4g61t.org

Not the I have the extra cash right now, but I wanted to entertain my thoughts on the best bang for the buck 4x4 that Mitsu offers. I want something that I can take off-roading and excursions to the desert. For us here in the states it's basically down to 3 vehicles. The Mighty Max, Montero Sport/Challenger, and the Montero/Pajero. Here's the 4 that interest me the most due to available mods and low cost.

- '95 Mighty Max pick-up: This 4x4 came with the optional 3.0L 6G72 and an available manual transmission. The idea here would be a 3.3L stroker and high compression. There are upgraded torsen bars to give it a lift.

- '98 Montero Sport: You Aussie's know this as the Challenger. The '98 has it's problems, but the upgrade path would follow that of the Mighty Max since they have the same underpinnings.

- '88 Montero 2-door: This little beater is a near ideal in alot of aspects. It shares the same 2.6L found in the Starion and easily accepts turbo charging. It's also a robust platform that ran the first Dakar for Mitsu. Its short wheelbase gives it the most versatility in all offroad scenarios.

- '94 Montero: Long gone are the 2-doors here in the states, but this offers V6 power with manual transmissions and optional seating for 7. It still uses the same Dakar winning platform and has enough room to take you, your friends, and all your snowboarding gear.

I'm curious to hear from the Aussie's on these since you guys have more upgrades for these vehicles. They also get put through their paces more in the rugged outback.

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Jason Veraldi
Scammer
http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34532

I love my mighty max, even though it is 2wd and lowered. It will as well be getting the starion 2.6 turbo path.

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89 Mighty Max 2.6. Lookin for side drafts 89 Colt turbo. SOLD
91 Galant GSX, waiting for 2.4

the fam has had a 94 montero with the v6 and a stick since it was new, and it has always held up pretty well, but d@mn that thing was a dog. might be the slowest thing i've ever driven. reeeally top heavy too.

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1g smic, 2.5" turboback, 1g exhaust cam, abs intake, 13g turbo, mbc, vdo boost gauge, greddy egt

91 Mightymax/D-50 4wd also came with the 6G72

Heh, honestly when it comes to 4x4's I will usually buy Toyota. If you want a kick ass off-road and dependable machine than any 85-89 Toyota 4Runner or Pick up will meet or exceed anything Mitsu has put out. I love Mitsu's but the Toyota trucks are by far more dependable and better suited for off-roading.

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Turning a 4g61t into 1595 cc's of FURY!
10.995 @ 134.44 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXvcvzuWGQ

SOLD to the fastest shifting hermaphrodite in CO

prolly out of budget, but that new pickup mitsu is working on looks... interesting...

that 6g72-powered version that paul spoke of, does anyone know for sure if there were two 6g72s? i dont mean twin cam and not, i mean wide (rwd?) bellhousing and narrow (fwd?) becasue through a few contacts, I could pull together a 2-door g54b style montero without a motor/trans, a 6g72 4wd montero tranny, and a 3000gt that has a good twin cam motor in it, all for about $1000.

the only problem is that I dont know if the motor and tranny will bolt together.

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honestly, the most capable off-road rig that we ever had ( that was stock ) was the 86 isuzu trooper. wholly shnikes. we had that thing crossed up, buried, side-hilling, you name it. the only prob we ever had was getting high-centered on one of those "road-closed" (suggestion, im sure) berms. but we had a 4-door, and I think the two-doors are shorter.

we also had some fun when I was 12 or so in our two-door g54b-powered raider. but it blew a head gasket before too long. from the list you gave, id go with this one.


both of these are available cheap if you look, and both had 4 and 6 cylinder engines in them, depending on model. rumor has it the Trooper was modeled after the original FJ60 land cruisers, so theres a little for you toyota people to be happy about.

Hope that helps,

~joe

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No colors anywhere, I want them painted Black.

Go oldschool. A friend of mine once had one of those older Monteros (aka Dodge Raider up here) and it was insanely capable. He could hang with the local Jeep folk and Sammy folk in that thing.

- J

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[ 1993 Lotus Elan SE ] [ 1989 Starion ESi-R ] [ 1987 Porsche 944s ]

Trooper modeled after a Land Cruiser modeled after the Land Rover Series I. Might as well trace it over to another continent (sorta, more like island grouping).

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Witty Signature Goes Here!

True what was said about the 85-89 SUV's and trucks that Toyota put out, my 1989 4Runner with the 22RE was about the coolest thing I've ever owned. I loved that thing, and am someday going to buy another one and make it my project!

But on the Mitsu topic, I always thought those short, stubby SUV's that Mitsu put out, the little Dodge Raider is I'm sure very cool, but incredibly ugly. Hope you don't pick your SUV on style.

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90 Eagle Summit 1.5 - Wrecked
92 Eagle Summit ES 1.6 DOHC n/a - Parts
92 Eagle Summit 1.5 - Sold
94 Talon TSi AWD Auto - Sold
90 Laser RS FWD 4G63T - Hit and totalled

Summer - 2000 Pontiac Fireturkey Trans Am LS1 A4
Winter - 2006 Honda CRV K24 5MT

If I went on what most people consider pretty and stylish, I wouldn't be a Mitsubishi owner.

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Jason Veraldi
Scammer
http://www.4g61t.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34532

Well I'll give you my 10 cent tour of the 6G72

There only appears to be 1 bell housing but I think the whole 6G74 stuff is really neet since it can be bore out to > 4L

http://www.sonataspeed.com/6g72info.html
http://www.monninengineering.com/6G74swap.html

Hehe, I see your point here...I was just pointing out my personal experience. Colorado has more SUV's per capita than any other state and the two you will primarily see on the difficult trails are 85-89 Toyota's and Jeeps...thats about it. The 22RE is the best 4 cylinder truck engine in existance and will last forever, mine had 284,000 miles on it and is still on the road today. It never once broke down in the 3 yrs I owned it and I did every lvl 5 trail in the state. That doesn't mean much though, its your personal tastes that matter so I will just say my piece and accept your decision.

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Turning a 4g61t into 1595 cc's of FURY!
10.995 @ 134.44 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXvcvzuWGQ

SOLD to the fastest shifting hermaphrodite in CO