2007 Mitsubishi 380 TMR

[SL65]

Mitsubishi Australia reveals it's 380 TMR

A supercharged 380 TMR adds punch to Mitsubishi's large car lineup writes BRUCE NEWTON.

Mitsubishi is determined to convert the TMR 380 motor show concept revealed in Sydney this morning into a production vehicle.

The fiery red 380 features a supercharged version of the 3.8-litre V6 engine developed by West Australian-based specialiast Sprintex. Power increases by 31 per cent to 230kW and torque by 29 per cent to 442Nm.

Mitsubishi boss Rob McEniry revealed potential customers had already tried to place orders for the TMR 380 after sightings on the internet.

"We have been a little embarrassed by that, so we are going to have to move this along pretty quickly," he said. "It's just a matter of working through the homologation."

McEniry suggested that some components may come to market as accessories, while a two tier model range could also be considered. A version with the concept's aggressive bodywork could be on-sale this year, while a higher-spec version that adds the performance parts could appear in the first half of 2007.

Pricing for a full-house production TMR 380 is far from sorted, but the most obvious established rival is Ford's Falcon XR6 Turbo. It retails for $46,405. The most expensive 380 is currently the $44,990 GT.

The TMR 380 was one of two supercharged concept cars shown by a local manufacture at Darling Harbour today. Toyota also presented its Aurion Sports Car Concept, which will produce 240kW when it goes into limited production mid-2007.

The Mitsubishi takes its name from Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, which runs the company's Australian Rally Championship campaign and also performs road vehicle modifications.

TMR put the show car together at its Melbourne base, based on Mitsubishi's design brief of improving the performance and appeal of the 380 while delivering the flavour of the iconic Lancer Evo series.

It also presented a hotted up version of the Lancer Evo IX named the TMR 220. Aimed at sprint and hill climb enthusiasts, the 220 goes on-sale in January with pricing expected to be pitched between $75,000 and $80,000.

The TMR 380 includes Ralliart developed six-pot brakes at the front and four-pot Brembos at the rear, a 50mm lowered ride height, adjustable Koni shock absorbers, 19-inch alloy wheels and Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber.

Externally, the TMR 380 has a full body kit and twin bonnet scoops. Features inside include Recaro leather seats and a Fujitsu 10 sound system.

I actually like the 380 GT quite a bit. Looks quite good on the road, but this is just trying too hard. Besides, will the 380 even be in production in 2007?? Who knows....

[Viper007Bond]

[fbc]

Ah, there it is - the 380 I mentioned in the Aurion thread.

Another case of trying too hard to desperately get a product to sell - just looks way too after-market for me (bling wheels, after-thought bonnet vents, ick).

Oh, and 230kw and FWD? Best of luck with that.

[SL65]

Originally Posted by fbc

Oh, and 230kw and FWD? Best of luck with that.

Yeah I forgot to mention that! That thing is gonna be mental 'round the corners

[BlitzR]

The Ralliart Colt was surprisingly good. Maybe this could do some damage, but strong doubt.

[asphotos]

442 nm in a fwd, good luck.. can you say care ditch (understeer)

is tmr tommi mackinen racing?

[andyhui01]

Originally Posted by fbc

Ah, there it is - the 380 I mentioned in the Aurion thread.

Another case of trying too hard to desperately get a product to sell - just looks way too after-market for me (bling wheels, after-thought bonnet vents, ick).

Oh, and 230kw and FWD? Best of luck with that.

word, the normal 380 already wheelspins too easily, imagine what so much power would do

[Janus]

Originally Posted by fbc

Oh, and 230kw and FWD? Best of luck with that.

So does that mean that Toyota is going to have to stop saying that the Aurion has "class leading power" with 200kw? Which I already thought was stupid on a front wheel car.

That is one thing I never understood about the 380, you have the base model, sports model and luxury model all with exactly the same engine with exactly the same output, so basically the only difference is the seats and cheap body styling.

The 380 is dying. They had part of the market because they were the cheapest, but now all the other models, Camry, Aurion, VE and Ford's redone Falcon, are killing them in features and luxury.

[bartboy9891]

converted it and it's roughly 308 hp and 325lb/ft of torque. so unless they went all out reducing torque-steer as much as possibly (like Mazda with the Mazdaspeed3), then i dont see this as being very usable

[un-dee]

Why do all these Australian Cars look the same? It doesn't matter if its a Holden, Ford, Toyota or Mitsubishi, they all have exactly the same design cues. And to be honest it just bores me now.
The first ones I looked at were fine, apart from the fact the design looks a bit 10 years old.

[BlitzR]

The thing about the Australian motor industry is, that if you try to be different you will be burned as the Ford Australia found out.

[SL65]

Originally Posted by un-dee

Why do all these Australian Cars look the same? It doesn't matter if its a Holden, Ford, Toyota or Mitsubishi, they all have exactly the same design cues. And to be honest it just bores me now.
The first ones I looked at were fine, apart from the fact the design looks a bit 10 years old.

Our market has very specific taste and it doesn't surprise me that the cars look more or less the same. Whether you like it or not is another thing but Aussie's tend to like big, four door cars with relatively powerfull engines (even if that trend is slowly changing).

Think about a market where people like small city run-abouts - France perhaps? Can you say that there is much difference between a Citroen C1, Peugeut 207 and a Toyota Yaris? Not really. But they all do the job they want it to do and that's all that really matters, right.

[watto]

Hmmmmm, too much bling Mitsubishi, what are you doing!!!!!

This will torque steer like a bitch. Silly.

[TomCat]

Looks good. The fake hoot vents are annoying, but sporty. I drove an old Galant GTZ and it was very fast with no real torque steer. But that was only 200hp.