Matthew Hermsen started his car-buying quest in search of the perfect tuner car. His criteria were perfectly standard: a new car that runs off the lot and a few extras like a sunroof and fog lights. Hermsen had narrowed his selection down to the Scion tC, Toyota Corolla and Kia Forte. But when he saw the Mitsubishi Evolution X’s sleek body lines and performance specifications, it was enough to turn the other vehicles into distant memories. The only problem was the price. The 2009 Evolution X was in the mid-$30,000 range. For the same look of high performance, Hermsen could get the sporty Mitsubishi Lancer GTS for less than half that price, so he decided to go in that direction. While he’d be sacrificing nearly 300 horsepower, which came standard on the high-end model, the 168 horses that seemed asthmatic in comparison could be easily upgraded with a large stable of aftermarket parts.
The vehicle Hermsen purchased was already equipped with gunmetal gray 18-inch MKW M71 wheels and Nankang NS-20 tires. So Hermsen turned his attention to the naturally aspirated engine, adding an Injen short ram intake for better breathing capability. Next, he blacked out the front bumper and added 5000k HID headlights. To let traffic know he was coming, a full catback Tsudo N1 exhaust helped open up throatier bass tones.
