The MW Automotive Thread 5.0 GT

[ErikElvis]

Awe man I would love to drive a stealth or 3000 every day right now but I'm sure they're maintenance nightmares. I always liked them.

[Shadow]

I miss the days when Mitsubishi was still in the sports car scene. I'm surprised though with how many clean Evo Xs there are for sale out there. On the other hand, finding a clean, stock Evo VIII or IX becomes a daunting search at times.

[ErikElvis]

I had an 96 eclipse gs-t. And it was a fun car but it was nickel and diming me to death. It was an extra car but it still had to go. It's ok because I eventiually replaced it with a 02 camaro SS.

[Sildani]

My mom had a 92 Talon TSi, FWD. Fun, fun little rocket, and dead reliable.

[SchizophrenicMC]

Awe man I would love to drive a stealth or 3000 every day right now but I'm sure they're maintenance nightmares. I always liked them.

DOHC transverse V6 twin turbo with AWD, from Mitsubishi, circa 1990. "Nightmare" does not begin to describe them.

I had an 96 eclipse gs-t. And it was a fun car but it was nickel and diming me to death. It was an extra car but it still had to go. It's ok because I eventiually replaced it with a 02 camaro SS.

My cousin had a '95 GSX. It was literally on jack stands more than it was on the road.

My mom had a 92 Talon TSi, FWD. Fun, fun little rocket, and dead reliable.

Two words:

Crank. Walk.

I'm the oldest living member of my family who has yet to own a Mitsubishi. I like to think that makes me the first to learn from everyone else's mistakes.

[spanner]

I miss the days when Mitsubishi was still in the sports car scene. I'm surprised though with how many clean Evo Xs there are for sale out there. On the other hand, finding a clean, stock Evo VIII or IX becomes a daunting search at times.

yeah dem were the days eh! Now that Mitsubishi has ended the EVO line they pretty much don't have anything sporty at all.. I wonder how long the WRX will keep going essentially without any direct competition?

A mate at work recently bought himself a EVO8 MR and I helped him look for a clean, stock as possible, low mileage example which proved a real tough task. Clean bone stock originals are either non existent or stupidly priced and the only other option was to go with something that has been tastefully modified. We found a nice white EVO8 MR in QLD which the owner had worked up quite well but wanted over 60k for it. We found another for about half that which is the one he bought. Needs some things corrected but is mostly pretty good. Geez do some people go overboard with the carbon fiber though!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7woO917IyAY

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some more stunning onboard video of Senna in his McLaren..

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb7fiB6Owns

[Beltane70]

Even in Japan Mitsubishi has a bad reputation according to my friend, Shigeko!

[ron5864]

What happen to you Mitsubishi? The only cars available are I-MiEV, Mirage, Lancer, and Outlander in the U.S. No Montero, EVO, Galant, or 3000GT successor. Those were your bread and butter. Don't end up like Suzuki!!!

I just looked at my local Mitsubishi dealership (Puente Hill Mitsubishi) and there are 41 brand new Evolutions for sale. That's right FORTY-ONE EVOs! Are people not buying these cars? Did Subaru WRX and Sti took all their customers?

[SchizophrenicMC]

What happen to you Mitsubishi? The only cars available are I-MiEV, Mirage, Lancer, and Outlander in the U.S. No Montero, EVO, Galant, or 3000GT successor. Those were your bread and butter. Don't end up like Suzuki!!!

I just looked at my local Mitsubishi dealership (Puente Hill Mitsubishi) and there are 41 brand new Evolutions for sale. That's right FORTY-ONE EVOs! Are people not buying these cars? Did Subaru WRX and Sti took all their customers?

Mitsubishi has never had a reputation for reliability in America, and most of its best-selling years were during its time as Chrysler's import manufacturer. Mitsubishi sales have always been pretty low, and have dropped even more as its low-cost Asian competitors (ie Kia, Hyundai) have improved their own reputations. Ultimately, developing cars is expensive, and the more commonality you have the better. Hence the Mirage, Lancer, and Outlander share a chassis, engine families, and numerous other components. And at the end of the day, the Evo costs more than its competitors, (including the Focus and Fiesta ST, both of which stole Evo market share) and can't compete with a new STi and the new Focus RS. The Evo X is too old and not very profitable, even as the most expensive car of the bunch. And developing a new Lancer Evolution would push that figure even further up. The 3000GT was absurdly expensive in its day- more so than the 300ZX Twin Turbo and Supra Turbo. It would cost even more today, and nobody would pay that for a Mitsubishi. They know that.

At this point, Mitsubishi is only a few years away from ceding the US market. The company doesn't rely on its US car sales. Mitsubishi's real bread and butter is its ships. And then its HD trucks, then its construction equipment, electronics, fighter jets, missile systems, and so on. That's why companies like Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Kia/Hyundai, and Daewoo don't really put out amazing efforts. Their cars are not their core business. It's a spinoff. The only reason Suzuki made USDM cars as long as it did is because of GM's stake in it. Not so much anymore. Actually, a lot of the same is true of Subaru, but Fuji Heavy Industry has put a surprising level of investment into making a functioning car company, seemingly with only one purpose in mind: get outsold by Mazda.

To be fair, I would buy a Mazda. I would also buy a Subaru. Not a lot of new cars can put me in that position. If Subaru gives us a manual Levorg in the US, I will buy a new Subaru.

[Beltane70]

Funny how cheap you can get a 3000GT these days when compared to a 300ZX or a Supra!

Another big product of Mitsubishi is elevators. I think I saw their elevators (and escalators) in at least 2/3rds of the buildings I went in in Japan.

[SchizophrenicMC]

Funny how cheap you can get a 3000GT these days when compared to a 300ZX or a Supra!

Another big product of Mitsubishi is elevators. I think I saw their elevators (and escalators) in at least 2/3rds of the buildings I went in in Japan.

Locally, VR4s are right between Z32 NA and TT prices. Anything else isn't worth looking at.

Mitsubishi also make a wildly successful line of centralized ductless air conditioning systems.

[areaseven]

[dizman]

I saw a Veyron kit car at a car show the other day and it actually looked pretty good, think it was running a Ford V8 .

[spanner]

I never did think much of the Veyron but yeah im not minding the new Bugatti Chiron at all actually! Similar theme to the original but much nicer and more aggressive looks! I approve!

[Shadow]

yeah dem were the days eh! Now that Mitsubishi has ended the EVO line they pretty much don't have anything sporty at all.. I wonder how long the WRX will keep going essentially without any direct competition?

I'd say the Focus ST and RS are that competition. There are also rumors that the next Mazdaspeed 3 (MPS) will be AWD aswell. The issue with the STi atleast over here is that it still using the dinosaur EJ25. That will change next year though. I am hoping some competition breaks out between Subaru and Ford.

[SchizophrenicMC]

"Dinosaur"

Still a 300+hp 4-cylinder. #ej25forlife

The FA20 just isn't as torquey as the EJ25. It does respond well to turbocharging, but it's gonna take some more work to have a fully-baked EJ replacement with the type of power delivery the STi gives, with the new engine platform. And then we can bring the Levorg to the US while we're dreaming.

[derex3592]

I never did think much of the Veyron but yeah im not minding the new Bugatti Chiron at all actually! Similar theme to the original but much nicer and more aggressive looks! I approve!

Ohhhh maaaan..that's gorgeous!!!!!!

[areaseven]

[ron5864]

And at the end of the day, the Evo costs more than its competitors, (including the Focus and Fiesta ST, both of which stole Evo market share) and can't compete with a new STi and the new Focus RS. The Evo X is too old and not very profitable, even as the most expensive car of the bunch.

To be fair, I would buy a Mazda. I would also buy a Subaru. Not a lot of new cars can put me in that position. If Subaru gives us a manual Levorg in the US, I will buy a new Subaru.

I just noticed the 2015 Mitsu EVO Final Edition has the 5-speed manual and gets 17 city/ 23 highway MPG. That's retro 1998 equipment and MPG numbers. Even the Subaru WRX ditched the 5-speed for 6-speed manual. And the starting $39,000 price tag does not help its cause. That's thousands more than the Sti or Focus RS, both which offer more performance, equipment, and value.

I do have a 1st gen Mazdaspeed3 and it has zero problems after 8 years of ownership. Zero! So I have high hopes for the long rumored AWD Mazdaspeed3 with the new 2.5L Skyactiv turbo. Whether that is going to happen or become vaporware like the diesel Mazda 6 remains to be seen.

[spanner]

I just noticed the 2015 Mitsu EVO Final Edition has the 5-speed manual and gets 17 city/ 23 highway MPG. That's retro 1998 equipment and MPG numbers. Even the Subaru WRX ditched the 5-speed for 6-speed manual. And the starting $39,000 price tag does not help its cause. That's thousands more than the Sti or Focus RS, both which offer more performance, equipment, and value.

I do have a 1st gen Mazdaspeed3 and it has zero problems after 8 years of ownership. Zero! So I have high hopes for the long rumored AWD Mazdaspeed3 with the new 2.5L Skyactiv turbo. Whether that is going to happen or become vaporware like the diesel Mazda 6 remains to be seen.

my girlfriend briefly owned a 2004?? Mazda 3 MPS which I think is the same thing but sold down here in Australia and that was a great car! Shame it was only FWD but still bloody quick! She had it for about 6 or so months before it was written off.. not her fault. A removal truck side swiped it whilst parked and it was deemed a write off. She then got a Golf GTi which also was a mad little car!

[Phyrox]

I never did think much of the Veyron but yeah im not minding the new Bugatti Chiron at all actually! Similar theme to the original but much nicer and more aggressive looks! I approve!

Digging the name. Louis Chiron is a much higher profile racing figure than Veyron.

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Digging the name. Louis Chiron is a much higher profile racing figure than Veyron.

agreed!

[vlenhoff]

I have owned a WRX for nearly 6 years now. I really hope they keep making them. I love my little car.

[areaseven]

[SchizophrenicMC]

I have owned a WRX for nearly 6 years now. I really hope they keep making them. I love my little car.

The WRX sold over 33,000 units in the US alone, in 2015. Impressive, considering US WRX sales in 2010 were just over 8,000. Of course, in the meantime Subaru has more than doubled its US sales from 260,000 to 580,000. Still, for doubling their sales, WRX sales quadrupled in the same period. That car won't be going anywhere any time soon.

[ErikElvis]

Maybe the Chiron will grow on me but I still the the compact "reserved" look of the veyron better.

[vlenhoff]

The WRX sold over 33,000 units in the US alone, in 2015. Impressive, considering US WRX sales in 2010 were just over 8,000. Of course, in the meantime Subaru has more than doubled its US sales from 260,000 to 580,000. Still, for doubling their sales, WRX sales quadrupled in the same period. That car won't be going anywhere any time soon.

WOW! well done Subaru! It has been a good car, and i really want to keep it. Thanks for the reply SchizophrenicMC.

Maybe i'll get a used miata for a second car or something.

[SchizophrenicMC]

I really like my Outback. If Subaru wisens up and makes a manual turbo Levorg for US consumption, that's gonna be the Outback's replacement. Even if they don't, I still might get a WRX in a couple years. I just prefer wagons to sedans.

[vlenhoff]

I really like my Outback. If Subaru wisens up and makes a manual turbo Levorg for US consumption, that's gonna be the Outback's replacement. Even if they don't, I still might get a WRX in a couple years. I just prefer wagons to sedans.

I really like the Outback too. Agreed, Subaru should bring the Levorg this side of the pond.

BTW some pics: The Hikaru color scheme

Edited March 7, 2016 by vlenhoff

[spanner]

the Yanks have slapped together a pretty good looking F1 car eh! Sincerely hope they do well this year!

[Agent-GHQ]

A lot of awesome sleek cars in here!

Thought I'd share my weekend warrior here too. So, I was in the market for a high performance sport coupe and I looked no other than a BMW ///M3 E92. Always loved that luxurious and classy look with a performance in mind of the BMW ///M3. When I learned that the 4th generation ///M3 will come to an end, I immediately placed my order on May 2013 as a '13 year model. Ooooh gawd that 2 months wait seems like an eternity. Took delivery on Aug 2, 2013 and it was by far the happiest day of my life.

What made this car unique is that it is t he first time an ///M3 is equipped with a naturally aspirated V8 high revving motor that revs up to 8,400 RPM. The motor is an F1 inspired motor, a bespoke motor built from scratch. Not a reuse or recycled engine. The sound is so intoxicating and it just makes the car so addicting to drive. Nimble and agile makes this car truly a performance car that can seat 4 passenger which is unheard of. Loved pretty much every aspect of this car and I suspect another years this will be another great BMW classic.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Agent-GHQ