to navigate safely on snowy roads, or dirt roads, roads covered in sand or gravel or mud, and to do so re‑ gardless of the skill level of the driver – from everyday commuter to world-class rally competitor. No matter what kind of surface you are driving on, he emphasizes, “the ultimate technology is the one that allows a driver to move the vehicle as they wish. It’s what brings the driver safely back home at the end of the day. I think that is my strongest motivation in my career.” It has been quite a career. Sawase-san joined Mitsubishi in 1988, right out of university. “Immediately after joining the company, even as a rookie (engineer), I started, participating in the development of four- wheel drive systems,” he says, noting that long before he came to work at Mitsubishi, he studied AWD sys ‑ tems competing in the gruelling WRC. “And I was so impressed. That was my dream, to work on (AWD) technology,” he says. “And that’s why I joined Mitsubishi, to do this. I was very, very happy when I
was allowed to join the four-wheel drive development team as soon as I joined the company.” From the outset, Sawase-san worked on a team whose aim was to catch and surpass the electron‑ ically controlled AWD technology already in use by Porsche and the Nissan GTR. “So, they were ahead of us, but our goal was to over‑ come this challenge and develop this new technology from Mitsubishi. So, as an engineer, I must say I was extremely lucky,” he says. Indeed, in those early years, Mitsubishi and others were using mechanical 4WD systems that “we call dir ‑ ect connect. In other words, the front and rear wheels were mechanically connected.” This technology effi‑ ciently delivers straight-ahead traction, but turning smoothly and comfortably presented a challenge for drivers. From there, the team added a centre differential to improve the performance of the then-Gallant. There
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