Naturally Aspirated Galant

In tunerzine.com's continuous search for the most uniquely built cars in the nation, we have searched high and low for content that would be hard to find on any other site. We all know at the heart of it all we're just hardcore automotive enthusiasts, so admiring the build and work of a car we don't see every day is a fresh breath of air. Orlando Echeverria did a fantastic shoot of this Mitsubishi Galant owned by Broderick Jones. Not only does it look like one of the cleanest Galants in the land, but it's got a unique story to the build behind it in the past two years. For those that are familiar, the Galant VR4 that America was never blessed with came turbocharged from the factory. Essentially an Eclipse GSX in a Galant sedan body, most Galant tuners in America normally aspire their build towards the turbocharged powerplant. Not this project though.

The vehicle was originally picked up in 2004 from family friends and had only 32,000 miles on the odometer. Broderick took it straight to the dyno the day after taking delivery and ownership to get some baseline figures. Making 156whp and 164wtq, it felt fairly powerful for the then automatic 3.0L. But it wasn't enough, as Broderick wanted to go beyond the 200whp mark naturally aspirated. So in went a 3.5L built motor, making it the only 3.5L swapped Galant in the country. Battling up against the turbocharged cars, this Galant holds its own now dropping 225whp and 235wtq while only weighing in at 2880lbs.
The 6G74 swap has been rebuilt with CP 11:1 compression pistons, RPW NA valvetrain and a set of RPW's stage 2 NA cams. Freeing up airflow to help make 225whp are RPW's longtube headers, Xcessive Manufacturing's intake manifold, a Q45 throttle body and a GReddy Ti-C catback exhaust system. Additional fueling has been added to the engine setup through the aid of Disturbing Motorsports' billet fuel rails, and an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pressure regulator. Tuning is now handled thanks to a GReddy e-Manage system along with a series of AEM gauges and Fidanza adjustable cam gears.

Knowing that the automatic wouldn't be completely up to the task of putting the power to the ground, this Galant has been converted to a manual thanks to a Dodge Stratus R/T transmission. The transmission got further reinforced with a Fidanza lightened flywheel and SPEC stage 2 clutch kit. A shorter throw has been obtained with the use of a Megan Racing short shifter mated with a GReddy counterweight shift knob.

On the exterior, things are conservative but super clean. A JDM VR4 front end conversion was done along with a set of 3rd gen taillights. The corners sport a set of Rota Boost wheels in a 17x8.5-inch setup with 35mm offsets. They're wrapped with Dunlop Direzza Star Spec Z1 tires in a 225/45/17 size. Suspension duties have been handled with a set of KSport Kontrol Pro 32-way adjustable coilovers. This Galant also gets some help from his brethren in the Mitsubishi family with a full EVO8 brake conversion.
We hope you enjoy the beautiful set of photos Orlando did on this one-of-a-kind Galant. We'll be keeping our eyes out to see what Broderick has up his sleeve next.