1986-1989 Chrysler Conquest TSi and Mitsubishi Starion ESI-R

Nineteen eighty-three was the year that Mitsubishi broke loose and started importing cars to the U.S. market on its own.  Until that point, Mitsus had only hit these shores emblazoned with Dodge and Plymouth brands.  Though the relationship with ChryCo continued, the Diamond Star brand, through this new strategy, brought us cars we had not previously seen domestically.  This arrangement also created some duality.  While Cordia and Tredia were newly unique to the Japanese label, the established Colt continued to be sold by Dodge and Plymouth dealers.  The debuting Starion and Conquest split the uprights, with the former gracing Mitsubishi dealers and the latter being sold through Dodge and Plymouth outfits – Chrysler starting in 1987. 

In the years immediately hence, improvements abounded.  An intercooler bowed for both cars for 1985; 1986 brought mean handling and appearance upgrades.  Box-flared fenders front and rear, along with staggered rolling stock – seven inch wide wheels in front, eight in back, made for unapologetic ground control and created a look that espoused the moral equivalent of a samurai Porsche 944 turbo with a generous helping of mid-80s glam rock.  A water cooled turbo bearing and improved dual-stage fuel injection hit the streets for '87.  Of further interest, a much more palatable price tag than Stuttgart offered made these two winners in the bang-for-the-buck category. 

Overall value aside, neither was what you’d call cheap.  Fully equipped, they stickered out for about 19 grand in 1986 dollars.  Signing on the dotted line, however, got you about every mechanical and technological feature that the designers could wrap into the package.  Improved braking got the nod with four wheel disc with rear anti-lock; handling got it with limited slip differential and four wheel independent suspension.  Underhood, there was even more power than 1985’s efforts had wrought.  Tweaks to existing hardware – Mitsubishi’s proven 2.6 liter “silent shaft” four cylinder, with its patented twin counter rotating balance shafts and Mitsu’s own TC05 turbocharger, intercooled via a front mount setup, continued to build on Starion and Conquest’s resume.  As a result, horsepressure was up to 176 spirited nags, torque to a ground pounding 223 ft-lbs.  With subtle tuning, horsepower jumped to 189 for 1988 and ’89, and the Super Handling Package (SHP) became available, sporting eight inch wide tires front, nine rear, for an even more imposing footprint, possibly at the expense of some straight line stability at highway speeds. 

Inside, redundant radio controls punctuated the steering wheel (2-spoke A-frame for ’86 and ’87, four spoke for ’88 and ’89), and passive automatic shoulder belts ran from A to B pillars for both driver and front passenger, diagonally plastered with the repeated nomenclature “TURBO” throughout their lengths (in case you forgot what was under the hood).  Side mirrors were heated.  Wipers were speed sensitive, with a manual override feature for interval that was overly complex in the Japanese idiom.  Climate control emanated from a slick digital unit that was fully automatic if so ordered by the pilot, and like Volvo, mixed fresh air with heat without driver input.  It also compensated for solar gain using a photostatic sensor mounted dashtop, and went one step further by analyzing temperature at both dash and floor levels.  Fully articulated front bucket seats with adjustable thigh support cradled the first class occupants in whatever fashion they deemed most suitable.  While I’ve always relished the driving environment of these cars, I’ve often pictured a room full of Japanese engineers working to pour every technological feature possible into the cabin.

All accounts of matters qualitative and quantitative do only so much to encapsulate the actual driving experience.  Mitsubishi turbochargers have a reputation for being boisterous, and these cars are no exception.  Starion and Conquest sound like atomic teakettles when the boost is whipped up and on the boil.  True to such a temperature analogy, they also go like scalded cats when the backside of the accelerator pedal collides with the carpet.  They are overstated extroverts the top of their game, and offer a unique flavor that few have tasted.  Some of this rarity is the direct result of the Voluntary Restraint Agreement, or import quotas, of the first half of the ‘80s, which hampered Mitsubishi’s ability to bring more iron Stateside and impacted its production ability via reduced economies of scale even after the VRA was history.  The rest of it perhaps is related to these cars’ captive import status and their competition with the Chrysler Laser and Dodge Daytona, which Chrysler had more interest in promoting.

Regardless, these cars have a unique impact on people – they either remember them vividly or not at all.  For my part, they make me feel like I’m seventeen again and my parents are gone for the weekend.