Does your Mitsubishi race team have an official name?

What would that be?
Rochester DSM One Lap Team

What Mitsubishi do you race?
This year the team is bringing two cars to the One Lap of America. The 1992 Galant VR-4 that the team ran last year and a 2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X GSR. If you break it down outside of One Lap, we have some pretty strong roots in Mitsubishi. Out of the four of us going, we have two Evolution X, one Evolution IX and Tim has transitioned from his 1992 Eclipse GSX to the Galant VR-4 for his track events.

In what series?
The only official series we run is the One Lap of America every year, if you call the second consecutive year a regular occurrence. Most of our tracking revolves around using the various driver’s education courses to get onto the track. We run with the various groups like the Niagara Region PCA and call Watkins Glen our hometown track.

What’s your real name and role in the team? (Do you have a screen name online?)
It is interesting that you asked about screen names, as the world has made a strong transition into representing real names online with the growth of social networking.

Stephen Burke (nrvous)
Timothy Harper (greengsx)
Sean Caron (tevenor)
Chris Wirth (hiboost)

For One Lap, you can either be a driver or a transit driver. For us, everybody’s role is driver as nobody in our group wants to go on this trip without driving the tracks.

Where do you live?
We all live around the Rochester NY area, which is that equally snow buried area between Buffalo and Syracuse.

What do you do for a living?
Sean, Chris and Stephen all work within the Information Technology realm in some fashion, while Tim breaks the mold as a Analytical Chemist.

How did you all come to do this together?
We came together as friends through the Rochester DSM club, which was the local car enthusiast club for organizing our Mitsubishi addictions. We came together to race on One Lap of America in 2009. While Tim may object, the rest of us like to blame this on his mid-life moment of wanting to take the “once in a lifetime” trip he had always dreamed about.

How long have you been doing it?
It feels like we have been modifying, breaking, and fixing Mitsubishi’s to make them better for racing since birth, where in reality we all dived in around the mid-90s. We have been on the track for years, starting into the SCCA solo events about that time and getting onto the real track time around 2001-2003, depending on who you talk to.

Why did you choose this Galant to race? Features? Benefits?
The first reason has to be availability. As much as we would have loved to have a selection of cars at our disposal, we had a vested interest in the Galant VR-4 as a platform and we had one that became available. It was actually Stephen’s car that had been built up over the years, but Stephen was moving to a Mitsubishi Evolution X. That made the car mildly expendable and having a car  that we could walk away from was important. The real attraction was that we had so many race parts between the VR-4 and Tim’s 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse that we knew we could make a pretty competitive car for the event. The benefit was that it had enough room to fit three guys, otherwise we would have taken the Eclipse that was already track ready.

Got a favorite story to tell about building or racing the Galant?
To ask this question in a garage with the group of us hanging around, we would talk for longer than this article could possibly accommodate.

Building it up, there was a lot of pressure in a short amount of time. The most fun in the build process was closer to the end when the paint and the decals really transformed the car. All of the hard work up to that point turned into a lot of glowing pride as we represented such a nostalgic look into Mitsubishi racing history. It brought a grin from ear to ear.

We took a lot of pride in what we did last year and it wasn’t just the build up of the car and all the work we did to build a following and land some really cool sponsors. We had a great time and earned the respect of our fellow compeitors some of which had no idea what the hell we were driving. After the Motor Trend article came out that really put the finishing touches on what was an epic journey for us.

What have you already accomplished with the Galant?
Surviving the One Lap of America trip in 2009 was a milestone. It is amazing to take a four door sedan which started as 195 horsepower and produce a reliable track car up closer to 450 horsepower.

When giving the car the final once-over before a race, what sort of things are you looking
at?
Brakes, Brakes, and mostly Brakes. We have just driven the car for hundreds of miles if not more, so we have a grasp on how it is running, engine wise. The only thing that we want to ensure is working better than anything is the braking. When you are driving a relatively blind track for the first time, the brakes can make up a lot of mistakes.

What are your primary concerns at this point?
One Lap of America is a unique event. You only have three hot laps, making every mistake compound. The first concern is keeping control of the car and not over-driving the track.  You put a lot of effort into trying to learn a track that you may have only watched videos of, or seen a map of.

Walk our readers through what happens between when you get into and out of the Galant for a run and your concerns each step of the way.
The event is a very strong team effort on race day. While there is not enough time to make all of the prep work happen, the driver of the event tries to get out on the track early to walk some of the turns. This isn’t always available, but it gives a chance for the driver to focus on what is coming up and to start running through entry and exit points of the turns.  While the driver walks the course, the co-driver preps the car. After a long night of travel, this means getting all of the gear out and giving the car a once over to ensure everything is where it needs to be. We stiffen the shocks for the track, check the fluids and pull the wheels off to make sure we have plenty of braking still in place to make things go smooth.  We do a lot of balance with tire pressure depending on the conditions and the track.

Getting called to grid is pretty straight forward, unless something didn’t go well during the prep stage and we are short on time. Lining up in grid, each driver goes through his own mental routine to be ready. Anything mechanical is out of our focus now, so it is all about where to run and trying to find a line that works.

For the One Lap of America, you have one recon lap to drive around the track to learn the turns. After one recon lap you return to grid and get staged for your 3 lap timed run. That recon lap is huge. You have to drive conservative, but take note of the areas that aren’t so smooth. That recon lap also shakes out the cobwebs and brings everything into focus.  Anything that you drive mildly smooth, you don’t change and all of the focus goes to the problem turns to make them better.

After an eternity of waiting for that recon lap, the next time in grid moves really fast. The adrenaline is already moving and all of the butterflies have been ingested. There are five cars on track, so you make some quick negotiations with your group to ensure nobody is in a position to pass anybody else. The next laps are about time, and not about passing.

The only Galant specific concern we ran into last year was aerodynamics. For most of the tracks with a bunch of cars who do not know the lines, we overcome everything with horsepower and braking. That was different for the large tracks like Sebring and more importantly Daytona. You quickly realize that around 140 MPH you are driving a box that does little for keeping the car down on the track.

And, when the car gets back to the pits? What then?
Most of the events have two sessions, after the morning session it is time to go back and feed back to the team what the car and track is doing. We send the same person out on the second event, to use the track experience to improve our time.

What does it take to go the distance? Mechanically? Mentally?
Mechanically it is a different form of assault on what we used to consider “race parts.”  While aluminum brackets keep things light, anything load bearing or vibration intensive gets replaced with something stronger. While the car only needs to survive 3 hot laps on the track, that happens 16 times over the course of 8 days with 3000+ miles connecting them all together. It should be the new testing ground for all new products entering the market.

Not to pick on the great state of Ohio but we ran into some of the most lunar like roads in that state. Some of the pot-holes were big enough do some damage and we were no exception. We broke a rear upper control arm on our way to Kentucky that almost cost us the race. Luck for us Curtis from GalantVR4.org saved our butts but the whole trip is punishing on the cars and if you think about it there are so many unique parts on these cars that sometimes its the little parts that you said “that will never break” end up leaving you stranded.

Mentally it takes a solid team. The time on the track is the easy part. Finding a rhythm to get between the tracks, prep the car, load it back up and keep momentum going is the hard part. Then there is the personal part of it all. Spending a couple of days together with friends is cool. Spending 8 days of non-stop driving, racing, and wrenching can put a strain on any bond. You have to be careful who you chose to ride along with because once you set out there is no turning back. We are lucky and even though we have our moments we can handle the pressure and still remain friends.

How is that mechanical/mental prep different from, say, drag or rally racing?
By spreading the event over 8 days, you go through a maturing phase of learning how to handle an endurance race. At the opening meeting they joked about how you find all of your frustrations by the 3 day then you fall into a balance out of necessity. They were right.

How have you tuned the car for what kind of powerband? Flat torque curve? Peaky?
The first rule for us was to tune the car so it would come back home agian. It’s easy to rag on us for not running 10’s with the Forced Performance FP3052 turbo we were using but we witnessed first hand last year as the high dollar GTR and a 520HP Sti both retired from the race with “tuning” realted mechanical failures. So we dialed the car back a bit running 25psi of boost and conservative timing up top to give us a good cushion against knock.

Keep in mind that not every state offered the same quality of fuel and our elevation changed too so we used water/meth injection to insure we had all the ocatane we needed. Pulling everything together is the best damn tuning system on the planet, ECMlink which was easy to use and easy to adjust on the fly if need be.

The car uses a HKS 264/272 cam combo, 2-216 FMIC, a home made custom intake manifold, and the FP 3052 turbo. That means that the car isn’t going to make a lot of power below 3000 rpms but by 3500 rpms all hell breaks loose and we enjoy 355 wheel hp and flate torque cure all the way to 7500 rpms.

How much fuel does the Galant use during events? On the road? How much fuel do you use during the series? Average MPGs for the entire series?
Tim wanted to keep careful records of our fuel economy but after about 1000 miles of ridicule those records were hidden away for ever. We budgeted $1000 for gas and that was overkill. The Galant with three guys and a trailer got 21-22mpg on the road and about 7-8mpg on the track. We were happy with that milage considering the amount of spare parts we were hauling around and the size of some of our drivers. At the start of the race we were wishing for a bigger gas tank but the reality is that we got about 300 miles to a tank while we needed a driver change about every 270miles (that would be every 100 miles if we caved to Mike’s walnut sized bladder).

What other expenses are involved when budgeting for the One Lap of America series?
The only set cost is the entry fee. Beyond that we have to budget for the consumables of the car, including the Tire Rack approved tires, and two sets of brakes. Then the cost is the trip itself. 9-10 nights of hotel rooms, fuel, food and random expenses that pop up. For the first time entry, you have to make sure you have race suits along with SA rated helmets along with all of the gear you might need to bring. A good estimate for the whole show is $6000 if your car does not need to be upgraded before the race.

What’s next for the Galant? Why?
This year the Galant is being strengthened by addressing the weak points that were exposed last year. Last year we broke a rear upper control arm, blew oil out of the catch can, ran out of injector (99% duty cycle), and the POS GM MAF we were using flaked out every time it rained. So here is a short list of what’s on tap for this year.

Harper built crankcase catch can
Curtis built sub-frame connectors
Pina Motorsports rear upper control arms (sponsored by the fine folks at GalantVR4.org)
Adjustable cam gears (sponsored by Tom “autobahntom” on GalantVR4.org)
Siemen-Deka 880 injectors (sponsored by Garfield Wright and www.tunersnation.com)
Corbeau race seats
Some sort of harness bar

To make the suspension and chassis strong we are installing a set of Pina Motorsports chromoly rear upper control arms which were purchased for us by the GalantVR4.org community. TunersNation donated a set of 880 injectors to help us with our fuel issues and a set of there rear sub-frame bushings which along with a set of sub-frame connectors by Curtis from GalantVR4.org should help tighten up our 200k+ mile 18 year old ride.

To improve our wet weather drivability we are ditching the GM MAF (POS) in favor of a speed density set-up using ECMlink. Tim is building a large crankcase catch can. Three laps of a lot of crankcase pressure caused a lot of pressure in the engine, causing a lot of oil blow out into the overflow can. It is expected while racing, but we need a larger crankcase catch can to accommodate.

As with any racing vehicle we will have to go over every inch of the VR-4 and root out problems so they won’t kill us during the race. Right now the car needs a rear wheel bearing, new strut housings for the koni inserts, a head gasket, and new hoses for the radiator. I am sure that list will grow by a mile as we get deeper into the preparation.

Can people come watch?
People can definitely come by and watch. Last year all of the tracks were open to the public and visitors were given free reign of the sites to get down in the pits, interact with the drivers, and hang their heads over the barriers geting closer to the action then you could ever get in any other type of racing. We were suprised last year that they opened up Daytona at lunch time for some high speed “wink..wink” parade laps. Some lucky GalantVR4.org members who showed up to support us hopped in the One Lap VR-4 and we all screamed like school girls racing at 110mph around the high banks.

Now we are not implying we can give rides because frankly we can’t. But we love what we are doing and nothing makes us happier then to see guys take time out of there day to come down and check us out. At every event last year we had a crowd of hard core Mitsubishi people come down and it really helps us. Not only do we get a boost from it but at the end of the day the support we got from Mitsubishi community got our photos into August 2009 issue of Motor Trend. When you take into account all the other cool cars that were there like the GTR, Sti, Evo, Ultima GTR, M3-M5-M6, GT2, GT3, etc all of which were trying to get into the magazine seeing our 17 year old Galant VR-4 get more photos then the race winning GTR was really special for us.

Where and when?
We have the schedule posted online, which people should check before coming out.
http://onelap.rochesterdsm.org/the-event/

Friday, April 30th – The Tire Rack in South Bend, IN
Saturday, May 1st – Road America Elkhart Lake, WI
Sunday, May 2nd – Mid America Motorplex Pacific Junction, IA
Monday AM, May 3rd – Hallett Motor Racing Circuit Jennings OK
Monday PM, May 3rd – Tulsa Raceway Park Tulsa, OK
Tuesday, May 4th – Gateway International Raceway Madison, IL
Wednesday, May 5th – Mid Ohio Sports Car Course Mansfield, OH
Thursday, May 6th – Lightning Raceway NJ Motorsports Park Milleville, NJ
Friday, May 7th – Nelson Ledges Garrettsville, OH
Saturday, May 8th – The Tire Rack in South Bend, IN

Is it easy to get into this type of racing?
Jumping into One Lap is big investment in both time and money. We did our best to budget last year but we really just jumped in with both feet and hoped for the best. This year the car is much closer to race ready so we can hone in on a budget and schedule.

For guys wanting to give this a try start by getting out on the track with your local sponsoring clubs to know how much you want to invest into an endurance track event. That being said, it is easily addictive. Somehow our “once in a lifetime” event last year has turned into a necessity.

Who has helped you the most along the way?
We would have never made the trip without the help of the GalantVR4.org community, which represents the fans and owners of this amazing platform. Not only did they raise funds to help us afford the trip, they provided us with better parts and provided us a support network across the country that kept this car running. They truly made us put more pride into putting that car together and representing the group than if we did not have them behind us.

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
The largest influencers in the community are the innovators still investing into the platform. There are a lot of people selling parts, but there are only a few out there still striving for better equipment. Tom Dorris who owns and runs ECM Tuning makes the ECMlink systems for the Mitsubishi cars. When we consider what we had to go through to control the ECU of the car years ago, his innovation has revolutionized the industry.

There are also contributors who make better parts that aren’t considered name brand. It is amazing how the industry embraces a name brand part, while it is the small machinists and smaller names that make the quality parts. There is a lot of respect for specialty part makers like Harry Blanchard at Three-Speed.com. They take a safety part, like a scatter shield and engineer it to such a level that is nothing short of perfect.

How does your team encourage other enthusiasts to get involved in legitimate racing?
We encourage people to join us for the various track events throughout the year and advice people to start with basics like SCCA Solo2 racing to get involved with the sport.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the Mitsubishi community today?
There are a lot of sites, groups and people offering bad advice. While the Internet has defined the growth of the Mitsubishi racing to a grassroots level, it has also created a lot of mis-directed information. The largest challenge is getting through the muck to discover the sources of valuable information.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites? Which ones?
To say we spend time on any Mitsubishi sites would be an understatement. Here is just a sampling..

GalantVR4.org
rochesterdsm.org
teamNABR.com
dsmtuners.com
Mitsu-Media.com
dmslink.com
evolutionm.net

Mod list?
http://onelap.rochesterdsm.org/therides/the-vr4/

Turbo, Intake & Exhaust:
AGP L1R turbo
FP race exhaust manifold
Harper built intake manifold
Harper built O2 housing w/dump
Tial 38mm waste gate
Harper built 3” v-band exhaust (dual resonators and Thermal muffler)
Spearco 2-216 FMIC
Harper built 2.5” IC piping
Tial BOV
Harper built turbo intake pipe

Engine & Drivetrain:
JE 9.0:1 Pistons
Crower Rods
Polished Mitsu Crank (un-cut)
Balance Shafts removed
HKS 264/272 Cams
SI 1mm oversized valves
Crower Springs/Ti retainers
Lightly ported head
93 AWD tranny w/ double 1-2 syncro
4-spyder center diff
ACT 2600 clutch
ACT Street Flywheel
Custom short shifter

Fuel & Tuning:
ECMlink …like we would use anything else! (ECMTuning, Inc.)
660cc Injectors
6 AN fuel line from the tank
Harper built water/meth injection

Suspension & Brakes:
DSS coil overs 400F/350R
RRE castor/camber plates
Koni yellow shocks/struts
Urethane F/R bushings
Whiteline adjustable rear sway bar
F/R strut bars
Mustang Cobra 17×9.0 wheels
255/40-17 Dunlop Star Spec tires
Curtis built rear upper control arms
Baer track front brake kit (cobra rotors/caliper)
Hawk DTC60 front pads
Pagid semi-metallic rear pads

Interior & Exterior:
Curtis built upper and lower gauge panels
AEM UEGO wideband
Nordskog digital water temp
Nordskog digital oil pressure
Nordskog digital intake air temp
VDO boost gauge
1000W AC power inverter
EVO fully functioning hood vents (sponsored by TunersNation.com)
Works Rally paint scheme

Where can our readers go for more information on your team online?
http://onelap.rochesterdsm.org

What’s your real name?  (What’s your screen name?)

What do you do for a living and where do you live?
Software Analyst in Chicago, IL

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive?  How long have you had it/them?
I’ve previously owned a Ram 50 (Mighty Max) and a 1990 Galant GSR.  I’ve also recently retired from my possession 1991 Galant VR-4 #858/2000 after about 7 years of mostly daily driving.  My current daily driver is a 2007 Outlander LS.   In the last 6 months I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to purchase 1991 Galant VR-4 #77/2000 as a rolling shell.

What’s your build philosophy/goals for your Galant?  How do you use it?
It has been proven that the VR-4 is a very potent and capable platform: top speed class world record holder on salt flats, three time FIA World Rally Championship race winner, serious class contender in the 2009 One Lap of America (I predict in a few years when it qualifies as Vintage Import it will be dominant), quarter-mile drag race monster, Auto-X cone dodger…  but I feel like the VR-4 is most at home embracing it’s category-storming transformation from a run-of-mill 4-door Japanese sedan into an aggressive display of technology and careful adaptation to American sensibilities, circa 1990.   It is a black sheep in so many ways.  I feel it works best as a street car.

You started a Mitsubishi community.  What’s it called?  When did you start it?
The community began as a mailing list run by Ron Vasquez on April 6, 1999 (the GVR4list on Yahoo Groups) as an offshoot of the typical DSM email lists.  Jon Roberts started a web-based forum with “insidetheweb” and linked to it from his personal page; originally hosted on whiterose.net/gvr4/ and later moved to jgronline.com in April of 2000.   The current incarnation was started February 21st, 2001 and eventually moved to GalantVR4.org in November 2002 as Jon separated the community from his personal website and he sold his VR-4.

I joined the community in July of 2002.  I originally started a personal page of my own to keep track of links of interest as I moved between computers and eventually to share with other enthusiasts.  That page still stands today with only minor updates at www.galantvr4.org/rhertz/.   Using my personal resources and abilities to help the community, I started to offer additional functionality to the forum by creating an image hosting service in late January of 2003.  The image hosting still runs today and contains over 104,000 uploads.

The site was transferred to me a few months later, around February 2003.

Although we’ve been through a few upgrades we hold true to Jon’s original mantra: “No ads, no crap, just the best Galant VR4 site on the web!”

Why did you decide to start a Mitsubishi community?
I’ve made a lot of friends through the site and it is a way to give back to the community.  I hope it remains as a lasting tribute to all those who came before me and continues to be a place where we can share our trials, tribulations and aspirations.

Who are your members?  How many are there?  Where do they come from?
Our membership consists of mostly U.S. residents and a lesser number of members from Australia, New Zealand and some in Russia.  A few members are scattered about in the most unlikely places, from Columbia to Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Most of the membership are current 6G Galant VR-4 owners, followed by former VR-4 owners (who won’t give up the fraternity despite the loss of interest in the car itself) and then a smaller number of DSM enthusiasts who use the site for research in the issues that our platforms share.

We periodically cull membership to those visiting within the last 12 months and the base fluctuates around 2,500-3,000 members.  What I would consider “active” members number about 1,000 (visiting within 30 days).  We’ve logged 124,000 unique visits in the last year and served 9.6 million pages.  Membership/registration is not a requirement to view most parts of the site.  In 24 hours we will have about 450 registered members and 550 unique guests visit.

How many GVR4s were sold worldwide?  In the United States?  How many likely remain?
No idea, I don’t think we have this data.

3,009 where imported into the United States.  Not all of them were sold directly.  9 of them never received numbered badges.  The badges we covet here are numbered “limited edition” plaques that were fitted onto the cars by Mitsubishi Motors North America at the port when the cars arrived to the United States (there is no correlation between VIN, build sequence and edition number).   The un-badged cars were likely for testing, media mules or company cars.  Some of these are owned by our members today.

Some more of the uniquely American features I think are worth mentioning are the USDM bumpers.  Our models, to meet NHTSA crash requirements, were fitted with rather protruding front and rear crash bars/bumpers.  As such, the foreign market’s larger intercooler was foregone for a much smaller, inefficient part.

One of my favorite features is the leather seating which is unique to the USDM VR-4.  The all black leather seats were manufactured by AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher and Großaspach) that most people would recognize historically as a Mercedes-Benz tuner, and now a wholly-owned division.   This unique feature likely stemmed from the MMC AMG collaboration Galant AMG which sported a tuned naturally-aspirated motor and many cosmetic upgrades, including two-tone leather seating.  The origin of the seating can be confirmed by examining the backside of the upper rear bench in which AMG is embossed into the foam.

We don’t know for certain how many remain, but here’s my best deduction:

We are currently tracking 717 badges in our membership (again, active in the last year) and our registry project, which attempts to document VIN and badge number, has the following: 366 ’91s and 193 ’92s for 559 total matches between VIN and badge.  Of those 559, 38 ’91s and 16 ’92s for 54 total documented scrapped (About 10%).  So let’s say that enthusiasts’ scrappage rate is about 10%.   If we factor that 10% of those members may be scrapped it brings us down to 645.

717 badges out of 2,638 current members is 27% so I believe at least 27% of our users currently have or had a VR-4.   Our current membership vs. historic membership (10,501 members) roughly gives us 25% representation of the general public.   So I would say our community’s slice of the total USDM VR-4 population is likely between 25-27% of the total.

Take the maximum examples of 3,009 at 25% and we have 752.  That puts us within 5% of our 717, and since not all members list their badge numbers, I think we’re close.

Nationwide, scrappage rates have been 70% to 85% and rising between 1990 and 2010.  So let’s take the membership out of the population (3,009-25% = 2,256 cars) and assume that these are not held by enthusiasts and were scrapped at 75% (2,256-75% = 1,692) outside of the community.

That leaves us with 564 in the wild, 717 registered and 35 unregistered for a total of 1,316 USDM VR-4s hopefully still in existence.

Tell us about something really exciting your members have done or regularly do.
Salt flats, One Lap, international visits, donating to worthy causes…

What’s the best part about running a Mitsubishi community?  The most challenging?
The fraternity, the knowledge, the humor.

Although we all have a common thread in our love for this platform we are still a wide cross-section of demographics.  Our problems may not be unique to an online community, they are just more apparent and on display for all to see.  We have to deal with troublemakers and scammers just as you do in “the real world.”  Our philosophy is mostly that of a self-policing group and we encourage everyone to watch out for each other.  It can be a challenge to balance freedom and moderation.  Whenever there is question on how to resolve a situation there is one guiding principal: knowledge and information above all.  If it doesn’t support the community, whatever it is, it doesn’t belong.

All of our staff:
2 administrators, 9 moderators are volunteers donating countless, thankless hours to the group.  We survive solely on donations, there are no membership dues, no advertisements, no paying vendor sponsors.

What excites you about the coming year?  (Your Galant and your community)
I’m really looking forward to the 2010 One Lap of America as a way our community can again be represented in a highly visible, national venue with a long history.

For my personal goals, I hope to again have a running VR-4 by mid-Summer.

Do you organize any contests or face-to-face meets for your members?
We don’t do contests too often, but I do organize regional meets (Midwest).   There have been talks of a national meet in years past, but because of the size of our membership, their schedules and the breadth of the United States it is unlikely to have the draw we’d like to see.   We did have a Midwest meets Colorado meet a few years ago where we logged about 6,000 miles collectively.  The Mitsubishi Owner’s Day (MOD) events are a good draw, as is the DSM Shootout.

How do you want your community to benefit Mitsubishi owners?  What steps are you taking to make sure that happens?
We have recently increased our available information to the public and have steadily increased our archives and accessibility to search engines.  As hosting costs have plummeted, we’re able to retain more in general for the public to find via their search engines.

What do you think could be done to improve the value of the Galant VR-4 and how could this benefit your community?
My strongest conviction is that available information is one of the biggest drivers of the perceived value.  Lack of information on repairs and maintenance drives the value down as issues that affect non-enthusiast owners turn out to be expensive problems that result in selling at a depressed public market rate or crushing of the car.   The best example of this is ECU failure due to ruptured capacitors.  A factory replacement will cost you $900.   A high-school electronics student could replace just the capacitors for free with $2 in parts.

There is also some spillover from the DSM crowd who don’t have the same consideration of the VR-4’s rarity and are interested in “fast, cheap and easy”.  Or new owners who get frustrated or are unable to get the knowledge they need from the community and often damage something or hack something and end up selling for cheap just to dump their problems.   These vehicles are often picked up again by like-minded individuals who repeat the process, giving the perception of falling or low value.

After seeing a low in the last 2-3 years, market value of a VR-4 has started to climb up.  It used to be that a Kelley Blue Book search would show the car’s value only marginally higher than any other trim 6th generation Galant.  The spread is now about 3x.  In general I believe that the United States is now more receptive to all wheel drive and turbocharged automobiles than in years past.

Sometimes these cars are removed from the market by those who know how to extract more value from the car, sometimes in a manner that is not very popular.

Your thoughts on those who part out otherwise salvageable cars?
Yup, we’ve got a few members who do not hesitate to scoop these cars up and sell off the parts individually.   I personally like to see every bit of value extracted from these cars; but it does thin the heard.  With all respect, this may be a necessary “evil”.   On the plus side it often returns quality used parts back into deserving cars and improves their condition.  Losing 10% at the hands of enthusiasts for parts and profit stings a lot less than 75% lost to scrap steel and the new-car-every-4-years general public.

How do you feel building a Mitsubishi compares to building a Mitsubishi community?
You shouldn’t do either of them alone.

How has your Galant build benefited from your involvement in the community?
I have spent 7 years of my life and probably 4,000 hours in developing, growing and giving to this community.  But, it is something that comes naturally to me, that I’m good at and I typically enjoy.   There have been dozens of members who have the same gift when it comes to their knowledge and skills with a wrench.   These people have given back to the community by working on my cars or documenting the work on their own.

What’s next for your Galant?
A heart.

What’s next for GalantVR4.org?
It may be time to upgrade the software, but we always want to focus on the community and that is rarely augmented by more bells and whistles.  Twitter would be the greatest example of all time on how a social network requires not much more than a line of text and a message that people want to share.

Who has helped you the most along the way with the car?  With the community?
Chris Beran/Headdynamics, Bob Heitsch, Doug Lila, Terry Posten, Aaron Rausch, Rob Neubauer, Charles Prell…
Steve Riedmueller, Jeff Oberholtzer, Jeremy Clark, Dave Bliese, Harry Blanchard, Nate Pharr, Gabor Meyer, Curtis Thomas, Andrew Staley, Mark Minjin, Rich Humphrey, all of our moderators.

Were you inspired by any other Mitsubishi community organizer?  Who?  Why?
Jon Roberts (galantvr4.org), of course.  Todd Day (dsm.org): the frontrunner for Mitsubishi and DSM enthusiasts on the internet.  Tom Stangl (vfaq.org): the original archivist for automotive how-to.

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
I honestly don’t think we play second fiddle to anyone in terms of our mission and how we’ve stayed true.

Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?  Want to thank any sponsors?
I’d like to thank everyone who has donated to the site, hosted a meet, answered a question or turned a wrench for a fellow member.

Other than your own, do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites?  Which ones?
Not a one.

Trivia:

“Anything Goes” was originally called “Yo Momma”

Original site logo, circa 2002.  Refreshed in late 2005.  Current version, 2009.

March is officially Galant VR4 Month here at Mitsubishi Gearbox Magazine.  We remain dedicated to sharing the stories of owners of ALL Mitsubishi models from around the world.  DISCLAIMER: Both Ricky Vigil and Brian Driggs are Galant VR4 owners.  Ricky owns 1991 464/2000 and Brian owns 1992 464/1000.  We are members of GalantVR4.org.

Thank you to Ryan for taking the time to share so much with us and thank you to all our readers.  Go fast with class.

What’s your real name?

What do you do for a living and where do you live?
I am a project management consultant specializing in infrastructure delivery along with marketing & communications projects.  I reside down under in Adelaide, South Australia.

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive?  How long have you had it/them?
This is my first venture in the brand that is Mitsubishi – I have always had a soft spot for the Evolution models growing up watching Tommi Mäkinen destroying all before him back in the 90s!  I came into the turbo AWD background, driving a modified 2001 Subaru ‘bug eye’ wagon which was quite the passion, but have really enjoyed switching camps.  I now drive a 2009 Ralliart Sportback – I was considering the Evo X GSR, but really wanted the practicality of the hatch as I had to cater for my French bulldog puppies along with the wife who preferred an auto, so the SST along with the Sportback, was the perfect choice.

What’s your build philosophy/goals for your Mitsubishi?
Haha, it has been to have something special and to make my car fit the rims that I chose. I’ve always loved the volk ce28n design, so when a chance to get these rims came up, I jumped on it! However they were Evo spec (18×9.5 +28 offset) with the Ralliart having pizza cutter spec tyres (18×7 +48), there was quite the challenge making it fit.  There were many disbelievers, but never one to take ‘no’ for an answer, I had the car modified to suit the rims.  The rear guards(quarter panel) were flared by 15mm even after installing racing logic coilovers and running 2 deg of camber.  The fronts require a tiny bit of work, but it was the rears that really felt the love.  After the flaring, I took the car to the body shop to repair and smooth out the damage caused, but the end result speaks for itself!!

With the rest of the modifications, I wanted something that sounded tough and went hard to match the looks of the flared guards and dropping the car by over 2 inches.

How do you use it?
Well, the saying ‘drive it like you stole it’ springs to mind.

Have a favorite story about your Mitsubishi?
I’m always trying to explain that my car isn’t an Evo, but a Ralliart, to which I often get confused looks – the Ralliart Lancer badge (model) is only a recent addition to the Australian line up, but time will bring greater exposure.

What are your goals for your Mitsubishi and how close are you to achieving them?
I’ve split my modification into various stages – Stage 1 was the new rims, suspension and flaring the guards, Stage 2 was the upgrade in power (full 3” SS exhaust with a custom quad tips, ECUtek upgrade and boost pill which has netted 171kw@w on a mainline dyno), Stage 3 was the big brake kit upgrade – 350mm rotors! These stages have been complete with the final Stage 4 comprising of a new front mount, Evo x turbo and full race manifold (mainly because it looks awesome!)  This will have to wait for a little while as I have to go overseas which has raided up the modification fund for a while, but looking at getting Stage 4 done by the end of the year.

What was your favorite modification and why?
Favorite modification?  That is a hard one – there are 2 main mods that stand out – the exhaust for it has removed all the restrictions and sounds amazing, combined with the custom quad tips, it looks and sounds perfect!  The other modification has been the MRT big brake kit upgrade – the stopping power of the car has increased by a very noticeable amount and has relegated ‘brake fade’ to be but only a distant memory!

Tell us about something really exciting you’ve done with other Mitsubishi owners.
At clubcj.net, the community is really starting to take off and there are monthly catch ups, whether they be a cruise or other social functions, it’s good to catch up with like minded enthusiasts.

How often do you get together with other Mitsubishi owners in person?
It is starting to be once a month.

What excites you about the coming year?  (Your Mitsu and your community)
Finally catching up with like minded Mitsubishi drivers here in SA and going for a cruise / developing the community and awareness of the Ralliart model.

What’s the best part about being a Mitsubishi owner?  The most challenging?
The looks one receives when driving a Mitsubishi, knowing all  the AWD power creates a sense of envy.

Your thoughts on those who part out otherwise salvageable cars?
Don’t mind at all, sometimes it helps quite considerably when someone is parting out a car, one can get access to parts that are not always available.

How has your Mitsubishi build benefited from your involvement in the community?
I have been able to pass on my learnings and mistakes to the benefit of the community, so hopefully people can take on these on board and use them in their build.

What’s next for your Mitsubishi?
On hold for a little while and then Stage 4 – the fun stage (fmic, turbo and manifold)!!

Who has helped you the most along the way with the car?
Sean from S&J automotive – he has been a great asset in the planning of mods & mention must go to my wife for being supportive while I ventured on the modification path for the car and made her ears bleed with all my car talk haha.

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
It would have to be Tommi Mäkinen – just watching him drive was amazing and forever changed my perception of the brand that is Mitsubishi.

Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?
Sean at S&J automotive here in Adelaide – they have such a passion for, and vast experience in modifying, evo’s and Subaru’s.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites?  Which ones?
www.clubcj.net ; evolutionm.net/ ; www.evolutionoz.net

Are you on Twitter?  Facebook?  How can people find you online?
Yep, on facebook – Bill Zissopoulos

What’s your real name?  (What’s your screen name?)

What do you do for a living and where do you live?
I’m an engineering student in Durango, CO.

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive?  How long have you had it/them?
My first Mitsu was a 90 AWD DSM. I had it from the summer of ‘02 until January ‘09 when I traded it for my parts car to build the Galant. The Galant any my 2g parts car are the only Mitsus I own now.

What’s your build philosophy/goals for your Mitsubishi?  How do you use it?
My build philosophy is all about a balance of fun, functionality and detail. The Galant is my daily driver, family hauler and weekend toy so the design goals had to reflect it’s multiple uses. That meant keeping it quiet and comfortable for long hauls (my wife hated riding in my noisy, bouncy 1g) but still having a suspension and engine that could tear up the windy mountain passes I love to play on. I am working to keep everything as clean and as stock looking as possible while still bringing as much performance out of the car as I can.

What originally attracted you to the Mitsubishi?  What keeps you going today?
When I decided to build the car my wife and I were talking about having our first child. I wanted a DD that would be easy to haul kids around in but would still have the fun factor of my AWD turbo 1g. Since an Evo was out of my price range and I wanted to stick with Mitsubishi it left me finding a 4 door I could convert to AWD with readily available parts. I was originally looking at doing a Mirage conversion but I found this Galant in the junk yard for $600 and saw the suspension looked exactly like a 2g DSM. The interior and exterior were in good shape and it was a lot roomier than my 1g. It also had a 4G64 I could use for a future engine build. In short, it looked perfect for my plans. I did a little digging around on the internet and found out the conversion was theoretically possible but, as far as the net-guru’s knew, no one had pulled it off yet.  So I got to work finding my parts car, traded my 1g for it, bought the Galant and got to work.

What keeps me going today is how much fun I have driving the car. It is really comfortable for commuting in but still eats up corners in the summer and snowy roads in the winter. So far the car is just what I wanted, quiet, comfortable and a total beast when I decide to push it.

Got a favorite story about your Mitsubishi?
This last summer my wife and I took the car down to Albuquerque on its first road trip. We went to meet up with an Albq. DSM club for an afternoon gathering and drive. It was really funny watching everyone walk past the car without a second look until they found out it was AWD and turbo. Then the double takes started and a little crowd of guys came over to check it out. The hill climb we did later that day was the first time I really got to push the car. It wasn’t really tuned yet due to my wideband being on the fritz. I was still running rich and only on 10 psi of boost so I wasn’t expecting much on the power end of things. I was really looking forward to hitting the corners hard though. I had just installed a set of Koni/GC coilovers I scored from a DSMTuners member and was looking forward to trying them out. I was amazed at how well the car cornered with those and the 245/40/17 summer tires I kept from my 1g. After a few minutes I was gnashing my teeth because the Evo X at the front of the line was going too slow! I had to slow down and wait for the crowd to get ahead so I could really dig into the corners. The car just kept encouraging me to go faster and turn in tighter. It made every minute of work building the car worth while. I don’t think I stopped grinning for hours after that.

What are your goals for your Mitsubishi and how close are you to achieving them?
While I’d love to have a race car, in the end it will just be a fast daily driver and family hauler that I will eventually try to get onto a road course for some weekend hot lapping. Right now the donor engine is a bit too leaky to get onto a track with. I’ll need to get my new engine built before track days are an option. I’ll also need to work on improving engine cooling and braking before I can really say it is ready for some serious play time. The DD part is working out great though.

What was your favorite modification and why?
I would say the drive train swap but I never drove the car without it so to me the car has always been like it is now. So really, I think the engine management system has to be my favorite mod. I’m running a 91 turbo ECU in the car with Jackal speed-density tuning and a JAW 1.041 wideband controller. It was a nightmare rewiring everything but I really think it was worth it. I stripped out all the automatic transmission wiring, rewired the harness for the 1g ECU, added in the wiring for the wideband and other sensors I needed and wrapped it all up to look completely stock. The JAW setup also allowed me to run my custom gauges in the center where they are now. I’ve got digital boost, EGT and AFR displays right in the center of the dash where they look as clean and stock as possible. I still need to get an EGT probe in and wired up for the middle display.

Tell us about something really exciting you’ve done with other Mitsubishi owners.
The Albuquerque meet is really the only big gathering I’ve gone to. They were a great bunch of guys/girls and also helped me find my 2g parts donor. Unfortunately there aren’t very many Mitsubishi tuners in my area and aren’t very many knowledgeable sport-compact tuners here at all. My buddy Rick (pagosa dsm on DSMTuners) is the only other tuner I meet with on a regular basis. That has made the websites I frequent all the more important in helping me with my project.

What’s the best part about being a Mitsubishi owner?  The most challenging?
Besides driving one? The web forums with their huge knowledge base and member support have to be the best part of owning a Mitsu. I cannot offer enough thanks to Chris Raymond for building DSMTuners.com and to the founders of theGalantCenter.net and other DSM sites, including this one, for helping bring us all together. Our community wouldn’t be anything near what it is today without all their hard work and dedication.

The most challenging part has to be overcoming all the abuse our cars get over the years and getting them back into shape. Both my 1g and my 2g parts cars came to me in terrible condition and needed lots of work just to get them back to stock reliability. I still have a bit of maintenance work to put into mine before I’ll feel it is up to snuff mostly related to the poor abused engine that is in it now.

What excites you about the coming year?  (Your Mitsu and your community)
I am really looking forward to getting more body work done on my car. I’ve got a RRE hood vent waiting to go on and will be putting some more work into my front grille area and hopefully getting the car painted. I’d love to say I’ll be getting my engine built but I don’t think I’ll have the funds on hand to make that possible.

How often do you get together with other Mitsubishi owners in person?
I get together with my buddy Rick a few times a month.

Your thoughts on those who part out otherwise salvageable cars?
Every time I go to the junk yard and see a vehicle that looks great and just needed a little work I wonder why on earth anyone threw them away instead of fixing them or selling them cheap to someone who would. I do not like to see anything going to waste. Americans throw away way too much stuff. It is a very bad habit we can’t afford to keep for all sorts of reasons financially, environmentally and ethically. I believe reduce, reuse recycle applies to cars too. My wife’s ‘96 Corolla came out of the same junk yard as my Galant and our ‘89 4Runner was about ready for one too before we bought it. A little elbow grease and some know how got all three on the road and doing great. That means not wasting energy and raw materials producing a new car and not having to spend energy crushing and recycling the old ones. It was also a great cost savings for us. Our whole fleet has cost us less than a third of one new economy car. On the other hand, if someone hadn’t dumped those cars we wouldn’t have gotten such good deals. I strongly considered putting my 2g donor back together into some sort of drivable machine but it was past the point of no return. I had to use too many critical parts off of it and there was too much strut-tower rust, cigarette damage and body damage to make it worth buying and installing a FWD drive train into it. I’ve parted out as much of it as I think I can at this point. I’d part out more but the big stuff isn’t cost-effective for buyers to ship. I’ll be leaving the rest for junk yards to work with.

How do you feel building a Mitsubishi compares to building a Mitsubishi community?
From being a member of several Mitsubishi communities I’d say they both take a lot of patience, hard work and dedication.

How has your Mitsubishi build benefited from your involvement in the community?
Simply put, I couldn’t have built it without all the help I got from the members of theGalantCenter.net, DSMTuners.com, and Abq-DSM.com and all the knowledge they have put together on those sites. I hope I’ve been able to give back as much as I’ve gotten.

What’s next for your Mitsubishi?
I recently scored a deal on some Wiseco pistons for my 2.4 block. I’m looking forward to building that engine up when I can afford to. More immediately I’ll be finishing up the front end by adding wire mesh in the upper opening, installing my hood vent and taking care of a few dings and dents to prep the car for paint. My wife and I just had our first baby show up Jan. 28th and I’ll be staying home watching her over the summer so a lot will depend on how much time and money I can throw at the car.

Who has helped you the most along the way with the car? Did you have a mentor?
Aside from the knowledge base online my buddy Rick Cotton has been an enormous help along with several of his friends who pitched in pipe, hangers and welding skills to make my custom exhaust. My dad designed and built the center bracket for the drive shaft and helped tear down the Talon I used for a donor.

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
I respect everyone who has the guts and skills to pull off something new and innovative.

Have you ever thought about being a mentor to a newbie?  What sort of projects interest you?
I try to help a lot of newbies on the websites. I have to admit to avoiding questions which can easily be answered by a repair manual or a quick search though. Off the web I always try to help other car guys in any way I can. I’ve gotten a lot of help and really like to pass it on whenever possible. I am always interested in projects that are unique or innovative in some way. Bolt-on projects are only exciting when it is getting bolted to your own car. I like to see what people make for themselves or adapt from another use in a way others haven’t thought of.
Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?
A1 Auto Salvage in Farmington, NM. They really got excited about my project and gave me some great deals to help me get it together. Lots of nice guys down there.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites?  Which ones?
I visit DSMTuners, and theGalantCenter.net daily and check out Mitsu-Media and Abq-DSM every once in a while.

Are you on Twitter?  Facebook?  How can people find you online?
I am on Facebook but I usually only friend people I know from off the web. If someone wants to find me online their best bet is a PM on DSMTuners or theGalantCenter.

Could you refer us to any other Mitsubishi owners you feel we should interview?  Please let us know here.  We’d love to tell someone they were recommended!
Ray Peters has an awesome turbo/supercharged 1g DSM with a 2.4l engine that he rally-crosses. I’d suggest contacting him. He’s made some other interesting parts for it and helped with DS-MAP.

Thank you for allowing us the privilege of sharing your story with the world!

Thanks for letting me share it .

Link to blog on DSMtuners.com.

What’s your real name?  (What’s your screen name?)

Where do you live?
In the Highlands of Scotland.

What do you do for a living?
I am a pipe fitter in the oil industry.

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive?
An Evo 2 RS.

How long have you had your Mitsubishi(s)?
I have had it 6 months.

What got you into Mitsubishi?
I progressed from two Subarus, onto Evos and this is my third one.

What do you do with your Mitsubishi?  (Any type of racing activity?)
Not yet!

Got a favourite story to tell about your Mitsubishi?
Again,not yet!

What are your goals for the car and how close are you to achieving them?
The car was pretty much completed by it’s previous owner. I just want to get it re-mapped for 2.5 bar, maybe more. We will see how it goes. Then I just want to drive!

What was your favourite modification?  Why?
The engine. With the capability of running over 700 hp, I don’t need to explain why it is my favourite modification!

What’s next for your Mitsubishi?  Why?
Carbotech brake pads. I had them on my last Evo and they were astonishingly good.

Who has helped you the most along the way?
My wife, for never moaning about the outlay….yet!

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
Anybody that has answered my numerous questions and pointed me in the right direction over the years. Russ Paton of Wallace Performance has been particularly worth a mention, because of his customer service and willingness to work until he is happy with the car.

Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?
Wallace Performance, Idesingngrafix and Carbotech.

How often do you get together with other Mitsubishi owners in person?
I work away a lot, so I miss most of the meets.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites?  Which ones?
Evo123.net and the Lancer Register

Are you on Twitter?  Facebook?  Have your own website?
No

Chris is obviously just getting this, his third Evo project, under way.  We hope to hear more about the all the things this beast will accomplish in 2010.  Do you have an early Evo?  What do you think about this one?

February is Evo II Month!  Share a link to some pictures or video of your own Evo II (or a favorite you’ve found online) in the comments below to help get the word out about these cracking machines!

What’s your real name? (What’s your screen name?)
John Ross (gofastredstar)

What do you do for a living and where do you live?
I work as a senior tech in the IT department for the FAA. This has been my current job of 12 years. I live in Fort Worth, TX.

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive? How long have you had it/them?
I drive one of two 1988 Chrysler Conquests that were imported and re-badged from Mitsubishi Starions. I’ve had my blue Conquest for 4 years. It’s more for show and events. I have also had my yellow Conquest for almost 2 years and drive it daily.

What’s your build philosophy/goals for your Mitsubishi? How do you use it?
My build philosophy is to set your goals before you make any changes from a stock running car, and stick with it. If you want big power, you may have to give up drivability, if you want show quality, you might not want to track it.

What originally attracted you to the Mitsubishi? What keeps you going today?
In the late 80s I was living in SoCal driving an econobox and kept seeing these bad ass Starions on the road. So I drove down to the Mitsubishi dealer and realized right away that I could not afford a one new. I picked up a used ‘86, and was instantly hooked when I blew away a bragging Camaro owner. What keeps me going today, is knowing there is no other car out there that looks, runs, and performs like a Starion. Most people have no idea what kind of car it is and I am always being approach by people asking what it is.

Got a favorite story about your Mitsubishi?
My second Starion had a freshly rebuilt engine, a new ecu, and tons of other mods. Being unproven for reliability, but running good as it was I decided to drive it 17 hours from Fort Worth to Pigeon Forge, TN. I had my wife with me and she was encouraging but was worried. It made it there and back without a problem, although when I got back it had a noisy driver side wheel bearing.

What are your goals for your Mitsubishi and how close are you to achieving them?
My goals are to have everything about my car as perfect as possible. To make it look clean, inside and out, as good or better than when it was new. Performance goals are 350 hp and 400+ torque. I am close to achieving these goals since the bodywork and interior are mostly done (are they really ever?) and I have dynoed the car at 306rwhp/412tq.

What was your favorite modification and why?
My favorite modification is a toss up between changing the car from throttle body to multiport injection, or the thumping sound system that makes cruising so enjoyable.

Tell us about something really exciting you’ve done with other Mitsubishi owners.
We routinely get together for a some track time. While I do not always run mine, I enjoy watching other push theirs to the limit, and sometimes set records.

What’s the best part about being a Mitsubishi owner? The most challenging?
The best part is owning a car that is totally unique. I can drive the car for weeks and not see another like it, and if I do, mostly likely I know the owner.
The most challenging is keeping it running, since parts are getting hard to find, with a lot of parts no longer made.

What excites you about the coming year? (Your Mitsu and your community)
Our National meet, where we get together, B.S., race and drink. Also, fixing some mechanical issues that have been keeping the car in the garage more than it has been on the road lately.

How often do you get together with other Mitsubishi owners in person?
At least twice a year, sometime more.

Your thoughts on those who part out otherwise salvageable cars?
While I can understand a car that is “too far gone” to rebuild, I think some people don’t put in enough effort to keep these cars on the road. I have seen several in junk yards that are in good shape, but might need an engine rebuilt or a body panel replaced. As these cars age and get more rare, as many that can be saved should be.

How do you feel building a Mitsubishi compares to building a Mitsubishi community?
There certainly are similarities; the cars are unique and so are the owners but, there are those common elements; passionate about the cars and great desire to have great performance and looks that unites us as owners in the Mitsubishi community.

How has your Mitsubishi build benefited from your involvement in the community?
Definitely the info-sharing and commiserating!

What’s next for your Mitsubishi?
Perhaps having the seats recovered, tinting the windows or,tuning the car for more HP.

Who has helped you the most along the way with the car?
Its hard to pick one person that has helped the most. Several friends have spent hours in the garage with me , others have driven parts out so that I can finish a project, and others have helped with tuning.

Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community?
There are too many to mention, but I can say that the group of folks on 26liter.us are all the best you can find for help. They’re always willing to lend a hand, get you a part and help diagnose a problem. Its a great community of people who share a common interest in Starions and Conquests and also make good friends.

Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?
I don’t usually take my car to any shops, but I can recommend KAN Tuning in Fort Worth for squeezing that extra HP out of your car and Burton Customs for making your car look good.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites? Which ones?
26liter.us and Starquestclub are the two main sources for Starion parts, troubleshooting and meet planning.

Are you on Twitter? Facebook? How can people find you online?
Facebook, jross35

The turbo that John is using to squeeze out the 306whp is a Garrett 60-1 mated to a cast Turbonetics exhaust manifold. To get the correct amount of fuel John upgraded from the stock TBI (throttle body injection) to a more modern MPI (multiport injection). Reason for doing this is to get a better air to fuel mixture.

To be able to control the fuel pressure John installed an  Aeromotive Fuel pressure regulator. Pumping the fuel from the tank is a Walbro fuel pump. To manage the fuel system a Fuel injector Pro  management system was put in place of the stock unit. Keeping this thing screaming throughout the power band is a Screaming Banshee Cam. With this small mod list John was able to almost double the stock horsepower output.

John also upgraded the sound system to make cruising more pleasurable. Opening the hatch you will find two Infinity Reference subs. Also from Infinity you will find Kappa Speakers.  Power Acoustik Amps help give this car a stereo system that you want to listen to. All of this is controlled by an Alpine head unit.

John also owns another one of these beauties, a 1988 Chrysler Conquest TSI.

When he’s not working on customers’ cars or playing around with his DLSR camera, Ricky enjoys spending time with his family and looking forward to warm, summer weather, when he and friend Rich take to the roads in their Mitsubishis for regular cruises.  Ricky is excited to be part of Mitsubishi Gearbox Magazine, where he can give a little something back to the Mitsubishi community.