97 mitsu mirage
 

Anyone know anything about this vintage of mitsu mirage? A guy is selling a ragged out one, already all set up for ice racing with a cage. I know nothing about them. Are they one of the mitsus that were rebranded as something else? Will parts be impossible to find? Shit like trannies, engines, axles/CVs (big one), misc stuff? What about aftermarket parts, although that doesn't matter as much, nothing turbo or anything, but suspension, etc. Do they have any known glaring problems?

I haven't spoken to the owner or seen pictures or anything, but it's very very cheap. I figured I would do a little research before getting involved at all in it. My gut tells me it's going to be much harder to find parts for this than it would for a Civic or VW or something.

thx :makeout:

Those were the small Mitsus called "Lancer" in other parts of the world. I've seen a few in the States but I'm sure you'll have trouble finding parts for it.

My wife had one for 8 years. What a piece of crap!

IIRC, (and this is strictly unofficial because I don't remember the years all of the various engines came in these unholy pieces of poo), Rafa is correct. In other parts of the world it was the lancer platform, and *THEORETICALLY* should share similar engine mounting points and such.

With that being the case, you have some options:
1. 4g63 - My personal fav. Non turbo blocks can be had for cheap, ~160hp dead nuts reliable (if you maintain the fucker!) and plenty of parts if you know where to look. Turbo blocks are slightly more expensive, but in stock trim can handle upwards of 400hp with enough fuel and a good tune. Also of note, if you were to go this route, get the "6 bolt" bottom end from the early 1g eclipse/laser/talon or the g63b from a d50/arrow/mightymax/sonata/elantra. The later 7 bolt blocks have thinner rods and a really nasty problem with crankwalk.

2.4g37 - Another good motor. When compared to the 4g63, this motor looks like a POS at first glance, but they are reliable as hell, can handle well over 250hp in stock trim, and are SOHC non interference motors -> which makes for a good motor to be beaten on. Aftermarket support sucks, but parts are reasonably cheap.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I looked around, and I was wrong in the years. Old mirages (89-93) work with the motors I mentioned, but the newer ones use mounts that are basically "mirrored" from what I'm used to working with. However, it looks like an EVO 4-9 motor would fit, you'd just have to figure out the tranny :firedevil:

my wife drives a 2000 as a daily, i hate it but can't really complain as she bought it before i met her and she's put 100k miles on it without a problem, could blow up tomorrow and i woudn't care. they are very light cars too like 2200 lbs for a 1.5. as far as swaps you can do a bunch like the newer eclipse v6 i think. there is a forum, like mirageperformance.com or something i can't remember.

I'd look for an old vw or miata? I would think with studded tires a miata would do quite well. What about a old fox body stang v8 or not?