The Lancer Evolution was a car designed to dominate narrow backroads, and is one of the few rally-bred beasts to successfully make the jump from loose surfaces to paved roads. For this reason, the boxy sedan endures as an ideal platform for hillclimbing, and this particular example shows exactly why. Its boxy lines are amplified by an ostentatious Voltex body kit, and the stroked motor produces somewhere in the vicinity of 500 horses. With a snarling external wastegate, some assertive driving lines and an uncharacteristically nervous rear end, what’s not to like about Kessler’s hillclimb machine?

Though detractors often dismiss the Evo as being clinical and boring, this example is anything but. Whether Kessler’s lifting an inner-rear wheel, dropping a front tire across the dirt or pitching the nimble Mitsubishi into a quick corner, the car looks nervous and uncompromising. While composed some of the time, the odd camber does force the ostentatious Evo to squirm over the road’s surface, proving that it takes a skilled hand to get the most out of this fire-breather.

Huge canards and a Voltex widebody kit make this Evo look quick when standing still.

Perhaps what’s most striking from observing this monster is the response and thrust out of the corner. While four wheel-drive and some sticky tires do plenty of work here, the reinforced diffs and stiff rear end help pivot the car into every apex, while leaving enough front tire capacity to slingshot out of every bend. That huge torque is well-harnessed, but even all the grip this car has can’t wrangle the fiesty powerplant in the middle of some quicker corners, where that snappy power delivery forces the rear to writhe around briefly on the asphalt.

That assessment is supported by the onboard footage, which shows Kessler treating the throttle with plenty of respect. Through tight bends, that big turbo is capable of spinning all four wheels, which forces Kessler to hop on-and-off the throttle with a staccato movement, just keeping the car in its power band while abstaining from any time-sapping slides. Though the drive is generally tidy, there are small hints in Kessler’s driving that suggests that, despite being four wheel-drive, this Evo is a real handful.