Welcome to Off-Road Legends, a new series from HotCars where we will take a closer look at some of the most iconic and successful off-roaders of all time. From the best pickup trucks we know and love to the most hardcore, Baja-prepped racing machines ever seen, Off-Road Legends highlights everything that allows vehicles to keep right on running when the pavement ends.

Our previous episodes have focused on individual makes and models, from the iconic Lancia Stratos HF to the world-beating Porsche 959, or even singular custom creations like the world's most expensive Ford Bronco or a 4x4-swapped Chevy Nova nicknamed Snortin' Nortin. This time around, we want to focus on a pair of rivals that together transitioned from rally racing to production cars and attracted loyal fanbases over the years: the Subaru WRX STI and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Today, neither remains in production and whether Mitsu or Subie might revive one of these icons as an EV in the future remains a longshot. Regardless, both will go down in history among the greatest Off-Road Legends of all time.

Rallying In The 1990s

Some might argue that the 1990s represent the golden age of rally racing, especially anyone who loves turbocharged all-wheel-drive sports cars from Japan. Alongside the infamous Toyota Celica GT-Four, which ended up getting Toyota banned when a snitch informed inspectors of a nifty restrictor plate that allowed more air into the engine, Subaru and Mitsubishi got into the game with the Impreza and the Lancer.

Mitsubishi had actually been competing admirably for decades and would go on to notch 34 wins between 1974 and 2002. But the Lancer (as well as the Dakar-dominating Pajero Evolution) would take that record to a whole new level. Subaru, on the other hand, discovered true rallying success with various iterations of the Impreza after it replaced the Legacy as the all-wheel-drive platform of choice.

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Crazy Values Making Headlines

Subaru Impreza 22B STi - Rear
Via Bring A Trailer

Interest in the Impreza's earliest, highest-spec variants piqued recently after cars began fetching huge numbers on the auction website Bring a Trailer. The original GC8-generation Impreza's 22b STI commands the highest bids, though Subaru never actually sold the car here in the United States. Instead, the American market received the Impreza 2.5RS, then eventually WRX and STI options when the second generation "Bugeye" arrived years later.

RELATED: The Subaru WRX STi: Closest Thing To A Road-Legal Rally Car

STI As Rally Tool

Subaru STI Brandon Semenuk 3
via Subaru Motorsports USA

Subaru officially exited WRC in 2008 due to financial reasons, but kept building the Impreza through to this day. Available alternately in hatchback, coupe, sedan, and wagon form over the years, this affordable economy car also kept competing in rallying across the globe, if not officially in WRC. Travis Pastrana made headlines jumping one over the water of Long Beach, California, while BMX-rider-turned-rally-racer Brandon Semenuk also pilots a Subaru currently. Altogether, Subaru managed three manufacturers championships in 1995, '96, and '97 as well as three drivers championships in 1995, 2001, and '03. Meanwhile, the Impreza holds a record with 46 different stage wins.

RELATED: 10 AWD Performance Cars We'd Buy Over The Subaru WRX STI

The Lancer Evo Takes Over

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Rally Car Front Three Quarters
via YouTube

But as great as the STI races, the Lancer arguably fared better in the Group N Production Car class, with seven consecutive titles from 1995 to 2001. Over the course of 10 generations, some of which made it to the United States and some that didn't, the Lancer Evo also proved the potency of a nose-heavy car with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired to a manual transmission and all-wheel-drive system. Production ended with a final year in 2015, though, and Mitsubishi's disappointing fall from grace in the automotive industry has only continued since then.

RELATED: 10 Reasons Why We Love The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8

The STI Is No More

WR Blue Peal Subaru WRX Rear Quarter View
Peter Nelson

More surprisingly, Subaru recently announced that the STI is no more. Fans and media alike received the news with shock, especially after the lower-spec WRX finally joined Subaru's Global Platform alongside the base Impreza and high-performance STI. Throw in a strange gradewalk which requires a CVT transmission and an expensive list of options to buy a WRX with new electronically adjustable shocks, and the decision seems even more perplexing.

After all, the whole point of the Lancer Evo and STI for so many years—other than winning rallies—was to offer a performance vehicle at an affordable price point. Instead, Subaru seems to hope the new WRX can target Audi customers, despite stylistic and performance differences that can only be described as vast. Subie seemingly hinted that an electric version of the STI might make up for the lack of a car in the current lineup, but the prospect that Mitsubishi will ever revive the Lancer (with a gas engine or not) seems even more remote.

RELATED: Here's How The Subaru Impreza WRX STi Evolved Through The Years

The Best Lancer Vs The Best STI

2000-Mitsubishi-Lancer-Evolution-VI-Tommi-Makinen-Edition-front
Mitsubishi

Much like the 22b Impreza, Mitsubishi can look back at every generation of the Lancer Evo and easily pick the best version ever: the Evo VI Tommi Makinen Edition launched in 2000 in honor of the driver's four consecutive WRC titles from 1996 to '99. Though perhaps not quite as valuable as the best Subarus, a Tommi Makinen Edition with chassis number 001 sold for just over $200,000 in 2021. Wearing Passion Red paint, racing decals, and 17-inch white Enkei wheels, the car also only showed 11,000 miles on the clock.

Ask a Subaru fan whether the Tommi Makinen Edition drives as well as a 22b and you'll get the expected response (even from those who have driven neither). And perhaps the greatest criticism for both the Lancer Evo and STI over the years involved ride quality—sure, they might blast around in the dirt with perfect aplomb but on bumpy roads, owners paid for their enthusiasm with sore backs regularly (which only makes the adjustable shocks debacle on the new WRX even more confusing).

Rivalries tend to create the greatest competitors, forged in the struggle. Mitsubishi and Subaru discovered exactly that with the Lancer Evo and STI over the years. Of course, fans of both will happily debate the merits of each of these bonafide Off-Road Legends forever, but nobody can argue that both earned their place in the pantheon of rallying throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Sources: subaru.com, mitsubishicars.com, youtube.com, bringatrailer.com, and dirtfish.com.