Car Sight

The Lancer platform was completely changed in 1996, and along with it the Evolution, which had become extremely popular throughout the world. The engine and transaxle was rotated 180° to better balance the weight and eliminate torque steer. There were two versions available, The RS and GSR.

The RS version was produced as a competition car with a limited-slip front differential and a friction type LSD at the rear. It also came with GLX seats and 16" (41 cm) steel wheels as these were items that would be replaced by anyone entering the car into competition events.

The RS also had wind up windows, no air conditioning, and a few extra brace bars to strengthen the chassis, one behind the front grill and the other across the boot floor. The RS also had a factory option of thinner body panels and thinner glass.

The GSR and the RS shared a new twin scroll turbocharger which helped to increase power to 280 PS (276 hp/206 kW) at 6,500 rpm and 260 ft·lbf (352 N·m) of torque at 3,000 rpm. Mitsubishi's new Active Yaw Control appeared as a factory option on the GSR model, which used steering, throttle input sensors and g sensors to computer-hydraulically controlled torque split individually to the rear wheels and as a result the 10,000 Evolution IVs produced all sold quickly.

The Evolution IV can be distinguished by its two large fog lights in the front bumper (option on RS version), and the newly designed tail lights on the rear, which became a standard design to Evolution VI, which would become yet another trademark of the Evolution series.

This new generation was slightly heavier than previous Evos—the GSR in particular due to the added technology systems—but to counter this the car produced even more power—the weight of the RS being 1260 kg (2778 lb) and the GSR being 1345 kg (2965 lb).