The owners of the turbo-charged versions of these cars are all about performance. It’s essentially why they would buy a car of this sort as DSMs do not fit the luxury or family sedan quality. Coming from the factory with an engine producing 195 horsepower with a 4 cylinder cast iron block, it’s a great platform to build off of. Some people prefer fwd for it’s light weight characteristics but most people strive to own a 92 awd whether it be an Eclipse, Talon, or Laser, as they feature the stronger 4 bolt rear end as opposed to the 3 bolt rear ends that 90 and 91’s come with. The 92’s also feature a 6 bolt engine which is superior in block design as opposed to the 93-99 7 bolt design. Mitsubishi didn’t design the crank to be oiled properly thus resulting in more times than not main bearing failure and destroying the entire bottom end. This is what is referred to as crank walk.
Any of the 4g63t’s from 90-94 are generally exempt from crank walk as the first 7 bolt design used in 93’s and 94’s is engineered slightly better than the 95 and newer designs so don’t hesitate to start modifying any of the pre 95 DSMS.
These cars are at least 13 years old so the first thing one needs to remember when modifying a DSM is maintenance. This should be the case for any type of car though. As horsepower increases more stress is put on the engine, hoses, belts, electrical ignition components, etc. Common problems with the average DSM include timing belt failure, CV joint failure, worn out gear syncros in the transmission, coolant hoses exploding, blown head gaskets, ecu capacitors leaking, and numerous vacuum/boost leaks. Those are just a few of the common problems. Be sure to fully inspect the car before you start increasing horsepower. After you’ve spent around a $1000+ dollars on maintenance your ready for some serious fun. Take some time to seriously consider what your goals for the car are. How much horsepower do you want to make and what kind of times will be sufficient at the track? Be honest with yourself as once you taste the victory of boost chances are you’ll be striving for even more horsepower. It takes a disciplined person to stop at a weak 300 horsepower despite it’s potency relatively speaking. Planning ahead saves you money. For example, if you see a good deal on a good sized turbo, and you decide to buy it, it might fail to meet your satisfaction later on down the road. Now, let’s talk parts and the mods you want to start out with. A lot of dsmer’s are budget builders so they may not agree but it’s better to be safe than sorry, rather than having the mind set of, I’ll fix it when it breaks. Having that mind set could cost you a lot of down time and money. Usually when something breaks, it causes a number of other things to break. I’m going to concentrate on the mods required to make 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 horsepower with ease. I’d recommend buying new parts but personally if I find a quality used part I don’t hesitate to save some money. To move onto the next power level assume parts not listed in that bracket are included from previous levels.
horsepower levels
300 horsepower:
Arp head studs
Metal head gasket
Tdo5h 16g turbo
550cc injectors
Rewire stock fuel pump
Apexi s-afc 2
Hack stock 1g mas
Hard intercooler pipes:
Manual boost controller
ACT 2100 clutch kit or equivalent
Intake:
350 horsepower:
Evo 16g
660 injectors
Walbro 190 fuel pump
2g mas
Methanol injector or a FMIC
ACT 2600 clutch kit or equivalent
400horsepower:
50 trim, 20g, or equivalent
720 or 750 injectors
Walbro 255 fuel pump
AFPR
FMIC
ACT 2600 clutch kit or equivalent
4 bolt rear end if awd
DSMLink is highly recommended or equivalent
Wideband
Aftermarket bov
Better flowing exhaust manifold
450 horsepower:
57 trim, 60 trim, or equivalent
.020 over sized Forged pistons with arp rod bolts
SMIM
880cc or larger injectors
DSMLink or equivalent
ACT 2900 clutch kit or equivalent
500horsepower:
60trim turbo or larger
Methanol Injection
1000cc injectors
DSMLink or Stand-alone