USA Roll Call

Legnum in America

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Chicago
First Name
Mike
Drive
1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 COTY
2022 Subaru Outback Onyx XT
1999 Honda Civic EX
I'm in Chicago!
02/97 Legnum VR4 COTY

Here is a little back story about the purchase of the car.
Spent a few months looking for a new car but couldn't find the right one. I knew I wanted a turbo AWD car but didn't want all the beeping, auto braking and other safety features newer drivers could use. I grew up driving in the 90s so I don't need all this nonsense. So I decided to see what was available from that era. Not many options came up. 92 Celica GT-S but couldn't find one with decent miles. Subaru's but my wife already drives the 22 Outback Onyx XT. I looked for a Nissan R33 Sedan but impossible to find one with the right motor I was looking for. Then I stumbled upon the Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Fell in love right away. Couldn't find any in the USA so I started to look overseas. I came across @goonet_exchange out of Japan. Found a few Galant's but then stumbled upon the Legnum. USA rule states the car must be 25 years old. Without physically seeing the car in person or test driving I took a gamble on a 97 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4. I just had a feeling about her when I saw her online. She only has 32,000km (20,000miles) !!! I requested a Shaken report which is America's verison of a Carfax. She had one owner and very well taken care of. I don't think anyone has ever sat in the back seat, not a wrinkle in the leather and the buttons on the dash look like they never were touched. I will have many more posts coming. Just finished her brakes, all fluids and coolant. The car price was $14,000 plus $3,000 for shipping then with all the custom fees and taxes. I ended up paying close to $20,000USD for the car.
 

Leggie

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
USA
First Name
Cody
Drive
1996 Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 Type-S
2016 Porsche Cayman GT4
I'm in Chicago!
02/97 Legnum VR4 COTY

Here is a little back story about the purchase of the car.
Spent a few months looking for a new car but couldn't find the right one. I knew I wanted a turbo AWD car but didn't want all the beeping, auto braking and other safety features newer drivers could use. I grew up driving in the 90s so I don't need all this nonsense. So I decided to see what was available from that era. Not many options came up. 92 Celica GT-S but couldn't find one with decent miles. Subaru's but my wife already drives the 22 Outback Onyx XT. I looked for a Nissan R33 Sedan but impossible to find one with the right motor I was looking for. Then I stumbled upon the Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Fell in love right away. Couldn't find any in the USA so I started to look overseas. I came across @goonet_exchange out of Japan. Found a few Galant's but then stumbled upon the Legnum. USA rule states the car must be 25 years old. Without physically seeing the car in person or test driving I took a gamble on a 97 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4. I just had a feeling about her when I saw her online. She only has 32,000km (20,000miles) !!! I requested a Shaken report which is America's verison of a Carfax. She had one owner and very well taken care of. I don't think anyone has ever sat in the back seat, not a wrinkle in the leather and the buttons on the dash look like they never were touched. I will have many more posts coming. Just finished her brakes, all fluids and coolant. The car price was $14,000 plus $3,000 for shipping then with all the custom fees and taxes. I ended up paying close to $20,000USD for the car.
Great story and a great idea.

My story:
I had been contemplating selling my fun car to get a more family-fun car. However, my wife and I couldn't agree on what would be a good choice. After going on a JDM binge at 2AM, I stumbled upon a local dealer (who I won't link here just in case of rules) who had several cars in inventory. I was immediately drawn to the 110k mile Legnum VR4. I found out it would be at a car show and drove down the next day (well, same day, technically). After seeing it in person, I had to have it... and the next week went and bought it.

The car has miles on it, but mechanically is great! I have a ton of service records from Japan which is nice too. A little bit of blow-by, but that's to be expected for the age and mileage. Interior feels new. I ended up paying around $12,000 USD. So many plans! I can't stop driving it and my family loves it.
 

Mattalot

Sparkly Oil
Location
Morayfield
First Name
Matt
Drive
2006 Subaru Liberty Spec.B Manual

1998 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 Auto

1991 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 Manual (Aus Spec)

2021 Daihatsu Copen GR Manual
I'm in Chicago!
02/97 Legnum VR4 COTY

Here is a little back story about the purchase of the car.
Spent a few months looking for a new car but couldn't find the right one. I knew I wanted a turbo AWD car but didn't want all the beeping, auto braking and other safety features newer drivers could use. I grew up driving in the 90s so I don't need all this nonsense. So I decided to see what was available from that era. Not many options came up. 92 Celica GT-S but couldn't find one with decent miles. Subaru's but my wife already drives the 22 Outback Onyx XT. I looked for a Nissan R33 Sedan but impossible to find one with the right motor I was looking for. Then I stumbled upon the Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Fell in love right away. Couldn't find any in the USA so I started to look overseas. I came across @goonet_exchange out of Japan. Found a few Galant's but then stumbled upon the Legnum. USA rule states the car must be 25 years old. Without physically seeing the car in person or test driving I took a gamble on a 97 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4. I just had a feeling about her when I saw her online. She only has 32,000km (20,000miles) !!! I requested a Shaken report which is America's verison of a Carfax. She had one owner and very well taken care of. I don't think anyone has ever sat in the back seat, not a wrinkle in the leather and the buttons on the dash look like they never were touched. I will have many more posts coming. Just finished her brakes, all fluids and coolant. The car price was $14,000 plus $3,000 for shipping then with all the custom fees and taxes. I ended up paying close to $20,000USD for the car.
That's an awesome story to hear man!
FYI Black Leather Interior is pretty rare and highly saught after, hope it treat you well!
Great story and a great idea.

My story:
I had been contemplating selling my fun car to get a more family-fun car. However, my wife and I couldn't agree on what would be a good choice. After going on a JDM binge at 2AM, I stumbled upon a local dealer (who I won't link here just in case of rules) who had several cars in inventory. I was immediately drawn to the 110k mile Legnum VR4. I found out it would be at a car show and drove down the next day (well, same day, technically). After seeing it in person, I had to have it... and the next week went and bought it.

The car has miles on it, but mechanically is great! I have a ton of service records from Japan which is nice too. A little bit of blow-by, but that's to be expected for the age and mileage. Interior feels new. I ended up paying around $12,000 USD. So many plans! I can't stop driving it and my family loves it.
100k miles isn't that much for one of these, they will easily do 200-250k Kms (what ever that is in miles no idea)
If you're getting blow by, first and easiest thing to check is your PCV valve on the back of the front rocker cover.
Replace that and the little grommet and see how you go.
Also isn't uncommon at this age for the turbos to start failing, especially if they've had a hard life.
 

Leggie

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
USA
First Name
Cody
Drive
1996 Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 Type-S
2016 Porsche Cayman GT4
100k miles isn't that much for one of these, they will easily do 200-250k Kms (what ever that is in miles no idea)
If you're getting blow by, first and easiest thing to check is your PCV valve on the back of the front rocker cover.
Replace that and the little grommet and see how you go.
Also isn't uncommon at this age for the turbos to start failing, especially if they've had a hard life.
Yeah, I've swapped it out and put a catch can in the middle, and it is catching stuff. Startup blow-by is a lot less now. I suspect I should check the rear as well. It only happens on cold start and only for about 5 minutes.

edit: also, the oil was horrendous. Which, probably wasn't helping lol.
 

Lesac

Stateside
Location
United States
First Name
Kevin
Drive
1996 Legnum VR4
1991 MR2
1991 Sambar
Ive been absent from the forums for a bit, but I have a 96 legnum vr4 in Nebraska that I purchased at the tail end of last year. Glad to see more in the USA!
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Mr Smurfington

Idling at the Lights
Location
Denver
First Name
Sean
Drive
Legnum VR4
Meister Blue 97 VR4 Leg here in Denver CO. I do my own work with importing and have done several cars now, this one being my 8th along with other cool Mitsubishi's like an L400 Delica, a couple of diesel Pajero's, and an Evo 3. Have also owned 3 E39A VR4's so this is kind of coming full circle. Car runs awesome but leaks ATF lol appears to be the TQ converter seal which I was able to deduce with the help of this awesome forum. I bought mine off the USS Tokyo auction house, it was a 3.5 grade car though if I'm being honest I think that was a very generous grade for it as it does need paintwork and has a little bit of underside rust, 127k km, all in about $8500 but it does need paint work and the trans work, and I get to deal with all of its title processing.
 

Legnum in America

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Chicago
First Name
Mike
Drive
1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 COTY
2022 Subaru Outback Onyx XT
1999 Honda Civic EX
Meister Blue 97 VR4 Leg here in Denver CO. I do my own work with importing and have done several cars now, this one being my 8th along with other cool Mitsubishi's like an L400 Delica, a couple of diesel Pajero's, and an Evo 3. Have also owned 3 E39A VR4's so this is kind of coming full circle. Car runs awesome but leaks ATF lol appears to be the TQ converter seal which I was able to deduce with the help of this awesome forum. I bought mine off the USS Tokyo auction house, it was a 3.5 grade car though if I'm being honest I think that was a very generous grade for it as it does need paintwork and has a little bit of underside rust, 127k km, all in about $8500 but it does need paint work and the trans work, and I get to deal with all of its title processing.
Glad to see more Legnum's coming to the states.
 

Mr Smurfington

Idling at the Lights
Location
Denver
First Name
Sean
Drive
Legnum VR4
There are two more in Denver, one black one white, the black one is a 5 sp owned by an exporter I work with but he got it from the UK and its in rust hell. Any help convincing him to part the car out so I can get the 5 sp swap would be appreciated lol
 

Legnum in America

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Chicago
First Name
Mike
Drive
1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 COTY
2022 Subaru Outback Onyx XT
1999 Honda Civic EX
There are two more in Denver, one black one white, the black one is a 5 sp owned by an exporter I work with but he got it from the UK and its in rust hell. Any help convincing him to part the car out so I can get the 5 sp swap would be appreciated lol
Very cool, I know of one in Georgia and Phoenix. I am in Chicago, I got a unicorn. 20,000 miles, no rust, no scratches, super clean leather. No issues besides brakes and change out the fluids. Timing belt water pump and bearings are being done next week. I added rims, a Mishimoto Intercooler and a carbon fiber engine cover. Exhaust and ECU are to follow after the timing belt.

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sackdz

Idling at the Lights
Location
Yokohama, JP
First Name
Ed
Drive
Legnum VR4
Detroit checking in!

'97 VR4 TypeS. 42k miles.
My story: I recently returned from a work assignment living in Japan for several years. I am a long time Honda fan and road racer, but when I moved to Japan I wanted to try something different. My requirements:
-Japanese
-Not available in the US
-A good car for family road trips.

I ended up with an EVO IX Wagon which I absolutely loved and fit my requirements perfectly. When it came time to move home, I was fortunate to find another American there and ended up trading my Evo for his Legnum plus cash. Everything considered including transport I got the car here for a little under $13k which I'm pretty happy with. Now that it's here with only a couple minor issues to fix up, I'd like to get to know what knowledge resources and parts sources are available here in the US.

One question from my side: I noticed there is a premium membership on this site which hides what appears to be better technical info. However I also get the feeling this community's haydays are over here and I'm not sure it's worth the subscription still or if the content is even still there. Any insiders can shed some light on that?

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Legnum in America

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Chicago
First Name
Mike
Drive
1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 COTY
2022 Subaru Outback Onyx XT
1999 Honda Civic EX
Welcome to the family. I recommend the premium, more of us in the US are starting to get these cars and we can definitely benefit and helping each other figure out things. There are still many active members on here from Australia and Europe.
 

blinkerfluid

Leaving Skid Marks
Premium Member
Location
US
First Name
Abe
Drive
12 Tacoma
19 GTI
my story..

Been a car guy since I was 16. To date I've owned 47 cars, and between my wife and I, currently have 5. Used to be a big-time street racer in the mid/late 90s in the SF Bay Area, and was flogging AE86s when you could still get them for $500. I was a chassis fabricator for a NATCC then World Challenge T2 team in the late 90s, while I competed regionally in SCCA Solo II, and SSB and IT events.

A few years later, 2005-08, I found myself stationed just outside of Tokyo and freshly married. While there we owned a few fun cars; Starlet GT, Silvia K's, STI Wagon, EG4, and a couple Minis (one of which we brought home and still have today). I had been slinging parts from Up-Garage and the like, as well as yahoo auctions for a while, which funded my car/motorcycle hobbies. A buddy of mine was laid off in the states and said eff-it, flew over, and ended up sleeping on my couch for a month while I was on convalescence after having my lower face rebuilt. We were out for a drive in the EG when we stumbled on a pretty big car lot with an Evo VI TME for sale. He was a big Mitsu Fan, so we popped in. I wasn't looking for a car, but then he pointed me to this one...

1697912075248.png


Sale price at the exchange rate back then was about $1500. The seller stated there was an issue with the ECU. After fiddling with it a bit we determined it would only start when you snapped the key to the start position. Swapped in a new ignition switch and she was right again.

1697912257101.png


Car was lowered on Tein HA's with some cut-wire EDFC, loud cat-back, and a Blitz pod filter. Like any good "modder" car in Japan at the time, it was rolling on it's stock wheels with snow tires.

A few weeks alter she got through Shaken-Sho and plated. I fixed the EDFC, found some headrests on Yahoo auction, installed a Greddy Profec B, Defi BF Link boost gauge, and my perforated/red stitch Nardi wheel. I picked up a set of Evo V, maybe VI, wheels for a song from a local used wheel/tire shop and mounted them. The car was amazing and I enjoyed her for the last year I was in Japan. Out of all my cars, she was the best driving, most comfortable, and grown-up vehicle I had. She could do it all, mountain passes, long drives on the toll roads, and navigating the chaos that is the Shuto Expressway system around greater Tokyo.

1697912633768.png


I loved the car, but had to sell her on for $4500 when it was time to leave. Oh, those were the days!

During ownership I picked up a set of FL knuckles for the Brembo swap that never happened and brought them home. Sadly, during my move to the new house and much smaller garage, in 2016 a buddy convinced me to stop hoarding and throw the knuckles in the trash.. because, I'd never own another Legnum. I was stupid and in the bin they went.

Nearly 7 years to the date from when I tossed those knuckles, never believing I'd own a Legnum again, I wired the money off to Duncan imports in VA for my new-to-me Trigger Mauve 96. I was originally looking at a white 5spd with leather, but the underside damage looked too much for me to deal with. Ended up paying $5k less for a car I honestly feel lucky I got instead. I have a feeling the low price was due to the MASSIVE boost leak on WOT caused by the failing stock bypass valve.

1697912775222.png


The car is exceptionally clean one-owner, who is likely the only Japanese person in the 90s to not smoke in their car. the interior is spotless, and sans a few bumps and bruises for the last 27yrs, the exterior is in pristine condition. Fugitsubo Legalis R exhaust, Tein Flex w/edfc, and forged BBS 18's. She came with the bouji-AF circa 2000s dash mount navi/tv/dvd/hhd music system, and the MMCS installed. Everything works including the parking sensor system, and came with this strange Mitsubishi branded rear boot-area cover in a vile green color. Car had an HKS turbo destroyer.... I mean pod filter, and was burning as rich as could be expected. Picked up a factory airbox from the ebay seller akinaracer, and found the right sized filter from US suppliers

I grabbed a NIB GFB Respons valve off marketplace for $150 to fix the boost leak and took her out for a ride.....aaaand blew the trans input seal. :LOL:

Now she sits for me to get the remodel of the garage finished so I have space to pull the box and get all the fixes done.

I am glad to see more of these cars in the US, and I'm glad the friend that convinced me to buy my first one, convinced me to buy my second one!
 

jdmftwyo

Idling at the Lights
Premium Member
Location
United states Detroit
First Name
Joe
Drive
97 Mirage to Evo 4 conversion
97 Legnum VR4
Detroit checking in!

'97 VR4 TypeS. 42k miles.
My story: I recently returned from a work assignment living in Japan for several years. I am a long time Honda fan and road racer, but when I moved to Japan I wanted to try something different. My requirements:
-Japanese
-Not available in the US
-A good car for family road trips.

I ended up with an EVO IX Wagon which I absolutely loved and fit my requirements perfectly. When it came time to move home, I was fortunate to find another American there and ended up trading my Evo for his Legnum plus cash. Everything considered including transport I got the car here for a little under $13k which I'm pretty happy with. Now that it's here with only a couple minor issues to fix up, I'd like to get to know what knowledge resources and parts sources are available here in the US.

One question from my side: I noticed there is a premium membership on this site which hides what appears to be better technical info. However I also get the feeling this community's haydays are over here and I'm not sure it's worth the subscription still or if the content is even still there. Any insiders can shed some light on that?
Also in Detroit (Dearborn) I get my Legnum will land in Boston for me to pick up sometime in april. Would love to meet up if your still in the area ( I know your post is a few years old)
 

sackdz

Idling at the Lights
Location
Yokohama, JP
First Name
Ed
Drive
Legnum VR4
Also in Detroit (Dearborn) I get my Legnum will land in Boston for me to pick up sometime in april. Would love to meet up if your still in the area ( I know your post is a few years old)
hey man. I’m stoked another Leggy will be in town. I haven’t seen another yet. I’ll send you a PM
 

Legnum in America

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Chicago
First Name
Mike
Drive
1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 COTY
2022 Subaru Outback Onyx XT
1999 Honda Civic EX
hey man. I’m stoked another Leggy will be in town. I haven’t seen another yet. I’ll send you a PM
You guys will have to come to Mitsubishi fest over the summer. I am always the only Legnim there
 

jdmftwyo

Idling at the Lights
Premium Member
Location
United states Detroit
First Name
Joe
Drive
97 Mirage to Evo 4 conversion
97 Legnum VR4
I added you on instagram. Ill will try to make it out there this year. Is there a set date yet?
 

blinkerfluid

Leaving Skid Marks
Premium Member
Location
US
First Name
Abe
Drive
12 Tacoma
19 GTI
You guys will have to come to Mitsubishi fest over the summer. I am always the only Legnim there

Where is Mitsubishi Fest? Is that the MN event?

Been picking up bits and pieces for my car, should be out of storage towards the end of April.
 
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