The most advanced Japanese car of the 90's wasn't the Toyota Supra, it wasn't the Honda NSX, it wasn't even the Nissan Skyline, but rather the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. Critics praised this thing as " (bleep)-ing crazy". Zero to sixty in five point two seconds, a top speed of 155 miles per hour. What the hell is going on, this is a friggin Mitsubishi!

The 3000GThad one disadvantage that would follow it for its entire lifespan. It was heavy. All that tech added up, and in the end, the VR4 weighed in at over 3,800 pounds. Not great when its rivals weighed hundreds of pounds less, but that didn't stop Mitsubishi from persisting.

The first GTO face lift came in 1993, and gone were the pop-up headlights. The 6G72 was tuned to pump out 20 more horsepower, which helped to liven up the acceleration, and a new six speed transmission was installed. The second face life came in 1996, with some minor changes including a new rear spoiler.

Gone was the almost cute styling of the early 90's, and in was an aggressive pointy nose with a mouth like a (bleep)-ing Mako shark. And the end result would fit right into the cast of The Fast and the Furious. This thing is cool. But not as good as the older models.

Why? That economic bubble we talked about? Popped. Demand for Japanese sports cars starting falling along with the value of the Yen, so Mitsubishi needed to make their cars cheaper. They had to take out the active aero, active exhaust and active suspension. But without those gadgets, I mean what's the freakin point?

The whole goal of the GTO was to be as advanced as possible, and now that's gone. If people wanted a sports car, they would go for something light and agile, not a bulky all-wheel drive touring car like the GTO.

Like I said before the GTO never got that special aura around it like some other JDM legends, even if it was more high tech, and I think that's in part because we always had access to it. From the beginning of its life Americans could buy the 3000GT and the Stealth. There was never a feeling of lust that we had Japanese exclusive cars like the R32.

And that's messed up because this Mitsubishi had features that wouldn't go mainstream for another two decades. In many ways, it influenced sports car design that we love today. Hell your mom's comfy SUV has sport suspension settings. It was way ahead of its time, and let's just hope they don't bring it back as a (bleep)-ing crossover!

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engine revving)- The most advancedJapanese car of the 90'swasn't the Toyota Supra,it wasn't the Honda NSX,it wasn't even the Nissan GTR,it was twin turbocharged,had four wheel steering,and motorized aerodynari...(exclamation)Motorized aerodynamic elements that morphthe air around it depending on its speed.This car influenced cardesign for decades to come,even if it was only aroundfor a few short years.This is everything you need to knowto get up to speed onthe Mitsubishi 3000GT.(80's chiptune music)It's the late 80's and Japan is ridingthe biggest economicboom in modern history.Japanese companies areexporting their productsat record pace and everyone'smaking a ton of money.Life is good.So good that the Japaneseautomakers are experiencinga golden age of design.Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and Hondaare all at the top of their gameand poised to launch some of theirmost famous models in coming years.- Heavy man.- As the 90's came into fullswing Mitsubishi's competitorswere pumping out carslike the Skyline GTR,300ZX and Honda NSX.Mitsubishi needed to build acar that outshined all of them,and secure the companiesplace as the pride of Japan.To do that the newMitsubishi had to be themost advanced machineJapan had ever producedsince the mobile suit Gundam.Mitsubishi engineers got togetherand started writing a listof everything they wanted on the car,and the sky was the limit.How about twin turbos?Easy!What about electronic exhaustto make it loud whenever you want?Done!Electronically adjustablestruts so the drivercan choose between comfort and sport?Come on guys blue sky!What if the wing adjusteditself for better stabilityat speed and a little lipcame down on the front?Yo Steve I swear to Godyou are reading my mind,you're a frickin genius.The engineers took thewishlist and got to workon Mitsubishi's flagship model.- Mitsubishi GTO.- First up was the engine.The new care would beavailable in both frontand all wheel drive configurations,but both versions wouldshare a V6 power plant.The 6G7 series was developedas a sort of workhorsefor all of Mitsubishi's lineup.It's been in the Galant,the Pa...Pajero?Pajero.The Pajero and even found its wayinto the Chrysler Sebringand Hyundai Sonata.It's been everywhere man!But the 6G72 that would begoing into the Mitsubishi Halocar would be unlike all the rest.It would not have onebut two turbochargers,making 320 horsepowersand 315 torque powers.And you need to rememberthat this is 1990,that's five years beforePost Malone is even born.The GTO was more powerful thanthe Ferrari 348 of the day,a car which the GTOborrowed a few styling cues.The GTO had two modes for the exhaust,touring mode for when you'redriving your grandma back toTroy's house because things aregetting serious between themand she's a littlesensitive to loud noises,and sport mode where alittle valve opens upredirecting the exhaust througha path of less resistance.A path you wish you hadbecause driving grandma around for freeand seeing her shack up with Troyis getting a little taxing.I just want her to be happy,and I don't know if she's ready,if I'm ready for another manto look after her, ya know?The advances continued withMitsubishi's active suspension.Like the exhaust there wastouring for when grandmamade you drive her andTroy to the drive-in.Troy stays in the back seat!And sport mode for whenyou went to the back roadsand let out all that aggressionthat's pent up inside.The GTO's most impressive featurewas its signature active aerodynamics.Hm, tell me more.The GTO's active aero featured botha motorized lip splitter and rear wingthat engaged at speedsover 50 miles per hour.This system increasedstability at highway speedsand was programmed to breakjust as the warranty expired.(chuckles)The GTO also had pop-up(bleep)-ing headlights.- Cool.(laughter)The culmination of all thistechnology into one carmade the GTO one of the mostforward thinking cars inthe world at the time.Chock full of featuresthat wouldn't be mainstreamfor another 25 years.The GTO came to the US in 1990under two different names,just like my dad.They couldn't call it theGTO in the states becausethere was some othercar with the same name,so instead it would beknown as the 3000GT.There would also be a Dodgeversion called the Stealth,named after the greatestJamie Foxx film of all time.- That's hot.- The 3000GT came in anumber of trim levelsthat lacked all the fancy high tech stuff,but the one to have was the VR4.(engine roar)Critics praised the new Mitsubishi.This thing was (bleep)-ing crazy.Zero to sixty in five point two seconds,a top speed of 155 miles per hour.What the hell is going on,this is a friggin Mitsubishi!Unfortunately the 3000GThad one disadvantagethat would follow itfor its entire lifespan.It was heavy.- Hm, very fat I see.- I feel you.All that tech added up,and in the end the VR4 weighedin at over 3,800 pounds.Not great when its rivalsweighed hundreds of pounds less,but that didn't stopMitsubishi from persisting.The first GTO face lift came in 1993,and gone were the pop-up headlights.(somber music)The 6G72 was tuned to pumpout 20 more horsepower,which helped to liven up the acceleration,and a new six speedtransmission was installed.The second face life came in 1996,with some minor changedincluding a new rear spoiler.Gone was the almost cutesystyling of the early 90's,and in was an aggressivepointy nose with a mouthlike a (bleep)-ing Mako shark.- Hello.- And the end result wouldfit right into the castof The Fast and the Furious.This thing is cool.(engine roaring)But not as good as the older models.Why?That economic bubble we talked about?Popped.(pop)Demand for Japanese sportscars starting fallingalong with the value of the Yen,so Mitsubishi needed tomake their cars cheaper.They had to take out the active aero,active exhaust and active suspension.But without those gadgets Imean what's the freakin point?The whole goal of the GTO wasto be as advanced as possible,and now that's gone.If people wanted a sports carthey would go forsomething light and agile,not a bulky all wheel drivetouring car like the GTO.Like I said before theGTO never got that specialaura around it likesome other JDM legends,even if it was more high tech,and I think that's in part becausewe always had access to it.From the beginning of its lifeAmericans could buy the3000GT and the Stealth.There was never a feeling of lustthat we had Japaneseexclusive cars like the R32,and that's messed up because,this Mitsubishi had featuresthat wouldn't go mainstreamfor another two decades.In many ways it influencedsports car designthat we love today.It seems like every super car out therehas active aero.Hell your mom's comfy SUV hassport suspension settings.It was way ahead of its time,and let's just hopethey don't bring it backas a (bleep)-ing crossover!Eclipse!Lancer!The (beep)!Special thanks to Honey for sponsoringthis episode of Up To Speed.The more of you who sign up for Honey,the more cool shows we get to bring you.What is Honey?Honey is a free browser extensionthat automatically findsthe best coupons on the webso you always get the best prices oneverything you buy online.It does all of the work for you.Whenever there's a coupon code box,it searches for the deals.There's no reason that I can think of,for you not to add Honeyto your browser today.One,it takes literally two clicks to do it.Two,it's free.Three, it's more than freecause it'll save you money.Four,it helps us bring you more videos.Click on the link belowto add Honey to your browser right now.Please do it.Literally everyone in our office uses it,even before they sponsored.Or you can go joinhoney.com/donutmedia.We got a link down here.Please (bleep)-ing do it.We put out a new videojust about every day.Click this big circle to subscribeso you don't miss any of it.We didn't even know this was a subscribebutton til like yesterday.I mention both horsepowersand torque powers.You want to know what the heck those mean?Check out this episode of Science Garage.Do you like Mitsubishis?Watch this episode of Up To Speed.You want a cool Donut shirt?Go to shop.donut.media.Follow me on Instagram @JamesPumphrey,follow Donut on Instagram @DonutMedia.I love you.