OK here it is, the new beastie!

If you see this in your rear view mirror......be afraid!

Stunning styling make this one pretty good looking estate car, everyone should have one!

The beast within! 2.5l of twin Turbocharged V6, means this practical estate car puts out 280BHP! 4WD and Active Yaw Control help get it safely down to the ground. The result? 0-60mph in about 6.2 seconds and a top speed in excess of 150mph!

Full leather, wood trim, and a wooden steering wheel. It is not only fast and good looking, but its comfortable too! It is an Auto, but it also has a Tiptronic mode which is so much fun! I find the Auto is best for everyday driving though. So much easier!

From the rear........simply awesome

I had it 3 days before I started tinkering! First I installed the APEXi Rev Speed Meter that I took out of the MR2. It measures 0-60 times, 1/4 mile times, G forces, Speed, Revs, and more! It also takes away the Japanese speed limit of 112 mph.

Neatly installed in the sunglasses holder, the unit can be hidden away giving a standard look to the interior.

Next up.......twin exhausts! A trip to my local Mitsubishi dealer proved fruitful when they supplied some rear bumper trims in the correct colour. 5 mins with the scorpion saw and a bit of silicone later and the rear of my car had now got a cut out each side ;-)

OK. I bought some 2.5" stainless tube from my local stockist, 2 back boxes from my local Powerflow dealer (along with 6 90 degree bends in stainless), and had some flanges made by a local engineering firm and started making my own exhaust system. Here it is taking shape.

The full cat back system fully welded prior to fitting. How shiny does that look?!

The flanges I had made meant I could easily fabricate a cat replacement pipe, and also means I can put the cat back any time I like (or need to for emmisions) I made a jig so I can make any number of them!

With the car jacked up it is time for a trial fit........looking good!

Fully installed it just looks great! It sounds pretty nice too, nice deep burble, then all hell breaks loose when you put your foot down.......as you have already heard! ;-)

Brakes were the next step. I decided to keep the original calipers, but treated them to a coat (or six) of caliper paint. Do not underestimate the amount of time it will take to do a proper job! I spent all weekend painting just 4 calipers! The discs can wait for now.

In the quest for more power its time for a new filter. Being a cheapskate I bought a £20 universal jobbie and bolted it on....looks nice, but doesn't perform brilliantly. I figured it wasn't getting enough cold air........

So I bridged the gap with a coke bottle and some gaffer tape, looks the business! OK so it looks pretty amateurish, but it was just a temporary measure.

Very temporary as it turned out! It lasted about 30 seconds! When I floored it the engine sucked so hard the flimsy coke bottle imploded!

How much air must be traveling through the system, and how fast? Bernoulli was right as it turns out!

The solution is a more rigid structure! You got it a bean can of precisely the correct diameter!

Fully installed no one would possibly know it was a bean tin! Looks like an induction systems straight out of the factory!

Close up shows copious amounts of gaffer tape....but it works. OK so it shows a slight drop in power compared to the original air box, but it looks so much cooler! And how many people can say a bean tin forms part of their engine? Cool eh? OK its just me!

A fancy Go Faster Bits Hybrid (recalculating AND open to atmosphere) dump valve means lots of pedestrian scaring opportunities! It sounds cool, but only dumps if you release the throttle, doesn't work during AUTO gear changes :-( oh well its easy enough to make a noise anyway!

Speak to Nigel at Rotordiscs if you want discs like those pictured! They are awesome!

Behind the wheels they look just as cool and purposeful. The calipers now look the business as well!

Here, where the clock used to be, is an APEXi AVC-R. An electronic boost controller. There is a black vinyl cover that hides it the majority of the time, but if I want to play, adjust the settings, or simply measure or display Boost, RPM, Speed, or a number of other parameters, just flip the cover off!

The Club attended 2003 at Santa Pod, and I was keen and first to arrive. this meant I got to play on the strip. It was my second go in the Legnum as I had taken it the first weekend I got it!

My best time for the day was 14.748 @ 91.75mph. This beat my time in standard trim of 15.492 @ 88.75 set 5 weeks previous. Well happy! I was the fastest non Nitrous VR4 there, but only ranked about 350th on the day :-( Need more power!!! ;-)

The club stand......what an awesome sight! It was a great laugh and I will certainly be going next year.....see you in the 12s!