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2001 MITSUBISHI RPM 7000 CONCEPT
No-Compromise Active Lifestyle Concept Combines Rally Car Performance and
Unique Packaging
After winning the Paris-Dakar Rally and the World Rally Championships
around the globe, Mitsubishi Motors engineers and designers set out to
tackle an even greater goal: winning the hearts and the minds of
discerning drivers who want a vehicle with unparalleled performance and
uncompromising versatility.
The RPM 7000 is a bold and aggressive answer to the age-old question:
"why can't a sports car be made practical enough for everyday
use?"
Stepping up to answer this call through innovative packaging and a
high-performance powertrain, the RPM 7000 is aimed directly at satisfying
consumers who want unparalleled on-road performance combined with
uncompromising passenger and cargo versatility as well as unyielding
off-road prowess.
RPM 7000
"The
RPM 7000 challenges all convention though it’s incredible performance
and real world usability. While redefining the term sports car and
contemplating how we can take such a concept to the retail market one day
in the future, the RPM 7000 creates a segment all its own," said
Pierre Gagnon, executive vice president and chief operating officer,
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. "Our racing heritage in
Paris-Dakar as well as our success in World Rally Championships have made
us a leader in this kind of motorsports competition, and the RPM 7000 is
our most recent reflection of this racing expertise."
The overall geo-mechanical design takes on an aggressive look, with a
Formula-1 racecar inspired nose-cone shape and large air ducts for proper
engine cooling management. Lens covered, multiple projection-beam
headlights blend into the voluptuous fenders while a wedge belt line and a
Geo-Mechanical break at the hip point accents the overall style. The
traditional high-back wagon-look is replaced by a gracefully sloping
roofline that features a rear window that retracts into the body and a
rear deck-lid that disappears like the cover on a roll-top desk. The rear
passenger seats can then be folded to make a pickup-like rear cargo area,
generously sized to fit a wave runner or two mountain bikes. The driver's
side features the familiar coupe design, with a long, single door. The
passenger's side speaks a whole different story, with two "suicide
style" center-opening doors for easy curbside access into the
four-passenger interior.
The dayglow metallic, anodized orange paint scheme was inspired by red-hot
exhaust manifolds on racecar engines. The RPM 7000's aggressive style is
further accented through high ground clearance and large-diameter,
19-inch, six-spoke aluminum alloy wheels mounted to 245/60VR19 Goodyear
tires patterned after Formula-1 rain treads.
"Style and design are nothing if a car can't live up to the expected
power and performance," said Mike Desmond, designer of the RPM 7000
at the Mitsubishi Research and Design America (MRDA) studio in Southern
California. "We made sure the RPM 7000 had the raw power that could
cash the race car 'checks' its body design was signing.
"Rally-inspired performance goals called for rally-proven power and
technology in the RPM 7000. The renowned engine from the Mitsubishi Lancer
Evolution rally racecar was re-engineered specifically for this vehicle,
producing 315 horsepower at 6,500 rpms. The 2.0-liter, DOHC 4-cylinder
engine gains its strength through a large-diameter, twin-intercooled,
twin-scroll turbocharger and transfers its power to all four wheels
through an Active Control Transfer. This variable-torque all-wheel drive
system features a viscous coupling center differential.
A close ratio, 5-speed manual transmission utilizes an all-carbon,
three-plate competition clutch, allowing for high-rpm, rally-racing style
acceleration launches. To stop quickly, the RPM 7000 incorporates
large-diameter, ventilated brake rotors featuring eight-piston brake
calipers up front with a four-piston design used in the rear.
Just as serious as the exterior design and powertrain engineering is the
RPM 7000's interior architecture. The "down-to-business" race
car-inspired cockpit features a built in roll-cage that is integrated into
the internal support structure. Purposeful and functional, the
four-passenger layout features extensive use of carbon-fiber while exposed
interior door-frames integrate with the metal structure as part of the
interior design theme. True to form of an authentic rally car, the RPM
7000's shifter, ignition and switches have all been purposefully designed
to be utilized by the driver while wearing racing gloves, demonstrating
the true racing philosophy behind this unique vehicle.
The center console represents a marriage of function with convenience,
featuring a touch-screen monitor incorporating the vehicle's climate
control system, on-board navigation, music system with CD, satellite feed
and MP3 capability, as well as rally racing functions including stage
timer and engine management control display. The RPM 7000 complements the
active lifestyle and no-compromise attitudes of young drivers today
allowing the driver to take along three friends and their gear for almost
any adventure.
All combined, the RPM 7000 signals the birth of a new direction in the
performance vehicle market, with unyielding power and smart packaging for
unparalleled versatility. With race inspired styling and the performance
to match, the RPM 7000 provides the go-anywhere flexibility to enable the
automobile enthusiast of tomorrow to seek out destinations as exciting as
the driving experience itself.
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America
So, what do you think? Would you want to buy a car like this? Let us know of your
opinion! Email us at viewermail@blueskyproductions.tv
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