None More Focussed

Pushing nearly a decade yet the R35 GT-R, in the new MY 17 avatar, makes kheema of our brains

- Sirish Chandran

PERSPECTIVE. IN OUR line of ‘work’, perspective is everything. On its own the Nano is damn good value but in relation to an Alto? The true brilliance of an Activa only shines through when you look at the nonsense that came before it. And the perspective-altering pace of the GT-R can only be put into, erm... perspective when the most iconic all-wheel drive, turbo-charged, big-winged monster to come out of Japan is on its ass.

Say hello to the car parked at the entrance to my dream garage. Oh I love Ferraris and Porsches – who doesn’t? – but well before I actually got to test Ferraris and Porsches for a living, I dreamt of yumping a Mitsubishi Evo through the forests of Finland. Of course I insist the wallpaper of an Evo 6.5 in full flight isn’t the reason why I dumped a job at Porsche to start this magazine, but my wife reminds me not to underestimate the power of the subconscious, pointing out the first thing we did after kick starting evo India was get ourselves an Evo X. That Evo X was recently replaced by a IX and VIII (obsession, don’t ask…) to keep us sharp in the dry days between AMGs and Ms. Neither were sold in India and now that the X is gone, I’ll confess, it wasn’t all that great. In fact, I’d wager that if Mitsubishi had stuck with the original Evo formula and not messed about with automatic gearboxes and half-baked luxuries, the Evo series would still be alive. Because the IX, in this MR spec, is fierce.