Mitsubishi sport cars?

bennieboy · Post by **bennieboy** » Thu May 29, 2003 5:02 pm

Does any one know why Mitsubishi no longer make sports cars? or have not for a while

I mean I think they have made some of the better if not best (such as the FTO of course

) sports cars of the time.

Cars which come time mind:

the cars of old:
starion turbo and cordia turbo which really did set the standard

Galant VR4 not a dedicated sports car but has the performance

FTOS car perfection nuff said

GTOS (3000gt) ok its abit of the fat side by around 400kg but I think the formula was there, 4wd twin turbo 3.0 , with some weight reduction it would have some awesome potential, plus it looks heaps better than supras, r32, r33 and its not every 3rd car like it is nowadays.

I guess the most recetn one would be the lancer evos and they are something special too.

Why have they not made any more?

keeping in mind all this comes from a company which is not strictly a car manufacturing company.

there is not much point to this post I was just curiosus

benny

Richc2 · Post by **Richc2** » Thu May 29, 2003 5:42 pm

I agree with you. I have no idea too.
But as the new emission standards and export market of Japan is now a reality, we should be seeing a whole fleet of Japanese performance cars very soon. Most of them will be NA though. Keep a look out for more exciting things to come.

MattG · Post by **MattG** » Thu May 29, 2003 6:08 pm

Don't forget in the US they also make the Eclipse Turbo.

They also make the RVR (I think it is called) in Japan, which is basically the EVO engine is a small SUV type vehicle.

There is also the Ralliart Magna.

They have seemed to just concetrate on the EVO series, I supposed this has something to do with the rally aspect also.

What sports cars do Nissan CURRENTLY have in production besides the 350Z (which replaced the 200SX)?

M@

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Thu May 29, 2003 6:30 pm

i reckon it all comes down to cost as well... think about it - it's heaps cheaper to soup-up an exisiting production car (think Evos) than to build one from scratch, and since the failure / demise of the GTO, i don't think they wanna go through that path again...

afterall, mitsubishi's image is all about its rally heritage, so they will continue to exploit their image from their rally successes (just like Honda did with its F1 program for its VTEC YO!!!!! engines on production cars).

whether they will build an all-paw twin turbo again is highly unlikely due to emission laws etc (Nissan & Toyota has abandoned turbo plans) so only time will tell where automotive technology will take us...

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Thu May 29, 2003 9:13 pm

...and whilst on the topic of Eclipses, will their 2.0l 4G63B turbo motor fit our FTO?? They are left-hand drivers after all... but i'm not sure if their gearbox is on the left or right hand side!

MattG · Post by **MattG** » Thu May 29, 2003 10:45 pm

Why go looking on an eclipse. There are other mitsubishi cars that use the 4G63 in both turbo and N/A form.

Eg 1993 Galant VR4 uses a 4G63 turbo.

Although I suspect any 4G63 motor would be expensive as all these people are trying to turn their standard lancers into Evo's.

You could always get the 4G93 motor and turbo that...I hear that is also a good motor to turbo...you find this motor in some model Lancers, as well as the FTO GS.

M@

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Thu May 29, 2003 10:55 pm

i seriously doubt i'll benefit much from ditching my current 2.0 V6 MIVEC motor with 200ps for a 1.8l 4G93... the turbo version of the 4G93 itself is another matter altogether, but they are very rare...

...and note that not all 4G63Bs can fit onto the FTO, because the gearbox is mounted on the opposite side. Only the 6A13 and 96+ 4G63B motors can fit into the bay without dramas...

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Fri May 30, 2003 6:18 pm

its mainly whatever car they do make, they dont bring to oz, because we always get the shittest cars - or shitest version of a car.
In teh states they are bringing out the lancer with a 2.4 litre MIVEC engine. a 2.5 litre STI subaru (may come here) and even things like the SSS nissan bluebird were turbo in japan and not here!

MattG · Post by **MattG** » Fri May 30, 2003 6:27 pm

One possiblereason they concetrate on the EVO is that to qualify for the group N rally you have to have a 2 Litre production car. Production car is defined as selling 2500 units per year.

Ther was an article in todays Daily Telegraph mentioning how Subaru were contemplating bringin out a 2.5L WRX, but that if it becomes too popular they won't be able to run the 2.0L WRX in the Group N rally class as it will not sell the 2500 units per year (evreybody will be buying the 2.5L instead).

Mitsubishi may be of similar thinking ?

Maybe its the unofficial 206Kw limit they have in Japan, and that there is no point making a 3 litre car, if a 2 litre car will do.

But really, who knows how their minds work.

M@

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri May 30, 2003 6:56 pm

yeh i guess that makes sense also... but bringing the cars in does not necessarily have to conform to race regulations... they just need to market the car here to compete against the likes of Integra or Celicas or Tiburons.

however i bet you a lot of company execs know next to nothing about cars, or don't really care for the market it is intended for (maybe because they're not into sports cars) coz they're looking for big markets to make a good profit... the sports car market is very competitive, but they are also kinda niche so maybe it does not appeal to them...

but i agree, the sorta rubbish that the carmakers have been dishing out to us is just pathetic!

AJY11Q · Post by **AJY11Q** » Sat May 31, 2003 11:29 pm

Mitsubishi is not going well in WRC since T.makinnen left
always in tail with new driver (name doesn't come off top of my head)
Evo even went worse than Hyundai verna..lose my heart..

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:28 am

MattG wrote: What sports cars do Nissan CURRENTLY have in production besides the 350Z (which replaced the 200SX)?

M@

How about Nissan R390 GT1 & R391 GT1

3.5L DOHC V8 twin Turbo (The all new VQ35 V8 )
550Hp@6800rpm
470Lp-ft @ 4800rpm

0-100 3.3secs

1/4 miles 11.9secs

Top Speed 331kmph

Price if anyone can afford it or want a nissian at this price! $1,000,000 U.S

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:53 am

mate, i would no longer classify that as a sports car coz you're talking million dollar plus price tags beyond the Lamborghini Murcielagos, which is already an exotic class!!

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 5:22 pm

Hehehehe u might not classify it as a sports cars, but I can assure u that car is under category of sports car, beside theres not prices tag on terms of sports car, u can't say one car is 2 cheap or 2 expensive 2 be sports car!