The Cyber Evo held the prestigious title of quickest Lancer Evolution for some time. Its outlandish paint scheme made it stand out. Its engine note established it as something special. Its performance made it a legend. Since then, Evos have come in all shapes and sizes, and privateers have since moved the game on considerably with plenty of downforce, but ten years ago, the Cyber Evo stood out for having some of the most insane levels of performance for a car that was, essentially, based on a road-going Evolution.

Simply spectacular.

The 4G63 produced a monstrous 700 horsepower which was a huge amount of power for a 2-liter motor. The suspension pickup points weren’t changed, the downforce was adequate but compared to the latest time attack cars with elements that would make a DTM car envious, the wing and splitter looked relatively simple. To comply with the gentlemen’s agreement in Japanese time attack events, the car used road tires – effectively a cut slick, however – to put that power to the ground, and the result was a wild ride.

As we see from the invigorating onboard footage, the car still moved around like a road car. Under power, Tarzan Yamada countersteers with one hand while rifling through the closely-stacked gears. The Cyber Evo also used an h-pattern gearbox, unlike most time attack entrants today, which use sequential boxes to capitalize on the growing power levels. Over crests, the rear end slid and the sound of the carbon splitter contacting the ground complimented the hissing turbocharger. Without question, this is a white-knuckle ride shows that, sometimes, too much tech can take away from the spectacle.