Anyone Own a Starion/Conquest?

GhostDakota

GhostDakota

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Phoenixville, PA | Bethany, DE
I just bought an 87 Conquest TSI (turbo), manual, RWD, intercooled, brand new engine, turbo, etc.... Curious if anyone else here and what they think :)

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A buddy of mine had a Starion turbo back in the 80s. We drove it out to Vegas a couple of times. That thing was fun to drive.
 
I had a 89 Spirit Turbo. Those little dodge turbo motors are tough. I opened up the intake and exhaust and when the boost would spike it felt like I had a V8 under the hood. I heard the Conquest's had some problems but I always liked the body style.
Have fun.
 
Damn you. I had an 87 and loved it. It was a blast to drive, and its rare enough people didn't know exactly what they were. Mine was black and I debadged it, I had several people ask me what the hell it was lol. A friend of mine borrowed it(I told him to) and something it got smashed.

It was super fun and I do miss it. But it wasn't the most reliable thing in the world, I had to put a turbo on it which I upgraded to a larger one. It always had some little problem somewhere but it never left me stranded. I had just spent $200 in AN fittings and hose to resolve the leaking cooler lines when it got totaled.

With a 16G turbo, exhaust work, gutted airbox, smog removal(gasp), and lots of little free mods it was probably a low 14.00 car or high 13.90s. A friend of mine had a 89 stang that ran 13.80s-13.90s and the conquest was dead nuts with him through the first three gears. It didn't have enough fuel system to run over 10psi in 4th gear so I never made a full pass in it. I could stick right with that stang from a dead stop though.

EDIT, I was going to scan a few pics of it but the scanner is packed(moving next week).

You have no idea how much I hate you right now lol. Its one of the few vehicles I would surrender my XJ for. :D
 
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AL BUNDY said:
I had a 89 Spirit Turbo. Those little dodge turbo motors are tough. I opened up the intake and exhaust and when the boost would spike it felt like I had a V8 under the hood. I heard the Conquest's had some problems but I always liked the body style.
Have fun.
Click to expand...


It is a Mitsu motor not a Dodge.

I had one a long time ago. It was fun to drive when it was running. It broke down constantly and was hard to find parts for 15 years ago and I can only imagine that they are getting harder and a lot more pricey now a days.
 
Yeah it was 10 years ago I had mine, parts were a bitch back then. When it got totaled I parted it. I was on some Conquest/Starion board back then and I sold a ton of the parts I was amazed. The dealer was always good for throwing the old evil eye at you as they had to blow the dust off the starion book.....I bet now they would tell you to get lost.
 
Those are awesome cars.... hopefully whoever rebuilt the engine did it correctly.... they are awesome cars and I have known many people that own them and would love to build one up one day if I can find a good deal on one...
 
DSM FTW! I helped a buddy look for a Conquest for a long time until he settled on a Eclipse GS-T. Must be a blast to drive being RWD.
 
A Conquest with an eclipse motor would be a good setup. The glorified minivan engine in the conquest leaves some on the table.
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I've seen a few Conquests with LS style motors in there. Sweet swap :-D
 
so rick why did you spend money on a car when it would have been much better suited to go into the jeep?? haha jk sweet ride though.
 
Jeep = staying at 2" lift and 31's. My MPG is bad enough!! lol. At least the Conquest has a low drag coefficient so it won't be horrible on the highways :) When you getting a bike, man?
 
"The Starion/Concquest's are made by Mistubishi, the 2.2/2.5 liter 4 cylinders are Chrysler designed and built motors."

You are right. I was thinking the Conquest came with the 2.2 like the shelby.
 
AL BUNDY said:
"The Starion/Concquest's are made by Mistubishi, the 2.2/2.5 liter 4 cylinders are Chrysler designed and built motors."

You are right. I was thinking the Conquest came with the 2.2 like the shelby.
Click to expand...


I own a 87 Shelby Charger, see my screen name. I have owned it since 97 and it currently has 70K on it. I have done a ton of work to it to make it an 11 sec car. It currently has .30 overbore, 22 psi, 75 horse shot of juice, 2 1/2 exhaust, custom ECU, t3/4 hybrid turbo with ceramic bearings and clipped compressor wheel, and I have done a TII conversion with extrude honed head and manifolds.

I have been around the Turbo Mopar for a few years...

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motor before being re-painted factory black

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And the one I should have kept but let get away.

1984 Dodge Rampage custom built by me.

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Sorry for the thread jack. Enjoy your Diamond Star. They are fun cars!
 
Very nice rides! Someone is telling me these are not DSM's. I truly think they are but cannot find any press or evidence to backup my "claim"... any info?
 
The Conquest was imported by Chrysler from Mitsu.

While Mitsu and Chryco were in bed together since the 70s. DSM did not come out until the mid 80s. DSM only produced a select few cars during it's time in IL. Mostly the Eclipse/Talon/Laser and the Galant/Summit. They later would produce the Avenger platform.

With that said, your Conquest was not produced by the DSM family.
 
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