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Starion 24 Hours of LeMons


Squrlsquash
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I want to compete at the willow springs 24 hours of lemons with a starion

(A 24 hour endurance race where the car must be worth $500)

 

 

However, Car and Driver had this to say on the subject

"in seven years of LeMons racing and 10 or so Starions, only one has managed to run more than a few dozen laps in a race. In fact, we’re going to make it a definitive statement: The Mitsubishi Starion is the worst possible choice, in the entire universe, for a 24 Hours of LeMons car."

http://blog.caranddriver.com/lemons-wisdom-vs-conventional-wisdom-17-cars-that-should-dominate-but-dont-camaro-supra-gti%E2%80%94ahoy/

 

Plan is to run a widebody with a montero carb setup and re-wire for bare necessity

destressed motor reliability, lsd handling, 20 gallon gas tank

Why shoulden't this work?

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You need a massive radiator and a huge cooling fan that can suck the oxygen out of the nearby atmosphere to cool it off. That's the #1 reason why most Starions dont make it past a few laps.

 

 

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I wonder how much those damn thermosensors are to blame for that result.

 

If you can keep it from overheating you have probably conquered the biggest problem. If you have a good alternator, jumper the fans to a switch and splice the A/C fan into the rest. Lose the A/C core and I dunno, rip the header panel off lol.

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Assumption is it would run much cooler without a turbo

 

Thought was to replace intercooler with a second radiator in series, and put two oem oil coolers in series as well

 

Would be a manual (to avoid auto problems^)- would be looking to pick up a spare trans just in case

 

 

Idea is to have a slowpoke car with a big gas tank to pound out laps consistently

(rather than bursting into flames after a few boosted fast laps)

 

Thanks for comments, would be looking to compete next june

Edited by Squrlsquash
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If it's overheating it's not the turbos fault. It's usually a plugged up radiator. Besides making the car NA carbed is going to make it slow. A slow car isn't as much fun. Instead of removing the turbo and putting in a car why not get a different vehicle. I've thought about using a ford escort with a 5 psi turbo. Should be around 120-140 hp and 500 lbs lighter than a SQ. An early 90s car with late 90s engine parts makes a 2500 lb car with about 100 hp before the turbo.
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One of my customers ran an 80s Porsche 944, gutted, full on roll cage, suspension work and finely tuned turbo engine. His brake set up alone had to have been well over $500. Hell, I think his radiator was over $500 :lol:
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Keep in mind the carb montero setup when new was around 110hp. With an older tired engine expect less than that. A 100 hp SQ will be slow and annoying. If you want to see if you can live with the lack of power then disconnect the wastegate arm from the actuator and ride around with zero boost. That will make you re-think taking the turbo off.
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It's more fun when it's a car you don't mind crashing. If the thought of crumpling up sexy SQ fenders is too much for you then a SQ isn't the right car. I would take a car that I wouldn't feel bad about crashing. Something reasonably quick, cheap and disposable.
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