What did Mitsubishi Motors gain from the world of rally competitions?

"For driving in conditions where a car maneuvers through dust and sand kicked up by other vehicles, and rallies through rivers with no bridges, the manner in which air intake gets to the engine is one thing that must be designed very carefully. This puts the abilities of the development team to the test. When driving at low speeds on rough roads, all cars are actually more or less the same. The difference in technological capabilities arises proportionally with higher speeds.

"This quotation comes from none other than Hiroshi Masuoka, who competed in the Dakar Rally 20 times. At Mitsubishi Motors, we improved the performance of the Pajero while seeking the ultimate balance between on-road and off-road, but there were a number of barriers in our way at the Dakar Rally where car manufacturers from around the world come to compete.

Yoshihiko Ototake of the Advanced Engineering Development Department who participated in the Dakar Rally as an engineer reflects deeply on the difficulty of rally competition, "If we were not always challenging ourselves to do something new, we would not have won." There was a competitor vehicle that Ototake still remembers.

"For us, it was a given that we would drive in a way that avoids obstacles. However, in 1994 Citroen developed a buggy-type car to drive straight through and over obstacles. Our victories the previous years in 1992 and 1993 were of little help, and we ended up finishing behind Citroen from that year through 1996.

Due to a rule change in 1997, the manufacturer team was limited to only modified versions of commercially available cars, so we developed a new rally car based on the commercial model of the Pajero while the competitor went with a privateer's prototype car.

The new car reached a high level in competition relatively quickly by taking the good things about the Pajero's commercial model and adding technologies that had been advanced through prototypes to that point. As a result, we became the first manufacturer to ever sweep the top four places. The Pajero Evolution was the vehicle for the market which we developed based on that expertise. For the rear suspension, we used a double wishbone independent suspension. It was equipped with the newly developed MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control system ) 6G74 engine, and a chassis with enhanced stiffness. Masuoka also says that he was surprised by the competitive strength of the Pajero Evolution.

"It was when I first got behind the wheel of the Pajero Evolution created by Ototake's team that I began to think I could capture the championship. The third-generation Pajero that won its first championship in 2002 inherited the strengths of the Pajero Evolution while also evolving again. It felt like a particularly polished, perfected machine. The reassuring thing was that no matter how much damage it took, the mechanics worked all night to fix it, and in the morning the car was good as new. I was able to step on the accelerator that much harder thanks to the confidence I had in both the car and the team, which is why we won."

The grueling competition helped both the engineers and drivers improve and fostered stronger unity between them.

The WRC was also instrumental in the development of many personnel. One was Yasuo Tanaka of the Advanced Engineering Development Department. He said, "I was intrigued by the WRC and Dakar Rally, so I joined rally competitions starting when I was in university."

"For the Lancer Evolution, the premise for its development was to win rallies even though it was a commercially available car. In addition to the engineers on-site at the rallies, those who create cars for the market were also able to utilize their own particular ideas and challenge themselves at something new. Since it was a car with a high level of maneuverability, we also had many customers who were into motor sports. That was another motivating factor for us. We were proud to be working for Mitsubishi Motors. We had many car experts in-house, so I remember asking around whenever any malfunctions occurred."

By sharing the experience of grueling competitions together, our engineers had imbued with the spirit of creating cars that can help drivers on any type of surface, such as in rally competitions. That form of human resources development is a tremendous benefit our company has gained by competing in rally competitions.

Competing in rally competitions also changes Mitsubishi Motors itself, as a company. Yoji Ohtani of the Ralliart Business Promotion Office takes the analytical view that "The characteristics unique to motor sports are influencing the company."

"In the sense that drivers compete by physically and mentally pushing themselves to the limit, it truly is a sport. On the other hand, the unique characteristic particular to motor sports is that the competitors are manufacturers. In no other sport do companies compete against each other for a title using the actual products that comprise their main lines of business. I think the employees at the time all felt like they were involved in the competition, even if they were not engineers."

Many departments were involved in particular because the competition was based on commercially available cars. Not to mention the development department, employees from all sorts of departments were also part of the efforts, from product planning to production, quality assurance, sales, and after-sales service, and more.

"There were even quite a few people who took jobs working for our dealers because they wanted to be a part of 'Rally Mitsubishi,' and we also had a system that sent service engineers from stores to work as mechanics at rallies. The Pajero also gained more name recognition and popularity by competing in the Dakar Rally, and people who worked for our dealers also had high hopes for the success of the Mitsubishi Motors team."

Just how much of the expertise gained from rally competition goes into cars made for the market? The answer to that question can be found in the Delica D:5 and Outlander. Not many people are aware that these two models were also involved in the Dakar Rally.

"The rules for the Dakar Rally changed, mechanics and engineers also had to travel by car. The Delica D:5 and Outlander were used for that purpose. However, this travel was nothing at all like driving on paved roads in Japan. The roads that were paved were extremely bumpy and laden with huge potholes. Then there were unpaved dirt roads as well. If their car got stopped or stuck, they would be unable to provide service that day. However, even though these were commercially available cars, they ended up being able to drive everywhere without any malfunctions, even in those grueling conditions." (Ototake)

"The Dakar Rally is a marathon race that takes two to three weeks. If you get fatigued from car travel, that will pose a problem in the service work you perform in the evening. The Delica D:5 in particular is a minivan, so everyone was worried about whether it could actually get where it needed to go. We loaded it up with spare parts, but ultimately none of them were used. It's the world's one and only minivan that can also drive on rough and unpaved surfaces." (Masuoka)

The spirit of Mitsubishi Motors is what makes you want to keep on driving in any type of grueling conditions. That DNA was carried over to the challenge of motor sports with electric vehicles.

(Continued in Part 3)