INTERVIEW: DR KAORU SAWASE Godfather Mitsubishi’s Dr Kaoru Sawase explains how electric motors are finally enabling him to realize the 4WD performance he envisioned 30 years ago Words: Graham Heeps The T he 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is an unlikely successor to that favorite ride of enthusiast drivers and Gran Turismo gamers, the 10 generations of Lancer Evolution, or ‘Evo’. But this modest plug-in SUV, with 251ps on tap from its front and rear electric motors, represents the latest step in a line of innovations in 4WD that can be traced back almost four decades. Mitsubishi forged its reputation for 4WD expertise in rallying. Even before Evos dominated the World Rally Championship (WRC) in the late 1990s, helping Tommi Mäkinen to four straight drivers’ titles from 1996-1999, the Pajero had established itself as a fast and dependable rally-raid machine. From its first entry in 1983, Mitsubishi clocked up 12 wins in the car category by 2009. “We learned in WRC that we couldn’t win with 2WD,” says Dr Kaoru Sawase, an engineering fellow at Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) who has devoted his career to advancing the capabilities of 4WD systems. “Audi had the quattro, so Dr Kaoru Sawase (center), who has been at the heart of Mitsubishi’s AWD development for over three decades 16 Transmission Technology International / 2023