Faults:

Vibration somewhere in the back on hard acceleration and engine breaking around 2500rpm.

General Comments:

This is a great car!! The EVO engine in a people mover is just great fun! 4WD helps the car around corners and the space inside is atmospheric almost.

Took a drive with some GSRs and VR4s around some windy back roads and almost kept up. I blame the crappy Hankkok Optimo tyres. Otherwise, the 170kw and 290 Nm of torque makes this a performance car in its own right. The Evo 4WD system means you just point the nose in the correct direction out of corners and accelerate. No over or understeer.

I had a picnic with my girlfriend planned one day and the weather decided to spoil it for us. No problems. Folded up the back seats and there was plenty of room in the back for food, books, drinks, playing cards etc... Great!

I honestly couldn't think of a better concept for both performance and practicality. Lots of cup holders, storage compartments, sunroof, climate control, electric "almost everything" and easy access sliding door completed the family wagon criteria.

Faults:

Nothing wrong with the car - it goes great, but it is hard to find good service people for this model.

General Comments:

Excellent performance, especially with minor exhaust modifications.

A 14.0 quarter mile possible with a boost controller and exhaust.

Good driving on hard sand dunes.

Tends to annoy standard V8s, when you're still next to them after the lights.

Very easy to control gear changes using the accelerator on the auto model.

Faults:

Engine developed a misfire on mild acceleration at 90000 km's. This required new platinum plugs and some high quality spiral ignition leads to fix.

Front sway bar ball joints very poor after 65000 km's, This required removal and tapping the back of ball joints to re-tension bushes.

Centre tail-shaft bearing worn out at 90000km's. This required removal of bearing, and sending to a bearing specialist who managed to source a generic part. This saved me nearly $400 Australian over the price of the genuine item.

General Comments:

This is a very deceptive car. It manages to slay the performance of most V8 powered cars, and has the power to outrun a 2002 WRX between 30 to 140km/h.

My car has a bull-bar and fog lights and is shaped like a mini van. The police have no idea how fast it is.

I can fit a lot of gear with the sliding side door, and large adjustable boot area. The rear seat slides back and forward, and also folds out of the way.

The front seats are Recaro's and are extremely comfortable.

This car also has climate control airconditioning, adjustable everything, and very good driving vision.

Things I would suggest installing to make your living with this vehicle more enjoyable :-

3" exhaust with 2 straight through mufflers and most importantly a resonator. This will dramatically improve performance and fuel economy.

Cruise control if you travel long distances.

Tinted windows due to the extreme amount of glass area.

Good plugs and leads.

This is a genuine wolf in sheep's clothing, the Evo Lancer engine in a mini van. Get one to keep the wife happy, kids in plenty of room, and yourself awake with adrenaline.

Happy hunting... poor V8's...