Thursday, April 27, 2017

Mitsubishi Starion


The Mitsubishi Starion is a two-door, turbocharged four-cylinder rear-wheel drive four-seat sports car that was in production from 1982 to 1989. It was also marketed in North America as the Conquest under the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth names. Both the Starion and Conquest came to an end in 1989. Mitsubishi’s entry in the lucrative Japanese grand tourer class in the 1980s, the Starion is considered to be one of the originators of the modern Japanese turbocharged performance automobile genre, and the first to use electronic fuel injection.
The Starion used a traditional front-mounted engine with rear-wheel drive layout. Many came with a limited slip differential and anti-lock brakes (single channel, rear wheels only) as standard features. The entire chassis was derived from the previous high-performance variant of the Mitsubishi Sapporo or Mitsubishi Galant Lambda sports coupé, with a MacPherson strut suspension and swaybars that were fitted to front and rear.
Engine capacity differed between markets. American customers received the larger SOHC Astron G54B 2.6 L engine. Most markets received the SOHC 2.0 L Sirius 4G63 engine, subsequently featured in DOHC form in later Mitsubishi sport compacts such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Both the 2.0 L and the 2.6 L produced roughly the same horsepower, the larger 2.6 L did have a slight torque advantage and the 2.0L had a higher redline. Reporters of the time considered the 2.0l to be peaky and exciting, while the American market 2.6l had plenty of torque, but was less rewarding. Both engines featured computer controlled fuel injection and turbo charging, the first Japanese production vehicle to do so.
After 1987, European Starion models were also fitted with the 2.6 L engine, as was the GSR-VR for Japan. The move to the 2.6 L in all markets was spurred by emissions restrictions around the world tightening to meet the American standards for lead in fuels. Reviews during the change were negative as many felt the car was slower, for most of these markets this was the case as the engine change also coincided with a move to the heavier body style.
Horsepower varied between 150–197 hp (112–147 kW; 152–200 PS) depending mostly upon the turbocharger that was fitted, the presence of an intercooler, and whether the 8-valve or 12-valve head was used.
The last of the leaded petrol Starion EX’s sold in New Zealand had 8 Valves, an Intercooler and 225 hp (168 kW). They also featured a TC06 turbo and an Viscous Limited Slip Differential.
A naturally aspirated version known as the GX was also built for the Japanese market, however production ceased in 1983 due to low sales figures. The Starion GX had no electric windows, no air conditioning, no independent rear suspension, no fuel injection and did not have power steering.
Seating was a 2+2 arrangement, although the rear seats are not too suitable for large adults. The front seats were adjustable for lumbar, angle, knee support, position and featured variable-angle side-braces.
One of the more unusual features was that the seat belts were located in the doors for the driver and front passenger. ’87 and later American models featured electrically operated seat belts. The cars were also some of the first to use automatic climate control. Newer models also featured electric windows that remained powered up to 30 second after the engine was turned off.
A five-speed manual transmission was standard in most models, however, an automatic transmission was sold as an option in some markets.
Constant upgrades to the model included the addition of an intercooler, five-lug wheels replacing the four-bolt wheels it had inherited from the rear wheel drive Mitsubishi Galant Lambda, rear power train changes from four- to six-bolt axles, various fuel management upgrades and upgrades to the transmission. The “best” year is often debated, For US market cars the debate is most often between the ’86 and ’89 models. 1988s and ’89s have more developed fuel management and stronger running gear. ’86s are lighter, somewhat simpler to modify and have non-motorized seatbelts. ’87s are similar to ’88/89 in most respects and can be easy upgraded to ’89 specs.
Towards the end of the model run in the US a widebody could be bought with a “Sports Handling Package” or SHP equipped. This was made up of adjustable front and rear struts and 1 inch wider wheels (up from 16×7 to 8 front and 16×8 to 9 rear). The SHP was only offered during the 88 and 89 model years. The package can be retro fitted to earlier pre-widebody cars.
In 1988, a Special Edition Conquest TSI-SE was made to commemorate various IMSA and SCCA Championship wins. It consisted of 150 limited vehicles from the first 500 of the assembly line in Japan. They featured all US dealer Options, including SHP packages, a revised PCI-ECM with “Over-boost”, HD Borg Warner JM600 4-speed Automatic Transmission with bush button Overdrive / 4th gear lockout and an exclusive Group-B Yellow exterior colour scheme.
The drag coefficient was around 0.32; although quite angular, the aerodynamics were quite efficient for the era and around the average for a modern hatchback. It outperformed the Mazda RX-7 and the Nissan 300ZX upon its release.
Notable upgrades include MPI (Multi-Port-Injection) consisting of standalone engine management to control individual fuel injectors, 1 per cylinder vs. the stock PCI-ECM two injector system.
The Starion was a prominent competitor in motorsports up to International level during the 1980s and performed well on the circuit in Group A and Group N races of the era.
Andy McLennan driving a Simmons drums sponsored Starion was very successful, picking up many race wins and a Monroe championship, this against the semi works car of Colin Blower.
In Holland, John Hugenholtz won the over 2L class in the Dutch Championship, with the Colin Blower-prepared Mitsubishi Dealers car.
In the United States, the Starion became best known for successes in endurance racing. Starions from Dave Wolin’s Team Mitsubishi, with turbocharged 2.6 L G54B engines built by noted Lotus engine guru Dave Vegher, captured the prestigious “Longest Day of Nelson Ledges” 24 hour endurance race four years running from 1984 through 1987. Team Mitsubishi Starions also won the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) U.S. Endurance Championships three of those four years, competing against the fully factory-backed (Wolin’s team was only partially sponsored by Mitsubishi) efforts from Chrysler, Audi, Nissan and Mazda. Although not commonly seen in modern motorsports, a number are still raced on both circuit and in special stage rally events, usually by privateers.

Starion in The Canon Ball Run 2 here.

Starion owners club.

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