Mitsubishi considering 4cyl "380"

[nota]

Remember those Holden four-pot triers - the Sunbird and Commodore 4cyl? Magnifico!

Mitsu's post-1995 Magna 4cyl with the 2.4 went quite well, in all but sales. Gee the whole 380 story has been one botch-job after another since MD Tom Phillips left, and any of the brand-optimism he miraculously re-established has been blown away

Mitsu Aust reminds me of Piggy in Lord of the Flies - unloved, underappreciated, unfairly persecuted .. and soon to die

[fpv_gtho]

Haha...and if Holden make the VE as good as they'd have us believe, they'll be the ones pushing the boulder...

[nota]

..

Model intros are crucial events for any car range as they tend to shape public opinion, an opinion which lingers. VE was conceived before fuel went mental so in a climate of rising petrol prices (and resultant buyer aversion) I'm going to be very interested to observe what kind of accent Holden attaches to VE advertising, and what emphasis they (attempt to) project ..

[fpv_gtho]

And Ford have another 18 months to sit back and observe..

It wouldnt surprise me too much of Toyota manage to go under the radar with the Camry and Aurion...

[nota]

I wouldn't be surprised if (as far as the public awe-factor goes) after launch the much-ballyhoo'd Camry/Aurion will require sonar, not radar

It'll be just like all previous wow-NEW-Camry spektakulaas .. here today, forgotten tomorrow, wake me saturday for my benzadrine and lawn bowls

[Revolution]

on the 380 4-cylinder topic, the 2.4 MiVEC from the Lancer wouldn't be too bad, its a good engine, does a great job in the small bodyshell.

[fpv_gtho]

Its also in the Outlander, which could be a tad lighter than the 380, but is as close as youre gunna get to seeing it already in a heavy-ish vehicle

[Daz27]

Its my sworn mission in life to set those crappy astron 4 pot's souls free and let them go to motor nirvana in a 6000 rpm, brick on the accelerator, smokey valve bounce, with no oil or water. Its good to see that my fun is going to continue for sometime yet, and, as well as that, I may be able to share this fun with my as yet unborn offspring, assuming the fuel keeps flowing... Thankyou Mitsubishi, for more 4 pot, largish shitbox's for me to kill in later years...

[SlickHolden]

Originally Posted by fpv_gtho

Well im stuck driving mums Camry around, and that has barely any movement in the throttle compared to a Falcon, so i think that would take some getting used to. If you think though that Toyota sell a fair few 4cyl Camry's though, which are also 2.4L (they used to be 2.2L iirc) and theyre economical. In the city especially though it could have alot of benefit where you could be more worried about the traffic than opening the throttle up..

More throttle to get moving more petrol wasting?.
I drove the old VB from 16 to 29. One thing i notice over the VP is my foot is used much much less to go as fast But unfortunately I'm still not saving petrol

Originally Posted by nota

Remember those Holden four-pot triers - the Sunbird and Commodore 4cyl? Magnifico!

Mitsu's post-1995 Magna 4cyl with the 2.4 went quite well, in all but sales. Gee the whole 380 story has been one botch-job after another since MD Tom Phillips left, and any of the brand-optimism he miraculously re-established has been blown away

Mitsu Aust reminds me of Piggy in Lord of the Flies - unloved, underappreciated, unfairly persecuted .. and soon to die

I drove the 4cyl Commodore my brother owned one, One POS it was so crap.

[motorsportnerd]

Originally Posted by nota

I wouldn't be surprised if (as far as the public awe-factor goes) after launch the much-ballyhoo'd Camry/Aurion will require sonar, not radar

It'll be just like all previous wow-NEW-Camry spektakulaas .. here today, forgotten tomorrow, wake me saturday for my benzadrine and lawn bowls

Doesn't matter how far the Camry/Aurion fly under the radar - they'll sell, and sell in huge numbers, particularly the Camry. No other Aussie built car has as good a reputation for quality, reliabily and resale value. And being 4 clyinder will help the Camry in the current climate of increase petrol prices.
Still, I'm not going to buy one. The Mazda6 has much more style and panache and is just as high quality and reliable.

[nota]

Originally Posted by motorsportnerd

Doesn't matter how far the Camry/Aurion fly under the radar - they'll sell, and sell in huge numbers, particularly the Camry.

>Locally manufactured< vehicle sales 02/2006

Ford (Falcon etc)
7,728 (-14,4%)

Holden (Commodore etc)
6,862 (-15.3%)

Toyota (Camry etc)
2,611 (-26.9%)

Mitsubishi (380)
1,111 (-31.3%)

Where are these "huge numbers" of Camry sales ..?

They do not exist on Australian sales charts thats for sure .. in fact the February '06 sales figures show that Camry sales suffered more of a percentage-loss than either Falcon or Commodore!

Camry exports are going ok, but total locally-produced Toyota sales amounted to barely one-third of Falcon .. a less than huge figure imo. Traditionally, Camry sales are very much at a 'second tier' level compared to the main players, ie Falcon and Commodore. Without their exports to prop it up the viability of Toyota-Altona would look rather fragile imo

(Source - most recent I could find) http://www.autoindustries.com.au/sal...02/origin.html

Like you I'd much prefer Mazda 6 over bland Camry

[nota]

Originally Posted by SlickHolden

I drove the 4cyl Commodore my brother owned one, One POS it was so crap.

Yeah I know what you mean .. they were all fan noise and no motor .. the dinky little 13" wheels .. that dreadful whooshing exhaust sound, like Mum's Hoover on full boost

Amazing as this might sound but the Sunbird was even worse, because at least Holden-engined Commodore 4cyls did keep going. Sunbirds began with this incredibly bad Opel 1.9 litre 4cyl motor which shook and leaked oil, never stayed in tune, and to cap it off the donk usually wore out within 5 years - they were shockers!

[SlickHolden]

Originally Posted by motorsportnerd

The Mazda6 has much more style and panache and is just as high quality and reliable.

With Turbo.

[john14]

Does anyone really care about 380?

Yes, I care. The Mitsubishi 380 is arguably the best car which is Made in Australia and the arguably the best car ever made in Adelaide.

[fpv_gtho]

Originally Posted by john14

Yes, I care. The Mitsubishi 380 is arguably the best car which is Made in Australia and the arguably the best car ever made in Adelaide.

Youve got that right. Arguably...