Risin' sons: The most affordable, no frills cars swallow up unsuspecting rivals whole

摘要

Character is more important than overall performance in a motor vehicle; soul more apparent by its absence. And over the last decade, the Japanese carmakers have been largely criticised for pumping out bland, characterless cars lacking soul and passion. Hollowing Subaru's Phoenix-like rise in the Nineties, the MY10 WRX doesn't evoke the same emotion and cult following as its predecessors. Even Mitsubishi's Evolution X, the brashest of this Japanese assembly and boasting an all-new engine, is a more restrained shadow of its forefathers. Yet they do the job oh-so-well: this is still champagne performance for beer money. The Japanese contenders for the 2010 Castrol Edge Hot Tuner Shootout may be lacking the drama of the Euros and Aussies, without the bling, the bared arms and claims of world domination. Yet they represent a group of quiet assassins that don't stand on rooftops beating their chests but simply blow them away like well-concealed snipers. Ethos has joined the Japanese arsenal.