Every so often, you get tired of being cool with the crowd. You become
so cool with the crowd, that you blend in with everyone else and, thus, becoming part of the paradox of cool. The guys at Road Race thought about this
and they became increasingly bored of tuning the “people’s super car”:
the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. The Evo field has saturated in every form of
motorsport. So what did the guys at Road Race do? They picked up a 2006
Mitsubishi Eclipse to compete in various motorsports in the
not-so-developed front-wheel drive class –and they dotted every “i”
and crossed every “t” developing it.
When something cool becomes no longer cool, it takes people with an
absolutely strong creative drive and balls of steel to make something
that someone has perceived as uncool and to turn it around make it
totally ice cold. Like the newest generation of Toyota Celicas, and
Scion TCs; the newest model of the Mitsubishi Eclipse has been lumped
into that category of a being chick car. Road Race has thrown that
stereotype into the chopping blocks, and developed a NASA racer and
time attack car that is so ice cold that we needn’t to worry about
those melting ice caps and drowning polar bears anymore.
There’s a definite aura of magic that emanates from this car when you see it. It could be the combination of the Enkei 17×9.5 NT03s, various bits of carbon fiber, the Rotora GT wing, or, it could be the color scheme and cleanly designed livery. Every bit of this car has been executed with the most exquisite of taste.
The office, like every other race car, is all business all the time. There’s no need for excess rice in here!
The engine has been kept fairly stock except for extra cooling with a
bigger radiator. The real magic isn’t really shown until you walk
around to the rear of the car and look at the exhaust…
…and see this! This is a rear mounted Turbonetics T3 turbine.
Remember that bit about the ice caps and drowning polar bears? Because
of this hunk of metal, the car will not only accelerate the melting of
the ice caps, it will warm up the planet to become a fiery hot hell.
This is how hot this car is. And with 370 wheel horse power for a car
that weighs 2900 pounds, this thing is absolutely smoking.
It takes an absolute risk taker to take something that has not been proven has a competent race car and to actually do it. The guys at RoadRace have yet to prove their might, but knowing their past history with Evos,
these guys will definitely be the guys to watch in the 2009 seasons
various front-wheel drive classes that this car will be entering.
RoadRace Motorsports has suceeded breaking away from the pack and made
a car that is perceived to be uncool on the street into a track day
trend setter. So, sorry polar bears, we can’t do anything about those
ice caps. The guys at RoadRace have triggered accelerated global
warming and, thus, throwing this planet into an ice age.
This car is beyond cold.
-Linhbergh Nguyen
Complete 4G Eclipse spec list:
Carbon Fiber Hood
Rotora Wing
CarbonTrix Carbon Fiber Splitter
Sparco Steering Wheel
Racetech Seat
Custom Road///Race Roll Cage
AEM FIC
RRE Exhaust Manifolds
Turbonetics T3 Turbo
Custom Rear Turbo Setup
6 Puck Clutch
Clutchmasters Light Weight Flywheel
Quaife LSD
Tein Custom Made Coilovers
Progress Front and Rear Sway Bars
Front Cusco Strut Bar
Enkei NT03 17×9.5
Proxes R888 275/40/17
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Bitchin. much respect to RRM and for focusing on cars that aren't so popular to build. I wonder, did speedhunters do a feature on their other cars!? the 09 Turbo lancers that spank 09 ralliarts, the 3 porsches, the track evo, the ducatis, and the legacy with the insane wheel setup!?
Once again, Stunning pictures of an Awesome Mitsubishi!
du ma may. u dew so gut for vietnam. gud article we are proud
When I saw the first engine shot, I felt a little let down. Then the next shot cleared everything up. Party in the back!
Mr. Nguyen would you shoot my car civic...wow you pics are great! thanks
This is one of those "iconic" engine swaps, ya know..It will never be considered ricer...its in the ranks of the V-12 supra and the LS1 in a porshe. Looks great, any vids of it running?
it's nice to see Road/Race is still in action! i remember reading features on their 1G/2G eclipses and talons back in the day! sick stuff!
Nice car. Great pics Linhbergh.
Wish this model Eclipse was offered in AWD turbo. Its a great looking car.
I give so much respect to people that do different works and think-outside-the-box !
Like you said Linhbergh, this scene is saturated with companies that focus only on Lancer EVO's, Subaru STi's, Z350's, GT-R R35's, and S2000's.
Simply a business isn't it? How about doing something no one does? How about doing something that you actually like? A project where passion is put.
It's too easy to open a catalog, swipe your credit card, and say it: "I built my EVO and it was hard." I say BS !!! That's not building sh!t ! To me building something (especially these days) is when you fab up something few people, or no one has. Slap on a Vertex body kit with some TE37 and few graphics means nothing.
Go to ANY HIN show, and tell me how many car you see with Bride seat, Takata harnesses, and Nardi steering wheel combo?....fvcking lame, people can't think with their own anymore.....
This post is refreshing, even though I never liked the Eclipse....
What that car needs is the evo x's drivetrain underneath it. That would be cool. Or even a 3000GT VR4 drivetrain since that has a V6. Either way, this car looks the part.
"The Evo field has saturated in every form of motorsport."
Huh?
3.8L V6 Turbo, and only 370whp?! that not good
I cant imagine the amount of lag they must see with a set up like that, just think of the amount of time it takes to fill a large air compressor tank ( long charge pipes) versus a small compressor tank (short charge pipes) I'll never understand why you would do something like that, not only from a performance stand point but cost as well, now you need extra piping and oil lines to go front to back not just a few feet.
call looks amazing tho, just not feeling that turbo setup at all.
I think the Enkeis need a better offset...almost convex in the front!
Ugh, Eclipses stopped being sports cars after 1999. Wish they would make another GSX.
Oh well, at least they still got Evos, love them, love them, love them.
Mind blowing pics! Very fun article. You are my hero, Linh!
This is why I like RRE. They don't just follow the heard they do new things. Screw the big names that allow you to build an Evo out of a catalog with parts that 9.000 other EvoM members have bought. That is the easy way. Cookie cutter way.
Respect RRE.
amazing a eclipse thats is pretty sick looking and not all subo kan'ed(ricer) up
I wonder why some people have to diss everything else to show how much they love something? Anyway that eclipse is sick but I do have one issue. If it has a 3.8 litre v6 then it should be able to make 370hp without a turbo. Thats also the thing I dislike about many muscle cars 5-8 litre engines producing 300-500 hp...very unimpressive (100hp per litre or go home).
a stepchild like the current eclipse making 380 hp without a turbo. really worker bee? lets see, aside from M3's and honda's, why dont you entertain us with your list of production cars that make 100 hp per litre or over N/A. im not hating, i love the concept, its just not the norm.
we'll all wait, while you put together your list...
I just can not understand why the turbocharger is in the rear. The lag must be ever present and I have already seen this type of set up in some mag called "S3". I just do not get it but I may just be ignorant of some aspect. As a side note, doing something different solely for the sake of being different is fairly short sighted.
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my point is - 370 hp from 3.8 litre turbocharged engine is NOT impressive no matter what you want to say. whether or not the "stepchild" eclipse sucks is not an issue.
Obviously RRM werent trying to do major engine work so I'm not dissing them.
i wasnt addressing the fact that generation of eclipse sucked, i was addressing the fact that you think it should be able to produce 380 hp N/A. No one here doubts the talents of RRM, im doubting your common sense. Take the Cosworth VQ motor built for sport compacts submission for the Castrol Syntec challenge.. It took very thorough engine development to get a healthy 100+ per liter in a motor that can withstand the rigors of racing. I think you are failing to grasp that concept. its about the reliable balance, not just wild eyed horsepower hunting.
i got to say this car is a beauty. i live like 20 miles or so from the shop and i came by for a meet and saw all of their cars. simply stunning and breath-taking