John Huh 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder

John Huh has lots of self-restraint. How do we know, you ask? Simple. Did you notice the cover shot of this magazine? The cars? The fire? The flat, glass-smooth, six-mile dry lakebed?

Huh, as the owner of this '99 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, had to exercise every bit of that restraint to keep himself from powering across the dry lake in a massive display of Mistubishi power-restraint we couldn't even manage ourselves. Perhaps he has learned the hard way once or twice. Or, perhaps, with about 400 hp on tap, he's learned that having some restraint is a good thing. We suspect the latter.

Either way, his car is fairly outrageous. It makes 395 hp at the wheels with a full exhaust and intake, including an air filter and catalytic converter in place. It's the only car of the bunch to do so. Plus, he drives it to work everyday and drove it from our photo location in Southern California to his home in the Bay Area-about 250 miles. In other words, yes, it's a daily driver.

It's also pretty potent on the road. Even though it's fitted with a full exhaust and catalytic converter, it's still packing a few tricks. Namely, the wastegate exhaust, which exits through the front fascia just forward of the left front wheel. Hit the rev limiter too hard or play aggressively with the staged boost control and pretty soon there's fire shooting out the side of the car. Weird, but cool.

Driving the Eclipse on public roads is an enlightening experience. Turbo lag is present, but not terribly intrusive. Shifting at redline puts the Mitsubishi right back in the powerband where it immediately makes boost, so lag isn't a big issue. On boost, the engine makes the sounds we've come to associate with all 4G63 powerplants running big boost. It changes intensity, but tone remains constant-a unique, rorty sound that's unmistakably Mitsubishi.

Mash the throttle in first or second gear and you'll turn expensive Pirellis into smoke instantly. By third gear, the chassis can almost keep up with the engine, but at that point, the speeds are high enough that going to jail becomes a serious concern. We were conservative during our time behind the wheel, but got a good feel for the car's insane power.

Surprisingly, the Spyder's chassis didn't feel as flexible as we expected. Most of these cars, especially lowered examples, are hopelessly flexible and heavy. It seems special effort has been made on Huh's car to avoid this problem. The weight, for one, is handled with a few hundred extra horsepower. The suspension tuning, however, is somewhat unique. It feels well damped and doesn't feel like it punishes the chassis with intolerable spring rates.

The Mitsubishi gurus at Road/Race Engineering in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., are responsible for making the car work right-both under the hood and around the corners. Ty Pham from RRE recommended a combination of Ground Control coil-overs and Koni shocks at each corner.

The real magic, however, happened under the hood. The big news here is that the bottom end-pistons, rods and crank-are all stock. While this speaks highly for the robustness of the 4G63 powerplant, there were some significant top-end mods, which allow the engine to breathe more freely. Pham from Road/Race again recommended a first-generation Eclipse cylinder head, which has significantly larger ports and a more free-flowing, first-generation Eclipse intake manifold. HKS cams (264 degree intake, 272 degree exhaust) also help the engine breathe and contribute to its rather lumpy idle. Keeping the expensive bits cool under the hood are a Fluidyne radiator and two Flex-a-lite high-flow fans.

Naturally, it takes plenty of boost to make this much power and the turbo on this car is an interesting combination of parts. Lovingly called the Frankenstein level two turbo, this air pump uses bits from both Garrett and Mitsubishi. A Mitsubishi TD0-6 center section is fitted with a 20G compressor housing and Garrett 46 trim compressor wheel. The TD0-6 exhaust wheel is clipped 10 degrees and fitted inside a machined exhaust housing from a Lancer Evolution.Additionally, the hybrid turbo is a bolt-on and requires no adapter plates or permanent modifications. Tial's 40mm external wastegate ensures that there is no boost creep at the high boost pressures necessary to make this much power. The 3-inch RRE downpipe and GReddy Evolution exhaust help the turbo spool quickly and, on full song, it makes about 22 pounds of boost.

GReddy's Profec-B boost controller and remote switching system handle the staged boost control necessary for launching this high-powered front-driver without turning its tires into molten rubber in first and second gear.

Perhaps even more amazing than the fact that the bottom end is stock in this car are the few engine management mods necessary to make such huge power. APEXi's Super AFC and ITC provide adjustments to the fuel and ignition curves. Larger Denso 660cc/min fuel injectors and an oversized Denso fuel pump help provide the necessary fuel to crank out almost 400 wheel hp.

MSD's DIS-2 ignition module boosts spark instensity enough to keep the NGK plugs from fouling under such massive cylinder pressures. Also helping the cause are Magnecor 8.5mm plug wires.

This combination made 392 hp and 359 lb-ft of torque on our Dynojet chassis dyno. It's also important to note that despite its lack of stand-alone engine management, this car was easily the most consistent on the dyno-able to make the exact same power with a remarkably smooth power curve, pull after pull.

As you might imagine, putting that much power to the ground through the front wheels is a bit of a challenge. A Quaife limited-slip differential helps, especially when trying to make the beast do anything other than go straight. An ACT clutch with a 2,600-lb pressure plate ensures positive power delivery-or at least very fried rubber. Pirelli P7000 tires sized 235/45-18 and Racing Hart 18x8-inch C2000 wheels fill the fender wells. Road/Race's lightened flywheel reduces rotating mass and makes rev-matching easier on downshifts.

Bringing the rather hefty 3,290-lb Spyder to a halt are AEM's big brake rotors, Eclipse GS-X two-piston calipers and Axxis Metal Master pads up front. Road/Race stainless-steel brake lines were fitted at all four corners.

Inside, there's a complement of GReddy gauges designed to allow the driver immediate access to critical engine vitals, like exhaust gas temperature, boost and water temperature. A Momo Race steering wheel is a nice touch as well.

The real story here is the fact that this Eclipse makes almost 400 hp at the wheels and commutes 80 miles daily. It also managed to make such impressive power with a full exhaust and catalytic converter in place. That almost makes it sound practical. Perhaps it is even a bit practical-as practical as any car with 400 hp, no top and flames coming out the front fender can be.