RallySport Magazine August 2016

used for the 200 evolutionary models
the company needed to build to gain
Group B homologation. Official Group
B homologation of the Starion Rally was
planned to enable the team to make its
debut in world championship rallying
with a two car entry on the Lombard
RAC Rally in November 1986.
In response to a number of tragic
accidents, the outcry over the
enormous speed and questions
over the safety of the Group B cars,
homologation never occurred when
Group B was banned mid-way through
1986, and coming into effect after the
1986 season.
In its early
development, the
Starion used a version
of Mitsubishi’s twolitre
turbo engine,
with intercooler and
computer controlled
fuel injection system.
The factory had a plan
to use the Sirius Dash
engine that Mitsubishi
announced at the 1983
Tokyo Motor Show,
with a targeted output
of 350bhp.
That engine featured
a three-valves per
cylinder head with two inlet valves for
each cylinder, with one operating all the
time and the other being electronically
controlled to come into operation
when the engine reached more than
2500rpm. Fuel injection was handled by
a Bosch EFI computer.
Interestingly, power was transferred
through a twin plate clutch to the same
5-speed transmission as the rearwheel
drive Starion, but with stronger
internals and a transfer case from
the 4WD Pajero. That took the drive
sideways to a second propshaft, that
went forward to the front wheels.
The torque split was permanently
50/50 front to rear, and at the time
considerable effort would have been
required to design an alternate system
for what was regarded to be only
marginal benefits of adjustable torque
split.
The front axle line ran under the
number two cylinder, which resulted in
the engine sitting higher in the chassis.
As a result, the crank centerline was
actually about six degrees from the
horizontal.
While the project had been conceived
as a converted rear-wheel drive car, the
car was still front-end heavy.
The wheelbase of the Starion 4WD
was the same as the standard car,
but overall the car was about 150mm
shorter.
The most obvious change to the
body profile was to shorten the front
overhang, a simple operation because
new, lightweight front panels had to
be designed in any case. The flip up
headlights were replaced by more
While not still born, the
Starion 4WD had a short
competition life.
traditional sealed beam units of the
day.
Weight was always a very
important focus for the design
and development of the car, and
amazingly for 1985, the car used
carbon-fibre reinforced plastics
for the propshafts, sumpguard
and lower control arms of the
McPherson strut suspension.
Virtually all the exterior body
panels were fibreglass and plastic
(carbon and Kevlar on Evolution
models): bonnet, tailgate, door skins,
wings, bumpers and spoilers. The
resulting weight of the car was an
incredible 1050kg.
RallySport Magazine understands
that only five cars were produced, and
amazingly, three of those are thought
to still exist – two in Japan and one in
the UK.
In an era of fragile, space-framed
bodies and incredible power outputs,
Mitsubishi took a simplistic approach
to the task of building a rally winner,
but sadly this innovative vehicle did not
reach the successful heights to which
the company aimed.
The car competed in numerous
events, including the Milles Piste Rally in
1984 and the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally of
1986, amongst others.
The Starion turbo in 2WD
configuration enjoyed a successful era
in Australian rallying, in the hands of
David ‘Dinta’ Officer. While the model
qualifies for the Classic Rally category,
none is regularly competing at this
time.
Would a rare Group B prototype
4WD replica possibly be considered
for local competition? Sometimes, it’s
only when these cars come to light that
someone takes the time to investigate
the possibilities?
Click here to
see the Group B
Starion 4WD in
action.
AUGUST 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 61