Cyber Evo: Tarzan Yamada's Time Attack Benchmark
Tarzan Yamada's Cyber Evo Lancer Evolution IX was the benchmark for Japanese time attack in the late 2000s. Multiple Tsukuba records, radical aero, and sub-54-second laps.
Cyber Evo: Tarzan Yamada's Time Attack Benchmark
Kenji "Tarzan" Yamada built the Cyber Evo in the early 2000s as a time attack entry for Japanese track days and magazine-run events at Tsukuba Circuit. Over the next decade, the Cyber Evo became the benchmark for Japanese time attack, setting multiple outright Tsukuba records with a Lancer Evolution IX chassis that had been rebuilt, reshaped, and re-engineered beyond recognition.
The Chassis
Base: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (CT9A)
The Cyber Evo started as a stock Evo IX but became something completely different over years of iterative development. Tarzan Yamada and his crew rebuilt the car between every major competition.
The Engine
Base: 4G63T (Mitsubishi turbocharged 2.0L four)
- Displacement: Stock 2.0L (not stroked)
- Turbocharger: Garrett GT-class single turbo
- Output: Peaked around 800 hp on race fuel
- Transmission: Built 5-speed with billet synchros
- Final drive: Custom ratios for Tsukuba
The Cyber Evo's engine development followed the global time attack philosophy: maximum power on a single fast lap, not endurance reliability. Engines lasted one or two competitions before being rebuilt.
The Aero
The Cyber Evo's most distinctive feature was its radical aero package:
- Massive front splitter with support rods
- Oversized rear wing (larger than anything on a production car)
- Underbody diffuser with vortex generators
- Canards along the front bumper
- Widebody fenders housing 295-section slicks
The aero package was developed with input from the Japanese time attack community and refined through 100+ Tsukuba laps. Downforce estimates exceeded 500 kg at racing speed.
The Tsukuba Records
The Cyber Evo set multiple Tsukuba records during its career:
- 2007: Sub-55 second lap (unprecedented for a Japanese entry)
- 2008: 54.621 (a benchmark that stood for years)
- 2009: Pushed closer to 54-flat with further aero refinements
- Later years: Approached 53-second laps with new tire compounds
For context, a Super GT GT300 car laps Tsukuba in the low 54s. The Cyber Evo — a time attack car with a street-legal chassis donor — was running comparable lap times.
Tarzan Yamada's Role
Kenji "Tarzan" Yamada was the team leader, primary driver, and engineering lead for the Cyber Evo. He came from a grassroots time attack background and spent years refining the car, the tires, and the driving technique together. His Tsukuba lap data became reference material for the entire Japanese time attack community.
The End of the Cyber Evo Era
By the mid-2010s, the Cyber Evo had been retired and replaced by newer time attack cars. It occasionally appears at Japanese track events as a historic entry. Tarzan Yamada has since moved on to other projects but remains a voice in Japanese time attack.
Why the Cyber Evo Matters
The Cyber Evo proved that a chassis-based tuner could compete with purpose-built race cars on one-lap pace. Every modern time attack car — Sierra Sierra Evo X, Under Suzuki Sierra, World Challenge Evolution X — owes a debt to the engineering philosophy the Cyber Evo pioneered. Japanese time attack as a global sport exists because of builds like the Cyber Evo, and the Tsukuba records Tarzan Yamada set continue to shape what serious time attack tuners aim for.