So those that know me well, know that at heart I still love 90's Mitsubishi. And even more than that I love a good oddball car. My first fast import was a Dodge Colt GT turbo. I auto crossed the world's least powerful FSP mirage. Co-Drove an Evo 9. I was very active in the Mitsubishi community through the early 2000's. Those cheap little cars have a spot in my heart.
Back in the day, I was messing around with a friend to build a 1.8L Mivec motor. Basically something that never was made by the factory. Think the Mitsubishi version of the B20GSR or the LS/VTEC. So I got to know the early Mivec motors pretty well and always wanted one of my own.
So that brings us to today. I've been casually looking for a 4G92 Mivec Hatchback for a long time. When chatting with MR2S2000Elise last night, we were talking about what I was going to do to to freshen up the Integra and well google searches drifted to 90's comparo videos between the Civic Type R and the Mitsu Cyborg R. Then that drifted to gee I wonder if there are any available for sale in the US or Japan now. Which drifted to this:
Whoops, I bought another car. 1996 Mitsubishi RS.
So for those who don't know Mitsubishi well, the RS models in the mid 90s were always the stripper model for motorsports. Basically just about everything was removed and a few performance adders were done.
For the CJ4A Mirage, That included seam welded chassis, faster rack, almost no sound deadening, boxed control arms, slight lowering, and a few other small things. It would have been delivered with steelies. Factory weight was 1010 KG and with the new exhaust and wheels, it's probably under 1000KG now.
The only 2 options available were AC and the LSD. This car has both. Overall, this car was a auction grade 4 with a B/B interior/Exterior rating and had a slight repair and respray to the driver's quarter. Also, it was under 70KM on the clock. (43K miles) It was a tokyo car given the toll tag system. All of this for less than half what a CTR would cost and even more than so a N1 CTR which is it's closest peer.
4G92-MIVEC DOHC 16 Valve
Total Displacement - 1.6 L (1,597 cc)
Bore - 81 mm (3.19 in)
Stroke - 77.5 mm (3.05 in)
Compression Ratio - 11.0:1
Maximum Output - 125 kW (170 PS; 168 bhp) at 7,500 rpm
Maximum Torque - 167 N⋅m (123 lb⋅ft) at 7,000 rpm
Larger diameter headers.
Shorter ratio gearbox with factory LSD.
Added chassis/ shell strengthening.
Lighter/ thinner glass
Bigger Anti Roll Bars
Manual windows
I should have delivery by the end of the month.
Few more pics.
Rad, love the wheels. Plans?
In reply to tperkins :
Not sure yet. For sure some Autox and track days. Probably mostly suspension work for said track days.
Engine mods don't gain you a ton. Be interested as well to see the ECU in it. It was a dealer option to put the Mirage Cup ECU's in these. A lot of them got it.
I honestly have never seen a RS in the flesh till this. This is an itch that is 10 years coming to scratch so I'm either going to be in love or disappointed.
Everything is signed, sealed, and now just need the delivery. Waiting to hear from the transporter on when they can get it on a truck.
Looking forward to some autox next year with it. Run XSB here with the Nebraska region.
So nice to see something different. Especially on track.
LOVE the car and official congrats!!
Since you have been the enabler to go through all my 401K - spending it all on cars, glad to return the favor ;)
So when will the GSR come back to me? 
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Thanks brother. Not sure about the GSR. You may have to come pry it from my hands. You know I do love that car too. :)
Unlike your recent buying experience, this was closed start to finish in no time flat and no crazies!
bmw88rider said:
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Thanks brother. Not sure about the GSR. You may have to come pry it from my hands. You know I do love that car too. :)
Unlike your recent buying experience, this was closed start to finish in no time flat and no crazies!
Crazies don't own cool RS. They own EVOs LOL.
I think with the RS and Element getting garage duty - the days of GSR is numbered...
Got all of the paperwork today.
I forgot that the car got the shaken done right before it was exported. So with the car, I got a fresh set of plates and the shaken certificate. Cool addition.
Now, just need the car picked up. The insurance is bought on it. Hagerty made the process really simple. I didn't even have to jump through any hoops being that it's a JDM car.
So the decoding of this. The first part is the Plate Name. In this case Gunma region. (Tokyo Burbs) 530 is the engine side. then the actual plate number
And here is what makes the car special. Is it bad I already have a jun flywheel and cusco carbon strut bar for the rear ordered. I already got my favorite bushings for this chassis delivered. I can not wait to drive this thing.
This will be fun to watch!
'90's-tastic interior fabric!
In reply to John Welsh :
Oh yeah. Mitsubishi did 90's fab fabric the best. Zubaz was the design influence I think for the interior.
So just got the word. The mirage is loaded and inbound. Of course, just in time for the worse snow storm of the year here. I get to see it thursday.
bmw88rider said:
So just got the word. The mirage is loaded and inbound. Of course, just in time for the worse snow storm of the year here. I get to see it thursday.
You can reroute it to me and I can store it?
That is so cool. I spent too much time looking at it thinking I didn't recognize it at all, then saw the right hand drive and realized - because we never got them here.
I like how the airbox is about the size of the engine!
mr2s2000elise said:
LOVE the car and official congrats!!
Since you have been the enabler to go through all my 401K - spending it all on cars, glad to return the favor ;)
So when will the GSR come back to me?
With markets like they are I've seriously considered putting my 401k into other tangible things.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:
With markets like they are I've seriously considered putting my 401k into other tangible things.
Covid economy was the best thing that happened to me in my life.
In reply to dculberson :
We got it's cousin here. It's related to the 1997-2001 mitsubishi mirage. This is a pretty rare version of it. I have been in the mirage circles for a while and I only know of 4 in the US including this one.
1 is a converted mirage cup car that is getting restored as a mirage cup car, One now has a 4g63T in it, one got wrecked, and this one. They only made 1700 total over 4 years including the mirage cup cars.
And of course the car on a trailer pic.
Really hope you get rid of the ghetto tint ASAP
Needs the OEM hatch spoiler, BAAAAD
So I was surprised, I actually found the rear wiper arm NOS here state side. Got to love parts bin items.
I also found the factory radio block off plate and the little storage bin that goes below it NOS as well. So I'll have the choice of either having a stereo or not.
On other things, it may get delivered tonight. If not tonight than tomorrow.
