Yahoo Autos 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution Review: A Rally Car, Except It's a Truck
Mitsubishi today is a has-been to most people, whose significance as an automaker died with the Lancer Evolution. Or, as it’s still universally recognized, the Evo. But it wasn’t the only Mitsubishi to receive the designation. So did the Dakar Rally-winning Pajero, which in 1997 matured into the Pajero Evolution—kicking off one of the most dominant racing dynasties ever.
While the hallowed Lancer Evo won the World Rally Championship’s manufacturers’ title only once, the Pajero Evo won the grueling Dakar Rally twice. In a row. Pajeros have won a record 12 times overall, seven of those wins being consecutive. To make it all happen, Mitsubishi had to produce 2,500 homologation vehicles; Dakar winners with license plates. That’s as awesome as it sounds… but also not as special as you might think.
[Editor's Note: JDM Week at The Drive is brought to you by Duncan Imports, one of America's largest importers and resellers of Japanese domestic market vehicles. Big thanks to owner Gary Duncan for opening up his private collection and allowing us to take a few for a spin. If your interest is piqued, you can see the company's full inventory here.]
Over the last decade, the off-roading craze has led other trucks to muscle in on ruggedized performance, and in many ways eclipse the Pajero Evo. However, it’s still distinct as an analog driving experience that can take us back to the innocence of playing "Gran Turismo." It may not be as powerful as a Ram TRX, but that means it’s much more manageable at full throttle.
And that’s what the Pajero Evo is designed to be. It’s not a crawler, it’s a rally truck; it’s designed to be driven flat-out over unfamiliar terrain in a way many modern trucks are too heavy and too powerful to be treated. To use a cliché, it’s the slow-car-fast mentality, but applied to a homologation off-road racer. The Pajero Evo aches to be thrown into steep, sandy, foot-to-the-floor drifts, and on top of it all, it looks like nothing else you’re allowed to put a license plate on.
1997 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution Specs | |
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From the Golden Age
The 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution marked the beginning of Mitsubishi’s most dominant era at Dakar. From 1997 to 2007, Mitsubishi won nine times, disrupted only by purpose-built buggies (that’d later fall prey to developments of the Pajero). To homologate the truck for the T2 class, Mitsubishi built 2,500 roadgoing Pajero Evolutions, from which the race trucks were made. The Evo might’ve had more in common with the race trucks than the SUVs they were based on, though.
Pajero Evos were reworked from the regular body-on-frame Pajero from head to toe, starting where the rubber meets the road. Or sand. It rolled on 30.6-inch 265/70R16 tires on alloy wheels, which stanced it a full six inches wider than a regular Pajero. Despite having fully independent long-travel suspension with double-wishbone front and multilink rear, it has 9.6 inches of ground clearance—about on par with a 2024 Jeep Wrangler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWTPJQztIDY
Yet its body is six inches shorter, and a tad narrower despite an enormous widebody. Its wheelbase is shorter than a Toyota GR86’s too. That and stubby overhangs mean phenomenal approach, break-over, and departure angles.
By contrast, the brakes are pretty pedestrian, consisting of enlarged two-piston calipers in front and single-piston rears. They are, however, equipped with four-channel anti-lock, integrated with a steering angle sensor to improve turn-in. Its recirculating-ball steering has a quickened ratio, and much of its underbody is armored in aluminum skid plating that visibly wraps upward around its edges.
Under the hood, the Pajero Evo improved on the regular SUV’s 3.5-liter direct-injection V6 by raising its redline by 1,000 rpm. This was achieved by adding variable valve timing, hollow intake valves, sodium-filled exhaust valves, and titanium valve spring retainers. Though peak torque comes on at a decent 3,000 rpm, peak power doesn’t arrive until 6,500 (redline’s at 7,000).
How much do you get? Well, not a ton to be honest: It’s rated at a Gentleman’s Agreement-abiding 276 horsepower and 257 lb-ft of torque. That’s on premium gas, too. It also has to haul around 4,343 pounds, so the Pajero Evo’s power-to-weight ratio is less than a Subaru BRZ’s—and I’m talking about the old model. That said, it’s still pretty close to what you get from a new Wrangler, although peak torque comes on earlier.
Pajero Evos were built with a choice of five-speed transmissions, a manual or an automatic with a manual mode. Both bolt to a differential-based two-speed transfer case, with a 1.9:1 low range. It can electronically lock the center diff, the mechanical-viscous “hybrid” rear, or any combination of the two as needed. That doesn’t mean it’s out-of-place as a daily, though.
Though it may be a homologation rally truck, the Pajero Evo is well-equipped for a ‘90s SUV. It has a leather steering wheel, keyless entry, power windows, automatic climate control, cupholders, even heated mirrors. The front seats are Recaro buckets, while the rears have child seat anchors, and are designed to fold forward. The back seats also get privacy glass.
There are still reminders of what you’re riding in, though. Carbon fiber adorns the instrument panel and surrounds the A/C vents, clock, and climate controls. It has a compass, oil pressure gauge, and voltmeter front and center, plus an outside temperature gauge because… desert. Back in the tailgate is an emergency toolkit and full-size spare, plus a bottle jack hidden inside the wheel well cover.
