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The Mitsubishi Magna is a mid-size car that was produced between 1985 and 2005 by Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL), based on Japanese platforms re-engineered for the Australian market. From 1991, the range was bolstered by a luxury variant, the Mitsubishi Verada. It was the first Australian-made vehicle to be exported worldwide in large numbers (chiefly to North America as the Verada-based Diamante) and it also featured Australian-production firsts such as tiptronic transmissions (1997) and all-wheel drive drivetrain (2002). Manufactured between May 1985 at the Tonsley Park assembly plant in South Australia, Magna spanned three generations before being replaced by the Mitsubishi's last Australian manufactured vehicle, the Mitsubishi 380, twenty years later in September 2005. Although some of Magna's engines were imported, the most common four-cylinder (codenamed ''4G54'' and marketed as "Astron II") and V6 (codenamed ''6G72'' and ''6G74'' and marketed as "Cyclone") engines were also manufactured by MMAL in South Australia, at the Lonsdale plant. Prior to Magna, Mitsubishi only had a large family car to rival the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in the form of the six-cylinder Chrysler Valiant, which was inherited upon MMAL's takeover of Chrysler Australia's operations in 1980. Nevertheless, the Valiant was put out of production the following year, making the medium-sized Sigma MMAL's largest offering. When Sigma's replacement became due, MMAL opined that a car's width was a crucial factor to Australian drivers who have traditionally favoured large cars. As a result, to compete more effectively against the large-sized Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, former Chrysler engineers now working for MMAL, developed a wider mid-sized car specific for the Australian market. They accomplished this by splicing an extra right down the middle of Japan's mid-sized fifth generation Mitsubishi Galant sedan, in so doing creating the unique Mitsubishi Magna range. Given the inherent space efficiency of front-wheel-drive (FWD), this allowed MMAL to offer a passenger cabin that was as spacious, if not more spacious, than that of the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) market-dominant Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore. Over the years, Magna grew in size and offered V6 power as well as all-wheel-drive (AWD), the latter to compete against the market's perception of better dynamics offered by its RWD rivals. The Magna was the first all-new Australian engineered and made Mitsubishi vehicle, and only one of two vehicles (along with the 380) manufactured in Australia by MMAL up to the full closure of its South Australian-based facilities in 2008. Sale prices were a key critical factor in Magna's market competitiveness (especially with the first series) since, for less or similar money, MMAL was able to sell a more refined and efficient package relative to its main rivals – the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore – thanks to the adaptation of Japanese platforms to Australian market conditions. This was especially reflected in the merits highlighted under the "Value for Money" category of the Australian Car of the Year titles won by Magna in 1985 and 1996. In addition, the success of this formula lead other manufacturers (chiefly Toyota Australia as of its Camry of the mid-1990s) to populate this wide-body category of the Australian market. == First generation (1985–1991) == Following a claimed million development cost,〔 Mitsubishi introduced the Magna to Australia in May 1985, initially as a sedan only model, but with a station wagon added in June 1987. It was manufactured at Tonsley Park, South Australia but derived from the fifth-generation Japanese Mitsubishi Galant Σ (Sigma). MMAL engineers effectively created a new platform by widening the Galant by and strengthening it for outback conditions.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Mitsubishi Magna (TM Magna) )〕 Mitsubishi Motors codenamed these cars as "YF" and "YFW"—"W" for "wide". MMAL designated the original 1985 Magna as the "TM" series, with the 1987 and 1989 updated models coded "TN" and "TP", respectively. This approach proved successful for the Australian market, making the Magna a strong competitor against all original competitors envisaged by MMAL, being the Toyota Corona, Holden Camira, Nissan Bluebird, and Ford Telstar, but also the larger Holden Commodore.〔 The platform widening also helped influence Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota to do the same for other markets,〔 such as in the case of the "wide-bodied" Toyota Camry (XV10) of 1991. The only major aesthetic difference of the Magna relative to its Japanese donor was the wider body, as the general styling and side profile were similar also thanks to shared tooling for doors, guards and pillars.〔 While still smaller and lighter than the then current RWD rivals, the Holden Commodore (VK) and Ford Falcon (XF), the Magna trumped the former for interior space due to the inherently superior packaging offered by a FWD layout. As the enlarging to accommodate Australian market requirements added minimal weight, and the overall footprint remained smaller compared to rivals, the Magna could get away with a big-bore four-cylinder engine instead of the more traditional six-cylinder engines used by Holden and Ford. Even despite a ,〔 fuel efficiency was not significantly better. In particular, fuel consumption on average for all models was in city driving and in highway driving, as measured according to the applicable Australian Standard. The engine fitted to the Magna was the Australian-made 2.6-litre transversely-mounted inline-four cylinder engine. Codenamed "4G54" and marketed as "Astron II", it was a development of the "4G52"/"Astron" engine fitted to the preceding rear-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Sigma, and it initially produced at 5000 rpm and at 3000 rpm. "Astron II" was an eight-valve single overhead cam (SOHC) design with advanced features for the time, such as hydraulic mounts and counterbalancing shafts to reduce vibrations—a characteristic of large four-cylinder engines. In the TM series, these Australian engines were carbureted, with Mitsubishi's "ECI Multi" electronic fuel injection (EFI) version launched in April 1987 with the TN series update boosting power to . Magna was fitted with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic with electronic overdrive (its button on the front of the shift lever, providing a default three-speed mode or four-speed in overdrive mode), although the Executive and luxury Elite models were available only in automatic. In terms of suspension, Magna's front comprised MacPherson struts front design and at the rear a three-link torsion beam axle with coil springs (specifically, a torsion beam axle, located by two trailing arms and a Panhard rod, being a design similar to that used in the Audi 100 and Holden Camira).〔 The wagons ran a four-link beam axle with coil springs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mitsubishi Magna」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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