If you’re asked to picture an Evo (short for Lancer Evolution), chances are you have conjured up a CT9A Lancer Evolution in your mind, that too in either red, green or white. The seventh iteration of the Lancer Evolution was a massive departure from the red thoroughbred rally cars of the past from the triple diamond marque, for it was based on the back then, newly introduced Lancer Cedia, which looked nothing like the Lancers of the past.
Ahbaar Milky
Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:36 AM
However, the CT9A cemented itself onto our consciousness to be synonymous with the word ‘Lancer Evolution’ despite being lamented as of late 2016 and out of 10 generations.
Change is hard. And that was certainly the case with Evolution VII as the newly christened rally car for the road received lukewarm reactions from fans. Fast and Furious movies definitely helped ease the transition as a bright green Evolution VII with a wing received significant screen time, and did the same later with a bright red Evolution VIII with a wing. Although the Lancer Evolution would have done just fine without the stardom it gained throughout the years from the Fast and Furious franchise. These cars usually raced on a Sunday and sold on Monday, as Mitsubishi had motorsport pedigree in abundance.
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The 2001 World Rally Championship (WRC) saw Mitsubishi enter two different generations of the homologated Lancer Evolution due to complicated contracts Ralliart (Mitsubishi’s motorsport wing) was under with the FIA. Both the outgoing CP9A Evolution 6.5 and the newly developed and WRC christened, Lancer Cedia-based Lancer WRC. This is probably why you won’t see pictures of the later iterations of the CT9A as the Lancer WRC competed till as late as 2007 with little to no success.
Meanwhile, the road-going Evolution 7 shared the majority of its interior and trim components with the base Lancer. While the arches were flared and boxy, true to Evolutions of the past, the arches were wider than ever before, and the trunk spoiler was larger than ever. The turbocharged 4G63 power train was updated in terms of torque, while horsepower was capped at 276 due to the infamous gentleman’s agreement between Japanese auto manufacturers. In reality, most performance cars made power well above the agreed threshold.
2001 was a year of many firsts for the Mitsubishi brand, for they offered a dialled down automatic Evolution for the first time. The Tiptronic Evo brandished the ‘GT-A’ badge on the grille and on the trunk, which wasn’t the only distinguishing feature from its manual variants. The interior received chrome trims throughout the door handles and the tachometer, while the elephant in the room was the 5-speed automatic gear shifter. The seats were plusher than the hardcore Recaro in the other car. The GT-A also received a different steering wheel and a tachometer to house the PRNDL gauges, which many fans would say was quite ugly. Meanwhile, the bumpers were different from the GSR, as the GT-A had a nostril-less front bumper, a sleeker hood with no meshed scoop for added ventilation, and a shortened trunk, therefore, boot. While the clear tail lamps are a dead giveaway while distinguishing a GT-A. The GT-A, therefore, was a viable daily driven alternative, years before the final evolution debuted with the automatic SST gearbox, too many dull econoboxes on the market since it made significantly less power than its GSR brethren.
This matte, Sonic the Hedgehog-like blue Evolution VII is slightly modified but still within the realms of OEM specifications, and for sale, courtesy of The Motor Company. The Evolution 8 Enkei wheels suit the polarising paint job better than the diamond cut 17″ the Evolution 7 wore and are sitting on Blitz coil-overs while the boot spoiler has been upgraded to the bigger GSR wing. The hood has also been replaced with a lighter GSR carbon fibre hood, and the interior is brought up to date with an android infotainment system.
With Mitsubishi killing off the Evolution nameplate, these potent turbocharged AWD sedans are soon to be a relic of the past as global powers are doubling down on extinguishing the internal combustion engine, which is why now is as good a time as any to own a Lancer Evolution.
Photos: Ahbaar Milky
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মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
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Car hibernation: Tips and tricks
During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are storing away our precious cars for a prolonged period as we have to stay quarantined for safety. Sadly a lot of people don’t know that without a hint, storing away cars for an extended period of time can damage the car unexpectedly. Repair costs may turn out to be expensive and time-consuming.
Itmam Bashar
Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:00 AM
Check out our handy guide on maintaining your car during these hard times and ensure a safe car hibernation.
Don’t put the handbrake on
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When you have to put the car away for an extended period of time, putting the handbrake on can lead to the brake pads getting stuck to the discs or the drums, which would, in turn, lead to increased wear and tear. Try to avoid this damage by using wheel chocks or putting a brick or a piece of wood to avoid it from rolling over. It can also be left on 1st gear if the car in question has a manual transmission.
Remove spark plugs and oil the plug sockets
It is advisable to remove your spark plugs and drop a tad bit of oil in the plug sockets before you put the spark plugs back again before leaving your car idle for a long time. This helps in keeping the moisture away and also fends off the rust from the internal part of cylinder heads.
Filling up the gas tank
Fill up the gas tank full before storing it away. There is a misconception that it’s best to leave only little fuel in the fuel tank when storing a car for an extended period of time, however, doing this will build up moisture inside the gas tank and dry out the seals and can also potentially build up rust internally. Filling up the gas tank will avoid this annoying catastrophe and keep your car safe.
Use a cover or park indoors
Storing a car for a long time is advised to be done indoors or cover it up outdoors because it will reduce wear and tear from rain and sunlight as well as keep your car clean from getting weathered. This will help you big time by protecting the paint finish of your vehicle and also providing protection from dust and minor scratches. If parked indoors for a long period, it’s better not to cover up the car because doing so will help you avoid any sort of moisture build-up in humid weather.
Thorough clean-up
This tip is very obvious but people tend to forget about it before keeping the car away for a long time. Cleaning the interior and exterior thoroughly is important to avoid unexpected paint damage, rotting, damage to floor mats, seat covers, a buildup of mould, and even the wiring. Make sure there are no food crumbs, old water bottles, or newspapers inside as it can build up moisture inside the car which can damage the interior. To prevent damage to the paintwork, clean the exterior thoroughly by removing all the dirt and grime. If possible, polish or wax the exterior to keep the moisture and dirt away, followed by using a car cover.
Disconnect the battery
It is advised to disconnect the battery to maintain it when storing the car for a long time, at least the negative terminal from your car battery as this is the only way to prevent unnecessary battery drain. Apply grease or petroleum jelly on the wire ends and battery terminal to prevent corrosion. The battery should be stored in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight.
Tire maintenance
Cars that are left parked for a long period of time tend to develop flat spots and form cracks in the sidewall of tires. To avoid this, inflate the tires correctly or four jacks to lift your car so that it doesn’t rest on its wheels. This will prevent any damage done to the tires.
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২৬ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
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The legend of Lancia in WRC
Itmam Bashar
Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Jan 14, 2022 03:58 AM
Lancia – A company that turned heads and rocked the WRC world, dominating from 1974 to 1994. Who would’ve thought that the same company that produces only one car in one country nowadays had such a glorious past? The brand that used to be known for making overpowered rally cars full of innovative engineering has turned into rust buckets in the modern day.
We know back in the late 80s and 90s rally racing was at its peak with manufacturers like Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Audi, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Ford, and even Nissan in rally races. The brand that stood out among all these giants was a small Italian company called Lancia. The first successful Lancia was the FWD Fulvia which had been winning every Italian rally race since 1965.
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Lancia needed a new model to replace the car, and a designing company called Bertone saw that as a great opportunity, independently building a working design called Stratos HF Zero on a Fulvia chassis. Lancia was interested and told them to build them a car that is strictly for winning rally races. Marcello Gandini, who designed the Lamborghini Countach and the Miura, was working on the Stratos. Lancia soon debuted the new Stratos HF prototype in the 1971 Turin Motorshow. Afterwards, a team led by racer and engineer Mike Parkes spent three years developing, testing and honing the Stratos prototype.
The Stratos was a small mid-engined RWD car that featured a curb wraparound windshield for maximum aero. Lancia race team director Cesare Fiorio convinced Enzo Ferrari to give them 500 of the 190Hp V6 engines from the Ferrari Dino. The Stratos body was made out of fibreglass and only weighed around 910kg so it moved to 60 mph in 7 seconds. Then in 1973, 492 cars were quickly made, and by 1974 Stratos was ready to enter WRC group 4.
The race-tuned Stratos made between 270Hp to 320Hp which immediately blew the fans and the competition away. Stratos went on to make history by winning three consecutive manufacturing championships in 1974-1976 then still kept on winning rallies till 1981. Before the Stratos, there was no other car ever made to be solely made for Rally racing.
In 1980 Lancia began working with Abarth and Pininfarina to develop the Rally 037 Stradale. This car would be built specifically for the now lawless and infamous WRC Group-B Class. 200 of 037 Stradale models making 210Hp were homologated for the street, a lag-free supercharger was added to the 2-litre inline-four to make 280+Hp for the WRC rally. The engine was placed longitudinally instead of transversely to fit a superior suspension setup, where they used Double wishbones front and rear along with two shocks per side, built on a tube frame with lightweight composite bodywork.
Afterwards, in 1983, there was an all-out fight between RWD 037 and the AWD Quattro, where Audi won five rallies and the Lancia’s sports team had the driver’s championship won by Walter Rohrl and teammate Markku Alen and Attilio Betteca matched Audi’s five wins with 037’s completely covering the podiums at two events, leading it to win the Manufacturer’s Championship.
Lancia thought that it will be hard to compete with the Quattro AWD system in the future rally races, so came up with their own AWD car, which was none other than the 1980 European car of the year Lancia Delta. It already sold well, but Group-B was popular and Lancia figured that it would sell even more if it entered Group-B. They turned that family FWD car into the most successful rally car of all time.
In the beginning, they only used Delta’s shape and windshield and used an aerodynamically tweaked composite body on a tube space frame and gave the front engine an F1-inspired twin-charged 1.8 litre 4-cylinder mounted in the middle. The supercharger provided the low-end grunt and handed over to the turbo at the higher rpm, with the twin-charged setup improving the torque across the whole rpm range.
The Rally Lancia Delta S4 made over 500Hp and some of them are said to make over 750Hp which weighed less than 900 kg. They did 0-60 mph in 2.4 seconds and it was converted to AWD with a viscous centre differential and a torque sensory Torsen rear differential for better traction. That set-up meant that the car tended to understeer when going into corners but would quickly switch to oversteer when all the torque went to the rear wheels. It was ridiculously fast in the hands of a capable driver who anticipated this mechanism.
The Delta S4 competed in the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986 and won until Group-B was disbanded. The cars were eventually banned from competition by the FIA because of the tragic crash of Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto on the 1986 Tour-de-Corse.
Lancia decisively switched to Group-A and switched the production-based Delta and created the Delta HF 4WD for Group-A. It had a turbocharged 2 litre 4 banger and set-up transversely upfront. When Group-B was cancelled, other manufacturers didn’t have anything in their lineups that were suitable for rally races, giving Lancia a huge advantage over its competitors. Lancia easily won 9 out of 13 rally races and clinched both the 1987 manufacturers and drivers championship.
In 1988, Lancia improved their car with the Delta HF Integrale 8 valve by bumping the power from 165Hp to 185Hp and giving it bigger wheels, brakes, and wheel arches, which soon gave away the Integrale 16 valve a bulged hood and a new cooling system with 200Hp. Lancia made constant improvements on the Delta through to 1993 with the final model Delta Integrale Evoluzione II with 215Hp, which was 15cm wider and made 30% more power than the original Delta HF.
Lancia Delta rally versions continued to own WRC with the Integrale 8 valve winning 10 out of 11 events in 1988. It was so dominant that it won 46 WRC rallies and six straight championships from 1987 to 1992 – a record that is still to this day unbeaten by any other single model.
The Stratos, 037, and Delta have a total of over 74 victories and 11 championships, making them the most successful manufacturer of rally cars. This was the peak for Lancia. Slowly, most of their 80s Fiat-based production cars rusted away, and since then they have been making disappointing cars and selling rebadged Chrysler 300s and weird Fiat 500s.
This gradual decline in quality and effort established the sad fact that Lancia did not have a bright future. Rally racing also became ridiculously expensive which led to the downfall of the brand. Despite the downs, Lancia will always remain one of the most legendary manufacturers in the rally racing world.
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২৬ মিনিট আগে|বাংলাদেশ
মির্জা আজমের বক্তব্য ‘অরুচিকর-অসংলগ্ন’
আওয়ামী লীগের সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক ও জামালপুর-৩ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য মির্জা আজম বলেছেন, ‘চোরকে চোর বললে ভেচকি মারে। আজকে কয়েকটি চোর, চোর সমিতি করে। তারা থ্রেট করে আমাকে, বিবৃতি দেয়। তারা আমার এমপি পদ থেকে…
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চট্টগ্রাম থেকে ইতালির উদ্দেশ্যে প্রথম সরাসরি কনটেইনার জাহাজের যাত্রা
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Best premium bikes you can get your hands on
Abdus Salam Shawn
Fri Dec 31, 2021 12:00 AM Last update on: Fri Dec 31, 2021 04:18 AM
The hottest and most desired bikes are mostly sports bikes. They are as striking to look at while stationary as are when mobile. Although we do not get fully-fledged sports bikes in Bangladesh due to the cc limit, we do love the little brothers that come in the form of R15, GSX R, CBR, and so on. What if you could buy the costliest, fastest and most exotic bike available? That’s what we are going to find out.
Honda CBR 150R 2021 Indonesia
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If looks could kill, this bike would be in jail for a massacre. The pointy nose, the angry eyes and the sports decals make it one of the most desired bikes available to Bangladeshi motorheads.
Although this is an entry-level sports bike, compared to its bigger brothers, it packs some serious punch. It has a 149.16 cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine producing 17.1 PS at 9000 rpm and 14.4 Nm of torque at 7000 rpm.
It propels the bike up to 136 km/h returning approximately 35-40 km per litre of fuel. Even though it looks aggressive, it’s a fairly comfortable ride with upside-down forks at the front and Swing Arm with Monoshock (Pro-Link) system at the back. It has 276 mm and 220 mm disk brakes on the front and rear wheels with dual-channel ABS as an option. Mind you, it is a road bike with low ground clearance and likes to stay on the road.
Priced at Tk. 5,40,000/-, it’s a bike for people looking for a taste of racing bikes who don’t have a budget problem.
Yamaha R15M
The most popular poster bike gets a new look with the R15M. The redesigned headlight, the shiny graphics and the muscular fuel tank help it stand out as still a poster bike. This definitive sports bike of the subcontinent has at its heart a 155.1 cc liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine pumping out 18.35 BHP of power at 10000 rpm and 14.1 Nm torque at 8500 rpm.
The top speed is around 140 km/h, and it’s expected to go approximately 40 km per litre of fuel. VVA makes sure your rise to the top speed is smooth and the all-new traction control system helps you avoid wheelspin. It comes with dual-channel ABS and 282mm and 220mm brake discs. There are adjustable telescopic forks at the front and a mono-shock at the rear, and with the handlebar a little higher than before, it aims at being a better long-rider. The fully digital instrument console connects with your phone through the Y-connect app and shows various notifications and has many useful features.
The new edition of the most popular sports bike in Bangladesh, the R15M, has a price tag of Tk. 505,000/-
Suzuki GSX R 150
If you are looking for a pocket rocket, the GSX R 150 is the one to go with. It has a top speed of 145 km/h as listed by Suzuki, but people have gone over 150 km/h with this bike. The liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine is one of the most powerful of the 150 cc segment producing 18.9 bhp at 10,500 rpm and 14 Nm of torque at 9000 rpm.
The bike is relatively smaller at 2020 mm length, 700 mm width and 1075 mm height, and lighter at 131 kilograms. As for suspensions, it uses telescopic forks at the front and mono-shock at the back. The braking system is effective and efficient with dual-channel ABS and a four-piston radial fixed calliper with a 290mm disc brake set up at the front and 189mm disc on the rear wheel. Looks-wise, it is a stunner, retaining the iconic blue and white livery and bold decals. There are a few more colours available.
The bike comes at a base price of Tk. 350,000/- without ABS, which requires going up to Tk. 3,79,950/-, and there is a special edition for Tk. 3,95,000/-
Honda CB150R Exmotion
Looking for a comfortable commuter bike with jaw-dropping looks? The CBR 150 R Exmotion has you covered. With a retro, round and split headlight, exposed scaffolding and muscular stance, it has a solid road presence.
A liquid-cooled, single-cylinder 149 cc engine sits at its heart pushing out 20 bhp and 14.5 Nm of torque. Power delivery is constant and smooth. You can expect a top speed of 135 km/h and a mileage of 35 km/l. To stop this streetfighter, there is a 296mm floating disc with radial 4-piston callipers that has ABS at the front and another disc on the rear wheel. Weighing only 123 kgs, this is a very lightweight and sporty bike.
This premium bike comes with a premium price tag which is Tk. 550,000/-, but you get what you pay for.
