Comparison: 2008 BMW 135i vs. 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR
The Matrix: Neo Evo or BMW’s all new 135i? We find out which really is The One.
By Edward Loh
Photography by Wesley Allison
Have a look at our video footage from this comparison by clicking HERE
Yeah, we know-on the face of it, this comparison looks ridiculous. What business do we have comparing an all-wheel-drive Japanese rally sedan versus a rear-drive German luxury coupe?
Simple: BMW’s new 1 Series really is just that-the only one in its class. Its smaller stature and lower-cost bar comparisons with the Infiniti G37 and Audi A5/S5-plus, there’s the BMW 3 Series for that. Though the BMW is available as a convertible, the 135i’s 2+2 seating combination eliminates sports cars and roadsters like the Nissan 350Z and CLK350 (and the Z4 already has those covered.) What’s left? We put together a matrix to compare (see it on page 4).
There we found the perfect 135i competitor: a 300-horsepower, two-door, four-passenger, rear-drive sports car that comes in at $28,000, but can hit the mid-30s fully loaded.
Then we sobered up and realized that nobody cross-shops a BMW against a Mustang. So we rolled up our sleeves and dug past some of the usual disqualifiers to focus on concepts like pure performance and fun factor.
Which is how we arrived at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR-two extra doors, two fewer cylinders, and one fewer turbocharger, yes, but two more driven wheels, similar engine output, and class-leading performance. Most important, the Evo is the kind of vehicle a true driving enthusiast can honestly consider against the 135i.
Or is it? Does a Mitsubishi deserve to run with a BMW? Or is the question whether a brand-new Bimmer stands a chance against a rally-bred legend? Step beyond the matrix to find out.
“Maybe this was a mistake,” come the murmurs from the test track. Part of the rationale behind this odd pairing was the BMW claim that the 135i sprints to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, just a tick under what we’ve seen out of the manual Evo GSR. How do we explain our 135i consistently ripping off 4.7-second runs to 60, a full half-second faster than our Evo MR’s fancy launch controlled sprint? We can’t.
only thing they have in common is hp and seating… I think 95% of this world would choose a bmw over the evo… IMO the only thing the evo can be compared to is the STi and maybe an s4?..
no one in the market for a bmw will consider an evo and vice versa… completely stupid comarison. Especially when they are judging the cars on performance and the clear winner on the track still somehow loses.
arent evos originally rally cars? how do u compare a regular car like the bee em to a rally vehicle? wouldnt they be in diff classes? the price bracket isnt the only thing to keep in mind when comparing cars
but the 135 looks badass. i HATE the new evo… front looks great, they killed the back… i dunno it looks huge to me. The last gen evo was the bomb, prefect design IMO.
cant you get a 135xi? that would be a seemingly better comparison if you can get the 1 series in awd, funny how the evo poops on it at the track yet they still like the 1 series better though, Id still take the 1 series over the evo X, now evo VII Or IX might be a different story
If anyone here actually gets to see the new BMW in person, it is tiny and ugly. Not saying the Evo X is the best design to come out on the Evo, personally I think the Evo8 is the best one, but no way would I spend money on that new BMW. Yuck.
its illogical to compare the two… they might as well have compared it to a truck. the hp would be around the same right? they’d probably base the test on towing though and somehow the beemer would win.
BMW is actually getting into the STI and Evo $$ territory with this car, 35K base model 135i compared to 32.9K of the evo and 34.9K STI. All taken directly from the websites, I’m sure you can get a better deal on the STI or Evo than you can on the 135i being a brand new model that just came out last month in the US. They are completely different beasts but what exactly can the 135i compare to in its segment? Other magazines have compared it to the R32, and the G37. I’m KIND of looking into all the vehicles in this price range and that is a kind of nice that there is so much diversity in this segment but it makes it difficult to compare the vehicles to eachother. The 135i is much more of a daily driver than the Evo and it shows, so different strokes for different folks
Edit: The 135i is a tiny car in person, and I love it. Its deff one of those cars thats very much love it or hate it.
