After my experience in Russia, I still had some doubts about this car:
what struck me most was the fact the steering was not very direct.
I thought the Lancer driving experience would have been my favorite,
as I said in the video, but it wasn't: we discovered there was something wrong with the car
and the owner later told us one of the rear arms was basically split in half,
of course it wasnít nice to drive. I felt it push on the back,
the toe was all over the place because of the broken suspension arm.
So I have to start over and understand how the Evo VI Tommi Makinen truly feels.
After a few feet I can already tell you it's phenomenal!
Now I perfectly understand why it's the Evo everyone loves,
I loved it too just for the look; now I can say that...
...it's marvelous, a sharp tool you can fully exploit, on this kind of roads itís simply heavenly.
I'm driving a fully original car, just the exhaust was changed and ECU reprogramed.
What I wanted to feel most was the original set-up, the suspensions
Mitsubishi designed for this car and I have to tell I didn't expect
a stock set-up to be this sophisticated and precise. It's superb.
It's nice because it's not extremely stiff but still you can feel they worked
on the frame: on this model it was reinforced in 14 different points and
you actually feel it's not a regular...
... dealer car, even though it actually was, you could buy it there.
Guys... it goes...
As I was saying, the frame is rigid but well managed by the suspensions:
yes, it's stiff but itís never nervous nor annoying.
It suits the power perfectly: on paper it produces the well-known 280 hp
imposed by the Japanese gentleman agreement, but clearly the power was a bit more,
especially when they were shipped to those countries where that law didnít apply.
So before selling them, the dealers turned a few screws easily gaining 20/30 horses more
And she deserves them... Hence the engine produces the perfect amount
of power for the road in my opinion.
If I had more I wouldn't be able to use it all, but here I can put all the power down
in the true Mitsubishi way.
Another thing to remember is that the Tommi Makinen RS is completely mechanical,
the differentials are mechanical and this is something priceless
for those who love this kind of things. Wonderful...
I'm so happy the steering is different from the car I drove in Russia,
actually it's great: direct and precise without being rude when you want
to be delicate, it doesn't make the car nervous when you're correcting.
It fits the driving on mountain roads perfectly.
The low-end torque is always present and never lets you down,
except on tight hairpin corners when you'd need first gear instead of second,
something rare on public roads anyway. Here for example: 2nd gear,
fast into the corner, she brings you out anyway.
1st gear there would have turned us into a rocket ship, but it's nice the way it is.
Again here, into the corner... it doesn't lose traction.
Very little understeer, you can feel it only when you overplay your hand,
when you ask something you can't actually get, but... see?
It is a car that doesn't waste your time...
... and doesn't care about the road imperfections, unlike I felt in Russia.
She makes you feel safe and gives you a level of confidence I rarely felt on cars like this:
you know, 4WD cars with a lot of power require time to be understood, while this one...
... is easy. The stock set-up is not too stiff as I said but fits perfectly
the stiff reinforced frame. There's still some roll and pitch, something typical
on stock set-ups that however helps the comfort.
It's a comfortable car if you compare it to the experience you get from it.
Maybe the only thing I don't like much is the gearbox:
it's good, but it's not fast and precise as the rest of the car.
Everything is great and perfect... the gearbox is the less enjoyable experience.
It brakes... a lot.
Once it warms up the gearbox gets better, but still it's not as I'd like it to be.
You make peace with... Woah!...
you make peace with it, but it's not a strong point.
It's astonishing how much grip there is on corners like this.
Unbelievable... un-be-lie-va-ble
It feels like the limit is very far...
I won't try how it feels at the limit, but I think it could be difficult.
Today we are not here for that, any owner will hardly get to the limit on public roads.
Despite that, the pace I'm keeping is already quite high.
I'm so happy the steering feels like this and not like the one in Russia,
I have to apologize to the Lancer Evo VI Tommi Makinen because it's way better than what it seemed to me.
So we're going to call our Russian friend telling him it is time to fix his car,
hoping his is not one of the many Evos fitted with the Mitsubishi Colt steering box.
I think you can tell the difference...
Anyway, I'm glad I had the chance to drive this car again,
I didn't study it, I didn't want to teach you anything...
I just wanted to feel how it drives,
which is also the reason why Drive Experience was born.
So I think I can tell you this is my favorite Evolution!
The car I drove today is probably the best Evo VI I could have driven,
a Tommi Makinen RS, everything here is mechanical unlike the RS2,
the differentials are mechanical, there are no Active Yaw Control, no ABS, nothing...
as pure as an EVO VI could be.
It's also one of the rarest Evos, if not the rarest because left hand drive RS models
were made in 112 units, all painted in Scotia white.
Just 5 cars were imported in Italy through Ralliart, not Mitsubishi official importer
so driving this car in Italy even at the time was a true privilege.
Finding one perfectly stock and clean was something impossible,
but we had been lucky again.
I'll leave you with two details of the Tommi Makinen RS, the thing I liked less and the thing I liked most:
the seats, a bit too high, a common problem on many Evos
and the button on the center console to spray fresh water on the intercooler.
How many cars can brag about that? It drives me crazy...
Written and directed by Davide Cironi
Filmed by Francesco Colantoni
Filmed by Stefano Ianni
Thanks to Cesare Luciani for the Evo
Translated by Elia Pozzani
For more contents and photos feel free to check out our website WWW.DRIVEEXPERIENCE.IT
... aaaand I run out of gas
Moscow, Russia
