Super Potential!: 523 Horsepower Starion Bar-B-Que

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The coolest thing about owning any automobile is almost instant membership in the club of the car. The less ubiquitous the machine, the more esoteric the club. In the case of the Mitsubishi Starion, aka Chrysler Conquest, a membership of peers is required just to keep the twentysomething year old StarQuests rolling. That same community is also there when it comes time to squeeze more horsepower than the factory ever intended out of the 2.6L Mitsubishi mill, or chow down on some tasty BBQ.
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When it comes to the West Coast the man to talk to about Starquests is Kelly. It was Kelly and the rest of the KDM Performance crew that pulled together with tuner Chris from DC Performance and organized this BBQ dyno pull bonanza. Starions and Conquests showed from all over the western regions for some Carne Asada, and a chance to post some dyno proven numbers. DC Performance usually deals in Mopars less removed than the StarQuest - Vipers and other V-10 powered machines are their specialty.

In stock form the Starion makes about 140-something to the wheels. What does it take to squeeze more juice from the SOHC 2.6L Mitsu? Fuel and air supplied courtesy of more boost. A little nitrous doesn't hurt either. Or at least it didn't this time around. With 18 PSI, a Mitsubishi Super 16G turbo, and a 100-shot of nitrous oxide Mark's StarQuest spun the rollers to 326 hp. All this using the stock two-injector throttle body injector system and a good measure of driveway ingenuity.

With an extra injector piped into the intake upstream from the stockers and some tuning, dyno-man Chris knocked out near 320 hp without use of the bottle. Adding in a fourth injector and a modified intake from an Aussie 2.6L variant was Ivan. This multipoint injection along with a turbo the size of a watermelon helped Ivan's yellow screamer kick out 523 horsepower on the dyno. At the end of the day Ivan was king, and got to eat the part of the cake that said "500" on it.

KDM plans to throw another one of these SoCal StarQuest deals next year with a added bonus. Along with plenty of grub, prizes, and general good times, the crew announced that next year's shindig will feature a 88-89 Starion as a giveaway! Right after the announcement and within relative earshot of the crowd Mark also added "with rod knock!" - complete with accompanying sound effects. While that last part was good humor, it could pay off to come to the 2008 KDM BBQ. – Mike Bumbeck
KDM Performance; DC Performance [External]
Related:
More Starion Madness [Internal]

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