Rally ’round the mountain with the Evo VIII

Japan is known for quite a number of exemplary things. To most people, they make electronic products that set world standards. To food lovers, Japan offers cuisine that is simply a gastronomic delight. To naturalists, the land of the rising sun boasts of one the world’s most perfect cones, Mount Fuji. To yet others, Japan makes some of the world’s best cars. And of these cars, few can claim to be as world-beating as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution series.

Multiple winner of the World Rally Championship and boasting a rabid cult following that stretches from Asia to Australia to Europe and now, to the U.S., the Lancer Evolution is indeed one of the world’s greatest cars. And I was lucky enough to drive the latest version, the Evo VIII, in no less than its natural habitat — the winding roads of Hakone in Japan.

I have to admit that it was hugely disconcerting driving a right-hand-drive manual-transmission car — bursting with 280 horses of turbocharged and intercooled power — on the left hand side of the road and shifting gears with my left hand. That I had to pass through a town complete with one-way roads, forks, corners, intersections, toll gates and pedestrian crossings — not to mention lots of traffic and with many of the directional signs in Japanese — made the experience all the more daunting.

Fortunately, passing through the town took no more than 15 minutes of my one-hour tryst with the Evo. I saw 80 kph posted as a speed limit as soon as I crossed the last traffic light and entered a series of two-lane switchbacks bounded by a single yellow line. Caution when overtaking. Especially over the short stretches which are the only places you can clearly see ahead.

Experts say that the best overtaking maneuver is one that’s accomplished as quickly as possible. I knew the Lancer I was driving had the sheer acceleration (0-100 kph in 5 seconds with a top speed close to 260 kph) to blast around slow moving cars, but I was too tentative to try any heroics in an unfamiliar setting. That is, until a waist-high Lotus Elise almost attached itself to my rear bumper and began revving its engine in an impatient manner. I could almost hear its driver muttering about the driver in front who has a Lancer Evo 8 and doesn’t know how to use it.

So like any Filipino driver, I obliged. I downshifted the six-speed (yes, six!) gearbox to 2nd gear and floored the throttle. The 4G63 engine rose from our relaxed 3000-rpm pace to 4000 rpm, then to 5000 rpm, upon which the almighty twin-scroll turbo kicked in with an engine-busting 19.5 pounds of boost. Almost instantly I was doing 120 when seconds ago, I was toddling along at 60. The minibus blocking our path fast became smaller and smaller.

Then I had to brake hard for a sharp bend. But with the Evo 8’s huge disc brakes clamped by bright red Brembo brake calipers with no less than a total of 12 pistons, my biggest worry was that the Lotus driver still behind might run smack into me. Fortunately, the driver behind knew the drill and was on his binders soon enough. Discretion proved the better part of valor though and I let my eager adversary through with a wave of my hand.

The rest of the mountain roads was spent solitarily exploring the wonders of the car. Lancer Evolutions send their prodigious power to all four wheels all the time, and this Evo 8 sported Mitsubishi’s state-of-the-art programmable (Tarmac, Gravel, Snow) all-wheel-drive system. I tried to take tight corners as fast as I could but the car simply turned with nary a squeal from its 17-inch 45-series Yokohama Advans.

Needless to say, the car was way overqualified for both the road and the driver. At a scenic stop overlooking the majestic Mount Fuji, I let the Evo cool off as I drank a cola and snapped pictures. The hot exhaust pipe was cracking and popping as I admiringly caressed the car’s muscular flanks, sculpted in aluminum to make it lighter. The hood, too, was made of this lightweight metal, as I discovered when I opened the hood to gaze at the engine. Another weight-saving trick was the use of carbon fiber for the huge and intimidating rear wing. Lamborghini is the only other carmaker to use carbon fiber for its wing. Exotic!

Almost reluctantly, I reboarded the car for the trip back to our hotel. The Evo 8’s handlers seemed almost relieved to see their charge come back in good shape. Walking away from the car, I turned around to admire it once more — all menacing with its broad shoulders and eagle-like front. The Lancer Evolution 8’s engine had died. But my heart was beating was as fast as ever.