CT Weekend Lunatic: Just Your Average 9-second Mitsubishi Mirage.

Here at CarThrottle, we appreciate the lunatic automotive enthusiasts. They're what makes the automotive world continue to turn, always innovating and coming up with new ways to scare the hell out of us.  This will become a regular feature on the weekends here at CarThrottle as I scour the web for people who've done crazy, some might say lunatic-esque, modifications to their cars.

Up first: It's just an innocent-looking Mitsubishi Mirage.  Remember the Mirage?  It was the predecessor to the Lancer in this country, Mitsubishi's shot at the Civic and Corolla that came after the Colt in the 80's.  I started thinking about the insane things you could do to a Mirage after spending a little time helping a friend work on his wife's 93 Mirage S Sedan.  That car is not on the lunatic fringe.  It's got a 12-valve 1.5L, a 3-speed automatic, has never gotten less than 30mpg, and costs about as much to insure per month as you're liable to dig out of your couch.  Great commuter car.  His has a leaky valve-cover gasket (at least we think that's why it's burning so much oil) but is otherwise in good shape.

Anyhow, I'm the kind of lunatic that works on a mid-90's economy car and thinks to myself, "do people hot-rod these?"  I mean, people hot-rod mid-90's Civic Hatchbacks, and that's not considered unusual.  Why not a Mirage?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5DWlcLHMDc

Holy crap!  Why not a Mirage, indeed?  It's a simple recipe, really.  The Mirage shares a lot of it's underpinnings with the DSM's, the 1st and 2nd generation Eclipse/Laser/Talon.  As you may know, top of the line DSM's were available with a turbocharged, intercooled 4G63T engine as well as front or all-wheel-drive.  These cars were top of the heap for bang-for-the-buck back in the day, with 190-205 turbocharged horsepower in a compact package.

This particular Mirage Coupe has had it's 1.5L I4 replaced with a highly-modified 2.0L 4G63 Turbo, and the viscous AWD system from a GS-X Eclipse for extra measure.  The results are staggering: 11.0 quarter miles were whittled down to a best of 9.6s@153mph after a season of running.  Why so fast?  Well, a Mirage is considerably lighter than a DSM: a base curb weight of around 2,200lbs puts it nearly a half-ton lighter than an all-wheel-drive 2nd-generation DSM, making for a much higher power to weight ratio even before engine modifications.  Of which this car obviously has quite a few!

Next weekend: Turbocharged H22A-powered 1st-generation Honda Odyssey Minivan?  Perhaps!