00:00 - Intro - Mitsubishi Galant VR4 - Part 1
I love the concept of street legal rally cars because of their performance capabilities… especially in all types of weather conditions, and I have been fortunate to own a couple over the years, including a Toyota Celica Alltrac Turbo (known as the GT4 in Europe) and one from Mitsubishi that I refer to as the Rodney Dangerfield of rally homologation specials because it doesn’t seem to get the respect it deserves.
01:30 - The Mitsubishi Galant VR4: the Rodney Dangerfield of Street Rally Specials
Rally homologation specials are halo cars for manufacturers and typically highlight go-fast technology that showcases their ability to build a winning racecar. While these were not the actual rally racing cars, they were the street-legal platform upon which the rally cars were built. In the case of the Galant VR4, they had to meet the Group-A World Rally Championship parameters, meaning they had to be 4WD with a 2.0-liter turbocharged motor and at least 5000 had to be built for worldwide sales to the public.
For the US market, Mitsubishi imported a limited edition series of 2000 badged and numbered Galant VR4s in 1991 and similar limited edition of 1000 VR4s in 1992 with only some slight differences in 1992. There were an additional 9 unbadged cars brought into the US, presumably for magazine tests and for Mitsubishi executives to drive. So 3009 total were brought to the US. The rest of the VR4s built on the 6th generation Galant chassis were sold in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and some other pacific rim countries, with the key difference being they were all right-hand drive models.
03:00 - History of the Mitsubishi Galant VR4
The Galant name has been on a Mitsubishi car in Japan since the late 1960s and was first seen in the US in the 1970s but it wasn’t called the Galant. Instead it was brought here as the Dodge Colt. Chrysler and Mitsubishi had a long-standing relationship with Mitsubishi rebadging cars within their line-up to help Chrysler fill the gap of small, fuel efficient cars that they needed in their line-up.
The two companies eventually teamed up to form a 50-50 venture known as Diamond Star Motors to build DSM cars at a new plant in Normal, Illinois. DSM cars included the Mitsubishi Eclipse, The Eagle Talon and the Plymouth Laser. The highest performing versions of these cars had essentially the same 4G63 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive system found on the Galant VR4, so many assume the VR4 is a DSM car. But the Galant VR4 was built solely in Japan for model years 1987-1992, while the DSM factory wasn't even completed until 1988. However, the VR4 version of the 6th generation Galant does owe its existence specifically to Mitsubishi’s rally racing efforts.
04:00 - Rally Heritage
After Mitsubishi’s success racing in the Paris-Dakar rally raid events in the 1980s (the Mitsubishi’s Pajero Evolution won the event outright a record 12-times between 1985 and 2007), the car maker then set their sights on the World Rally Championship by attempting a run at the Group B open class with a 4WD version of their Starion Turbo sports car.
Unfortunately before the Starion was fully developed, a couple of devastating Group B racing incidents happened that killed spectators and drivers, effectively ending the Group B class permanently. That made Group A the top class in World Rally, so Mitsubishi put the turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive system from the Starion Turbo into the 6th Generation Galant sedan to create the Galant VR4 Rally Car.
Mitsubishi contested the WRC for 6-years from 1987 to 1992 with the Galant VR4 and won some notable events outright, including the 1000 Lakes Rally and the Lombard RAC rally, before replacing it with the first of the smaller and lighter Lancer Evolution series rally cars.
06:50 - My Galant VR4
I owned a 1991 Galant VR4 in Belize Green with a sunroof for 16-years. It was badged as #1607/2000. I bought it from the original owner with 92,000 miles and I put 126,000 miles on it while I owned it I loved that car, but sadly it met its untimely end in a garage fire a couple of years after I sold it.
07:50 - What Makes The Galant VR4 a Great Sports Sedan? A Great Base Platform
The Galant VR4 was built on the sixth generation Galant platform from Mitsubishi and the basic Galant was a serious sports sedan in it’s own right. The GS model in the US had a non-turbocharged 2.0-liter dual overhead cam 4G63 4-cyclinder engine that made 135-horsepower. It was front wheel drive and with the 5-speed manual transmission, it would make short work of a long commute or a twisty back road. It was so good, in fact, that Motor Trend named it their Import Car of the Year for 1989.
09:00 - Why Do They Call It a VR4?
VR4 stands for “Viscous Realtime 4WD” – a full time all-wheel drive system that was specifically developed to complement the high power output of the Starion Turbo Rally car’s 4G63 turbocharged motor. With the viscous center coupling, power was normally proportioned 50/50 between front and rear axles, but it was an infinitely variable ratio up to 0/100 or vice versa. It would sense wheel slip at either end of the car and send power to the tires with the most traction.
11:00 - My GVR4 Armageddon Snow Storm Story
I know how well the VR4 system worked from experience. Combined with a set of studless Bridgestone Blizzaks winter tires, my 1991 Galant VR4 was virtually unstoppable in wintery conditions as long as the snow wasn’t too deep. To illustrate the point, I spend a few minutes telling the story of how the Galant helped get me safely home during Snow-mageddon in Seattle in early January 2004. What was then a half-hour, 20-mile commute home from the city turned into a 5-hour ordeal with drivers sliding off the road everywhere and basically abandoning their vehicles when they couldn't drive any further. The Galant VR4, on the other hand, made it all seem easy.
16:15 - Mitsubishi's Active Four Technology
Mitsubishi launched the Galant VR4 with their full complement of “Active Four Technology”, which include the previously mentioned 4WD system from the Starion Turbo, plus 4-wheel independent suspension, 4-Wheel Anti-lock brakes with discs at each corner and something unique even among tech-laden Japanese cars at the time: 4-wheel steering.
17:15 - Comfort and Convenience Features
The Galant VR4 had comfort and convenience features that pushed it into a more premium category, including leather interior, air conditioning, speed-sensing wipers, plus an optional AM/FM stereowith cassette and CD player (CDs were new tech at that point in time) and a tilting/sliding glass moon roof with sunshade. You could even change between red and green gauge lighting at night with the flip of a switch… a very late 80s, early 90s Japanese wonder car thing.
18:10 - The Galant's 4G63T (turbocharged) 4-cylinder Engine
Another thing that really set the Galant VR4 apart from other sport sedans of that era was its 4G63 Turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter engine. This is a dual-overhead cam power plant with multi-point fuel injection and 4-valves per cylinder that in stock form cranked out 195-horsepower @ 6000 rpm and 203 lb-ft of torque at 3000 rpm. That was a lot of horsepower in 1991.
19:25 - Why You Might Want a Galant VR4
- You need a sedan
- You need all-weather capability
- You need something reliable
- You need something affordable
- You need something you can work on yourself
- You want an easy path to upgrades
Interesting Galant VR4 Links
Tom's Turbo Garage - Street Sleeper Part 12 - Dyno Test and Tune - https://bit.ly/3VhEgjW
That Racing Channel - Fastest Galant VR4 On The Planet - 8.74 quarter mile @ 163.31 mph - https://bit.ly/3Cnq3cx
Gearbox Magazine - Fastest Galant VR4 In The World - 224 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats! - https://bit.ly/3CdxP8Y
25:50 - Wrap-Up Galant VR4 - Part 1
Be sure to join me for Part 2 where we will talk about what to look for when shopping for a Galant VR4 and review some of the problem areas these cars have… here’s a hint: There aren’t many beyond the usual older used-car things. And we will also talk about other rally-inspired street cars similar to the Galant VR4 that might be of interest to you if you like the idea of a Street Rally special as your daily driver.
