Mitsubishi 3000gt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mitsubishi showing off 473-hp Lancer Evo X Concept Final at Tokyo Auto Salon

We know from the head of Mitsubishi USA that the special edition Lancer Evo X coming next June will be a five-speed GSR model with more horsepower, a tweaked suspension and some additional fancy "bits and pieces." We didn't expect to be this, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Final Concept with an ECU tune and new HKS turbo making its 2.0-liter engine good for 473 horsepower. That's 183 more ponies than the stock model. Based on a five-speed GSR, on top of that power boost it gets larger intakes and intercoolers, an upgraded cooling system and exhaust, an adjustable suspension from HKS and 19-inch Rays forged wheels. The finish is a mix of matte and gloss black, and chrome trim. Actually, we still don't expect the special edition we'll get to mimic the Evo X Final Concept; rather, we think this black beauty is a full-fat showcase for the Tokyo Auto Salon, where the Evo X Final Concept will be shown. It's a tantalizing could-have-been, and now that we've seen what Mitsu can do with the Lancer Evo when it cares just a little, we hope our that end-of-series special isn't too disappointing by comparison.

Junkyard Gem: 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage Hatchback

Remember the front-wheel-drive Dodge and Plymouth Colts (not to mention the Plymouth Champ and Eagle Summit) of the late 1970s through the middle 1990s? Those were Mitsubishi Mirages, and you could buy them here with Mitsubishi badging from 1985 through 2002. Then, for the 2014 model year, the Mirage returned to North America, as the cheapest new car you could buy here. Now, barely a half-decade later, I'm seeing significant quantities of these Mirages in the car graveyards I frequent. Here's a pretty clean '15 in a yard located within sight of Pikes Peak in Colorado. I began seeing the current generation of Fiat 500 in the cheap U-Wrench yards when those cars hit about six or seven years of age, and the same goes for the Sebring-based Chrysler 200s. The Mirage beats that dubious distinction by a year or two. Really, the only shorter showroom-to-junkyard average interval I've witnessed in my 38 years of junkyard crawling was achieved by the genuinely miserable early Hyundai Excels, which started to be discarded in quantity when they hit about age four; I recall seeing dozens of them in Southern California yards with 25,000 miles on the clock and hardly any interior wear-and-tear. Even the Yugo did better (and this is why I remain amazed by the generally high quality of Hyundai products starting in the early-to-mid 1990s; Hyundai gets my personal "Most Improved Automaker" award for that achievement). That said, I don't agree with the legions of my car-writer colleagues who love to trash the humble Mirage. I reviewed the 2014 Mirage, and then— just because I feel such affection for cheap commuter-mobiles— went back and wrote up the 2017 Mirage GT. These cars aren't much fun to drive, they have decidedly low-rent interiors, and you don't look like a serious car expert when the masses see you behind the wheel of one. And yet, if you're 22 years old in your first "real" job and you'll get canned if you're late even once, choosing a new car with a strong warranty, with non-ball-busting credit terms and a somewhat lower monthly payment than those other subcompacts that provide more road feel when you're at the limit of the performance envelope, you know, when you're trail-braking for a late pass on your favorite two-lane freeway offrampÂ… well, the Mirage looks like a pretty good deal on a transportation appliance.

Nissan reportedly rejecting Renault proposal for closer ties

TOKYO — Nissan Motor Co Ltd will reject a management integration proposal from French partner Renault SA and will call for an equal capital relationship, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday, citing sources. Nissan's management feels the Japanese company has not been treated as an equal of Renault under existing capital ties, and a merger would make this inequality permanent, the Nikkei reported. The outlook for the alliance — one of the world's top automaking partnerships — has been in focus since the arrest in November of its main architect, Carlos Ghosn, on charges of financial misconduct. The former Nissan and Renault chairman has denied the charges against him and has said he was the victim of a boardroom coup by Nissan executives opposed to closer ties. To which, Bloomberg reported that it has seen emails in which Nissan executives were working with Japanese government officials to defend the company's independence, as Ghosn was pushing for a full merger. The emails indicate growing concern at high levels of the Japanese government, in the months before Ghosn's arrest, that his merger efforts would boost Renault and its largest shareholder, the French government, and harm Nissan, in a relationship the Japanese already saw as lopsided. The emails indicated a desire to keep the existing structure of the alliance with a "re-balancing of the shareholding" to reduce Renault's 43 percent stake in Nissan, and stated that Nissan's independence "should be respected." Nissan declined to comment directly on the emails, while reiterating that misconduct by Ghosn and his former aide, Greg Kelly, is "the sole cause of the chain of events." Renault saved Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago and under their current capital alliance, the French company holds greater control over its much larger partner. Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa declined to say whether the company had received a merger proposal from Renault. "Now is not the time to think of such things," he told a group of reporters outside of his house in Tokyo. "At the moment we are focused on improving Nissan's earnings performance. Please give us time to do that." Renault declined to comment on the report. Renault has argued in its proposal that an integration would maximize synergies within the French-Japanese alliance, according to the Nikkei. The Financial Times reported last month of Renault's intention to restart merger talks with Nissan within 12 months.