My friend had one..we messed with the wastegate to take it to 16 psi. That really woke that car up, it was Buick Grand National fast after that. He drove it that way for a couple of years until rust killed it underneath.

I have owned this exact same car for almost 33 years. In original condition. Fast and fun when it was new. Don't know how much longer it will go. Only drive it once a week or so now. It attracts a lot of attention. Only made for one year. A few years ago I had antique plates put on it. Everything still works although the odometer sticks every now and then.

I had one, the exact car!bought it from a friend that put a bigger Turbo on it! I was eating Mustang 5.0s and SS Camaro for breakfast! Wher talkn around 97 or 98.I paid $500 for it.. People laughed at it, until they pulled up beside it and the boost kicked in!Man seeing this Video took me back!

I bought this exact car Dec. 1983/ 1 week after i came home from basic training Ft. Benning Ga. Picked it up from the Plymouth dealer w/a foot of snow in the ground and very heavy snowfall. My Colt was fun/quick/awesome/Alot of guys in my National Guard Unit had various hot hatchbacks at that time. Rabbit GTI/Omni Glh /Geo Metro Turbo 3 cylinder/What great memories. My Colt Turbo was nearly troublefree Drove it from Miami to Watertown N.Y. several times . Never any problems

Was not aware that it was possible to curl the chest hairs of King Kong. Thank you Motorweek.

Unsung hero the entire line. I was a VW guy but definitely liked these.

Heh, I had an '81 (I think) Plymouth Champ which was the Dodge Colt's twin, and it was an awesome little car for its time. 0-60 times were probably pathetic by modern standards, but it had the "power-economy" shifter in addition to the regular manual box, and was just fun as hell to drive. Could do perfect 180s with the hand brake all day long, great mpg, light and tossable in the corners and narrow enough to do stupidly inadvisable maneuvers on city streets and freeways. It definitely felt sportier than it was, and that's really all that matters in the real world.

I owned one, what a blast! It simply carved up commute traffic. The best test drive ever! $ 8,334 I was so excited that I took delivery right off the transport truck ! Tore the plastic bags off of the front seats and laid rubber in front of the dealership! My buddy bought a 1984 GTI, smoked his ass!

I owned one of these Turbo GTS cars. It was fun to drive. I Started off in 1st low, shifted to 1st high, 2nd, 2nd low, 3rd, 3rd high, 4th. it pulled hard and surprised a lot of Camaro & Mustangs.

I had a 1984 Dodge Colt; a Mitsubishi Mirage with an depretiation accelerating Dodge badge. I had the DL non turbo with the twin stick transmission. I loved the twin stick, but the novelty of shifting them both at the same time wore out fairly quickly mainly because it was tricky and not worth the extra effort. Where it came in handy was when you needed a little more up or downshift, but not a "whole" gear up or down. I once I going, I'd leave in the "E" mode, and shift into "P" to get a little exra oomph for on ramps, or down shift on off ramps. I loved the car even though it had no A/C, but it drove better and felt better than any American car in it's price range. It was durable, never had an alignment even though I had it checked as part of the service schedule. I gave it to a friends 16 year old daughter at 120,000 miles having done nothing but follow the maintaince schedule, change the oil and put on new tires at 50,000. At 35,000 miles later, she had to replace the clutch, exhaust and front struts. She finished high school, college and graduate school with it.

Mine had the “Don’t step on the gas unless you mean it” sticker on the back window😁

Badass little hatchback. This would of been my car if I was old enough at this time

I loved mine..... even the big window sticker on the back "Don't step on gas unless you mean it" from the factory.

2:57 This guy's stopwatch clicking technique is way more impressive than the lady who did the 380SL. I mean, look at that form!

I miss my Colt 😭😭😭 it wasn't the most glamorous vehicle.....but was miiiiinnnne!! 😭😭😭

I had one. Silver with burgundy interior, like the first one shown. It was pretty fast for a small car, and looked pretty good, too. At the time, it was the second quickest car in Dodge/Plymouth's lineup that year, after the Daytona turbo. Bought it from an English guy who had to move back to England. I only ever saw maybe 3 others. Now I own a Fiesta ST. This American understands the joy of a hot hatch. Too bad no one else around here seems to. "A Fiesta? Ha ha!" I'm glad they don't get it. Manual transmissions are a great theft deterrent, too.

I bought a blue 86 Colt Turbo for $60. Drove it for about a month before discovering lots of rust in the left firewall. I parked it and drove one of my other cars. I also had two red 88 Plymouth Colts. For 88 the Plymouth Colts were carbureted and the Dodge Colts were fuel injected.

Owned my Turbo until 2007 - #1 - Twin-stick at about 50K miles, completely failed (video @ 3:11) - After the repair it always sporadically 'Popped' out of "E" mode (I just kept my hand on it as I drove). #2 - The oil cooled Turbo charger lasted until about 40K miles (oil smoke poured out of exhaust). I argued with the Dodge dealer (Glendale CA - Where they filmed the start of Chevy Chase's "Vacation" movie) that the California 50K mile mandatory emission warranty necessitated a FREE turbo replacement. They reluctantly agreed and proceeded to install an improved Oil & Water cooled turbo assembly... Loved the sticker just below the liftgate Air Foil Wing >>> "Don't Step On The GAS unless you MEAN IT" - Goodtimes...

0-60 in 9.4 my ass. My dad had one and it smoked my 1987 Mitsubishi Station ESI-R. It was 0-60 in the low to mid 7's. It regularly beat 305 IROC-Z's, Monte Carlo SS's, Porsche 944's, RX-7's and the like. It WASTED, and I mean KILLED, CRX's and GTI's of the era. The mid 9-second 0-60's came from the next generation of this car, which lacked the twin stick, and was larger and heavier with no increase in power.

My first car after I graduated college, had a black one with gold trim! Was very fun

These things were bad ass, great on gas too! Wider rims and tires made improvements in handling!

I bought a 1984 Colt GTS (without turbo) back in 1988. This video was a trip down memory lane. My car looked just like this one! Same awesome / cheap burgundy interior, too! It was a great car for an 18 year-old. Haha! I loved it! Of course I modified the stereo system significantly because it only had a stock AM radio.

They don't make cars this beautiful anymore.

When I first got my license back in 1991, my parents had a 1981 Plymouth Champ 4-speed manual (non-turbo, but it did have the power/economy shifter, which I never used). I learned to drive on that car, and drove it for 2 years while I was in high school. It was a very reliable little car, even though during the cold winter months of Wisconsin the driver's side door wouldn't stay closed once I unlocked and opened the door, at least not until the car warmed up inside. Trying to steer, shift, and hold the door closed on those early morning trips to school was fun! I still miss that little rust bucket.

It's sad how in the 30 years the mpg hasn't improved that much for all cars.

1080p! THANK YOU MOTORWEEK!!

I guess you could say its a colt classic.

I had a love hate relationship with the non turbo version of the Colt. The gas mileage was great and it did excellent handbrake turns on pavement. Most entertaining was the lift off oversteer allowing mild drifts in some corners. It even jumped well on frost heaves on the winter pavement. The car had no rust in 7 east coast Canada winters. Now on the negative side it 1) left me stranded more then once when it vapor locked for an undetermined amount of time in summer 2) it would quit at exactly 36 km on the highway and have to sit for 10 min 3) the Colt would Ping like a bag of marbles in the cylinder 4) the Chrysler dealer let me drive 600 highway miles on an egg shaped tire because they couldn't find a broken belt when I inquired about a heavy vibration 5) a knuckle broke in the steering column with subsequent steering failure 6) the drone from the engine at highway speeds left me with a headache more then once 7) the idle control solenoid would rev near 4000 rpm on cold starts (dealer said this was normal) eventually taking out some valves and finally 7) the gear gear shift lever fell through the floor well on the highway. I paid to repair each and everyone of these problems. It sold to a college student and she drove it for 2 years needing nothing other then gas and a set of rear brake shoes ...........Sigh .........

To bad we don't have "fun" cars like this anymore.

I'll still have my 86 Omni GLH-T!!

I remember picking this vehicle up and moving this. When I was 19yrs old. Maybe I still can. Anyone want to watch? Bring me a similar one of these vehicles. And prepare to be amazed..

These cars were extremely popular for the teenage crowd in the early to mid 90s. They sold for cheap and were fairly reliable.

I had a turbo 87 Chevrolet Sprint from 1992-2010, sold it running fast and fun. Great little car. I have no desire to sell my 92 VW GTI 16v. I got that one, drove it along side the Sprint for many years. The newer cars are all too bland, heavy, too much power equipment, and less fun.

Miss cars like this. Sadly, Americans have spoken and only seem to want SUVs.

Test drove one with about 44k on the clock in '87. What a ripper!

One of my high school cars. Fun, fun, muddafugging FUN.

I had one in high school! Fun car!

Gotta love those MPG motorcycle tires

Is the 1/4 mile times a typo? Its says P 15.7 @ 68 mph and E 16.8 @ 67 mph.. I think it should be 16.7 and 16.8 instead.

Had one back in '85. Loved it.

Back in the 80's NOTHING could keep up with this car from 0 - 50

The Chrysler import: Mitsubishi Dodge:Plymouth Colt.. I'm not sure we have enough brands on this thing yet!

2,070 lbs and 102 hp is 20 lbs/hp.

I would 2nd that cautionary statement at the end. I came pretty close to disaster several times in the one I owned back in the day, and from what I recall from those days, a pretty good number of other owners did end up getting themselves killed. It definitely needed wider tires.

I would really like to have this car. back then for fun and now for a classic. That's pretty good for the 80s to have an econ mode and power mode.

I had a non turbo it was a 1600 sidewinder I put on a Weber carb and headers it had a twin stick set up. It was a blast to drive. Very light and fast. Too bad it rusted out I miss this little rice rocket. 😁

Had a choice between this and an 84' GTI..... went with the VW.Never a bad day driving it and fairly reliable and trouble free for the 5 years I thrashed on it before rust started to kill it

If only manufacturers made twin sticks like the Colt's.

Ford Escort GT posts 0-60 in 14 seconds. Colt GLH says, "Here, hold my beer."

Always liked these little cars (even the non turbo ones), and love the Twin Stick idea, Mitsubishi knew a good idea when they stole it!

there was a guy that autocrossed one of these in the Blue Ridge Region SCCA

how about a video for the 1981-1983 Dodge Challenger / Plymouth Sapporo?

Here's a MotorWeek Retro Review of the Dodge Colt GTS Turbo from 1984.

If I could find one of these I would buy it and make a fun sleeper

Man, that's a long name for a little car! But it looks fun!

even non turbo 5 speed ones were fast

do you have a dodge GLH turbo and GLHS turbo review? I've never seen either one of these cars in real life YET!

beginning of dsm evo.

I had a dodge shadow turbo during this time period.😊

I bought the car brand new in 1984. It was the worse vehicle I ever owned. It was fast. That’s about it. It had a standard transmission. Everytime I would go highway speed the car would suddenly speed up and slow down on it’s own. Like it was possessed. Sometimes trying to stall out. The service department could not correct it. They finally gave me a loaner car. Almost two months later they replaced if I recall correctly the turbo pump and something else. That finally resolved the issue. I then took it to a car wash. The rear windows were those push out clip windows. The new issue was every time it went through a car wash the back windows would pop open. The dealership tried tightening the clips then replacing them. As I recall the issue was never resolved. Then I decided it to drive a six hour road trip. It was pouring rain. After about three hours I heard a swishing noise coming from the back. I stopped to check. The spare tire compartment under the rear compartment was filled with water. I had to pop the drain plug to let all the water out. And leave the plug out to stop it. The dealer resealed everything they could. But it was never corrected. After about a year the car started rusting from all the leaks. I got rid of it. What a piece of junk

Mitsus first good car, one of their best.

This generation Colt, you can't find this anywhere in the States anymore. The only examples i know are overseas, in parts of Europe, or in Asia. Fun, little pocket rockets they were.

Yep, that's right, kids!!!! Before Chrysler made the Hellcat, Mitsubishi supplied them with THIS Hellkitten, AKA, the 1984 Dodge/Plymouth Colt GTS Turbo!!!!!!

colt gts are hard to find now, I love the my rare colt vista import wagon, was among the first cars in the USA with the Sirius motor aka the 4G63 these cars are vary reliable in EFI form, wish Mitsubishi would get back into the somewhat affordable sporty market again.

These cars were considered muscle cars back then! 😂💪🏻🚙💪🏻

The original hot hatch...I had a non turbo and that fucker burned more oil than gas...

The other version of this Colt was a lot faster they had a version that would do 60mph in 6.5 seconds with a stick shift gearbox and 130mph top speed , the modern Colt Ralliart JDM import is fast too.

Had one loved the twin stick or as I called it the turbo stick. Had the best heater of any car I’ve had except my Volvo. Overall fun and dependable car for a broke kid to drive. Sadly it developed a gas leak under the hood which caught it on fire and burned it completely. If I find another I would definitely buy it.

Did you guys ever review the escort turbo? Listening to all of the power numbers from these other cars the escort seems like a real competitor.

Mine had a rear window sticker that said "Don't Step On The Gas Unless You Mean It"

I would LOVE to see the test of the silver Colt Vista that was on the track at 2:48.

god i want one in right hand drive

Thanks John!

Quarter mile time wasn't bad at all

A turbo that only puts out 30hp?

Looks like a Lotus Talbot from the side.

Definitely too much power and too tricky to drive for me lol.

Mine had a badge on top of firewall that said made by Mitsubishi imported for Dodge..

"The most fun" and "FWD" just cannot coexist in the same dimension lol

Did I see that correct?? Thing did 15’s in the quarter in 1984 from a 4 cylinder!

DREAM CAR

GTI KILLER, BABY......YEAH!!!!!!!!

Mitsubishi Dodge/Plymouth Colt GTS Turbo. The name should be longer.

I had one in charcoal gray

The original Porsche 911 GTS

Why someone would buy these instead of a first gen CRX Si (had one!) or a GTI is beyond me. My 1985 CRX (non Si) would give these cars heck.

How much does it costs? Please reply

I learned to drive in this car...at 8 y/0

So much power????

Dear Motoweek: Do you have any GM X-Body reviews such as the 1980-1985 Chevy Citation or Pontiac Phoenix?

champ. fueron. las .mejores. en pr

Cars are not what they used to be.

Rust and oil consumption. Fun car though...

Since Mitsu is basically dead is America now a days, maybe if they made something small and fun with about 180hp, they would pick up a lot of young buyers and possible future family car sales! Companies don't see the untapped wallets of younger buyers, if they did make a hot hatch with 180hp and kept it around 16k, it would probably sell pretty darn good!

I saw one of these yesterday

If you drove that car EZ it would last forever at 30 mpg, I’m in.

Show the damn twin stick!

A relic from a bygone time... a time when Mitsubishis were both somewhat offbeat and subtly cool too. Now, sadly, they are neither.

Imagine doing a few bolt on upgrade mods on this way back then. Intake exhaust and boost controller would probably easily get this to 160-180hp range. Now we’re talking!

Safety is heavy.