The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was a rally legend and quickly developed a cult-like following among driving enthusiasts. It was the 10th and final gener- ation that landed on Canadian soil in 2007, offering auto enthusiasts in this country a four-door economy sedan whose performance almost defied belief. The final Lancer Evolution was sold until 2015, marking the end of the line for one of the greatest perform- ance sedans the world had ever seen. Before the Lancer Evolution, or “Evo” as it’s common- ly referred, was homologated for Group A racing in 1993, its predecessor the Galant VR-4 laid the foun- dation and introduced a computerized all-wheel drive system in 1988 that incorporated four-wheel steer- ing, four-wheel ABS, and four-wheel independent suspension, governed by an electronic brain. It was truly state-of-the-art technology that hadn’t been done before. The technology would see further evolution (no pun intended) through each successive Evo generation. In 2007 it was given the name Super All-Wheel Control or S-AWC. The latest iteration of it can be found in today’s Mitsubishi Outlander, Outlander PHEV and Eclipse Cross. One of the key people behind this technology was and still is Kaoru Sawase, an engineering fellow with Mitsubishi Motors in Japan. Known in the Mitsubishi community as the Godfather of S-AWC, his first pro - ject when he joined the company in 1988 was the Galant VR-4. He became interested in all-wheel drive technology after a near-death experience on a snowy mountain road as a young student. Being able to work on the technology at Mitsubishi was a dream come
true for him and he was particularly interested in ap- plying the technology to rally racing. After studying the advanced all-wheel drive systems from the Porsche 959 and Nissan GT-R, Sawase came up with a version adapted to a front-wheel drive plat- form, but also one that had improved upon what Porsche and Nissan had designed. The result was an electronically controlled centre differential all-wheel drive system that ended up bringing Mitsubishi much success in rally racing. When the Lancer Evolution I debuted in 1992, it used the famous 4G63 engine and all-wheel drive system from the Galant VR-4. The lighter and more nimble Lancer was a veritable rocket ship with ferocious ac- celeration and a top speed of 228 km/h, figures that are quick today let alone 30 years ago.
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