Learn me: Something I sorta accidentally bought, 1998 Mitsubishi RVR Space Gear X3

To set the stage, I put my Solstice GXP and Samurai up for sale, looking to get a daily that was more practical, still fun, and also quirky as hell. My main fun car is an imported S1 Elise and a bunch of motorcycles, so the daily doesn't have to live up to that. I've saved things on FB marketplace all over the board, JDM Mitsu Pajero, Delicas, Isuzu Vehicross, AMC Eagle, Nissan Rasheen. I also threw some low ball bids at things on Cars and Bids, MGF, Nissan Pao and Figaro, Toyota Century. Like I said, weird. I also considered importing something, like I did with my Elise. Skoda Felicia Fun, Alfa GTV6, amongst others. 

I threw a fairly innocuous, last minute, fairly low bid on a Mitsubishi RVR X3, and oops, won. I have a surface level knowledge of this, and have been trying to find the forum/FB owners group, without too much success. It's basically an Evo powertrain in a mini minivan, and luckily, this one is stick. I'm trying to figure out if it's a IV,V, or VI engine, but not coming up with much. It appears that an Evo VIII turbo and manifold are a bolt on upgrade, and plentiful used as people upgrade to tubular manifolds and bigger snails. I have no clue what size the injectors are, what size rotors they take, and what else I can parts bin raid (Evo Brembos? yes please.) There seems to be more info on the 1st gen Super Sports Gear/Hyper Sports Gear, but I don't know if these are even platform related as this is a 2nd gen, which uses a flipped 4G63 like Evo IV+ as opposed to DSM/Evo I-III orientation. 

Anyway, where my JDM nerds at! I think a member on here has a turbo Chariot, which I know is very directly linked to the 1G version of this. I look forward to hauling lots of things, and hurting feelings on the mountain passes. 

Not a damned clue, but I'm in love 

That's just cool!

if it uses the 4g63 and the EVO 7 8 9 manifolds then the injectors are 550cc stock.

Milburn Emery said:

if it uses the 4g63 and the EVO 7 8 9 manifolds then the injectors are 550cc stock.

The 7/8/9 manifolds bolt on, but aren't stock. Clocking is different for the top mount IC. I believe the stock turbo is a TD04HL-15T for a manual. A little snooping on JDM parts sites and cross referencing seems to indicate 450cc injectors stock.

BTW that interior looks tres cool.  RE engine, I would get rid of the top mount intercooler and run a front mount similar to the evo 789 to keep the charge temps down.

If the Evo 8 manifold fits then source an Evo 8 MR turbo or better yet a FP 51 which uses the 9 turbo output pipes and is about 52 lbs output compared to the 44 lb of the stock Evo8 MR turbo. You will need to get a Walbro 255 fuel pump or bigger too and maybe 800 cc injector to be safe.

You will need to fabricate an exhaust as all those Mitsu dont like backpressure going into the combustion chambers.

Tuned that will get you about 325 at the wheels. in the smaller size SUV it will be quite fast.

I was watching that auction.  I was expecting the price to go higher.

Whatever you do, don't break any interior pieces.  The JDM stuff is obviously hard to find.  Weird stuff like HVAC vents adont exist either.

I love the Nazca line fabric.

I don't know much about this gen but generally, evo 8 suspension and brakes are used as the upgrade for the previous gen cars.  I assume the suspension design is similar or the same.

So the engine is none of the above. It's a derivative of Evo engine but it has a smaller turbo, milder cams, and weaker rods. It's 210 HP. There are a lot of crossover parts with the evo 4-8 engines but with the top mount intercooler, the piping and orientation is completely different. Injectors are 450CC twin spray. The ECU should be flashable with a H8 chip architecture. I don't ever see much on the definitions or people that tuned them though. 

There is a lot of commonality with the 03-06 outlander from the brakes and suspension POV.  Fronts should be 2 piston caliper w/ 294MM rotor. Not a straight bolt-on for Evo brake stuff.  

With the manual, It's pretty rare. Most were Autos

Here is a good thread with the links to the service manuals: 

https://www.4gtuner.com/topic/26227-service-repair-manual/#google_vignette

These are pretty inexpensive cars overall and not much out there from a parts POV stateside so plan on a lot of long waits. You can pull up part numbers with the chassis code on sites like Partsouq.com I use that a lot to determine if there is a USDM cross over when shopping for my JDM Mitsu.  

I was also watching that auction and was surprised at the low closing price.  Congratulations!

This is sweet!  I have a set of stock Evo8 cams sitting in a box if you ever decide to go full blown on modifying this thing.

In reply to bmw88rider :

Appreciate that! Do you know if by this year/gen they were largely free of crankwalk issues? I'll do a baseline fluids/tuneup, get some gauges, and turn her up a little bit. 14-15 lbs should be a safe number?

It's an Evo 4 7 bolt architecture so no it's not clear of crankwalk. It's actually the one that was the most effected. You never saw it much because tuned RVRs are kinda rare but you see it in swapped motors more. 

14-15 LB should be just 2-3 LB over stock so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. You would run out of injectors first. 450s are really only good for about 230 WHP at 80% duty cycle.

I would check the PCV system because that motor probably has a lot of oil in the intercooler judging by the stains on the valve cover. 4G63's are known for venting oil so it is not a big surprise. 

Very, very cool. Congrats. Sorta reminds me if a 4G63 swapped Eagle Summit. Which I always wanted.

In reply to CyberEric :

It is the next gen of the Eagle Summit/Mitsu Expos we got stateside. RVR was the overseas name AKA Recreation Vehicle Runner. The RVRs got the good engines. We got the weak sauce. 

Nice get. Jealous.

The eagle has landed! First thing first will probably be a baseline fluids and new sparkys. I will do the timing belt and water pump over the winter because it's probably overdue. I ordered a boost gauge, manual boost controller, intake and BOV, just for the sounds. Not quite as quick as I thought it would be, but probably skewed expectations. Block code shows Evo VI casting run. The configurable interior really is the coolest party trick for it IMO. I'll do wheels also, and maybe slowly accumulate the EVO 9 turbo and manifold, injectors, MAF and Evo VI ecu, and some sort of front mount solution. Evo 8 suspension bolts into the front, DSM shocks in the rear, springs are still a question mark in the back. 

That is super cool.  

Enjoy!

Yeah, They are not really quick. It's a 3100ish pound 165ish WHP car at the end of the day. They are great ski mobiles and were popular in the north of japan for running to the slopes. 

Enjoy!