A few questions...

[mrb1]

Also, does anyone know all the markets the Starion was produced for?

1. Aussie
2. US
3. Japan
4. German
5. Netherlands

?

You forgot the UK. Flatside & widebody 2.0 4G63 SOHC and widebody 2.6 G54B.

Australia went unleaded fuel in 1986 (ie. all new cars sold had to be unleaded). So we weren't able to race (1987 on) the JB in "showroom stock" anymore that's the only reason we stopped racing it.
The unleaded JD came out intercooled and with the 3.9 LSD diff but had the small TC05 turbo which killed the power. Also it was $35,000 AUD!!!! which was a lot of money back then.

[SpidersWeb]

You also forgot New Zealand.

Factory NZ Starions had LSD, leather, ABS etc, some even with traction control systems.

[Junkers]

I also took some pictures a while back of a 1982 NON-TURBO starion, had shitty seats, different holes in firewall and radiator support panel, and a solid axel rear end! Also had no bonnet scoop.

I believe these were called GX starions as i found a site oneday with every starion model ever made, did it by anychance have one of those horrible 1 pillar steering wheels? sorry i cannot find the site at the moment i will keep looking but unfortunatley it's all written in japanese so you have to make it out for yourself

[UltimateLurker]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys!

There are 2 reasons this site is so hard to decipher for us US-folk, one is the whole "JA/JB/JD" thing. To us a Flatty is a Flatty, they all seem the same aside from minor differences. And 2, here in the US, we don't Import cars very often, I've never seen a single RHD Starion in the US!

Since we had the Flatsiders and Widebodys we call them just that, not by their model name/body codes. I've done my research, so I know that my '89 TSi is a 187A S64, but I have no idea what "J" it would be, unless it's a JM, where are you guys getting this JA/JB/JD code?

There's one Flatty that's pretty popular here (the Intercooled 85.5), but it's very rare. I'm actually about to pick one up for $200 within the next week :). I'm not so much into Flattys really, but it'll be a project car, I'll strip it, paint it flat black, and put Widebody SHP 8" & 9" rims on it. We should pull mid 11's with it at the track with little to no investment.

I knew that there was a German '82 Starion that was non-turbo, but didn't know about the JDM model. I also didn't know that the 3.90 FD was available on Starions, in the US we only got the 3.54 for all years, everyone wants to swap them with the Montero 3.90's for the obvious performance advantages.

I've seen information that says that '87 was the first year for a JDM Widebody, but that really doesn't make sense since the US got it in '86. The April '88 JDM new-car brochure has a 2.6...



This model, not sure if it's an '86 or '87, has the 2.0...



(That's a $200 brochure by the way, and no, I don't own it).

ProZac: You gonna' post some pix of that live-axle Starion?

[UltimateLurker]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, in the US, all Widebody Starquests got the same 5-star aluminum wheel (7X16 Front, 8X16 Rear). The '88/'89 years did have a Sport Handling Package (SHP) available that came with 8X16 Front and 9X16 Rear, but the wheel looked the same.

To my knowledge, all markets got this same wheel (save for the fact that the US market was the only market to get the larger wheels with the SHP option), but the JDM '86 or '87 brochure pictured above has factory authorized after-market wheels as standard, they are pictured on the front, back, and inside pictures.

I think it was a 1-year only option, and I have no other information on them simply because these are the only 2 widebody JDM brochures I've ever seen. Anyone ever seen any more?

[UltimateLurker]

I believe this to be the same wheel...



...but it's a 2.6 liter, so it'd have to be an '88/'89/'90. Maybe the wheels were offered as options or the owner simply switched them.

[mrb1]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys!

There are 2 reasons this site is so hard to decipher for us US-folk, one is the whole "JA/JB/JD" thing. To us a Flatty is a Flatty, they all seem the same aside from minor differences. And 2, here in the US, we don't Import cars very often, I've never seen a single RHD Starion in the US!

Since we had the Flatsiders and Widebodys we call them just that, not by their model name/body codes. I've done my research, so I know that my '89 TSi is a 187A S64, but I have no idea what "J" it would be, unless it's a JM, where are you guys getting this JA/JB/JD code?

JA or JB or JD is the code used on the factory build plate from Mitsubishi Australia. That's also the letters our VIN number starts with. Obviously the car was not built in Australia but all imported cars use the same generic compliance plates.

The build plates are shown below.

[Conquest]

the gold spoke rims in that pic are Enkeis.


They are deep dish and were a dealer specific option and are extremely rare...

I know for a fact they were offered on the 87 quests.

[NachoMan]

Actually, Starions were built in the Mitsubishi factory in Adelaide here in oz. So unless it's an import, which of course means not made in Oz, then it was made here.

[UltimateLurker]

mrb1: Thanks for the pix, I was going to ask for some firewall plate info. Here's what ours looks like here in the US...



We have another plate on the inside of the door with build-date info etc., but I don't have a pic of one handy. My old Quest VIN was JJ3CC54N1HZ004586 (can you believe I have it memorized?...I'm such a freak!).

Anyway, does your VIN look like that?

Conquest: I take it that you mean the JDM '87 Starion, since the Quest was only for the USDM. Also, by fact, do you mean that you have you seen the word Enkei stamped on the wheel? Do you have an up-close picture of the wheel in question? Thanks dude.

Does anyone have a picture of a JDM Firewall Plate? What about a VIN plate, what did it look like?

Thanks for all your help guys :).

[mrb1]

Actually, Starions were built in the Mitsubishi factory in Adelaide here in oz. So unless it's an import, which of course means not made in Oz, then it was made here.

THIS IS COMPLETE BS They were fully imported from Japan.

[Cookiemonster]

MRB is right. No Starions were ever built in Australia. They are all fully imported.

[Alspos]

Then the build plate is misleading. "manufactured by Mitsubishi Australia to comply with ....." and the other plate has "Manufactured under license ...... to Mitsubishi Australia."

Perhaps they came in as knock down kits and had final assembly here? I was under the impression they were imported.

[Cookiemonster]

Maybe the build plate was manufactured by Mitsubishi Australia.

[mrb1]

Conquest: I take it that you mean the JDM '87 Starion, since the Quest was only for the USDM. Also, by fact, do you mean that you have you seen the word Enkei stamped on the wheel? Do you have an up-close picture of the wheel in question? Thanks dude.

See Enkie wheels pics attached I have them on my widebody. This car came from the US so they were definately available over there (it's a 1986-87). Actually I only have 1 centre cap and I just put it on for the photo. They are plastic and don't grip very wheel (they probably did when they were new). I am thinking about getting one of the guy's at work to turn up some centre caps from aluminium.
The centres are anodised gold but some idiot painted them red.




Interestingly even now when Mitsubishi Australia do "special edition" cars they still use Enkei wheels, perhaps they are owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries?