"If you go in hard a little fast into a sharp turn, that's a good chance to activate the yaw control," Sharp says. That's something I have no intention of doing, as I cruise through an exhilarating series of sweeping curves. Active Yaw Control (AYC) is part of Evo's groundbreaking Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) dynamic handling system, an alphabet soup shorthand for the insanely complicated technology in the new Evo that regulates drive torque at each wheel and controls traction, load distribution and differential slip. How S-AWC works is much, much more complex than I could possibly explain -- if I understood it. All that matters to me is it keeps the Evo on the road when other cars would have spun out.

After a couple laps, I'm gaining confidence, hitting the right apex coming out of turns, nearing 100 miles per hour on the straight. From the pit area, I see the waving flag telling me "one more lap." I'm determined to crack triple digits this time. I pass by the watery first turn and keep my speed into the second turn before the long straight. A little too much speed. The Evo gets squirrelly and the rear end skids sideways toward the dirt embankment on the side of the track. An electric bolt of panic rises up my spine, but just as we reach the outside shoulder the Evo grabs and shoots straight forward. My heartbeat is racing and I cringe, waiting for Sharp to yell at me for nearly totaling $40K of automotive wizardry.

Instead, he says, "Nice, you activated the yaw control there." Just like I planned.

My next stop is the Mitsubishi road-rally course, a short track marked off by orange cones in an enormous parking lot. The road-rally course tests a car -- and a driver's -- ability to maneuver quickly through a quick series of turns. I watch as seasoned auto journalists rip through in less than 22 seconds. One driver blisters the course at under 21 ticks. My times are a few seconds slower, but it's still obvious how precise the new Evo handles. It's as if the car knows where it should go even when my driving should have it massacring cones on the edge of the track.

At the end of the day, I take the 5-Speed GSR version out on the road track by myself. The early morning nerves have given way to the pure adrenaline hit of slaloming this rocket ship through curves without worrying about speed limits or cops. I could take laps in the Evo X all day. Darwin would love what Mitsubishi's done with Evolution.