First off, the noise you heard is the blow-off valve. As someone had previously mentioned, it is standard with any turbo setup. A turbocharger works off of the exhaust gases produces in the engine. The exhaust gases spin the turbine which compresses the incoming air to a higher pressure which means higher power when ignition in the engine block.
The fact that they work off of the exhaust makes them inherintly bad for drag racing. A supercharger (like our SRT's) works kind of like a vacuum. Like the turbo, it compresses the air into the plenum giving a more power on the ignition, but unlike a turbo, it doesn't require the engine to 'spool' up the turbine before that power is realized. This is the reason that you have 'instant' power while he takes a while to bring the power on, otherwise known as 'Turbo Lag'. Most modern turbos are pretty good with this, but drive a mid-70s Porsche or 80's turbo hatch and you'll know what I mean!
Now the important part, the Lancer is Mitsubishi's bottom of the barrel car. If you buy a base model Lancer, its kinda like driving a Neon. When you spec an Evo model, its just like putting lipstick on a pig. You have a fast, trackworthy 4-door, but its still just a commuter car. The Crossfire is FAR more refined, better engineered, well built and uses far higher standards in quality than the Mitsu. You can easily mod out an Evo to 1000HP, but people do that all the time with Pintos, old Datsuns, Novas and Chevelles. It doesn't make them good cars, just wicked quick in a quarter mile run.
In summation, I wouldn't waste your time or your gas racing any 'ricer' car. Driving a Crossfire, you should be above it!
