You all know Rhys Millen, right? He’s primarily known as the guy that drives the Pontiac GTO/Solstice in Formula D/D1. What you may not know about him is that he got his start drifting an Evolution 7 around rally courses as a Mitsubishi-backed driver. Not only did Rhys get a feel for the EVO on the world’s gravel roads, he also piloted an all-wheel drive EVO to top honors at some of the early Drift Showoff events.
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So it makes sense that Millen’s company, RMR (Rhys Millen Racing), was called upon to prep these movie’s EVOs for drift duty. The first thing the RMR team did was convert the EVO to a rear-wheel drive car. Though it sounds crazy, this drivetrain conversion actually isn’t a radical modification. Converting an EVO to rear wheel drive consists of simply disconnecting the differentials and things that send power to the front wheels and then capping off the holes. From what we hear, it’s just as easy to convert the EVO back to its proper all-wheel drive self.
RMR also handled the engine tuning duties, but to be honest, there’s not much going on here. RMR supplied some basic bolt-ons for the 4G63 engine, which probably gives it a few extra ponies. But hey, the car is more-or-less a rocket in stock form, so we’re guessing that it didn’t need much of a power boost for it to perform well in front of some movie cameras.
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Grabbing the attention of these movie cameras are a few APR aero pieces. An APR wide body kit gives the EVO a more muscular look, while still managing to keep the car’s lines looking pretty stock. Some APR carbon fiber front canards help keep the nose of this EVO planted while a massive APR carbon fiber wing keeps the car’s ass firmly on the ground. Adding just an extra touch of carbon fiber to the EVO’s exterior is a set of APR carbon fiber mirrors, which were really just added to look cool.
We don’t know about you, but when we first heard that the third Fast and Furious movie was taking place in Japan, we immediately thought that all the cars would be covered in obscene amounts of kanji and have anime characters or samurai stickers plastered all over them. Of course, we thought that these stickers would also have a difficult time concealing the neon-colored paints that Universal was sure to use. Luckily for us (and you), we were wrong.
There is no neon to be found anywhere on this car, be it an underbody light kit or a “neon”-named paint scheme. The graphics are the same as those found on all of APR’s project cars, with the vinyl supplied by Modern Image. Oh yeah, thankfully, there are no Altezza lights or LEDs to be found, either.
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The EVO’s rolling stock is a simple affair, with 19×8.5-inch Rays G-Games wheels wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1R rubber sitting at all four corners. The suspension and brakes remain stock, but they’re pretty damn good anyway, so it’s not like this EVO is all-show and no-go.
“Simple” seems to be the theme of all The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift cars, as there isn’t much going on in the cockpit of this EVO. The stock Recaro seats are kept, but the seatbelts have been upgraded to JDM-tight Takata 4-point harnesses. A Sparco quick-release steering wheel replaces the factory unit, and an APR carbon fiber insert (complete with gauges) replaces the factory stereo.
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Again, it may not seem like much, but this car was built for one thing and one thing only: to drift. All the crazy paint, neon and ICE systems don’t really have a home in this latest F&F film, and that’s the way we like it.
Does seeing this APR Evolution in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift make you want to own a drift-spec EVO? Well then, hit up RMR and pick up a conversion kit. From what we hear, they’re starting to offer them to the public. Formula D driver Rich Rutherford already has a RMR-prepped drift EVO, so why don’t you? If you can’t afford one of your own, why don’t you just check out the media gallery below and at least look at pictures of one? Or just wait and see this car in action when The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift hits theatres June 16.
Mitsubishi Lancer EVO Drift Compilation
Cool Cars, Evo Drifter, Cool stuff, automotive, The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift, evo lancer, Mitsubishi, Japan, JDM