RE: Spotted: Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 EX Turbo

[Johnboy Mac]

Mouse1903 said:

Not the biggest jap fan in the world but I'd definately own this. Looks great. The stats are very impressive considering it's 30 years old. Very cool and worth the money imo!

+1


I'd be more interested to speak to an owner of one these than a lot of other stuff. Great classic buy without doubt.

[GravelBen]

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

FWIW Mitsi-lovers also have a habit of referring to the 1st-gen Galant VR4 as the Evo 0 even thought it wasn't one either.

Hmm, interesting, that. I'm no Mitsi-lover but I was under the impression that it was actually a very real model...

I had a 1992 Mitsi Galant Evo '0'. It was actually a limited production run of 1500 and had a close ratio g'box, ally bonnet, iirc four piston front calipers and some mods to the turbo.

I've certainly never heard of a VR4 Evolution - and why would they have put a zero in the name before a series of Lancer Evolutions had been made?

There probably was a Grp.A homologation version of the VR4 but I'd probably expect it to be called a VR4 RS if anything based on Mitsi naming (ie Lancer GSR Evo / RS Evo). (Subaru also had the RS-R and RS-RA versions of the Legacy RS at that time.)

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 13th October 20:52

[Pelo]

Ah, the boy-racer memories! I had a version of this car when I was 17. A normal Lancer, full of rust, spray painted black over brown. Someone had put a later model 4G63 Starion engine and box in it. Of course, it still had a solid disc front and drum brake rear end, with factory suspension. It was faster in a straight line than my friends R30 Skyline. When it was running it was great fun! http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showcar.asp?car...

[s m]

Pelo said:

Ah, the boy-racer memories! I had a version of this car when I was 17. A normal Lancer, full of rust, spray painted black over brown. Someone had put a later model 4G63 Starion engine and box in it. Of course, it still had a solid disc front and drum brake rear end, with factory suspension. It was faster in a straight line than my friends R30 Skyline. When it was running it was great fun!

Blimey! Good profit for 130 miles motoring!

Haven't seen an R30 for ages but I noticed there's been one for sale in Norwich for a while

[Caractacus]

GravelBen said:

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

FWIW Mitsi-lovers also have a habit of referring to the 1st-gen Galant VR4 as the Evo 0 even thought it wasn't one either.

Hmm, interesting, that. I'm no Mitsi-lover but I was under the impression that it was actually a very real model...

I had a 1992 Mitsi Galant Evo '0'. It was actually a limited production run of 1500 and had a close ratio g'box, ally bonnet, iirc four piston front calipers and some mods to the turbo.

I've certainly never heard of a VR4 Evolution - and why would they have put a zero in the name before a series of Lancer Evolutions had been made?

There probably was a Grp.A homologation version of the VR4 but I'd probably expect it to be called a VR4 RS if anything based on Mitsi naming (ie Lancer GSR Evo / RS Evo). (Subaru also had the RS-R and RS-RA versions of the Legacy RS at that time.)

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 13th October 20:52

Oh, so you're the font of all knowledge? LOL. Just because you've not heard of it doesn't mean it didn't/doesn't exist, Ben.

Call up Kirk Motors Mitsi and ask one of their long standing mechs. He certainly knows his onions (and Galants).

Stick with your Scobbies, eh?

[psychoR1]

These were very quick in their day my bro had one.

They really needed an LSD tho and were prone to cracking in the crown of the combustion chamber in the cylinder head and breaking exhaust studs due to the weight of the turbo - solved by fitting a starion head I recall....

I think some chap (Joe Macari?) used be the man who traded most of them in the UK.

Fond memories and light years ahead of the competition of that era!

[DrRazzle]

Pelo said:

Ah, the boy-racer memories! I had a version of this car when I was 17. A normal Lancer, full of rust, spray painted black over brown. Someone had put a later model 4G63 Starion engine and box in it. Of course, it still had a solid disc front and drum brake rear end, with factory suspension. It was faster in a straight line than my friends R30 Skyline. When it was running it was great fun! http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showcar.asp?car...

Kiwi plate? Looks grouse.

[s m]

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

FWIW Mitsi-lovers also have a habit of referring to the 1st-gen Galant VR4 as the Evo 0 even thought it wasn't one either.

Hmm, interesting, that. I'm no Mitsi-lover but I was under the impression that it was actually a very real model...

I had a 1992 Mitsi Galant Evo '0'. It was actually a limited production run of 1500 and had a close ratio g'box, ally bonnet, iirc four piston front calipers and some mods to the turbo.

I've certainly never heard of a VR4 Evolution - and why would they have put a zero in the name before a series of Lancer Evolutions had been made?

There probably was a Grp.A homologation version of the VR4 but I'd probably expect it to be called a VR4 RS if anything based on Mitsi naming (ie Lancer GSR Evo / RS Evo). (Subaru also had the RS-R and RS-RA versions of the Legacy RS at that time.)

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 13th October 20:52

Oh, so you're the font of all knowledge? LOL. Just because you've not heard of it doesn't mean it didn't/doesn't exist, Ben.

Call up Kirk Motors Mitsi and ask one of their long standing mechs. He certainly knows his onions (and Galants).

Stick with your Scobbies, eh?

The RS version was the one without 4 wheel steer.
The 'EVO' VR4 had the bigger injectors, different turbo, bigger intercooler and plumbing, different inlet and the other bits mentioned above. Think it still had 4ws like the normal VR4 though

[GravelBen]

No need for the attitude Cataractass, I never claimed to know it all.


Looks like I might have to eat my words in any case, google found me this article:

http://mitsubishi.gearboxmagazine.com/2010/12/phil...

Which suggests that while the cars never had any Evolution badging that name was in fact on the homologation papers for the facelift version. No use of 'zero' though, at least I was right on that front.

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 14th October 01:21

[GC8]

My father had a black one new in about 1982: it was amazing back then.

Im not sure about 'Evo 0' - that would be the Lancer GSR (1,800cc turbocharged 4WD), of which the CD9A was an evolution...

[kiwifraser]

s m said:

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

Caractacus said:

GravelBen said:

FWIW Mitsi-lovers also have a habit of referring to the 1st-gen Galant VR4 as the Evo 0 even thought it wasn't one either.

Hmm, interesting, that. I'm no Mitsi-lover but I was under the impression that it was actually a very real model...

I had a 1992 Mitsi Galant Evo '0'. It was actually a limited production run of 1500 and had a close ratio g'box, ally bonnet, iirc four piston front calipers and some mods to the turbo.

I've certainly never heard of a VR4 Evolution - and why would they have put a zero in the name before a series of Lancer Evolutions had been made?

There probably was a Grp.A homologation version of the VR4 but I'd probably expect it to be called a VR4 RS if anything based on Mitsi naming (ie Lancer GSR Evo / RS Evo). (Subaru also had the RS-R and RS-RA versions of the Legacy RS at that time.)

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 13th October 20:52

Oh, so you're the font of all knowledge? LOL. Just because you've not heard of it doesn't mean it didn't/doesn't exist, Ben.

Call up Kirk Motors Mitsi and ask one of their long standing mechs. He certainly knows his onions (and Galants).

Stick with your Scobbies, eh?

The RS version was the one without 4 wheel steer.
The 'EVO' VR4 had the bigger injectors, different turbo, bigger intercooler and plumbing, different inlet and the other bits mentioned above. Think it still had 4ws like the normal VR4 though

I had one back in 1996 and it didn't have 4WS. The system was very heavy. The car also had lightened door panels, no electric windows, and a few other weight saving mods. It was essentially a stripped down version of the VR4 RS (which also had the engine mods and higher spec turbo). There was no EVO badging on it (just the VR4 RS reflective sticker on the front wings), but the jap paperwork showed Ralliart Evolution spec.

ETA: Love the Lancer. Genuine rare 80's cool

Edited by kiwifraser on Friday 14th October 06:06

[Dodge76]

I can't remember the last time I saw one of these. Rare, quick, reliable and unlike a modern car, won't depreciate. Worth every penny in my eyes!

[kainedog]

seriously cool car, love the wheels, had a matchbox car when i was eight in the same colours

[Caractacus]

Pot, kettle, black...

Learn to spell, or at least learn some history wrt historic names.

No attitude at all in my post, really. The fact that you perceive there to be only points the finger in your direction.

ETA - wrt the article, I'd have the rwd mitsi anyday...but not at £8k.

GravelBen said:

No need for the attitude Cataractass, I never claimed to know it all.


Looks like I might have to eat my words in any case, google found me this article:

http://mitsubishi.gearboxmagazine.com/2010/12/phil...

Which suggests that while the cars never had any Evolution badging that name was in fact on the homologation papers for the facelift version. No use of 'zero' though, at least I was right on that front.

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 14th October 01:21[/footnote]

[footnote]Edited by Caractacus on Friday 14th October 09:47

[anything fast]

Why, all the Escort bashing?

They have nothing in common at all...

The mitsi is not everyones cup of tea but nor is the escort

However there is a die-hard fan base for the Escort as it is a very Britsh car and was designed and engineered in the UK (the RS Turbo not the actual escort itself). It alwasy has been an unmistakeable looking car, that now has a huge retro cool factor is too pricey to fall in to the hands of Chav's!

Those who mock, have prob never sat in a decent S1 Turbo and felt the grin factor! Any tainted memories will probably come from a ride in a shiity escort GL or popular...

[s m]

GC8 said:

My father had a black one new in about 1982: it was amazing back then.

Spot on - that's the point I made originally - 60 in 7 seconds and a top whack of 132 was pretty impressive for such a boxy looking car

[JMF894]

s m said:

hygt2 said:

doogz said:

What do you think a MK1 Corolla is?

AE86 - RWD

I think he was referring to the front wheel drive version, AE82 when he said he'd rather have a front wheel drive Corolla.

Anyway, back on track, just looking at the road test and the Lancer they tested did indeed go on to 132mph and weighed in 130kg lighter than the E21 323i ( 143bhp ...some 25bhp down on the Colt ) so no surprise it was a bit quicker as speeds rose

What i was saying chaps is that if i HAD to go down the FWD route with a hot hatch of that era i would have the corolla. But given the choice of course yes, the rear drive AE86 all day long. I dont like MK3 escorts pure and simple, sorry. But of course i accept there is a large and strong fanbase. And that's a good thing. It would be boring if we were all sheep.....baa

Jimbo

[Graebob]

s m said:

Graebob said:

Here's the link to the Autocar article. I'll probably get busted for copyright or something, but hopefully it'll make some people smile. Sorry the scanner clipped some of the text, it's still pretty readable.

http://www.4shared.com/document/UyUXcrle/201110131...

Thanks for the scan - that's actually the "What CAR" mag twin test rather than an Autocar test.

The handling/roadholding section makes me smile

It is from What Car isn't it. How daft that you knew that from seeing the article, and I made the mistake even though I had the whole magazine in my hand.

[s m]

Graebob said:

s m said:

Graebob said:

Here's the link to the Autocar article. I'll probably get busted for copyright or something, but hopefully it'll make some people smile. Sorry the scanner clipped some of the text, it's still pretty readable.

http://www.4shared.com/document/UyUXcrle/201110131...

Thanks for the scan - that's actually the "What CAR" mag twin test rather than an Autocar test.

The handling/roadholding section makes me smile

It is from What Car isn't it. How daft that you knew that from seeing the article, and I made the mistake even though I had the whole magazine in my hand.

I knew it as I've got the mag somewhere in the loft as well

Good to see it again without having to go rummaging round though - my Autocar collection is easier to get at

[texaxile]

Hi
I own two of these, one white / orange and a Serbia black model. Owned both for 10 years and 20 years respectively.
The EX2000 turbo was originally a Group B homogolation special. It was a relatively cheap method of getting into the "group B car club" without the expense of forking out for a 6R4. Production (sorry, RHD import) numbers are unclear, but are roughly in the 500 / 530 number back in 1980. Currently according to DVLA records and MLR (originally the Lancer Turbo Register) there are approximately 34 SORN and 3 with a valid MOT left in the country, however, my black Lancer was never SORNED and has been otr since 2000, so again the figures might not be 100% accurate. Most LT's are either W,X or Y Reg'd.
There are several of these still in Europe which have the 4G63B lump in them, however, SE Asian models are fitted with a 1.8 Litre turbo lump.

Back in the 80's BBR offered conversions of an Intercooler, "chip" and increased boost which pushed power to around 220BHP and made for some good RWD fun. All BBR converted models came with a build plate on the front panel.
Each Engine also had the "counter rotating Balancer shafts" to smooth out the 2 litre four pot, which were belt driven off the crank.

GBB, My white / orange was originally owned by a Farmer who traded in his 2200TC rover for it, I've got the original Bill of sale from Gosling and Morton of Southport at £9169, the car traded in was YTB407N, ring any bells?.
The engine is essentially a 2.0 turbo injection unit, the turbo pressurising via a pipe directly into the ECI with 2 injectors firing into a plenum chamber with a throttle body at the manifold end. Orignally non intercooled, the ECI unit also adjusts for altitude and air pressure. Figures quoted were about 170BHP.

Simple Mods are to fit a Garett turbo via an adaptor plate, increase boot pressure to about 13psi over the standard 8, intercooling and remapping with a change of fuel pump. This maintains the integity and reliability of the Engine and also increases power to fun levels.

I think that these days the rarity value of Lancers is pushing up prices. They're getting on to be 30 years old now, and sadly most have rusted away, so finding a good one is tough. Spares are still available through Mitsubishi and many of the bushes / Ball joints etc are interchangeable with the Colt Starion and even some Hyundai models. Interior parts are tough to find, and some body panels are import only.

Overall they're a good, fun car. Unusual, not widely known (even the old bill struggle) and on classic insurance mine is only £100 per year comp. Do they jusifty such high values?, well ,considering they're a Group B homogolation vehicle, ( http://www.groupbrally.com/mitsubishi.shtml) Perhaps. One thing is, they will proabably only increase in value over time, as in the last few years they have gone up exponentially.

Cheers
Tex