Archive for Mitsubishi

This is quite interesting… what use has the federal government for Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution cars? Are these police cars? A report in MySinChew reveals that fleet management company Spanco signed a deal in June 2008 to supply the government with 2,500 units of Proton Waja and 10 units of the Mitsubishi Evolution. It should be an interesting sight to see government/police Evos around.

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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 Short Test-Drive Review

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Remember these bunch of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution owners who wanted to set a Guiness World Record? Good news, they managed to do it! A total of 273 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions from all generations was at the paddock of the Castle Combe Racing Circuit in Wiltshire, England on the 12th of July 2008 and got into the track grouped together by colour to begin a 2 mile parade drive on the circuit at a constant speed, as you can see from the photo above.

At 5:27pm Guiness World Records official Laura Farmer confirmed the record and presented a certificate to the event manager Ian Corcoran shortly after the parade. The event managed to raise £7,459.27 for the Richard Burns Foundation.

One more shot of all the different Evos parked in formation after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Parade of 273 Evos set Guiness World Record!

Mitsubishi Motors will be unveiling the new Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (Montero Sports in South America, Nativa in Latin America and Challenger in Australia) at the 2008 Moscow Auto Salon 2008. This is not a replacement for the 4th generation Pajero introduced end-2006, but a separate model designed for certain markets such as Russia, the ASEAN area and the regions with alternate names mentioned above.

You may notice a huge similiarity with the Mitsubishi Triton at the front. This is because this new Pajero Sport is pretty much construction the same way the Toyota Fortuner is derived from the Toyota Hilux and the Ford Everest is derived from the Ford Ranger. It sits on the same ladder frame truck chassis (as opposed to the Pajero’s monocoque) and can be configured with either 2 row (5 seater) or 3 row (7 seater) configurations.

Engine options include a 2.5 liter turbodiesel, a 3.2 liter turbodiesel or a 3.5 liter V6 petrol engine. Power is transmitted to all four wheels via Mitsubishi’s Super Select 4WD system.

Look after the jump for a rear view photo.

Click here to read the rest of New Mitsubishi Pajero Sport based on Triton platform

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Mitsubishi has unveiled its 2009 Dakar rally competitor, the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer MRX09. MRX stands for Mitsubishi Rally Cross Country, and the 09 denotes the 2009 competition year. The Racing Lancer is what appears to be a 3-door version of the Lancer sportsback with raised suspension, offroad bits… are we looking at a CrossLancer here?

Well, not exactly. It uses some styling from the Lancer Sportsback but it is actually built on a tubular steel frame designed with advanced CAE analysis to optimize layout and dimensions of the tubing. The Lancer sportsback skin is made from carbon fiber. The Racing Lancer is 4,475mm long, 1,990mm wide and has a 2,900mm wheelbase.

Mitsubishi Motors says the Racing Lancer is a natural evolution for the Lancer and wants it to take over the competition baton from the Pajero and Pajero Evolution. Under the Racing Lancer’s hood is a 3.0 liter V6 turbodiesel engine that the company is currently testing during Dakar 2008 and Fia Cross-Country Rally World Cup 2008 qualifying rounds. It produces over 260hp and more than 650Nm of torque, and is mated to a Ricardo 5-speed sequential manual. Power is driven to all four wheels of the 1,900kg race car via a permanent 4WD system with an LSD.

Those who pay attention to the automotive industry should know that the new Mitsubishi Lancer has grown so much in size that it is known as the Mitsubishi Galant Fortis in Japan, save for the Evolution version which is still called the Lancer Evolution X.

I was wondering if the warm Ralliart version will be called a Lancer or Galant Fortis, but now we know the answer as Mitsubishi Motors Japan has just announced the Mitsubishi Galant Fortis Ralliart. Read more about the Evo’s younger, less powerful but more affordable sibling after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Mitsubishi Galant Fortis Ralliart in Japan

The baseline Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X is sold in the UK, but no Evo offering there is complete without the FQ models. FQ apparently stands for something slightly rude but quite effective as a representation of what Mitsubishi UK has done to the baseline Evo X.

First up you have the Lancer Evolution X FQ-300, which is the baseline standard model in the UK and has its 4B11T producing 291 horses. It goes from 0 to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds. Next up is the Lancer Evolution FQ-330, which is modified by HKS and brings power levels up to 325 horsepower.

This is achieved via an ECU remap and a revised intake and intercooler to take care of the induction needs, providing a 10% boost in power over the base FQ-300. This shaves 0.3 seconds off the acceleration time, bringing it down to 4.4 seconds.

The top of the range is the Lancer Evolution FQ-360, which produces 356 horsepower. This one takes abit of extra work. The FQ-330’s intake mods are there, but the extra horsepower topped up over the FQ-330’s 325hp is achieved in a manner you wouldn’t normally expect. I’m sure you think they increased the boost or uprated the turbo, but in reality they actually reduced the boost from 11.8 psi to 10.3 psi.

The extra power is achieved via fiddling with the air-fuel mixture to make it leaner. The result is a power boost without much lag as even with the increase in power, peak torque of 492Nm is hit at 3,500rpm. 0 to 100km/h takes 4.1 seconds.

Only the FQ-300 is available with the Twin Clutch SST, while the FQ-330 and FQ-360 is only available with a 5-speed manual, presumably because the Twin Clutch SST box has not been tested enough with the higher torque levels of the FQ-330 and FQ-360.

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UK-based Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution owner’s club the Mitsubishi Lancer Register will be attempting to create a new Guiness World Record for the largest parade of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions. The event will take place tomorrow at the Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire, England with a Guinness World Record adjudicator in attendance

The current confirmed registry of Evos that will attend currently stands at over 300 units, but more are welcome. If you have an Evo in the UK and wish to take part, email Darin at darin (at) lancerregister.com or call +44 (0) 845 12 526237 and ask for Darin or Mechell.

We may see Peugeot and Citroen badge engineered versions of the Mitsubishi i MiEV in the European market, much like PSA Peugeot Citroen’s deal with Mitsubishi with the Outlander, resulting in the C-Crosser and the 4007.

PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors have started a joint study that will last several months to examine the scope a potential cooperation to produce small electric-powered vehicles designed for city and urban use.

The study will also involve the feasibility of shared production sites for components for electric vehicles. This announcement comes just after the beginning of the construction of a new jointly owned factory in Russia.

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Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia has officially made available two additional variants of the Triton pick-up truck at its showrooms – the Mitsubishi Triton 3.2 4X4 Automatic and the Mitsubishi Triton Lite 2.5 4X2 Manual.

This increases the Triton line-up to 4 different variants now, adding to the current offering of the 2.5 4×4 Automatic and the 2.5 4X4 Manual.

You can spot the Triton 3.2 from the 2.5 liter versions by its different front bumper which has a little bumper protector, a chromed grille, and the different wheel design. Under the hood is the 4M41 3.2 liter inline-4 turbodiesel engine producing 160 PS at 3,500rpm and 343Nm of torque at 2,000rpm.

It would be interesting to note that this is still not the most powerful version of Mitsubishi’s turbodiesel engine – there is another 3.2 liter with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger but it is only available in the Pajero. The Triton 3.2 goes for RM97,041.50 in Peninsular Malaysia OTR without insurance. Sabah and Sarawak prices are RM97,280.40 and RM97.509.00 respectively.

RELATED: Mitsubishi Triton 3.2 Test Drive Report

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The Triton Lite is much like what most of you expected – a 4X2 version of the Triton with smaller tyres. It rides on 15 inch wheels for one. The front bumper and grille is also rather basic and unpainted, with no foglamps.

The much lower price of RM58,129.80 (RM59,685.20 in Sabah and RM59,618.30 in Sarawak) is due to the 2.5 liter engine being a more basic 8 valve SOHC version with no turbocharger. It puts out 75 PS at 4,200rpm and 149Nm of torque at 2,500rpm which is pretty much equivalent to a 1.6 liter gasoline engine’s torque. It is only available with a 5-speed manual.

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Mitsubishi will be unveiling the 5-door hatchback version of the Mitsubishi Lancer at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October this year.

The baseline version of the hatch will be powered by the 1.5 liter 4A91 DOHC engine featuring MIVEC variable valve timing, producing 109 PS at 6,000rpm and 145Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. This is the same engine found in the normally aspirated Mitsubishi Colt as well as the smart forfour.

Slightly up the range is a 1.8 liter model powered by the 4B10, a version of the 4B11 2.0 liter we know here in our market with a reduced displacement. The 4B10 engine makes 143 PS at 6,000rpm and 177Nm of torque at 4,250rpm. There will also be a 2.0 liter turbodiesel model producing 140 PS, likely to be using the same Volkswagen engine as the Indian turbodiesel Lancer sedan.

A Lancer Sportback Ralliart will also be showcased, featuring a turbocharged 4B11T 2.0 liter engine similiar to the one in the Lancer Evolution but iwth a lower power output of 240 horses and 343Nm of torque. It will be mated to the Twin Clutch SST gearbox, with an Active Center Differential and 4WD.

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Click here to read the rest of Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback due at Paris 2008