1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Black, 2 Racing Cams In The Engine, Very Well Maintained on 2040-cars

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Self-driving Mitsubishis could use adapted missile technology

Mitsubishi is a big company made up of many different divisions and subsidiaries. Yeah, we tend to focus on Mitsubishi Motors, but the sprawling company also manufactures steel, builds televisions – we all knew someone in the 1990s with a hulking Mitsubishi "big screen" – and even screws together fighter jets and the missiles they carry. According to a report from Automotive News Europe, Mitsubishi Motors is hoping to leverage the capabilities of its sister companies to catch up to the competition and get driverless cars on the road by 2020. That means adapting millimeter-wave radars, sensors, and cameras built for missiles to automotive uses. As Mitsubishi sees it, having the development work done on this tech – albeit for a radically different application – gives it a big advantage over the competition. "All we have to do is to put together the components that we already have," Katsumi Adachi, the chief engineer for Mitsu's auto equipment division, told ANE. "None of our competitors have such a wide array of capabilities." As ANE goes on to explain with the help of Tokyo-based IHS analyst Goro Tanamachi, this is no plug-and-play application. That's largely because of the different economics of the automotive and defense industries. In the former, the bean counters have a tremendous say. There are cuts and cost reductions and all sorts of other stuff designed to maximize profit margins. The defense industry, though, is the land of sparing no expense – that, according to Tanamachi-san, could make adapting missile tech to autonomous vehicles a possible, but potentially very pricey proposition. "Cost-cutting requests are much more severe in autos than aerospace," Tanamachi-san told ANE. "I wonder if it's possible for them to bring down the cost of the systems to the levels manufacturers can use for cheap, low-end cars." Related Video: X

Mitsubishi ASX is French for Outlander Sport

Mitsubishi has revealed the Euro-version of the same Outlander Sport model that debuted with updates earlier this year at the New York Auto Show. No, the French do not call it the Royale Sport (with cheese), but rather the ASX.
The crossover has received a range of aesthetic and engineering tweaks, including revised interior fabrics. Designers have also abandoned the old rotary knob switch for the vehicle's all-wheel-control system in favor of a pushbutton interface, though the largest change to the recipe comes in the form of a reworked multi-link rear suspension. Powertrain options remain unchanged, however, with a total of three engine mills on deck, including a 1.6-liter gasoline engine with 115 horsepower mated to a five-speed manual transmission in two-wheel drive configuration.
Those hunting up a little more traction can step up to a 1.8-liter diesel with 147 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque paired with a six-speed manual and the buyer's choice of either a two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive system. A low-CO2 1.8 diesel is also available with 114 horsepower. You can check out the full press release below for more information.

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander shows its new nose

Mitsubishi is already using its 2015 New York Auto Show invitation to tease the new nose on the refreshed 2016 Outlander, but the changes aren't too easy to spot in that stylized shot. Now, thanks to a photographer in Japan, we have a better chance to see what the redesign really looks like. Based on this image and the invitation, we can clearly see that the refresh is liberally borrowing from the styling of the Outlander PHEV Concept-S from the 2014 Paris Motor Show. They share a chrome-outlined, X-shaped grille with two bars on top to connect the headlights, and a gloss black panel in the center provides some visual contrast. The only major change seems to be the foglight design that loses its LED embellishments on the production version compared to the show car. According to Indian Autos Blog, this Outlander was snapped while waiting at port in Japan, and the photo was posted by a user on the blogging site Livedoor. We will get a full look at the refreshed crossover at its debut in New York on April 2.