Okay so I recently purchased my 1997 Mitsubishi Mirage DEluxe coupe. It came to me pretty much completely flawless. Whoever owned it before me did a whole lot of work to the actual appearance of the car. It has a lot of body work to it. Body Kit, custom paint job, spoiler, bucket seats, etc. But as far as the engine goes they did not actually do much. They did a lovely exhaust system which purrs like a dream and is very responsive. They installed a nice intake although I'm unsure of the manufacturer. They also cut off the heat shield to expose the exhaust manifold, I thought they were maybe considering installing headers.

Now I know almost nothing about fuel injected cars. My previous car was a '77 Chevy Nova and it was my baby and taught me to love a sweet 350 Carb. But due to unfortunate circumstances I was forced to purchase a new vehicle. I decided then to throw myself into the world of import tuning. So here I am today.

My original plans were to drop something of a Lancer EVO VIII FQ400 and a 6-Speed manual. After going to a local performance shop (SLS Performance) and talking with a very cool guy there he helped me decide on swapping for something much less expensive and much quicker. He suggested a 1st Gen Eclipse engine. He said that these come as a 2.0 Turbo and that I could get as much power as I would want out of it. He also said to get a 5-Speed and if I wanted 6 that I should just change out my reverse gear to get the 6th if I wanted it that badly. He said that I should get a full front clip so I have all of the sensors and everything to do the full swap.

So this is where the members of this community come in. I need several things from you. I would like for anyone to elaborate/criticize on what the guy at my local shop said. Do you think that his suggestions would be the best for a quick car? Anyone have any other reccomendations for different engines or ideas? I don't just want to throw a turbo onto my 1.8. One of my friends said that I shouldn't put anything smaller into my car than a 2.6 but the performance shop guy said that the stroke was too long for one of those and that a 2.0 properly tuned would be quicker. He mentioned some guy, I forget the name, that has the same engine in his car and it runs the quarter mile in 7 seconds, which is apparently the fastest recorded for a street legal car or something or other.

Anyway I think you all have an idea of what I'm looking for. If anyone could tell me where to purchase a front clip or if anyone is selling one I'd be very interested. Money is not an issue but the amount of downtime for my car would of course ideally be minimalized.

I'll include a few pictures so you have an idea of what I'm working with. I really do want to make my car as fast if not much faster than it looks.

 

First off, you say it's a DE? If this is the case, then the previous owner did do engine work, because DE's came with the 4g15, a 1.5L SOHC ***** motor. He swapped to a more mod-friendly platform.

Second, your 'super cool' buddy at the the 'performance shop' is a f'ing retard. Does he not know the the Evo VIII and 1g Eclipse run the exact same friking block? Yes there are changes in them, and the motor out of the lancer is more advance. But look at it this way:

1st Generation Eclipse GSX/GST- 4g63t - 2.0L DOHC turbo charged motor= 210hp
Mitsubishi Evolution VIII- 4g63t MIVEC- 2.0L DOHC turbo charged motor= 283hp

Last I checked 283>210, but then again I never was too great at math.

Either motor is buildable to an incredible amount of power, but there are a few other factors. Eclipse motors do not fit without MAJOR modification to the engine bay. The Evo motor, though it will take modification, will not take quite as much. Then there's the ECU, fuel system, transmission and axles, and a whole slew of other crud that you'll need to get into.

Apart from your friend at the shop being dumber than a brick **** house, here's my opinion on the car.
1.) My girlfriend has a shirt that color....you know, the kind that screams 'flirty'. I, as a member of the human male society, don't want my car to say 'flirty'. It just doesn't work.
2.) Altezza's FTL
3.) Fuzzy Dice, while they do obstruct your view somewhat, are amazing no matter what anyone says!
4.) Big chrome rims gotta go. If you're looking for speed, go no bigger than 16'
5.) Painted interior not to my liking, again with the color, but at least it's done well.
5.2) Seats look sexy
6.) Engine bay looks clean enough to eat off of

 

My mistake there, after reading your post I was quite perplexed and did some deep investigating and discovered that it must actually be an LS. I suppose that there was a mix up or mis-understanding somewhere along the lines of transfer of ownership and it was mis-named as a DE coupe instead of an LS coupe. I checked out my VIN numbers and verified it to be an original 1.8L and then did some research on some websites and verified it's true identity. I do however know that my registration says DE coupe, had me fooled.

I believe that he said something about the engines sitting or facing a different way. He said that after the EVO III they changed either the block or the computer was completely different. So I don't understand your unnecessary hostility because I may have misunderstood him or misinterpreted.

http://www.pixcl.com/summitgtx/lancerproject_2.htm
That is pretty much the idea I had in mind. 4G63T


As for your other opinions.
1. Originality can never escape criticism.
2. Ricey, yes, but flushes well with the theme of the car.
3. For Sure
4. I've heard that before. I planned on getting some black, thin spoked 18". I have 18's now but after your comment maybe I will reconsider to 16".
5. See #2
5.2. Thanks, they're actually a bit of a pain in my Coupe because they don't slide and lean forward in one motion you have to do two separate time consuming things to gain access to the rear seats.
6. That's how I like it.

 

Lil EVO, pretty much got it right. Couple things incorrect, but that don't matter... the point remains the same.

Poor car...