Dear Mitsubishi, What Ever Happened To...?!

[finnie3d]

Do you have any questions for the designers and decision makers in the Mitsubishi camp? Have you ever wondered why they went a certain way with a particular model or system? You're probably not alone. Mitsubishi has, over the years, made a few calls that many of the Mitsubishi faithful were at best mildly confused about. Sound off here and let the community know what's on your mind!

Many of my questions revolve around Mitsubishi circuit racing. You can peep pictures of some vintage Mitsubishi racers here: <b>Memory Lane</b>

Much respect to everyone on DSM Tuners running Hard Rocks on the circuit track and road race events everywhere!

Three Diamonds Up!

 

[lacroixdp]

I think they are more concerned with survival at this point in the game. MHI stated the bailout money they gave Mitsubishi Motors a few years ago was the last loan they were giving them - they would close them down if they ran out again. They've been plagued so badly with recall fraud and poor product that quite frankly, it's a miracle Mitsubishi Motors is still in business.

 

[badabing33a]

What ever happend to the Talons and Lasers?

 

[ImportWarrior]

in the Memory Lane link you posted there is a pic of a starion. "car 91 where
are you" the current owner is on a website called Starquestclub.com he had
a ton of pics of it. plus he also got in the deal from dave wolin a prototype
1988 starion with duel speed gearbox. the car has 159 original miles on it

 

[tony203040]

How about the crankshaft and the 'not-so-fun' crankwalk issues. This problem continues today with the Lancer Evolution's 4G63 engine (up to the 2007 model year) crankshaft. Anybody hear of any crankwalk issues with the new 4B11 (2008-present) engine?

 

[rock1t]

How about the crankshaft and the 'not-so-fun' crankwalk issues. This problem continues today with the Lancer Evolution's 4G63 engine (up to the 2007 model year) crankshaft. Anybody hear of any crankwalk issues with the new 4B11 (2008-present) engine?

Crankwalk is very over estimated. This only happens on 1% of blocks, problem is most people know that these cars do this and decide they have the knowledge to say 99% of these cars do this, which is not the case. Crankwalk is very rare and happens more commonly in other vehicles. So

 

[lacroixdp]

Crankwalk is very over estimated. This only happens on 1% of blocks, problem is most people know that these cars do this and decide they have the knowledge to say 99% of these cars do this, which is not the case. Crankwalk is very rare and happens more commonly in other vehicles. So

It's more common than that. When I used to go 7bolt hunting in the junkyard, I never had a problem finding an engine with an out-of-spec thrust bearing. It is relatively uncommon I'd agree, but 1% sounds like something you just made up.

What ever happend to the Talons and Lasers?

Chrysler Corporation got rid of the Eagle brand and they chose to cancel the Talon along with it. However, they use the TSi marque on some cars occasionally, like the Sebring. The Laser was just killed off instead of being remade into 2G form. I'm assuming it was to save marketing money, but I don't know for sure.

 

[tony203040]

Crankwalk is very over estimated. This only happens on 1% of blocks, problem is most people know that these cars do this and decide they have the knowledge to say 99% of these cars do this, which is not the case. Crankwalk is very rare and happens more commonly in other vehicles. So

I wasn't suggesting that this happens in all or even most 2g DSMs. I was just stating that it is a problem that has existed for many years. I'm not stating any numbers, percentages or stats as I cannot attest to any. If you have information verifying "1% of blocks," I would be more than interested in reading it. I've just heard so many cases of it and never heard of it happening in anything but a DSM.

But back to the topic...Dear Mitsubishi, remember when you never recalled your 'out-of-spec' crankshafts?

 

[finnie3d]

You could ask Mitsubishi a bunch of questions that start with that...
What ever happened to:

- making the transmissions of ALL the platforms more reliable?
- making the parts of more of the cars cross over for easier upgrading within the brand?
- bringing more of the JDM models stateside (Legnum & 8G VR4's, Cyborg, FTO, etc.)?
- actually providing Factory Sponsorship for Circuit Racing and not just Rally Cars?

these are questions I'd like to ask the leadership, among others...

[LacroixDP] I still have a Laser, just slow with the build...

here are some of the body pics below...
check some of the build pics in the new blog post here: Some See Coal...I See Diamonds!

 

[finnie3d]

! Just glue these on, and they instantly reduce your underhood temperature by 50%!

 

[91tizzy]

I saw at one point a proto ralliart 4th gen eclipse with the 4g and awd that I think would have been a huge success and provided a helluva performance comeback for mitsu. Plus it would have given them a 2 door platform....god it was beautiful too. WOuld like to ask about that myself. But I also see the point of them just trying to stay above rising water.

 

[slo-rst-laser]

What ever happen to the the X2s?

 

[shift2drift38]

HeckI'm new here but not to a DSM. I have one question. If Mitsubishi made such great success on the powerhorse of the 6bolt 4g63, why in the **** u need to change it at 92.5..and then in 95 get lazy, make a great body but hand over the reliable 7bolt design from the 1g's to I believe Hyundai? Why put your reputation at risk with them......that's like corporate america bombshelling our jobs and sending them to china. Anyone agree with that analogy?

 

[sik4g63]

I would have loved it if they did make the 4g ralliart. My question to Mitsu would be what did you let your desingers smoke when they redesigned the eclipse. IMO after the 2g things just went down hill with the eclipse.

 

[jdodds]

Everything seems to have gone downhill from 2000 on. As far as performance vehicles, all theyre putting out now is the evo. I personally havent driven a 4g eclipse but ive played with one on the highway and its not much of a "sports car" if you ask me.

I think the 4b11 has huge potential in the new evo x. Id like to see it put into the eclipse platform and kind of mirror the 90-99 days. Some of you might disagree with me when i say this but, bring back the 3000GT. I owned a 95 and regret selling it almost daily. I think great things could be done with them if mitsu started up with them again. Think of it as mitsus answer to the GTR and other cars in that class. Back in the day, the 3kgt competed with the vette, viper and various porches in most magazine reviews. I really hope to see a revised and boosted version of the 6g72 in something.

I dont know how many others like the new design of mitsus cars. I happen to like them alot. I know theyre a little different but any auto maker needs to keep changing things up to make their cars appeal to buyers.

As far as parts go, they really could have used some more R&D over the years. Keep in mind, all parts on any cars are not made to be reliable under heavy abuse/modification. Take the WRX for example. The trans is great for a stock car but once you get a little more torque to it, it seems to be made of glass. Ive replaced the trans in my friends WRX 4 times this year alone because hes too stubborn to buy better internals. Just keep in mind, these parts are not made to handle horsepower over factory spec.

 

[sik4g63]

If they brought the 3KGT back I would go out and get it. Thats if it is styled nicely.

 

[DSMsamurai666]

Everyone says that Mitsubishi has been too busy trying to survive to come out with some killer tuner cars like they used to. From my casual research I've found that Mitsubishi is basically the largest corporation in Japan and they sell a lot more than cars. I realize that their cars aren't selling so well, but I doubt that the company as a whole is going down. I think they're letting Mitsubishi Motors fall by the wayside becuase they don't give a damn about that part of their company or something. Its BS. There isn't a new Mitsubishi vehicle that I would like to own and I'm sure most people feel the same way. Total waste.

 

[phunny]

Flame away, but the 2G's and 4G's are by far the best looking eclipses. Have no idea why they did what they did with the 3G(I owned one btw). That 4G ralliart is just sexy.

 

[lacroixdp]

Everyone says that Mitsubishi has been too busy trying to survive to come out with some killer tuner cars like they used to. From my casual research I've found that Mitsubishi is basically the largest corporation in Japan and they sell a lot more than cars. I realize that their cars aren't selling so well, but I doubt that the company as a whole is going down. I think they're letting Mitsubishi Motors fall by the wayside becuase they don't give a damn about that part of their company or something. Its BS. There isn't a new Mitsubishi vehicle that I would like to own and I'm sure most people feel the same way. Total waste.

MHI owns Mitsubishi Motors, but they are expected to turn a profit on their own, which they haven't done in years. Each new generation has gotten worse, starting way back in the day. They may look better with each new generation, but looks aren't everything. MHI told MMNA that they are on their very last bailout. They were told if they can't manage to turn it around, they will pull the plug on MMNA. Personally, I think that should have happened years ago. The only half-way decent car they made was the Evo, and look what they did with it. They are the Dodge of the Japanese car world now - one half-way decent car and the rest are heaps.

Why would they come out with a tuner car when they can't make a passenger car that's remotely competitive anymore?

 

[Unwythe]

Flame away, but the 2G's and 4G's are by far the best looking eclipses. Have no idea why they did what they did with the 3G(I owned one btw). That 4G ralliart is just sexy.

Have you ever even owned a DSM in your life for more than a few days/months? 3G's and 4G's not counting since they are not DSM's.

 

[brownfinger]

MHI owns Mitsubishi Motors, but they are expected to turn a profit on their own, which they haven't done in years. Each new generation has gotten worse, starting way back in the day. They may look better with each new generation, but looks aren't everything. MHI told MMNA that they are on their very last bailout. They were told if they can't manage to turn it around, they will pull the plug on MMNA. Personally, I think that should have happened years ago. The only half-way decent car they made was the Evo, and look what they did with it. They are the Dodge of the Japanese car world now - one half-way decent car and the rest are heaps.

Why would they come out with a tuner car when they can't make a passenger car that's remotely competitive anymore?

This is a serious issue. The factory employs 1 shift, 4 days a week. It used to be 3 shifts, 24/7. The workers keep agreeing to pay-cut after pay-cut just to keep their jobs. The whole center of Illinois used to be getting rich off of the money pouring out of that factory, and now everyone is just waiting for MHI to pull the plug. I used to have neighbors on 3 sides of my house who worked at that factory. Now the factory has an empty parking lot full of dead trees.
I can't blame MMNA for whatever decisions they make to try to keep the N American operation afloat. They used to make cooler cars, but in order for that whole scheme to work, they need hundreds of thousands of people who are willing and able to buy them at retail price.
Life, and business, is all about change.
It's a bi***.

 

[gorf]

I saw at one point a proto ralliart 4th gen eclipse with the 4g and awd that I think would have been a huge success and provided a helluva performance comeback for mitsu. Plus it would have given them a 2 door platform....god it was beautiful too. WOuld like to ask about that myself. But I also see the point of them just trying to stay above rising water.

I think the 4G's look good. I went and test drove the 4G v6 convertible. My 2G handles better, is faster and I have AWD. If they had released the 4g AWD turbo in a convertible - I would be driving one right now.

 

[lacroixdp]

This is a serious issue. The factory employs 1 shift, 4 days a week. It used to be 3 shifts, 24/7. The workers keep agreeing to pay-cut after pay-cut just to keep their jobs. The whole center of Illinois used to be getting rich off of the money pouring out of that factory, and now everyone is just waiting for MHI to pull the plug. I used to have neighbors on 3 sides of my house who worked at that factory. Now the factory has an empty parking lot full of dead trees.
I can't blame MMNA for whatever decisions they make to try to keep the N American operation afloat. They used to make cooler cars, but in order for that whole scheme to work, they need hundreds of thousands of people who are willing and able to buy them at retail price.
Life, and business, is all about change.
It's a bi***.

Precisely. I know plenty of people I work with here that used to work there. They all either got laid off or their hours got slaughtered and need 2 jobs to stay alive now.

Mitsubishi simply doesn't have enough money anymore to engineer a decent car. The name's completely ruined - that's why they can't find buyers for their cars anymore. Who wants to buy from a car manufacturer that's about to go belly-up?

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Have you ever even owned a DSM in your life for more than a few days/months? 3G's and 4G's not counting since they are not DSM's.

I'm almost positive he has. But, even if not, so what? Why would you even say something like this?

 

[phunny]

Have you ever even owned a DSM in your life for more than a few days/months? 3G's and 4G's not counting since they are not DSM's.

Apparently reading isn't one of your strong points. Do you see the word DSM anywhere in my post. I'll tell you since you answer since it will probably just confuse you, NO! And have I owned DSM's? Only 7, but a all knowing wise person like you probably actually new that. And I have no idea what you post was even for. What were you trying to say.

-charlie