONARY; No. eight was worth the wait.(Auto File)

The way we see it, Mitsubishi owes us. No, this isn't about the Evolution coming up just a few horses short to Subaru's WRX STi, the Evo's only real competition in the all-wheel-drive rally-car-for-the-road sweepstakes. This is about getting something back for all the years Mitsubishi sold Evos elsewhere in the world without giving its performance-starved customers in the United States a shot at the same hardware. Instead, we were saddled with year after year of mundane Mirages/Lancers, Galants and Eclipses while our counterparts in Japan, Europe and elsewhere in the developed world snapped up Evos I through VII, punched the throttle, grinned and never looked back.

We wouldn't be suggesting a class-action lawsuit except that this car is so good, we can only assume earlier iterations were equally impressive. But while we may feel shorted for past Mitsu misdeeds, no apologies are necessary when it comes to this U.S.-edition Evolution. From the functional scoops in the aluminum hood and turbocharger intercooler visible through the black mesh front valance, all the way to the huge rear wing and massive dual exhaust outlets, everything about this car hollers "performance.'' Okay, maybe we could do without the cop-eclipsing wing and the intercooler coolant sprayer (more on that later), but otherwise we'll take everything the $30,812 sticker gives us.

That price includes the tricked-out turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder under the hood, cranking out 271 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque. The power gets to the four wheels via a short-shifted five-speed manual dumping into a 50/50 center viscous-coupling differential hooked to an open front diff and a limited-slip rear. Tires, exclusive to the Evo, are Yokohama Advan A046 P235/45R-17s. Brakes are Brembos-four-pot calipers up front, twins in the rear, fitted with sport-oriented antilocks and electronic brake force distribution. Elsewhere, suspension gets lots of lightweight aluminum components, along with shock tower braces, and loads of chassis and body-stiffening welds and braces.

Inside, the Evo offers Recaro buckets, MOMO steering wheel and, yes, even a sound system (c'mon, we're not all ...