SG Archives: Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo-R

November 20, 2025 6 Min Read

Singapore’s final stock Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo-R has a guaranteed death awaiting.

Its certainly a pretty doomy-situation in Singapore where every old-gen enthusiast car is about to be scrapped, all completely scrapped or not intended to renew and looking to scrap.

Not a surprise given the current COE prices have been pushing away affordability, and realistically any hope for new generations to carry the flame that is keeping car culture alive.

Related to the car in question, those registered in the middle of each decade have a track history of not surviving, as Prevailing Quota Premiums (PQP) for COE renewals have generally been higher or at their highest from the start-to-mid of each decade – premiums are only lower towards the end, and then rinse and repeat.

So most cars of the ###2-###5 era cars you rarely see anymore – 2002, 1995, and much more. This car is unfortunately no different.

Image credit: @zhengbingchiling

The Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo-R is a compact SUV / wagon depending on your stance. A competitor to the Subaru Forester, the Airtrek is actually significantly smaller, being just a bit bigger in width and height as a Perodua Kelisa.

The Turbo-R spec comes with trim-exclusive seats, steering wheel, and a white-face gauge cluster to name a few cosmetic changes. All Turbo / Turbo-R (market dependent) models have all-wheel drive, but not available with the Evolution’s Anti-Yaw Control (AYC) system. To put in another way, the Airtrek Turbo-R shares the same drivetrain as the Lancer Evolution 7 GT-A, which is an Evolution model that is actually automatic and running less horsepower.

While it still uses the 4G63T drivetrain that the (manual) Lancer Evolution is best known for, the one used in the Airtrek is “detuned”, outputting a quoted 240 PS (236 hp). Reasons for this is generally said to be a smaller turbo compared to the Evolution, but there are also sources stating internal differences such as iron-cast internals instead of forged like in the Lancer. Citation is needed for this.

All Airtrek come only with a 5-speed tiptronic automatic transmission with manual gear select.

Manual conversions are possible, with some owners doing Civic Type-R (EP3)-esque column-mounted shifters using the original gear shifter location, or a conventional center console located item. Factory-manual Airtrek Turbo Rs actually exist, but only as the Outlander Turbo for European markets.

Back on topic.

Image credit: @zhengbingchiling
July 28 2025

Hardly anything was known about this unit up until it was spotted by a friend in the Ubi workshop area, a completely stock unit by the looks of things bar for a Ralliart front grille. Apart from it, from wheels to engine bay, this example is super untouched.

The color code may be A31 or A69. For Japanese-market models, both colors are less common, making for ~20% of the Japanese market production numbers. Export markets like these may differ in rarity.

The single sale listing of this car indicates it has been a one-owner vehicle throughout its life, clocking a respectable 233,### km throughout its life before being put on sale for potential buyers.

The same listing also shows it was renewed 5-year non-renewable COE this year.

Quoted COE paid is half of the current COE situation, plus the ###5 (2005)
registration and ###0 (2030) expiry meant an extra five years for renewal

This unit is one of three final Airtrek holding out in Singapore. One is white with a DAMD front bumper and the other is dark blue.

In more recent times, the 5-year Airtrek had been posted onto some Malaysian scrap car pages,. While we normally try to take these posts with caution as they tend to reuse old photos that can be considered fishy, the photos provided are not from major sale listings. Additionally, how they “scrap” the car may also not be in the best interests of the law, so we won’t be providing exact sources.

The fate of this car is currently up in the air but it is for certain that like many of its forebears, it will be scrapped end of the decade, if it hasn’t already. The plate, although valid a few months ago, is now no longer corresponding to any vehicle, so it may have been deregistered prematurely (to get back COE value) and/or scrapped. That’s too bad then.

~SatriaRX