The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[Gerard]

That is quite extensive upgrades.
I had mine on a rollin road and it was just shy of 300. with a large bore exhaust. Which I have had rebuilt with side pipes but I have left the cat in place because of the emmission rules here. I still have to do the air intake. So on full song she sounds just like the real thing.
I would attached just one of the photos I have of a dakar car being prepared in France but can't get image small enough
The works cars had a wider track but engine wise I would think they were the same spec as the road cars except core plugs etc would secured etc as per normal race preparation. I expect yours is a manual tranny?
AS for lpg you should be able to fit a 90 litre tank in place of your old petrol tank and an ally 20 litre petrol bolted to the floor just in front of the rear axle. I get 370km/80 litres lpg on average use. WE have our own lpg tank so it is a while since I did an accurate mpg. Lpg is .98 aus dollar/litre excl VAT tax so  it is a no brainer.

I wouldn't be a no brainer to set up a register of cars. My serial number is 00142 so I presume it was 142nd made!  Maybe the webmasters here could set a page up to list them expecially if there are only 2500. Just need serial number and partial address say County and country ~ Aberdeenshire Scotland. I reckon there are about 5 within about 200 miles of here. But in the last year or so you don't see them so often.

[Google]

[evoaus]

Hi Gerard,

i dont believe there is any physical or mechanical difference in retail model to the race model, homologation rules for that class required them to be racing esentially what a consumer could go and purchase from the dealership (aside from what we already mentioned). The evo certainly has a substantially wider track than a standard Pajero, even more so if you replace those puny little stock wheels and tyres the evo comes with.

Right you are, mine is a manual just the way i like it I can understand why it seems the majority have the invecs2 auto - for any real 4WD'ing in low range manual is not ideal, and it probably isn't for high speed desert racing either. Invecs2 was/is an impressive system though, especially the fact it is smart enough to downshift on downhills - i'd be quite interested to see how it performs in low range.

As for the fuel tank - i'm primarily after range, and then the superior qualities of SVI; economy is really an afterthought. Theres nothing economical about a race tuned evo, and my driving certainly isn't economical Really if operating cost is a concern, you should have an everyday car, or stop driving it in peak hour traffic
I'm assuming you got a vapour injection system of some sort - how do you find the power? I've been told that at least one particular setup will give an equivalency of 100 octane unleaded, ideal in my case as 98 seems barely acceptable for the ECU. A good hit of octane booster or avgas sorts that out but its costly to do every tank.

20 Litres of petrol might be fine for you in the UK, but in the middle of nowhere in Australia once LPG runs out i'd be lucky to find standard unleaded fuel within 100km - LPG is only really available at reasonable sized towns with at least a few thousand people. Depending on how adventurous you want to be, fuel can sometimes be up to 1500km away and then may only be diesel. I carry one or two 20 litre fuel cans with me just as a matter of course, but space is always an issue with the evo.

In any case, I'm talking about getting a custom tank similar to whats available for the 199x SWB standard  pajero (145L) that fits in the gaps between the body and chassis. Between shocks, springs and lift, that space is so large i could almost crawl into it!
FYI, LPG is AUD$0.59c/L this morning, compared with AUD$1.50/L for V-power 98.

My vehicle is #555, and i think there are either 5 or 6 road registered evo's in total in Aus, as its only possible to bring them into the country as a personal import where you have owned and lived with it overseas for at least 12 months. The only time i have seen one driving on the road was in Japan - here they are practically unknown which always draws unwanted attention.

If i can be bothered later, i'll put some pictures up somewhere. As you can see from my avatar, it looks awesome from the front

[Gerard]

The track is definitely wider on the racers, the wishbones are longer.
Sorry we are spoilt with about 3 lpg stations within 20km from home!
So I can understand your frustration with it all. But as you say it is something we have to live with.
The lpg is injected in manifold and seems to work fine.

As for handling in deep snow, our best alternative to sand she handles perfectly and no slip sliding about and very positive handling. I run just stock wheels and tyres. Although they are easy to make them squeal
The gearbox is good but slow to react in tipronic. I would love to convert it to paddle change and increase the speed of gear change. I think that will be my next step with and spare box that i have. I got a complete engine and box all ecu from a 32,000km old Evo. So thinking of breathing on that before my old one dies. I see other threads here about superchargers and nitro, but I think a turbo would be easiest. Something to look into.
When I get mine home from 'the restorer' will put some photo's together, that should be about another 6 weeks I reckon. When we ordered all the consumables for the full chassis rebuild the front whishbone bolts were missed out. Everything is special order now so it takes minimum of a month.
Heh ho it will be worth it

[evoaus]

hmm interesting, ill have to measure mine up - don't suppose you have any details regarding the difference of length? My track is already at least a foot wider than a standard model Pajero, and since it was set up for racing maybe it already has them.
LPG is no problem here in built up areas... virtually every petrol station has it until you start getting well away from population centres. I expect its just not viable to ship it out to remote places where theres hardly any demand.

Mind if i ask what kind of $ you are outlaying on the restoration? I've considered sandblasting/galvanizing the frame but never really looked into it properly working under the assumption it would be far more than i could ever afford

Honestly I think I will probably leave any upgrades or restoration until I permanently move to Japan where hopefully the skills and availability of parts will be much better.
Sure aren't cheap cars to own.

[Gerard]

The decals we made for our car to replicate the winner one we used a scale model as I couldn't get much help from Mitsu. When you look closely at the photos of that particular car you can clearly see the front wheel arches are a couple of inches wider,. Plus the photos I have of the wheel arches of those cars and suspension units.
As for cost, well I don't have the finally figure yet. But it looks like to same cost of buying a small 4x4
The chassis alone to be patched and strengthen was £4000 before shotblasting and galvinising costs. All the new consumables for chassis and suspension came to about £2000+ new springs, shocks, brakes and wish bones. They have all be powdered coated white or painted.
I would watch out as springs are no longer available and I would imagine other parts will be going that way soon. By the time I get it back and cure any niggles and realign suspension I reckon it will be close to £18,000.    But then it will be as good as new and should last for many years
We have too many good cars in the past like works Mini Cooper S (went to Sweden), works Ford Mk1 Escort  and a full works Metro 6R4  (ina museum) and sold them and moved on. This time we have gone the other way
As a modern classic car it will be difficult to beat

[riceboy]

Hey Gerard
i am surprised they went even wider on the race cars as they are already pretty wide in relation to the wheel base. I would love to see some pics of the race cars suspension you mentioned? Sounds like you have got a great project there by the way.

I have had mine on sand dunes a fair bit, and it is a by far the best vehicle i have ever driven on the dunes. really embarrass the landcruiser guys who are rather derogatory of the plastic wings. tip gearbox makes complete sense in the sand by the way. although it is slow to change. dont know if anybody has a solution to that.

EvoAus having different tire size on the back and the front is very strange for a 4x4! have the diffs been changed to suit the different rolling circumference? otherwise caution driving on hard surfaces in 4x4 for extended periods.

[Gerard]

Hi
I have a website and I will start putting some photos on there.
Give a few days to get it sorted
www.toux.org.uk

[alan83]

Sorry to drag up an old thread. My car vin ends 1152 and is Jan 1998

[Gerard]

I had an email from Japan confirming only 1500 were built.
So yours was one of the last.
Mine is still in bits but all repairs to chassis suspension and body done everything repainted.
Just need to check out a new engine that has sat for 12+ years and find some money to put it all back together to make a completely new car in Dakar 1998 full stickers.
Have you just purchased the one advertised in P & J?

[alan83]

No I had mine imported from Japan in April 2013. I'll have a look for the one in the P&J!
Good luck with getting yours finished, Ive just completed a small overhaul on mine and had it MOTd but with state of the roads at the moment, I'll be keeping it parked up for a while

[sitting bull]

Mine is Dec 1999. Colour red and chassis number 2173, so one of the last ones. I'd heard that 2,000 were built, 1,000 white, 1,000 silver and 500 red.

[Gerard]

If I was clever enough to attach the email you could see the reply from Japan yourself.
2500 made in 1997  - apologies
Dear Mr. Toux Farm,

Thank you for your patronage of Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution.

Please kindly be informed that approximately 2500 units of these cars were made in 1997.

We hope this info. can be of any assistance to you.

Best regards,

H.Kaiho for M.*beep*,
Customer Relations Department
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

[shane_EVO1CD9A]

[jayshields24]

Mines is number 2543. So that puts to bed the rumor that there was only 2500 made

[bear83@wanadoo.fr]

My new-one is V55-4400190 (1997)