Our Cars--1988 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4

by Chris Hafner on September 01, 2009

Submitted by Brettski for Our Cars Week

I just have to mention my Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. It was sold in the U.S. in small numbers (3,000 in 1991-92, I think) and in Japan and Austrialia (where I am) in a similarly restricted way. It was very much a sleeper car--I owned an original 1988 Japanese-delivered model that was imported into Australia.

Overall, it was such a fun car to drive--all-wheel-drive, a 2-litre turbo, and it was built to cruise in comfort. Various optional extras were had on some models--cruise control, climate control, sun roof. The Japanese-delivered model also had a larger intercooler, dual-runner intake manifold, and funky electric folding mirrors.

The AWD drive system wasn't particularly high-tech. Open diffs front and rear (unless you were lucky enough to get the RS model from Japan which had a limited-slip diff in the rear) and a viscous-coupled centre diff that normally provided a 50/50 front/rear split but would (under slip) deliver up to 70-percent drive to the rear. That made for lots of fun in the wet--four-wheel power slides are the bomb.

The other unusual thing about the car was that it had four-wheel steering. Over about 45 km/h (28 mph) the rear wheels would steer in the same direction as the front wheels but only by about 3 degrees. It was a love/hate thing--some people disabled it, some people didn't mind it. Personally, I don't think it helped the handling, but it didn't adversely affect it either. Given that the standard steering rack was 2.5 turns lock-to-lock it didn't really seem to matter.

Plus, it was practical. You could pack four people into it (five if you squeezed) and their luggage--cruise around for the weekend and when you put the right foot down, it would always respond, regardless of how much weight it was carrying. Overtaking on country roads was bliss.

Common mods were better wheels and tyres, bigger turbo and intercooler, better brakes, and better suspension.

I miss my VR-4; I always had a smile on my face getting out of it. It wasn't perfect, but it was just right.

I've enclosed a couple of photos--one of my car in a filthy state (got to use it on gravel roads, after all - right?) and one from a track day we had a while back before I sold it.

Enjoy, and have fun out there.