The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Rally Car '97 is a race car produced by Mitsubishi. It appears in every main Gran Turismo game to date except Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec and Gran Turismo Sport.
The car appears to be the #1 car driven by Tommi Makinen, who won the 1997 World Rally Championship Driver's Title, having won the title in the previous season.
In-game description
"The Lancer Evo IV Group A machine that challenged WR cars and won a glorious victory."
In 1997, the WRC revised its regulations to allow the addition of turbochargers and all-wheel-drive systems.[1] Many European makers developed their rally cars in accordance with these provisions, but Mitsubishi stayed with its trusty Lancer Evolution IV from the previous year,[2] determined to stick with a genuine production based vehicle.
Because of its heavy turbocharged engine, the Lancer Evolution was nose-heavy, which made the car understeer. So Mitsubishi equipped the Evo IV with Active Yaw Control (AYC), a system that improved turning ability by varying the torque to the left and right wheels. The car's handling was further improved by going to a double-wishbone setup for the rear suspension. Also, the Evo IV was equipped with a sequential-shift transmission, marking the first time ever that an Evo was equipped with such a gearbox.
The Evo IV performed well in its first several races, with lead driver, Tommi Mäkinen, taking the checker in the fourth round at the Portugal Rally and at the fifth round in Catalunya. In the sixth round at Tour de Corse, the Evo was involved in a major accident, colliding with a cow on the course and falling down a cliff. It sprang back quickly, winning the seventh round contest in Argentina. It also won the tenth round at Rally Finland, giving Mäkinen his second consecutive Driver's Championship.
Acquisition
GT6
In Gran Turismo 6, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Rally Car '97 can be purchased for 300,000 credits. It is a simplified car.
GT5
As a standard car, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Rally Car '97 can be purchased from the Used Car Dealership for 293,516 credits. It is a Level 10 car.
GTPSP
This car can be purchased for 750,000 Credits.
GT4
This car can be won by winning all the races in Whistler Ice Race (Medium) under the Special Condition Events section.
GT2
Like in GT1, this car can be obtained by performing racing modifications on an ordinary Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96. The only difference is the removal of the yellow color scheme, leaving only white as the color available. In addition, this car is unlockable in arcade mode. The player must win a race in arcade mode on Super Speedway at normal level or higher to unlock this car for rally circuits.
GT1
By performing racing modifications on an ordinary Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96, the player can get this car. It is available in two color schemes, white and yellow.
Trivia
- Like many of the rally cars that made their transition from Gran Turismo 3, or in this case, Gran Turismo 4: Prologue, the paint scheme on the vehicle was modified between the two games to remove any information about a specific rally:
- The car that appears in-game is based on the #1 vehicle entered at the 1997 Rally Monte Carlo and driven by Tommi Makinen. This is identifiable due to the "Lineltex" stickers above the number on the front doors, the censored white sticker on the rear doors which was only used at the 1997 event and the red rally sticker on the hood.
- The illegible sticker on the rear doors reads "Monte Carlo", and may have been censored due to Polyphony not having the license to the name, instead having to use Côte d'Azur for the name of the street circuit.
- The number plate on the front and back of the car which is almost unrecognizable in Gran Turismo 4 reads "P22 MRE". This specific chassis was raced until the 1998 Rally Monte Carlo, where it was wrecked by Makinen. The chassis was more than likely scrapped afterwards, as the team replaced the Lancer Evolution IV with the V from the Catalunya Rally afterwards and has not resurfaced since.
- From its appearance in Gran Turismo 4 onwards, the driver and co-driver names on the front fenders and rear side windows were replaced with undecipherable blocks. In its original high-poly appearance in Gran Turismo 4: Prologue, the names read "Makinen" and "Harjanne", with Finnish flags next to both names. These flags were edited to not represent any country, instead appearing as white rectangles with horizontal gray lines inside them.
- On the Gran Turismo 1 Test Drive disk, all the sponsoring for the car was not present. However, they reappeared in the final version.
Pictures
.jpg "Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Rally Car '97 (GT2).jpg (31 KB)")
