I have seen the next-generation Lancer Evolution X. No, not the prototype that was introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, but a very recent update that is somewhere around 95 percent of what will go into production.
I have touched the car, stroked its fenders, even kicked its tires. But I can't tell you anything about it. And that's not for lack of good information or an unwillingness to share, either. I'm literally bursting with facts I'd just love to tell you about the Evo X and its ridiculously fast future. I just can't.
You see, although Mitsubishi invited me and a few other journalists to fly out to Japan to ogle the Evo X and test-drive a handling prototype (page 108), the cost was high. I was not permitted take a picture, scribble a drawing, or even make a crayon rubbing of the Evo X I saw. Nor could I tell a soul about it.
But what I can tell you is what I've learned from the father of the Lancer Evolution. His name is Hiroshi Fujii, and his business card states that he is the manager of the C-segment Product Development Project. But around Mitsubishi he's known as Dr. Evo.
Fujii-san has been Dr. Evo since the Evolution VII. He and his team are responsible for adding such critical improvements as MIVEC, ACD/AYC and the lightweight aluminum roof. He's also the guy who helped bring Evolution to the United States, and is developing the trick S-AWC control system.
After meeting Dr. Evo, I happen to sit next to him during our welcome dinner. He is one of those quiet, engineering types who think a lot more than they speak, so I slip him a copy of our Tokyo Drift issue in hopes that he'll open up. His face lights up when he sees that we put not one, but two Evos on the cover. He thanks me politely but then cocks his head for moment and frowns.
"What is this?" he asks, pointing to the smoke billowing off the rear tire of the main Evo.
Oh crap. Maybe showing Dr. Evo how we ugly Americans completely butchered the drivetrain of his pride and joy and then pimped it on our cover for the sake of a thoroughly ridiculous movie was a bad idea.
"It's an Evo," I say, with as close to a neutral expression as I can muster. "Doing a burnout."
Dr. Evo frowns even further. "How?"
"They, uh, disconnected the front driveshaft," I say, using my hands to make the universal sign for disconnected front driveshaft.
"Why?"
"For drifting," I respond, feeling the conversation, this trip, and my hopes for an early shot at the X slip slowly from my grasp.
"Ah..." he says, after a long pause. "Interesting." Then he flips open the magazine and starts reading.
Relieved he didn't throw the issue in my face, I show him shots of his Evo drifting and the rear-wheel-drive dyno chart. He seems into it, looking genuinely surprised at what I'm showing him.
Later on, we're at a bar sipping 12-year-old Suntory whiskey that has been watered down 10:1 as only the Japanese do and it's my turn to rake him over the coals.
"What is your dynamic target for the Evo X? BMW M3? WRX STI?" I ask.
Dr.Evo shakes his head, "Only Evo IX."
"So the Evo X will be better than the Evo IX?"
He looks at me as though I just asked him for a poke in the eye.
"Yes, of course," he says. "Why?"
In a tone I hope he understands as only utmost respect, I reply, "Because Evo fans in the U.S. are very afraid that the Evo X will not be better - that Mitsubishi will do to it what they did to the Eclipse."
"Ah," Dr. Evo says, nodding his head. "Don't worry. The Evo X will be superior to the Evo IX. Much, much superior."
After all I have seen, that is all I need to hear.