Project '73 Lancer - Part 1: Research Phase

I saw a '93 Honda Accord parked by La Legende on my way to work. It wasn't like any Accord I've ever seen, and the first impression it gave me was, "What a piece of shit."

There was chrome everywhere! Headlights, tail lights, fenders, bumpers; they were everywhere! It also had stickers of various aftermarket brands, but... it was plain awful. I don't know why the owner placed all that weight on that car, not to mention the I-don't-think-that-works rear wing.

No, it ain't even stylish. To add insult to injury, the "dressed-up" car added extra weight.

Weight, as you may know by now (I guess), is the enemy. Let us recall our physics, shall we? According to Newton's Law of Acceleration, force is directly proportional to the product of mass and acceleration; therefore, acceleration is inversely proportional to mass and directly proportional to force.

Let's focus more on mass (or weight). A greater mass, or I should say a heavier car, requires more force to accelerate. This means needing a more powerful engine to propel it equally as compared to a lighter car. This means more fuel being burnt to propel the car at the same rate as compared to the lighter car.

Heavier cars also require more force to stop. Hint: braking is negative acceleration; therefore, braking is still acceleration. See observation number one - replace fuel with brake pads.

Heavier cars also require more force to turn. Hint: steering is sideways acceleration; therefore, turning is still acceleration. Again, see observation number one - replace fuel with tires, springs, and dampers.

And therefore, I reiterate: "Weight is the enemy."

Which is why I have come to phase one of my project car: research. As I've learned earlier, it is the lightest production Lancer ever. 865 kg (1903 lbs) with a 1.6 liter engine. Not bad.

That means it's 60 kg lighter than the EG Civic hatchback (which many folks here already consider as a light car). That's equal to 132 pounds - just like having an extra passenger.

Let's take the '93 Accord I saw earlier. At stock, it weighs 1220 kg; that's 355 kg (781 lbs) heavier than the '73 Lancer. Add the accessories, and you get more crap.

Let's now see the power-to-weight ratio. At stock, the '73 Lancer has 81 hp; ergo, 81 hp / 865 kg * 100 = 9.36416. The '93 Accord has 115 hp; ergo, 115 hp / 1220 kg * 100 = 9.42623.

Theoretically, if the two cars had the same gear ratios, acceleration would almost be the same! If I manage to increase the output of the '73 Lancer to 110 hp, the power-to-weight ratio is now boosted to 12.71676! That's enough oomph to leave the Accord behind.

Right now, I'm studying Mitsubishi's engine codes. I'm trying to find what engines can fit in Project Lancer.

Next stop: find a car for sale...