Hill Climb Mirage

P

Pullstarter

New Member
Hey all,
Total newby to Mirages and Mitsubishis in general (apart from a Cordia Turbo decades ago). My modding background is mainly British and Euro, Escorts, Minis, Golfs and Skodas but I'm looking to build up a Mirage as a hill climber later in the year due to their light weight and compactness.

I'd like to compete in the 1600cc class so probably looking at doing a 4G92M transplant. Seems like a good power to weight ratio swap for the 1600 class and I understand this isn't an overly difficult swap (happy to be corrected)?

Anyways, looking forward to checking out your rides and mods and will probably ask many newby questions :)

Cheers
Simon
 
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Finding 4g92 engines is very difficult now, but they are a great thing. Most people here go to 1800 using the 4g93.
 
Welcome aboard Simon!

As frosty said, 4G92’s are rare as and even harder find one for sale. Alternatively you could try and bring one over from NZ or Malaysia where they are a bit more available. But it would be big $$$. I guess it depends how keen you are to get one.

What sort of range does the 2000cc class have?
Could you go up to a 2.4, or is that another class up again?
 
Hi and thanks for the welcome Unfortunately the 2.4 would see me in the up to 3000cc class which has some insanely fast cars in it. Would a non mivec 4G92 with cams and exhaust be worthwhile maybe? I imagine a non mivec version would be easier and cheaper to get? Thanks very much for the help
 
Ah bugger.

Classes by cc can be hard, I’ve been lucky with my motorkhana days being fwd/rwd and awd classes and last few years and being able to dominate in fwd.

I’m not too sure about the non mivec 92’s. I’ve never actually seen one.
I could be wrong, but I think they were a CC lancer motor in which case would be the wrong orientation for a CE.

You can get dohc heads for you 4G15(also hard to get), but I don’t think it’ll produce the power you want without slapping a turbo on it.

It might be worth your while jumping to a 4G63t/evo conversion and going in to the 2000cc class. At least 4g63’s are easier to get, heaps of power. But also will cost a few $$$.

Maybe take a read through this thread as well.
http://www.auslancer.com/index.php?threads/ce-lancer-possible-engine-conversions.2100/

Maybe one of the others will chime in another option.
 
how much can you change in the motor?
4b10 mivec, its a 1.8 but could be sleeved and drop in 81mm pistons will get close to 1.6l.
all the cam options from the 4b11 evo x I'm guessing should fit.
 
I think internal changes are okay, will have to read the fine print in the rules. When you say the 4G92M is big dollars how much approximately do you think it would be
 
TBH, if you haven't already bought the car, you are better off just getting an old Honda Civic hatch and putting a B16A/B in it.

Likely cheaper, easier and more competitive, not to mention parts/mods are easy and cheap to come by as opposed to a 1.6 MIVEC Mirage
 
Maybe worth your time Pm’ing @matty and asking him about his hybrid 4g15 idea. Might be a good, relatively cheap, alternative and keep you under 1600cc
 
You can buy a stock EK4 (B16A EK Civic hatch) for about 3-4k and IMHO will be more competitive as a base than a Mirage with a 4G15, and likely with a 4G92M.

Also I assume there'd be a few NA6 MX5s there that will likely be fairly competitive too.
 
I found this on one of the Facebook groups I’m on called Australian Rally & Race Car.

I’m not sure how useful it is without the bottom end.

8207D619-0B06-4DA0-8E63-AF3FA47CB06F.jpeg
 
Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it! Much research to do.

That head is not a bad deal but as you said without the block could be like finding hen's teeth.

Will also have to check the regs in ACT as I seem to remember something about not being able to do a swap with an engine that's older than the car? It's all so damned difficult in Australia :(
 
Have been re-reading the regs and it sounds like they run NA and FI together in the same class? I have sent them an email to clarify but an FI 1500 might be the go if they run NA and FI up to 1600cc together. This would also make engineering/rego easier if I turbo'd the stock engine or swapped for a 4G15T as I intend to use the car on the road a little also (some events they insist the car is road registered).
 
I hate to come in all negative but Spetz is on the money, if you must stay with a low capacity FWD then a basic Civic is going to be an easier way to go fast.

The 4g92m would be worth slightly more than a comparative B16, but it's the chassis that will make the most difference at lower levels of tune - the Civic chassis just has more mechanical grip. There is much less camber change through the suspension stroke in the double A arm front end compared to the CE mac-strut set up, the rear is a bit closer between the 2 but would still be tipped the Civic's way in terms of overall grip. Loaded up, the Civic will always have a better contact patch for the rubber without having to sacrifice by adding static camber and/or caster, not to mention dealing with mid corner bumps a lot better.


If it were my money and I wanted to be fast on a budget - I'd get an EG (or even ED) chassis, B16 it, fit properly damped coilovers (stay away from circa $1200 one-spring-rate-fits-all ebay stuff) and run the best tyres the regs will allow.

For what its worth, the light weight and 'compactness' are pretty much par between a Mirage and a 90s Civic, it really comes down to if you favour a certain make of car, if you want to clock fast times or if you just want to have a bit of fun.
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys. I was attracted to the Mirage because of it's weight advantage over the Civic but will take that into consideration with all the other factors mentioned. Thanks again.
 
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