EVO VII vs GR Yaris 1.6 Circuit Pack - Shootout OLD VS NEW | Fifth Gear

[Music] it's hard to believe but fifth gear is now 20 years old so to celebrate the occasion we've come up with some rather special shoe tanks involving cars that got us all excited back in 2002 and then putting them up against them modern day counterparts around the track this time we're getting down and dirty with two Japanese rally inspired beasts the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 or EVO 7 as it's better known and a Toyota Yaris GR the fq 300 was the fastest version of the Evo 7 when it was launched in 2002 in fact when fifth gear put it on track against another highly rated rally bread machine the Subaru Impreza WRX it was a full two seconds quicker fast forward two decades and we got Toyota's take on a rally car for the roads although this is not my first encounter with the rsgr because I first drove it two years ago come on baby on that day it blew a top spec Toyota sneaker firmly into the weeds and left me with this conclusion this little iris is without doubt my new favorite but I've got a feeling that Mitsubishi will give the Toyota something a bit tougher to chew on let's start by rolling down the ears if a rally fan of a certain age you'll remember that in the late 90s dominated by the Evo found a pal of mine the great Tommy Mackin won four WRC titles on the banks All In evos that is just Mega that is so successful that Mitsubishi produced 10 versions from 1992 and eventually hung up their hats in 2016. and it's not hard to see why these cars were so popular you know sensible money got you a practical four-door Saloon I can see off pretty much anything on the roads particularly if you had an fq 300 a two liter turbocharged engine produced nearly 310 horsepower in a body shell that weighed 1360 kilos and by today's standards and that's light the result is a naught to 62 time a 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 157 miles an hour but as the Evo is first and foremost a rally car the emphasis is not so much on traffic light stats being sure-footed maximizing grip on loose or slippery surfaces is all about directing power to the the wheels which can best use it hence why this is four wheel drive but it goes much further than that now also had an active Center diff which could distribute [Music] the power front or back depending on what was needed and there's also a trick bit of Kit in the rear axle that is active your control where it could actually individually put more power to one wheel to help the car turn and then there's another diff on the front axle to make sure the left or right wheel doesn't spin unnecessarily more clever stuff now you know even on tarmac you can feel these systems right there you feel it transfer power from the front to the rear of the car here on really slippery surfaces you really notice it and there's plenty of stopping power thanks to Brembo brakes all rounds now back in the day when this car was new you know the brakes were amazing obviously this one's had a bit of work and the brakes are a bit noisy quite a lot of great judder probably because they're a bit warped the fq-300 also benefited from a free-flowing air filter and revised exhaust to help the engine breathe better this was supposed to reduce turbo lag but remember we are talking about a 20 year old car now these cars have pretty big turbos and um yeah I mean there is lag definitely nothing like a modern turbo but you know what it's quite fun because then you you end up anticipating and getting on the power a bit earlier than you normally would waiting for the Boost to build makes it fun to drive actually these cars you know Vivo Subaru back in the day I'm taking this breathtaking in terms of the way they handle the way the way they drove I mean really pointy front end great grip brilliant balance but also just make you feel alive you know that quick they move around a bit that's just Epic well they are epic until the breaks fail Ure it turns out the brake fluid had boiled in all the excitement however after a brief cool off normal service was restored and I set off for a fast lap get on the gas right power power power come on JP flat over crest right start the watch [Music] do feel like Tommy MacKinnon God is quick right here we go coming to the line stopwatch the Evo 7 crosses the line in 48.58 seconds now did any of the eagle-eyed amongst you spot anything unusual about this car's number plate now would you believe this is exactly the same car that we drove 20 years ago next the Yaris la unch like the Evo did 20 years ago the rsgi is being campaigned in the World Rally Championship but let's not kill ourselves you know those cars are a million miles away from the yarish you can get at the Toyota dealership so this gr comes with all the safety Tech soundproofing and luxury fitments we've come to expect from Modern Day production cars and that means well it's quite Hefty now remarked earlier that the Evo was pretty light at 1360 kilos and to put that into context this Yaris is half a meter shorter and yeah it's only 50 kilograms lighter so this is a you know for a size heavy little trowel and although the gr is still the most powerful three cylinder car you can buy with 260 horsepower at its disposal it's still giving away 50 horses to the Mitsubishi now crunch the numbers basically means that this Yaris has got a lower power to weight ratio than the Evo and why is this stat so important because it's the ultimate comparison figure When comparing two cars you know if this car had twice the power but also twice the weight it wouldn't be any quicker in fact it'd be slower because Mass doesn't want to slow down and doesn't want to change direction so perhaps it's no surprise that the Yaris is nearly half a second slower to 62 than the Evo although the Toyota will benefit from the optional circuit pack that's been fitted this pack doesn't add any power but it does add torsion differentials front and rear and a stiffer setup on the suspension which ultimately is going to mean it's got a corner better and it's kind of better traction it also adds three and a half gram to the price tag bringing the gr to 35 000 pounds mind you that's only four thousand more than the Evo 7 cost back in 2002. let's get set up for a whole lap sell the watch [Music] phenomenal grip by the first checkpoint the Yaris is half a second ahead here in this track mode it's 50 50 torque split brilliant front's really tight holds the line and this is going to blow apart the Evo I reckon by the second checkpoint that lead has stretched to three quarters of a second the front tucks in now I can feel the rear moving a little bit wow it's a really beautiful balance proper thing stop the watch the Aries crosses the line in 47.15 seconds which is 1.4 seconds faster than the Evo so the new car wins by a good margin around this short landown circuit the Evo is still a very quick car and huge fun to drive but it simply can't compete with a little Toyota's astonishing balance Mega brakes and super glue grip and I loved it when I drove it a couple years ago still love it don't forget if you like what you see remember to click the Subscribe button for the fifth gear YouTube channel to be first to see our latest content and maybe drop us a comment below if there's a shootout that you're dying to see

Channel: Fifth Gear

Views: 315,385

Keywords: Fifth Gear, car, review, fast, crash, fifth, gear, Tiff Needell, Jason Plato, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jonny Smith, car review, New Cars, New Episodes Of Fifth Gear, Fifth Gear 2018, Bring Back Fifth Gear, Fifth, Gear, Full, Episodes, Live, Stream, New Fifth Gear Series, New Car Reviews

Id: QWD0dCWlPyA

Length: 11min 5sec (665 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 06 2022