JDM Galant VR-4 and Eterna ZR-4 Model Information

[fuel]

For years the Japanese have been making 'alternative' or 'brother/sister' vehicles based on the same platform. I guess this is to give the Japanese public a wider range of cars while cutting development costs for the manufacturers.

In the case of the Galant vs Eterna Sava, the Galant is sold worldwide while the Eterna Sava was a Japanese only model (though many found their way to NZ/UK/Russia etc as used imports).

I am unsure why Mitsubishi decided to alter the roof line in the Eterna series, I gather they wished to differentiate it from the Galant somewhat. The Eterna and Eterna Sava were modeled for the European market (according to the Japanese brochures) though ironically the Eterna Sava was never destined for the European market. The Eterna Sava was available in E32A 1.8 SOHC, E33A 2.0 DOHC, E35A 1.8 DOHC, E37A 1.8 SOHC 4WD and E39A 2.0 DOHC 4WD 4WS (not turbo).

The same happened with the 7G Galant in Japan, you could get an Eterna sedan and an Emeraude sedan with frame-less windows while the chassis and drivetrain underpinnings were identical to the Galant. The Eterna looked similar to the Galant and retained most of the same interior while the Emeraude was radically different retaining only the same dashboard as the Galant.

7G Eterna

7G Emeraude

It wasn't just Mitsubishi either, Toyota for example released the Sprinter Marino and Sprinter Ceres

Which had the same platform as the humble AE101 Corolla of the same era

Remember, just because it doesn't exist in the US of A doesn't mean it never exists at all.

 

[gtluke]

50 years ago it was popular here. You could get the 50-60's cars in coupe and hardtop. I think even Lincoln made a car you could get in sedan or hardtop 4 door
I think they just figured out a long time ago that it was a huge over complication. But that was back when Chevy made like 3 cars, small medium and large so it made sense to make some options. Or maybe safety took that away? Are their any hardtop cars sold in the US anymore? I can't think of any. Oh sh*t the Mercedes CL? maybe that's it.
The Celica is the last car I can remember in the US that you could choose trunk or hatchback. Maybe the 240 was newer? I forget... I don't think there is a single car with a body option other than convertible sold here anymore. I may be wrong...

 

[gtluke]

holy crap, I had no idea a mazda 6 hatchback existed. WTF have I been?

 

[fuel]

kidding me? lol. I wasn't aware the hatch didn't make it to the states. I guess Americans aren't too enthusiastic about sedan based liftback/hatchback body styles. If it makes you feel better the US gets the V6 which is not available anywhere else in the world.

 

[gtluke]

We did get the hatchback, but it's so close looking to the sedan that I never knew it existed. I was looking for 4 door hatchbacks and I never knew this was a choice. I'm still scared of mazda's because I existed in the 90's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[fuel]

yeah hatchback hardly looks different to the sedan. I got my parents into a 1st gen Mazda6 GSX sportshatch a few years back and they love it. Now up to 100,000+ miles with no troubles.

I too wasn't a fan of the Mazdas, especially the 90s ones (excluding MX-5 and RX-7 of course) which I found just too boring. However after their 'zoom zoom zoom' philosophy they became more exciting. I do like the 70s and most of the 80s models though.

Mazda use many Mitsubishi electric parts in their vehicles - perhaps that's why they don't have the best reputation for reliability either

 

[gtluke]

I had a customer with a 1995ish 626 that puked the motor at 45k miles and then the trans at 60k. I actually bought the trans from Ford because they were the cheapest because the trans needed "hard parts" and Ford didn't care what you gave them as a core. It was a factory rebuild for a Probe I think. I think I ended up taking the 2nd motor apart at some time too, headgasket or something.
I also had a customer with a 1985ish 626 that was f***ing awesome.

 

[fuel]

yep just like Mitsubishi, Mazda every day commuter models went down hill after the penny pinchers took over research and development. Mazda engines generally have always had a reputation for cracking heads or blowing head gaskets. I did have a '96 BH 323/Familia with the 1.6 DOHC and 4WD in 5 speed manual too and thought it was not a bad car.

 

[misterfixit]

Quoting gtluke:
I'm blown away. There has to be an explanation as to why they would do this. WTF is the difference between that Eterna with a trunk and a Galant with a trunk? Were they available in the same markets at the same time? Produced at different factories?
Can you imagine going to a dealer and picking between 2 cars and having the salesman explain that one car has a 2cm lower roof, with the skin welded to the 1/4 with different rear 1/4 windows? What in the f*** is the rational behind this?
It just seems they added an assload more work to sell no more additional cars. I can see the hatchback, but why not just like a normal galant? That trunk eterna is just completely bizarre.
There has to be a better story.


Literally a saloon version of the eterna (japan only) shares the doors, front window, front and centre pillars with the eterna. All the rear quaters and tinwork are different again.
Here's mine:

 

[gtluke]

So there is no story as to why that car was made? Were there enough people that totally wanted a galant, but it HAD to have 3 more inches of flat surface behind the back seats to put bigger speakers?

 

[ApexHunter]

Anyone know anything about the W5M33-2-WQYK transaxle?

 

[fuel]

Quoting gtluke:
So there is no story as to why that car was made? Were there enough people that totally wanted a galant, but it HAD to have 3 more inches of flat surface behind the back seats to put bigger speakers?



I already told you.. it was a Japanese market only vehicle designed to be a 'sister' car to the Galant range to add more vehicles to the line-up. It's nothing new and has been going on for years, as you said yourself with the American vehicles in the 50s/60s/70s.

Historically the Eterna has always been the 'upper class' version of the Galant, starting back in the late 70s with the 3rd generation Galant-Eterna sedan (Sigma) and coupe (Lambda). These had different front headlamps and grille and a more luxurious interior.

With the 4th gen the Galant prefix was dropped on the Eterna models and were simply badged as an Eterna for either the sedans or coupes. Again they had a different front end treatment in the form of a different grille and the interior/specification level was higher.

Sigma sedan

Lambda coupe

Incidentally, this is my own 1980 Eterna GSR coupe, though for some reason it is wearing a Galant grille (assume because of a previous frontal accident and difficulty finding an Eterna grille)

With the 5th gen, there were two main body styles made - normal and hard top (HT). I guess you could say the HT was the 'sister' car to the normal body style - of course the whole roof, pillars, doors, rear quarters, bootlid, tail lamps,windscreens and much of the interior was different. Most of the HTs sold in Japan were badged as an Eterna, however in Europe they were sold as the Sapporo with the 2.4 I4 and they made their way to the States as the 1988-1990 Mitsubishi Sigma with the 3.0 V6.

5G normal body

5G hard top

The 6G continues the trend of the Eterna being a different model of the Galant, however now the Eterna Sava isn't necessarily the 'upper class' version, rather just an 'alternative' version to the Galant, and in the case of the Eterna liftback it is a more practical version of the Galant.

Eterna-Sava commercials in Japan - click and click
Eterna liftback commercial in Japan - click


7G continues with this theme also with the Eterna being an alternative style, with the liftback version of the 7G now being called the 'Galant Sports' in Japan and simply just a 'Galant' in all other markets which received the liftback. As mentioned earlier, another 'sister' car in the form of the Emeraude was introduced but was short lived.

7G Eterna commercial - click
Emeraude promotional video - click


8G in Japan was more standardised with all models having the same body style and all mostly being badged as a Galant apart from a short run of models named the 'Aspire' which was a Galant with essentially some extra chrome trim and different tail lamps.

So Mitsubishi didn't just 'make' the Eterna-Sava because people 'wanted an extra 3" in the parcel tray area', the Eterna Sava is just one of many sister cars built on the Galant platform for sale inside Japan.

 

[fuel]

Quoting ApexHunter:
Anyone know anything about the W5M33-2-WQYK transaxle?



A quick google search, pointing back to a thread on here even produces this bit of information:

"Galant Evo RS 2.0DOHC/MPI/AWD E38A SNPF4 500 21060A M/T & Transfer Assy MD995730 W5M33-2-WQYK N=64T MD733279 90081 to 92033 Standard front diff 3.909 Clutch LSD MB860149"

So it's the box out of a Galant VR-4 RS Evolution with 3.909 ratios, but unsure if it has a front LSD or not (so far info points to no).

The box in my Galant VR-4 Evolution (non RS) is a W5M33-2-WQNK which definitely doesn't have a front LSD.

 

[ApexHunter]

Thank you. I found that bit of info as well via the same channel but have one sitting in my closet at the moment so i was curious to see if i could dig anything else up. I'm also fairly certain it does not have an LSD.

 

[RedTwo]

No, the W5M33-2-WQYK does not have a front LSD. The WQFK did however.

 

[gtluke]

Thanks for the write up Fuel. I guess they never sold them here because people like me find that whole sister car type thing super confusing and redundant. Here when they do that, the body shell stays the same but the fenders and bumpers and and stuff all changes to make it look different. And then drivetrain and interior. But generally speaking you could convert one to the other.
I've been thinking about this a lot this week, and I guess it's the same thing as the camaro and firebird, or thunderbird and couger.

You get a base camaro

or the fancy firebird
and they are different bodies, but basically the same car.

And then they sold the trans am, which is what exactly? I never understood those cars. An upscale firebird?

 

[RedTwo]

Sister cars like Talons, Lasers and Eclipses? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[gtluke]

Yeah but those were the same cars. That was just badge engineering. Same car, different plastic sh*t. The 3kgt and stealth were different cars on the same platform with the same drivetrains. Same as the Camaro/firebird. I need to open my eyes more /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif