In this Japanese WRC icon battle, two AWD 90’s creations from the Land of the Rising Sun bring back some nostalgic competition between Subaru and Mitsubishi. Watch below to see which will cross the tarmac finish line first between the Impreza P1 and Lancer Evo VI.
Both are special cars and while they share a similar shade of blue, that is about where the similarities end. Back in the 1990s, Briton Colin McRae of Subaru levelled up against Tommi Mäkinen, the flying Finn in the Mitsubishi. The Prodrive commissioned Subaru Impreza P1 and the Mitsubishi Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition were commercial fruits from their rallying labour
Watch the motorsport icons battle it out head-to-head in 1997 here.
The cars themselves are fairly evenly matched despite using two different types of engine configurations. Both displace 2-litres and both make use of a turbocharger, however the in-line four of the Mitsubishi differs from the four-cylinder boxer of the Subaru. Both models put out 206 kW however the Mitsubishi comes in with 373 N.m, 20 more than the Subaru. Despite this, things are evenly matched when considering the four-door Evo VI has a 77 kg disadvantage over its two-door rival.
Read our Road Test of the Subaru Impreza 2,0i-S Lineartronic CVT here.
Video courtesy of Carwow, this Japanese WRC icon battle provides some entertaining viewing between the two hosts considering the manual gearboxes in each require driver finesse and skill.
