Test drive Mitsubishi 3000 GT 1994 - 2001 coupe

Tourist 3000

This car with a certain degree of conventionality can be called the long -liver of the Russian car market. More precisely, not his, but the same and almost the same Dodge Stealth, which several years ago quite often caught my eye - and not only in Moscow. But gradually, as a result of natural loss, these machines became less and less, against the background of which cars that carry the mitsubishi emblem and the noble abbreviation GT became increasingly noticeable. We are talking about Mitsubishi 3000gt - in Moscow there are now about twenty of them. Car owners know each other well and are found weekly on the observation deck of the Sparrow Mountains ...

In 1989, the Mitsubishi HSX prototype was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. He struck the audience with bold stylistic solutions characteristic of the emergency of bio -design that was then born, but at the same time had features of classic Grand Tourism machines. The following year, a serial production of a car began in two Ipostasi in Japan - Mitsubishi 3000gt (Mitsubishi GTO) and Dodge Stealth, the latter design was created specifically for the American market ...

Over the past ten years, the trends of world bodybuilding have changed, four years ago the release of Dodge Stealth was stopped, but Mitsubishi 3000gt live-lives and still attracts eyes. Compared to an American relative, he looks more aggressive. Born muzzle with gill slits of air intakes, shark fins on the panel in front of the radiator, holes for supplying air to the rear brakes on the sidewalls, a large rear anti -wing in the entire width of the body - all this is not on relatively home Dodge Stealth, which often had to see young young ladies ...

From a technical point of view, cars are the same, but Stealth was often sold with a relatively weak motor and automatic, while Mitsubishi 3000gt is almost always a serious all -wheel drive sports machine with a six -speed manual gearbox. We can say that this is Stealth, which has passed a deep tuning in the factory. What is there? What allows Mitsubishi 3000GT to attribute to the Grand Tourism class?

The 3000GT all -wheel drive is constant, with the distribution of torque between the front and rear wheels in a ratio of 45/55. In the center differential, a viscous coupling is used as a blocking element. The engine is installed transversely, has a configuration V6 and a working volume of 2972 \u200b\u200bcm cube. It is equipped with two turbines (one for each row of cylinders) and two interculers, which allows you to get a power of 286 hp. At 6,000 revolutions per minute and the moment 407 Nm after 2500 revolutions. The front suspension of the Macpherson type and the back on the transverse levers have shock absorbers adjustable from the driver's place with two work modes - sports and road.

3000GT can be called not only all -wheel drive, but also full -controlled - the rear wheels are on a turn at a speed of more than 80 km/h at an angle of up to one and a half degrees. But that's not all. The car has the so -called active aerodynamics. On the upholstery of the central tunnel there is a switch with which the front apron-spike is lowered and the angle of attack of the posterior anti-wing increases. This happens both in forced and in automatic mode - after the speed reaches 80 km/h. The ARO AERO system can be disabled if, for example, you go along an uneven road. An impressive list turned out. It is also worth mentioning ventilated brake discs on all wheels, stiff sports type brackets and cast wheels.

Having familiarized myself with the car outwardly and on paper, I climb into the salon. This is not so simple: the height of the machine is 1285 mm. Finally I am sitting on a driver's seat. It can be moved back and forth and lift it with an electric drive controlled by a lever on the pillow on the side. The back is leaned with a regular handle, adjustment is discrete. A seat with leather upholstery has good lateral support and set up by means of a joystick on the tunnel of the lumbar support and the back of the back sides of the back. Sitting is quite convenient, despite the low ceiling; The legs are extended, the back is almost vertical - as if in the front -end porsche.

The steering column is adjustable, but in this case it can not be lifted, and even lower it. The leather steering wheel holds well with hands and does not block the devices. Torpedo, like the inner door panels, is made of solid soft plastic, in the doorway above the armrests - leather inserts. The form of torpedo corresponds to the sports spirit of the machine. To the right of the visor of the combination of devices, growths are placed, from which three eyes look at the driver: the pressure gauge of the engine lubrication system, a boost pressure indicator and somewhat clumsy digital clock. Holding switches like everyone else, but on the right there is a cruise control lever - a reference to American relatives. The rear window brush is controlled by the key to the right of the steering column and has an intermittent mode of operation.

The legs in the pedal area are not crowded, the clutch pedal force is slightly larger than that of an ordinary car, and its move is a little shorter. The location of the gear lever is quite convenient, the elbow of the right hand in a non -working state rests on the upholstery of the tunnel, or rather, on the lid of a box for trifles between seats.

Oddly enough, the visibility of the driver's place was quite decent, the roof racks do not interfere with look forward and left and right, and the wide door and triangular glass-shape allow you to see well what happens behind-when you turn the head of three quarters. The rear seat is only for people of small stature and provided that the sitting will move ahead, but it is better to use these places for baggage, since the trunk is suitable only for transporting a pair of small flat suitcases - thanks to the large Baku in the area of \u200b\u200bthe rear axle.

The engine easily starts and works quietly on idle. When touched and driving at low speed on the gearbox lever, small vibration is felt, which disappears with an increase in revolutions. The programs are switched quite clearly, with a slight effort, the lever moves are small, but it is felt that it has automatic and, probably, right -handed roots - it is far away. I add revolutions. 3000gt obediently, without delay, gains speed - like a car with a good, responsive atmospheric engine. I try to put pressure on gas more intensively - a completely different matter. Turbines are in a whistle, and after the magic three thousand Mitsubishi 3000gt do not recognize. Now it is a very dynamic car - neighboring cars are hopelessly lagging behind. Very soon, I already felt the dimensions well and moved without problems in the traffic flow. Thanks to soft clutch, the city ride on Mitsubishi 3000gt does not exhaust - even in traffic jams.

Having familiarized myself with the complete set of the car, I had no doubt that there would be no comments on the brakes. And so it happened. The braking is very reliable and well predicted, on the wet road, ABS helps the machine cling to the asphalt, and only then the pedal is felt.

At first, the suspension was embarrassed - largely due to tapping at the joints and small fossa, but with an increase in speed, this lack of development did not. But an interesting and not very pleasant feature appeared. Reactions to longitudinal irregularities became noticeable, for example, ruts in the asphalt. The vertical fluctuations of the wheels began to be transmitted to the average in softness (almost like a conventional car) steering wheel 3000GT. I even thought that these rear wheels are stinging in arbitrary order. But the whole thing is in the kinematics of the front suspension and steering, as well as the characterization of the steering wheel amplifier. With further speed of speed, the 3000GT behavior confirmed this - it became calmer to go, the car gained good exchange rate stability.

Mitsubishi 3000gt goes smoothly, passengers are not tiring. To the best of the hard suspension, 3000gt tolerates our roads well and is quite suitable for daily operation, and if you increase the resistance of shock absorbers (button to the right of the device combination), the effect of reducing suspension moves due to a more rigid beat and compression will be created.

We are on the Khodynsky field. The territory, conquered by the builders from the athletes, became even larger - the ring lost the last turn before the finish, there was a narrow path sufficient to travel one car ... I transfer aerodynamics to automatic mode of operation, and the suspension to the sport. Start. The dynamics are still excellent, and the speed on straight lines approaches two hundred kilometers per hour. But now I am more concerned about the behavior of the car in corners and controllability in modes close to the maximum. Everything is fine on the usual road, Mitsubishi 3000gt easily changes the direction of movement and well withstands the given curvature of the turn. On Khodynka, everything can be done much faster. Acceleration to the second gear, turnover - about five thousand. The machine obediently dawns into a turn and is easily held on the trajectory with a steering wheel and gas. This is what a permanent all -wheel drive means. The clutch with the road is very good, the merit of rubber is great here, which is noisily resting in the turns covered with water.

Nevertheless, you can easily force the car to slide in all four wheels, while the probability of an error in an overdose of gas is small (given the ratio of engine power and weight 3000GT). Most importantly, 3000GT is moving in controlled mode, and small trajectory inaccuracies are easily corrected by the background of the steering wheel or the actions of the sensitive accelerator pedal - possessing pronounced tourist inclinations, the machine is excellently controlled. In addition, Mitsubishi 3000gt showed itself a well -balanced car with predictable reactions, without a clear preference of one type of rotation to another. When you try to go through a turn in the rain, the rear wheels abruptly tear off the rear wheels, it turns the car, but it remains on the highway, and until the breakup there is a decent clutch supply.

Mitsubishi 3000gt resembles classic Grand Tourism cars and appearance and behavior. It has been in service for quite some time, restyling was held (it was such a car on the test) and still adequately represent the Japanese auto industry in this category of sports cars. It was not without reason that he survived his American relative ...

Text: Sergey Ivanov
 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 10/2000]