The Spirit of Competition!

One of the meanings of the word 'Evolution' in the Oxford Dictionary is 'The gradual development of something'. This is what most people think when they hear that word. 

But to petrol heads the world over the word Evolution means only one thing.....

The Mitsubishi Evolution just like the name suggests has evolved into one of the greatest super sedans of all time. Since its launch in 1992 the Evo was remembered by young and old alike thanks to its very vibrant rally career. 

The first two variants were said to be very sedate. But then in 1995 came along the Evolution III. Higher compression engines, bigger turbos, more radical styling just made things very serious. With almost 270 Bhp the Evo III was a force to reckon with! It went on to win 6 titles, got Mitsubishi 2nd place in the Constructors championship in two seasons and more importantly Tommi Makinen scored his first four titles in this model! 

But to us Sri Lankan's, the Evo III is probably the most popular model, made famous thanks to its win against a very modern beast at the last drag event. This is the Evo that is on every teen's wish list. Atleast on mine! 

This here is Kasun Fonseka's very special Mitsubishi Evolution RS. The RS was a stripped out version of the standard Evo. It didn't have any luxuries (no radio even) but did come with its own roll cage.

This been a conversion though, it has those luxuries but with the RS drive-train. Gotta love the red and white theme on this ride! 

I have been wanting to shoot an Evo III for a very long time. Do not mind the authentic battle damage, this is Kasun's daily driver. How lucky is he? Don't worry he will be going in for a full paint job any time soon. 

So on to the car! It hasn't been in Kasun's possession for that long, but in that short period of time he has painstakingly restored it back to the condition it should be in. It was hidden in some far off place that I had never heard of, and Kasun was lucky enough to stumble upon it. Love at first sight I presume? 

The car has been kept stock to a certain extent. Which is a good thing. The only few mods are the crystal tail lamps...

and these lovely smoked headlamps. Its thanks to these that the front end looks very mean! 

How can you not love a decal like that?? Wonder why the new versions don't come with fancy stickers like this!

I got to admit, the Lancer of this generation wasn't a very attractive car. Looking at that side profile you wouldn't think it had a great big turbo charged engine under the hood. Imagine back in the 90's when you could have turned up at the lights and smoked a better looking sports cars in one of these bad boys! 

The wheels might not be to most peoples taste but those are authentic light weight rally alloys. But i think those will be changed soon I hope!

Junction Produce Sticker on an Evo? Interesting. For those who didn't know, Junction Produce is a Japanese aftermarket firm specialized in building VIP cars! 

On the interior side of things, the Evo is steered by this lovely Momo steering wheel! 

Important information such as Oil Temp and Boost is monitored by these two fellas. And over in the corner is a shift light. 

The interior was so JDM! Inspired much. Mismatched seats, Gauges with exposed cables running across the dash! Love! Enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat too, the original Recaro recliners that comes with the Evo II.. Need to find me a set of those for my Ceres.....

Now to the more important bits of the car! Performance! 

How can you not love that face eh? Unlike the Impreza's the Evo's come with factory mounted front mount intercoolers. That there is the stock one, Kasun is upgrading it to an even bigger one in the future!

Behold Mitsubishi's 4G63 2000CC Turbocharged engine from its Sirius engine line up (Fetching name aint it?) Well this one here is getting serious. Keeping it cool is a 3 core Greddy Radiator (Yes you heard me right, 3 Core!!). Other mods include an K&N Air intake, HKS Blow Off valve, Upgraded FMIC piping and a lovely purple strut brace.

Internals of this engine is still stock. Not that this beast is slow, but who doesnt mind some extra horsepower especially when you have a 4WD chassis to handle all of it! 

And to make the engine bay a little bit more tidy is this nice Ralliart oil cap! 

I shall leave you with this shot of her! A big Thank you to Kasun for making it today! And Thanks to the Weather Gods for the lovely backdrop! 

By Charith Kulasiri