Turbosprentice (Johnnie-Shawn Lee)

1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT Base
Panama Green

Ride of the Month Submission 3000GT/Stealth International March 2010

Engine:

• DR Stage 2 heads
• Ross 11:1 (.040 over) piston
• Ported Lower Intake
• 3sx lightweight Stock size pulley
• Fidanza Adjustable cams

Drivetrain:

• Quaife LSD
• Spec Stage 2 clutch
• Fidanza flywheel

Mods:

• MSD 8.5 wires
• NGK Platinum spark plugs
• Ebay intake with K&N FIPK filter
• EK2 DP
• RT Cat
• Custom 2.75 inch Exhaust dual
• Maximal Solid Motor mounts
• Big Tyla Ground Wire
• Denso fuel pump
• 50 shot nitrous

Suspension/Wheels:

• Ksport coil over
• Maximal Rear Control arms
• Addco Rear sway bar
• Ebay Front Strut Bar
• ASA Gunmetal-Polish lip - 17x8 + 36 offset
• Kumho Ecsta MX XRP - 245/45/17
• Stockers - 16x8
• Bridgestone REO1r - 225/50/16
• Powerslot front rotors
• Goodridge SS lines
• Hawk HPS Plus front/rear pads

Exterior:

• GT300 Hood
• Fomex Front Lip
• JDM Tail Lights

Electronics:

• Apexi AFC Neo
• AEM wideband
• Auto Meter EGT gauge

Interior:

• MOMO hub w/MOMO tuner wheel
• Corbeau Reclining Sport Seat
• Corbeau 4pt harness

Removed Parts:

• Cruise Control
• A/C
• Front speakers and Tweeters
• Horns
• Rear seats w/belts
• All rear interior panels
• Useless Electronics/Modules
• Carpets
• Spare wheel and jack

Story:

Mitsubishi and Toyotas seem to pass through my family a lot. My parents use to own a '95 red VR4 Spyder and a '98 green SL. The SL was eventually given to me at the start of high school. But being young and immature, I totaled it. The following months to come, I picked up a '91 silver VR4 with some issues. Figured I can fix it up and have a super fast car, but it didn't turn out so well. Eventually, someone gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse.

A year later. I found my '96 base model. The only thing I could think of was modding the hell out of it. I started with weight savings, and stripping it apart. Then I got into suspensions and such, next thing I know I'm Auto-xing. It didn't take long until I wanted to hit the road course. A little while later, I was struggling to keep up with BMWs, Subarus, and Lexus IS in the straights. After a couple more events I blew my motor. I did a full rebuilt and added a bunch of goodies. I wanted to go with real higher compression but anything after 11:1 piston had to be custom made, and I wasn't going to waste a lot of time waiting for weeks to months. After a good $4.5-6k later. I decided to take it to a drag strip. And to my surprised, my best time with a 50 shot of NOS was 14.4 only. And without NOS 14.7. You can guess that I was a bit upset. But that whole second faster also made me a lot faster on the road course. In the coming years, I'll be doing a lot more road course events and auto-x events. Eventually my car will break down hard on me. So when the time comes, I'll be picking up a VR4 and start road racing with it too.

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