Shadowing Practice: How Mitsubishi Terrorized Australia - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Barely two months after New South Wales police took delivery of a small fleet of Subaru WRXs,
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Sydney's high-speed criminals have found a getaway car which will overtake them.
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The new preferred ram-raid weapon is Mitsubishi's 3000 GT Sports Coupe,
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which is so fast police have been told not to bother chasing it.
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In December of 1999, a special task force was created to combat the rise of robberies in New South Wales,
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the oldest and most populous state in Australia.
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were accustomed to small and nimble hot hatches being used in ram raids.
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But criminals found a new, more powerful and even faster car to challenge authorities.
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And it was Mitsubishi's premier sports coupe.
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When Mitsubishi's engineers started to design the 3000 GT, they had one intention in mind.
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To build a world beater.
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It had active aerodynamics, four-wheeled steering, electronically controlled suspension, all-wheel drive,
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and a twin turbocharged engine that gave it as much thrust as a Super Turbo or Skyline GTR of its era.
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But it lacked one important piece of technology, a security system.
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And once criminals figured it out, it began to terrorize the greater Sydney area for nights on end.
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It was a very obscure car to Australian authorities, but to the rest of the world, it was arguably the most badass 90s Japanese car of all time.
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This is the story of the Mitsubishi GTO, also known as the 3000 GT VR4, and also known as its drunk American cousin,
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the Dodge Stealth RT Turbo.
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This all started with a program by Mitsubishi Motor Company to dump absurd amounts of money into research
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and development to combat the big giants at the time, Nissan and Toyota.
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It was called the High Speed Research Program and this bred concept cars
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that were supposed to be what the future should look like in Japan.
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And they were pretty spicy.
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The first HSR in 1987 gave birth to the dual rear
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cam variant of the Ford G63T to be later used in the Gallant VR4
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and also 9 different generations of Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
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The HSR2 in 1989 actually added two more cylinders
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and one extra turbo and then it had a top speed of 350 kmph.
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The engine powering it was called the 6G72.
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The HSR2's 6G72 differed from the naturally aspirated version with the addition of oil squirters to cool the lower compression dish pistons,
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better flowing intake and exhaust port design,
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and two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries TD-04 turbochargers that produced a modest 0.6 bar of boost after intercooling.
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The HSR didn't put an emphasis on this power plant, in fact you couldn't even see it.
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Its real evolution over the first HSR was active aerodynamics.
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It's obvious the HSR2 was never meant to be a production car, but what if you wrapped it in a very sleek,
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grand touring, Chrysler co-inspired design and sell it to the masses?
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Well then you get the HSX concept.
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The HSX wasn't even a concept in the traditional sense.
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It was the production car 99% ready to hit the road.
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The 6G72 Turbo V6 was detuned to 300 horsepower.
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The rear wing was redesigned and before production, the HSX name was dropped for one that would piss off the likes of Enzo Ferrari and Pontiac.
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It was called the GTO.
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In the United States and in Europe, it was called the 3000 GT.
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And Dodge had their own, it was called Jack Daniels, with turbos.
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The new all-wheel drive Stealth RT Twin Turbo.
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Excuse me, the Dodge Stealth.
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This technological marvel was the most advanced sports car out of Japan at the time.
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Viscous real-time four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering similar to Hi-Kiss on the R32 Skyline GTR.
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acceleration to 100 kilometers an hour was faster than the Honda NSX.
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And at 80 kilometers an hour the front air dam lowers 80 millimeters eliminating turbulence under the car
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and the rear spoiler angle is increased by 14 degrees to create negative lift which is what we know as downforce.
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And all that technology was condensed into a sleek grand touring package that undercut its contemporaries in price.
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The price is always an important factor.
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For example, I like to mix 93 octane fuel
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and E85 to make an E30 blend because my vehicle is making more boost than factory and it's cheaper than race fuel.
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Now, 93 octane is still pretty expensive, but since I use the upside app, I can make a little cash back every time I fill up the tank.
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No matter if it's gas, groceries, or dining out, Upside lets you earn cash back where it matters most, the things that you buy every single day.
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Just open the app, claim an offer, pay with your card like normal, and earn cash back that's yours with no minimums or gimmicks.
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Upside has given back $1 billion to its users.
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And if you want to find out how much you can earn, download the free Upside app
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and use promo code 337 speed to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.
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That's an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas using promo code 337 speed.
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The GTO slash 3000 GT VR4 should have been an obvious choice if you were cross-shopping Japanese sports cars at the time.
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Well, it had a slight little issue.
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It was heavy, weighing in at 1720 kilograms or 3,800 pounds, which in comparison to the weight of the Skyline GT-R,
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it was an absolute tank.
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When pushed to its limits in the corners, the transverse V6 all-wheel drive configuration
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showed its weakness with plenty of understeer as the weight distribution was nearly 60% over the front axle.
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Now just to clarify, the Nissan GT-R R32 did have 60% of its weight over the front axle
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and 40% over the rear axle.
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But the difference here is a Tesla ETS all-wheel drive.
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It can transfer up to 100% of the torque all the
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way to the rear axle to give you oversteer to make it fun to drive.
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Over its production cycle from the original Series 1 to the Series 2 and Series 3, it slowly shed those high-tech features like electronic suspension,
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active aerodynamics, and active exhaust flaps in an effort to save weight.
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The pop-up headlights were replaced with projector beams, and the engine was fortified with more boost and 4-bolt main caps.
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And the price kept creeping up as well.
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Now Mitsubishi did offer a superleggera-esque version of the GTO in Japan.
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It was called the GTO MR. MR stood for Mitsubishi Racing.
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The MR was lighter thanks to deleting all the tech except the all-wheel drive system,
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and it was famously quicker than the R33 GTR in a straight line. Where is it?
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Where is it?
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Toe!
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GTO!
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The GTO MR and N1 were mere blips in the JDM world, overshadowed by its little brother, the Lancer Evolution.
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In its last year of production in the United States, only 274 3000 GTVR4s were imported to the US.
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In the United Kingdom, only 125 were allowed to be imported per year, and everywhere they appeared a trend began to follow.
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They got stolen like a lot.
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The 3000 GT has a Japanese security system which basically relies on people being honest.
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There's certainly not a challenge to steal.
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At the 1994 British International Motor Show two 3000 GT VR4s
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that were on display by Mitsubishi motors were stolen from the exhibition center.
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One of the 3000 GTs was found in a lockup garage.
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Other would go on a high-speed chase with West Midlands police to eventually crash
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and the thieves escaped on foot before police arrived.
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I guarantee you somebody at Mitsubishi got fired for this.
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You're fired.
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These 3000 GTs from its beginning all the way till 1999 didn't They didn't have immobilizers.
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They just had a passive security system.
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So if you armed the security system and somebody either opened the hood, the trunk, or the doors,
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it would alarm, but you can still break the ignition interlock and still start it and drive away.
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Like, what is the point?
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The NRMA, which is the largest automotive insurance company in Australia at the time,
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gave the Mitsubishi 3000 GT security system a 7 out of 100.
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Even common cars like the The Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores scored more than 80 out of 100,
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which quantified how subpar Japanese car security systems really were even though they were high-level performers.
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This exploit would become a headache for New South Wales police
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over a two-week stretch from late November to early December of 1999,
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where four Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4s were stolen in Sydney's inner west.
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Now, two months prior, New South Wales police already deployed Subaru WRXs to combat the ram raids of the time.
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But these WRXs were full of police equipment
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and they were only automatics to abide with the occupational safety regulations of the time.
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So basically, you had slush box WRXs that were four
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or five hundred pounds overweight with extra people and equipment inside going after the 3000 GT VR4.
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You can't make this up.
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The Mitsubishis were so fast that chases would become a real danger to the public, so pursuing officers were told not to even bother chasing them.
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Eventually the four 3000GTs that terrorized New South Wales for two weeks just disappeared.
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Nobody knows if they eventually were stripped of parts or ended up in a junkyard somewhere, and I did a lot of digging.
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It was like Gotham City back in the 90s in Australia.
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I'm just gonna say it like that.
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The 3000 GT VR4 story doesn't stop here.
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It actually was successful in the US market when compared to the Mark IV Super Turbo and the FDRX7, only behind the 300ZX, making them much more common
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and decently affordable on the used market during the tuner craze of the 2000s.
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The 6G72 was stout in the Series 2 and 3 cars
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and could withstand 550 to 600 horsepower before needing to upgrade the rotating assembly.
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The 2JZ was the obvious king during this era, but you were going to pay double
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or triple just to experience it thanks to the Fast and the Furious exploding in the market.
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But even with all the shortcomings, it was a force to be reckoned with from a dig race, since it could put all the power down.
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Today they are just starting to crest the six figure mark for perfect example last model year cars.
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Something the Skylines and Supras have been doing for what seems like a decade at this point.
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But nonetheless, I don't think there's a JDM Big 3, the Supra, the Skyline, the RX-7.
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I think there's a Fantastic Four, and the Mitsubishi that goes by many names is one of them.
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Thank you.
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Speaking Goals for This Clip
This video is perfect for practicing shadow speech and building confidence with descriptive, technical language. You’ll work on fluency by following fast-paced, detailed explanations—great for mastering the rhythm of conversational storytelling. By the end, you’ll be better at keeping up with complex topics and articulating ideas clearly, a key milestone for advanced English speaking practice.
Phrase Bank
- "Barely two months after"
- "Preferred ram-raid weapon"
- "One intention in mind"
- "Gave it as much thrust as"
- "Figured it out"
- "Obscure to authorities"
- "Dumped absurd amounts of money into"
- " Bred concept cars"
- "Detuned to 300 horsepower"
- "Eliminating turbulence under the car"
These phrases are reusable in discussions about technology, history, or even everyday stories—try them in your next English speaking practice!
Fix Your Weak Spots
The video’s mix of technical terms and conversational flow challenges you to improve English pronunciation of tricky words like "aerodynamics," "turbocharged," and "viscous." Pay attention to how the speaker stresses syllables in long words (e.g., "elec-TRON-ically con-TROLLED sus-PEN-sion")—this will sharpen your rhythm. Use the shadowing technique: pause, repeat, and mimic the tone and pace. A good shadowing site can help you practice, but even repeating the video aloud will boost your ability to speak smoothly. Don’t worry about mistakes—focus on matching the energy and clarity of the dialogue. You’ve got this!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | have been told · was created · were accustomed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | car which will · one that would · lift which is |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have found · have been told · has given |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.