Mitsubishi Colt Clubcab 2.4i Performance
More Power | Cylinder Head Conversions | Unichip Tuning

The Colt was the first 'bakkie' that came out in a Clubcab version, and to tell the truth, it was one of the hottest selling 'bakkies' in South Africa. It is still very popular choice for the buying public, and will most likely remains a hot seller for some time to come.

Now the Xtreme Machines Colt is one such 'bakkie', and we bought it because of its versatility, average performance and its ride quality.The Colt 2.4i engine is a multivalve job, and in standard form pushes out 97Kw of power on the flywheel. This sounds very impressive, but on the Dyna, only 60Kw were measured at the wheels.

And all of a sudden things started to make sense.You see, the standard 2.4i Colt Clubcab will cruise comfortably at 120Km/h, but load it up a bit, or go up an incline, that all changes. The standard Colt 2.4i, although a very nice vehicle, misses something in the way of performance. In average driving conditions we managed to get a fuel consumption figure of 9km-per litre. We felt that this was very good for a 4x4 petrol vehicle.

So after reading the SAC ad in our magazine, we decided to take the Colt to Steve's Auto Clinic to see what sort of improvements they could make. We were, and still are extremely surprised at what they have achieved, so keep reading. We booked the Colt in at the Kyalami branch of Steve's Auto Clinic, where they immediately started their modifying magic.

They took of the head and subsequently also the cam, and sent these two items to SAC Engineering, the SAC group head offices, where Steve Fischer oversees all aspects off the operation.

The head was then gasflowed, and the cam re-profiled. These modifications allows for a cleaner burning process inside the engine, which in turn relates to improved fuel consumption, quicker throttle response and optimum power and torque.

A brand new SAC performance custom-built Wildcat branch and free-flow exhaust system, stainless steel 'nogal', were also fitted for optimum flow.The airbox were modified, and fitted with a Wildcat high performance air filter to allow the engine to breath better.Then they added a Unichip piggy-back computer into the whole equation, to ensure that the engine management system does it the right way around. After all this, they slapped the Colt onto their dynamometer and set up all the electronics to perfection. Nothing could have prepared us for the results.

When Marinus from the Kyalami branch phoned us and said that the Colt was ready, and that the Colt now boasts 89.9Kw (that's and improvement of nearly 30Kw) of power at the wheels, we thought the worst.We expect to get a loud, rough running dragster, complete with shiny side pipes with flames coming out them. We were wrong.

None of the Colt's creature of riding comforts had been compromised. It is still the same smooth running Colt that we have come to appreciate, only now, it is also powerful, and has maintained it is reliability. The Colt is a pleasure to drive now. The overall driving characteristic of this vehicle has been greatly improved, especially when cruising on the highway.

Oh, and by the way, so far we have achieved a fuel consumption figure of 11km-per litre. The Colt is a better finished off vehicle after the SAC conversion, and is now also covered by the SAC Why Worry Warranty, which extends over 6 months or 20 000km.